Near the center of the twelfth floor, the drake slowly stirred awake. His eyes fluttered open, and memories of what had happened washed over him. Much of these memories were of naught but pain, confusion, and though he was loathe to admit it, even fear. He had simply done as the Creator requested, when the gem he had crushed reacted violently. It was an unsettling feeling for the former kobold, feeling the unassuming crystal strain under his crushing bite, only to be unable to handle it a second longer and then swiftly crack in two with a satisfying noise. The problem came a fraction of a second later, the crystal seemed to become unbearably hot almost instantly, then violently protested by sending shards of ripping hot and fiendishly sharp gemstone in every direction, most of which was inside his own mouth.

As he started thinking of this, he became aware once more of the aftermath of his little experiment, feeling as though over half of his face and almost his entire jaw had been completely reshaped. It was a strange sensation, now that much of the pain had passed he felt very familiar with every single splinter which had dug into his flesh, and was acutely aware of those which had imbedded themselves into his bones. Yet, they didn’t feel out of place. Instead, each of these spurs felt like an extension of his own skull, like they belonged. Within his mouth, it felt similar to having dozens, even hundreds of extra needle-sharp teeth fused directly to his jaws, the roof of his mouth, even his tongue and teeth had shards attached to them.

The shrapnel which had pierced through his flesh and jutted out from the left side of his head felt more akin to scales, or perhaps whiskers. It was an unusual experience for the drake; but while he shuddered at the memory of how he’d wound up with a remodeled skull, he wasn’t unused to waking up with his body feeling entirely remade, nor could this even be said to be the most thorough change he’d ever woken up to. As he shook off the last of his groggy stupor, he became aware of one more detail: he felt strong.

He stood up, flexing the muscles across his body and feeling the newfound strength flowing within. He stretched out, and could feel his tensed body bristling with energy. So excited was he that he couldn't stop himself from cutting loose a little; he stood on his hind legs and heaved a deep breath, before letting loose a mighty roar, one which echoed throughout the floor. All activity stopped for a long moment, the creatures were long used to the tyrranical ruler of the twelfth, and knew better than to give him a reason to pay attention to them.

He allowed himself to enjoy the total, utter silence while it lasted, and then dropped back down to all fours, kicking up the sand and water around him. Next on his agenda was to begin acquainting himself with the changes in his body, something that wound up presenting a problem for him. He found that he was unused to his increased strength and the changes of his body. In the past, every time he awoke and found himself changed, it had only taken him a short while to adjust. This was even the case when he found himself entirely changed in body, having cast away his days as a mere kobold to become something much greater.

Something was different now, he was obviously stronger, yet he couldn’t bring it fully to bear. He set off to explore his new limits, and hopefully adjust to himself in doing so. And he did so in what he felt was the best method to do so; he began stampeding around the floor, leaving a trail of veritable carnage in his wake. Sand and rocks were being tossed this way and that, craters were being scored into the walls from his inability to stop or turn in time, the huge range of life was being thoroughly disturbed and decimated across the entire area. As this scene went on, the drake had begun thoroughly enjoying himself.

The only precaution taken during his romp was to give any corals bearing crystals which he spotted a wide berth. After all, he may be pleased with his increase in strength, but he wasn’t yet willing to pay the price to do it again. In the same vein, he had been making sure to remain cautious and aware of anything which may damage his crystal spines, remembering the agony inflicted upon him upon removing one was enough to dissuade him from losing another.

The minutes flowed by, and he had started testing himself in the deeper waters near the entrance, when the Creator sent intent to stop for a moment. He did so, feeling the intense focus of the Creator's Gaze on him before it’s attention waned. He was about to continue slaughtering the large crabs, maybe even stingrays if he could find them, when a diminutive figure entered his floor through one of the hidden openings, followed by an even more miniscule presence.

He looked towards the Mistress curiously, cocking his head to the left. He hadn’t seen her in some time, and she had grown since he had. She was nearly twice the length as she had been when he had seen her last, around fifty centimeters, and appeared to have matured some. That is, if her race matured in a similar race to kobolds, something which he wasn’t certain of.

Behind the Mistress was one of those strange things he saw occasionally, albeit different than he was familiar with. A mote of icy blue light that shivered and danced in the small currents of water followed her eagerly. She had been gently petting the creature when they entered his floor, and she seemed to be searching for something when she entered.

The Mistress spotted him as quickly as he spotted her, and gave a friendly smile and wave to him, motioning him to lower his head for her. He did so, doing his best to press his head to the sand in the water she was in so as to be at eye level with her. She reached out and felt one of his crystal attachments jutting out from near his nose, puncturing the scales of his snout. She went about running her hand along the sandy yellow crystal, it was deceptively smooth for its rough appearance, and was tipped with a wickedly sharp point, the very same which allowed it to puncture the roof of his mouth clean through to the opposite side. It felt far more sensitive to her touch than it had been to anything else, feeling like a firm but gentle tug on something coming from his very bones when she placed her hand on the shard, and he couldnt help but jerk away in apprehension when she reached the base of the shard, rather roughly tearing it out of her grasp.

Thankfully, she didn’t seem too upset with the rough treatment, and she simply pouting at him before ferrying her strange creature away to another hole in the wall, disappearing to floors unknown. He watched her depart, and then shrugged and turned back to his floor to start the search once more for anything which may allow him to further adjust to his own strength. His eyes scanned over the floor, looking for anything on that level to help test himself on, when he spotted something that could be perfect for just that. A bright light, overpowering even the glow of the corals in the waters, shone in the distance, he was immediately interested. He bounded over, intending to come to a stop right before the exit. Unfortunately, he was still underestimating his own body, and managed to propel himself into the wall behind.

The wall rumbled and dust and rocks scattered across the floor for meters around him. After he had pried himself loose from the walls, he shook his head and turned around to face the creature, only to be disappointed. Long and shiny, with two jagged jaws on either side of its head, he was very familiar with the creature. Not only was this an unpleasant reminder of his weakest days, proving more than capable of injuring him when he was a mere kobold, every attempt he’d made at removing it was met with failure.

After bisecting, crushing, ripping apart, and any number of other methods being used on the creature, only for it to survive and heal, or bite and rip at him in return, he had simply given up on it. He was certain he could kill the thing, but that would require him to eat it, or at least be bitten and torn into, and both of these options were thoroughly off the table in the drake’s mind. He'd already considered it an awful addition to his floor.

And now, it was growing, elongating from four meters to five, a third jaw sprouting from where its center antennae had been and the other two shifting downwards, all three spaced at even angles from one another. The bright beige and brown carapace shifted colors, turning a sickly grey, and then softening to a leathery texture. It was a rather simple change, and the drake had seen creatures glow and change numerous times in the past, even more drastically in some cases. And yet, it left a bad taste in its mouth watching this accursed creature be lucky enough to undergo the change.

He grumbled, ripping the worm apart out of spite, only for it to writhe and screech in unnatural contortions and alien tones, before the lower half of its body regrew in a flash of light, the severed portion disappearing in much the same manner, and then turned and stormed off. The worm burrowed itself into the sand as he did, appearing just as displeased as he was if its mannerisms were to be believed.

He charged away, continuing his rampage on the floor, even as the surroundings were being perpetually repaired by the Creator, with larger, tougher, and faster animals being added to the waters and shores of the floor for the former kobold to test his might on. And so, his night wore on, and the twelfth was kept awake and on edge by the rampage of one particularly twitchy drake with a very loose understanding of his own strength.