After having evolved all the Fae I noticed something however. They all still had the dagger I had given them but they could no longer wear their armor. I should’ve expected that. A young Fae is only about 30 centimeters while an adult is around 60 depending on the individual. There were a few that was as short as 50 centimeters while I stopped one or two that towered over the rest at about 75. Clearly the armor that fit them when they were still Tier 1 were now too small to be worn by them.

Thankfully my Fae weren’t wearing the armor after they had evolved. The system had replaced them with the standard thin clothing the Fae wore when summoned normally. The armor didn’t disappear, it just was left on the ground next to them. Something that made me happy since I spent 1060 mana summoning the gear and didn’t want it to be wasted because my Fae didn’t remove their armor before evolving.

I tried to summon another piece of leather armor for one of now grown up Fae and it was summoned at the appropriate size.

“Lilly, am I able to make leather armors in any size? Also, how come I managed to summon a bigger version of the armor now? I didn’t get any message about adjusting the size at all from the system.”

“The armor I gave you were meant to be worn by fairies. Everything you do is a form of magic so I’m not really sure how it works. The armor I gave you was just a basic one. Mainly it’s used as a first armor until you can get something of higher quality.

For a dungeon, a basic armor can fit any tier of the intended race but higher quality armors can only be worn by those at a higher tier. See it as a way of the system to keep things ‘fair’. You can’t create a low tier creature with gear so good a low-level party can’t kill it. There’s some influence according to the floor you place your creature on too. You might only be able to have your young fae wear basic armor now but if you place them on later floors the system will let them slowly improve the gear but that’s nothing to concern yourself with for now.

The reason you have to summon the armor for your Fae now is because they grew up to be an adult. It’s the only time a change in tiers demands replacement gear. I like to think of it as the system hinting at you that it’s now possible for them to wear something better.”

“I don’t have anything better though. I only have what you gave me in the past.”

“Well I can help you with that if you’d let me.”

“Really? I want it. Give me new items.”

“I’ll only give you the items if I’m allowed to make sure you can use them. That means you’ll let me decide the upgrades for now.”

That gave me pause. I didn’t want Lilly to shape what I was against my wish. I had used the upgrade menu three times before by myself and making my own choice about what I was going to be felt right. The idea of letting anyone else decide what I was going to be felt wrong to my instincts as a dungeon core.

“I’m not sure...”

“Then let me at least explain why you should pick the upgrades I want? You can decide for yourself if you want them now or if you’ll get the upgrades later. At least then you’ll know two of the upgrades you should get, even if it isn’t right now.”

It sounded like a fair deal. I would get new items and I didn’t have to agree to spend my points against my will.

“Fine, that’s acceptable. What did you want me to get?”

“Pull up your possible upgrades. I might take the time to explain some of them if I’m already forced to do so. I can’t be here all the time and you’re growing a bit more independent then I thought a young core such as yourself would be. That way you might not waste any points.”

I go through my menu in order to see what upgrades I can get.

Possible upgrades Description Mana upgrade (1) Gain 100 additional mana to your mana pool. Health upgrade (1) Gain 20 health to your Core. Mana regeneration (1) Gain 5 mana/hour regeneration. Additional floor (2) Grow by expanding down to another floor. Fae Tier 3 Unlock stronger Fae to fight for you. Elementals Tier 2 Unlock stronger Elementals for fight for you. Combat roles (Fae) (1) Unlock ability of your Fae to gain combat roles. Loot Create and set loot when your creatures are killed. Trap upgrade (1) Gain access to more advanced traps. Stronger doors (1) Gain access to doors that are harder to break through. Locked doors Gain access to place locked doors in your dungeon. Note that the key must always be accessible before the door. Cheaper summoning (1) Summon combat creatures for 1 mana/summon less More plants Bring life to your dungeon by unlocking the ability to summon more plants. Donation altar Some adventurers give an offering to the dungeon before they enter. With the altar at your entrance they can now give donations to you and you can absorb the items right away. Respawn (1) Respawn your creatures 1 day after being killed at no additional mana cost.

I recognize most options possible but there’s a few missing and some new ones that I haven’t seen before. Lilly must have sensed my confusion because she started explaining without me having to ask.

“I remember the last time I was here you rushed to get the upgrades you wanted you didn’t take the time to read through the list. If you had you would have noticed that the list was different even back then. There are only a few things always shown on the list. New floors, health, mana capacity and mana regeneration always seem possible to get, but other options all vary on how much they show up. Of course, even then, some are more common than others.”

“Is that why I can’t get another combat race?”

“Yes, as you can see, you’re missing the option to get more races right now. The more races you do get unlocked, the rarer it becomes to gain more.

You have two options for your doors. As you can see one of them has a number next to the upgrade name while the other doesn’t. That means the option with the number will unlock a stronger version of the upgrade possible to get later while the one that lacks a number is an upgrade that doesn’t unlock anything else. A locked door is a locked door. You can’t really make it ‘more’ locked.

Both those upgrades I would like you to get in the future, by the way. I know you’re not that keen on doors at the moment but once they’re stronger and you’re able to lock them they’re surprisingly useful to force adventurers that rely on stealth to avoid dangerous fights. Now though, I want you to get something else. The doors can wait.

You might not think some of the upgrades does much. 100 extra mana is just four more rooms to you right now but later the upgrades will give you a lot more per upgrade than just 100. Same with the health, mana regeneration and cheaper summons. Get enough upgrades into the cheaper summons you can start summoning two or three Fae for the price of one.

The respawn one is a must have later on. Especially since you have the ability to revive specific Fae thanks to your earlier upgrades. The ‘Respawn’ upgrade along with that upgrade combines to revive those specific Fae and not just give you a brand-new Fae. For now, it’s useless since none of your Fae have even died and no adventurers are killing more of your Fae than your mana can handle to revive ‘manually’ so to say.

There are other options that combine with each other in various ways but even I don’t know all the possibilities. Now tell me pebble, what possible upgrade would I want you to get?”

I look at the list carefully. There were a few she said she wanted me to get later so I ignore those. Of the others there are a few that seem useless and some that would be good. But what would Lilly want?

“Is it the more complex traps? We did talk about traps last time you were here.”

“So wrong, little pebble. While traps would be nice to get you don’t really need them. No, I want you to get ‘Combat roles’ for your Fae.”

I should have guessed it was that one. She did force me to pick ‘Fairies’ as my first race when I was young. Maybe she just wants me to invest more and more into what is now my Fae? Is she lonely or does she want more of her kind? Even if it’s in a dungeon. Still, Lilly promised to explain why I should pick it.

“Why that one? Why now?”

“Well your Fae shares traits with what others would call the ‘sentient’ races. They can specialize in certain roles. That means your creatures would grow weaker in some ways but stronger in others. This upgrade will let you or the Fae in question focus on ranged, magic or melee combat.”

“Why would I want that? I could just spend a point to get the ability to summon Tier 3 Fae.”

“Different races have different tiers they max out at in a dungeon. Your Fae shouldn’t be able to grow passed Tier 4. I’m a little ashamed to admit it but our size is holding fairies back from competing compared other races. There’s only so much strength or magic power our bodies can hold. Unlocking the combat specializations is the first step to compensate for this. The weaknesses they get by specialization can be covered by other Fae if you put them in groups so that their power grows more than their weaknesses.”

“So, all my Fae can grow stronger without evolving in tiers?”

“Not all of them. Only adult Fae can get a combat role. Your Tier 1 Fae is stuck as they are.”

“Well it doesn’t sound too bad. Fine, I’ll do it. What is the second upgrade you want me to get?”

“Don’t rush it. Select the upgrade and close the upgrade window afterward. That will let the options change. Maybe we’ll find something really rare that will make me change my mind?”

Grumbling a little bit about this taking longer than necessary I do as she tells me.

Upgrade gained: Combat roles (Fae) (1). Your Fae can now specialize in melee, ranged or magic combat.

I close and open the upgrade options again.

Possible upgrades Description Mana upgrade (1) Gain 100 additional mana to your mana pool. Health upgrade (1) Gain 20 health to your Core. Mana regeneration (1) Gain 5 mana/hour regeneration. Additional floor (2) Grow by expanding down to another floor. Elementals Tier 2 Unlock stronger Elementals for fight for you. More combat races (2) Unlock one more race to fight and guard you. Basic classes (Fae) (2) Unlock basic classes for your Fae. Treasure Gain ability to create chests with loot for those lucky enough to find them. Loot Create and set loot when your creatures are killed. Trap upgrade (1) Gain access to more advanced traps. Stronger doors (1) Gain access to doors that are harder to break through. More critters Bring life to your dungeon by unlocking the ability to summon more critters. More plants Bring life to your dungeon by unlocking the ability to summon more plants. Fish (1) Unlock ability to summon small fish in your dungeon. Respawn (1) Respawn your creatures 1 day after being killed at no additional mana cost.

Well it’s mostly the same. I’m intrigued by the ‘Fish’ upgrade. What is a fish? Maybe it’s super useful? Maybe that's what Lilly was hoping to get?