Aby spared little time after its mental blockade was released, despite being undeniably curious as to why that moment came so soon it knew it wouldn’t be able to puzzle the answer together with its current amount of information. Instead, it began considering what the next three floors would be composed of, and wanted to put a few ideas into play.

The first new floor it would create would continue expanding on the eleventh and twelfth, a simple, large floor at first that gradually narrows and becomes filled with halls and passageways of sandy shores, a large entrance and a maze-like exit. The core started by reshaping the maze of the eleventh floor entirely, adding a second exit downwards that connected to the new floor, an option that avoids the twelfth.

The waters that rushed to fill the floor were slowly pushed aside, once more giving way to dunes of sand and islands of limestone. Deeper pools started to be filled with seaweed and coral before the core remembered something it had gotten the day prior, as with a few of its more recent additions it had come from the baggage of a fallen invader, though it wasn’t actually animals in this instance.

Instead, it went through the same motions as spawning seaweed, a seed being planted in the loose, wet sand that was swiftly nourished by the abundant mana that permeated the floor. Before long, a small, brown sprout burst forth from the ground, a pair of leaves on either side of the twig. It was only a moment before that became a small bundle of leaves, then a bush, growing steadily upward to the point Aby needed to raise the height of the floor from a modest three meters like the previous floors to a rather tall ten, and the water itself became accordingly deeper.

As the roots of the red mangrove began branching and spreading out, the tree becoming ever taller as these roots pushed it above the water, Aby had to once more remake some sandbars in the open space to facilitate the next tree, a black mangrove. The two looked similar in some ways, though instead of having roots to prop it above water these simply grew until they peaked above the surface, allowing air to reach.

The core wasted no time in populating the floor with these, the green and browns providing a stark contrast to the shades of yellow it had seen on the two previous floors. Not long after the plants, came the creatures. For the most part, there wasn’t much variety the core could see, not at the moment anyways. In fact, after populating the floor with creatures ranging from simple fish to a few sharks and stingrays, the core felt that something more was needed, and a stroke of inspiration led to the addition of silver-streaked and icicle barracudas.

Almost immediately, they disappeared into the roots and tangles of the floor, behaving differently than the core was used to when they began splitting up and even fighting one another in flashy, brilliant contests for dominance. Looking at the floor from above was stunning, vibrant greens stood out in the slightly dim floor, very few mana corals providing nothing more than a muted color glow, but from the gaps of the branches one could see bursts of silver shine every time one of the barracuda began moving, and as a very active species the floor was almost sparking with this color, flares of metal struggling to be noticed.

While the core still felt that more would be needed to make the floor stronger, it was pleased with the aesthetic, and would enjoy seeing how it developed, especially when the leaves of some of the trees had already begun taking on a white crust from the salt gathering on them.

After it felt satisfied with the floor for the moment, its attention turned to the next two floors downwards. Connecting the new eighteenth floor to where the nineteenth and twentieth took a long descent, so rather than having a straight vertical descent the core opted instead to create a tunnel diagonally, one which had algae filled holes burrowed out for some of its more oxygen needing inhabitants to be able to use to survive the trek.

Having put its solution into practice, it then began to work on the floors themselves. The nineteenth would hopefully realize what the fifteenth couldn’t, and after spawning a large maze and filling it with mana coral, and even a piece of flame spirit coral at the very end of one tunnel, it began to increase the heat. Hotter and hotter, the waters started steaming, then roiling, then outright boiling as the coral was forced to remain alive. Only the spirit coral seemed to be alright in these conditions, and the small branch it had moved down here to see if it was even possible was thriving.

After everything reached a fever pitch, Aby felt the change. Everything took on a red hue, even the waters themselves seemed to be a faint pink color. Furthermore, the waters abruptly stopped churning, and Aby could feel them rapidly losing temperature despite being very obviously scalding. The corals started steaming in much the same way as the frozen reef began snowing, and the hot waters were almost unnervingly tranquil. Aside from bubbles rising from some of the larger coral on the floor, there was no movement, none at all.

Congratulations! You have created an entirely new Biome! Termed “Roiling Reef”

Your title “Adaptive” allows your creations to adapt considerably to your new Personal Biome.

As your second Personal Biome, your core has gained an affinity with a secondary transformation of water, Steam, and all future evolutions can be potentially influenced by this!

The core couldn’t help but be pleased upon seeing this notification. It did wonder why the previous attempt hadn’t been successful for it, though, since it had done everything in almost the same way. The only reason it could think of was due to it not pushing beyond the point where the spirit coral was birthed, and it felt a touch upset that that may well have been the case.

It restrained itself from testing that theory, instead starting to populate the floor. Much like the arctic atoll it had created, these creatures were slow to acclimate, a great many wound up being unable to do so in the first place, and just dying. Strangely, jellyfish remained some of the most easy to introduce to this hostile environment, and while the fish struggled to even live, the first jellyfish had already reached a milestone.

Congratulations! Your creature “Common Box Jellyfish” has fulfilled a hidden condition(s), allowing it to undergo a special evolution!

Conditions fulfilled:

Creator titles: Randomizer, Invasive, Adaptive, Ambitious

Special Evolution Available:

Molten Box Jellyfish

Many say that the sting of a box jellyfish burns, and it is well known to be fatal with enough exposure to the venom. This variant forgoes venom in favor of injecting superheated steam into its victims through its stingers, a feat most would argue to be far worse than their unevolved counterparts.

Aby readily selected this option, watching as the box jellyfish changed from its milky white to a vibrant orange, all while its tendrils thickened, starting to be lined with much more visible stingers, some even barbed. While not a huge difference between the two, it was absolutely much more dangerous in appearance than its predecessor, and Aby had no doubt as to its efficacy.

Not long after, it was greeted with yet another screen.

Congratulations! Your creature “Common Lion’s Mane Jellyfish” has fulfilled a hidden condition(s), allowing it to undergo a special evolution!

Conditions fulfilled:

Creator titles: Randomizer, Invasive, Adaptive, Ambitious

Special Evolution Available:

Boiling Mane Jellyfish

A creature similar in appearance to a Common Lion’s Mane, these creatures represent a much more substantial threat to the lives of those who encounter their trailing tendrils. Their stings change from feeling warm and bubbly, to scalding and boiling, and those who find themselves tangled in its mane rarely end up well.

Again, the light of change shone throughout Aby’s nineteenth floor, this time focused on the massive example of the lion’s mane, still moving forward at a leisurely pace. As was advertised, the jellyfish changed very little, the biggest visible difference was the entire creature appeared glossy.

That was until it once more began to move, and every time its body shifted in even the slightest way, a burst of steam would be created, one which the creature was even able to use in order to propel itself forward at surprising speeds, especially considering its twenty meters of trailing tentacles.

Satisfied with that floor for the moment, it made sure to pay attention for any more evolutions before moving on to something it hoped would end its creations on a high note, creating the twentieth floor. It would continue from the seventeenth, dark and perilous, the core was unsure of what exactly it could do to live up to the previous two, before it witnessed one of its naturally evolving mimic octopus, trying desperately to avoid any form of notice. It decided to do something similar to the fifth, and create a maze, though with lantern fish, Humboldt squid, and even a few glowing serpents to populate it. Rather than being oppressively dark, it would be full of soft, glowing creatures each more capable than the last. Mixed into this floor, the shoals of bioluminescence, would be the boss.

Aby spent a few moments deliberating what this would be, and was considering using the wyrm before it had noticed that octopus. It deliberated on whether it was making a good choice, and was unsure whether it was a good idea to favor something that relies on hiding and ambush even more than the stars, before it brought it to the floor and selected it.

Congratulations! Your creature “Giant Mimic Octopus” has fulfilled a hidden condition(s), allowing it to undergo a special evolution!

Conditions fulfilled:

Creator titles: Randomizer, Invasive, Adaptive, Ambitious, The Trench Dungeon

Appointed as a Floor Boss

Special Evolution Available:

Crushing Waters Doppelgänger

Doppelgängers are creatures that survive by becoming another. They typically mimic sapient creatures, integrating into society to hunt, and remaining unknown. This variant, however, does not. Feral and animalistic, these beasts mimic anything they consume, and can even improve upon the creatures it knows, though it rarely does. Despite their natures, they remain intelligent enough to make a cunning, dangerous hunter.

Aby felt a wave of relief seeing that option, it was genuinely hoping the octopus would be a good choice for its boss, something different from the previous two who only relied on brute force, but it just wasn’t certain if it would need to find some way to hopefully try again. It selected the option, watching as the change lit up the surrounding cavern, a blinding white outshining the blues and reds around it.

That said, the change was underwhelming, even confusing. The creature simply tucked its legs into itself, pressing itself into a ball, and then seemed to liquefy, becoming what appeared to be a ball of grey sludge. Aby was surprised, to say the least, and was wondering if it had been relieved too soon when the ball rippled, then engulfed a single lantern fish that swam up to it in curiosity. After shimmering, jerking, and spasming, the ball of sludge sloughed off, revealing an identical fish, one that Aby would be unable to distinguish at all if it hadn’t already prioritized the link with the creature.

The similarities were uncanny, and the creature simply turned, then returned to the shoal of fish its victim had broken off from earlier with not a single one being any the wiser. Aby was pleased with the results, and wanted nothing more than to see how its interactions with other creatures went. Unfortunately, in its focus, it hadn’t realized something very important, and it was only when the rising sun had a shadow cast in front of it did Aby realize that it was overdue for an invasion.