With a new farm down, I’m splitting the workload: Ivy and I are working on upgrading our weapons, whilst Bomber carries out my experiment with the worms. Both actually require mana crystals, but I provided enough to Bomber using dirt casting that I can let him handle the overwhelming majority of the work while the rest of us stay focused on crafting things for future fights and the base.

Ivy’s more dexterous experience makes her better for helping me with crafts, whilst Bomber’s fear of fire makes dirt digging his job. Ropert, of course, is on corpse clean-up and watch duty.

Ivy and I are using a ton of crafts to upgrade or replace all our old weapons. We might not be as advanced as the Valley’s echowing tribe, but that’s not a problem given our surplus of materials from hunting and gathering. Ivy’s garrote got remade with Creeper Thorn entwined in Mana Grass fibers; the combination of the two makes it sturdier and able to channel MP to strengthen it. It’ll make it useful to see if Ivy can also learn magic, but equally give her a better tool than our first draft of the choking rope.

The second craft is of course replacing my staff. It served me well so far, but like any quick-made manga it was inevitably going to get axed at some point. The new material for my new staff will be Magosbone, however: unlike wood that’s a better fit with my physical form, Magosbone can channel magic and is lighter. I am somewhat worried about durability, but my spells can easily reinforce it. For now though, all I can do is make a part known as the “core” in my eventual design. Fitting given I'm a dungeon master, but I’ve decided to use the lingo more due to how I intend to make it modular.

And that modularity leads me to my first experiment with what the worms are capable of: can they recharge my mana crystals? Bomber is burying them at various intervals into the new plot’s dirt, each of the new crystals boasting a max of 100 MP and formed-to-shape. We're also now using the ground shape to cast them. It isn’t perfect, but forcing the crystals to form in a mostly-enclosed space let’s me control their shaping and finally get good balance between them for easier use in crafting.

My ultimate goal here is simply trying to find alternate methods to charge crystals. After all, I know my dungeon is generating mana… but that’s not quite the same as MP within the system. They’re definitely connected because of their principles, especially since the mana-enriching worms can generate it on a scale for my dungeon. If I’m able to find a new Construction or similar to charge my crystals, then my summons could take up a small interest in magic using crystal-based reserves of their own.

Better yet, it’d let me create a network of defensive bulkheads wherever my crystal farms are. Anything attacking us would be a lot easier to fight if I had a sufficient supply to draw from.

Yet I digress; for now, my attention is on trying to craft my new staff amidst the experiment’s setup.

The first benefit of Magosbone I want to utilize is its ability to channel magic. Using Bark Shield to reinforce it structurally helps, but I’ll need mana to do it. Cording together the most equal length of my longer bones with mana grass for now, I measure the total size of it all and let it begin cooking at a lower temperature so as to not immediately burn up the grass and give me time to work.

In the meantime, I've set-up a small container of dirt in the forge's room. Whilst I'm definitely not at the accuracy of controlling my body like Ropert after my evolution, I can go slowly and create shapes within the dirt with relative ease. Using my crystal creation and that mold lets me create a set of parts to keep the sturdy section of magosbone together: crystal rings. They may not be too durable on their own, but the overall size of my new staff shouldn't make it too likely they'll be hit... and on top of that, the amount of rings should reduce the relative force transferred to it.

Master, the forge is almost done.

I look back at Ropert as he wiggles his way through the forge with one of the few ranbi large enough to warrant keeping and using for parts.

Thank you, Ropert. But... may I ask a question?

The worming vine turns one end toward me, continuing to coil the rest of its body outside of the room.

Of course. What is it you wish to ask me, Master?

Part of me wants to talk about Bomber more given his revival, but he's been working well enough on his own that it's better not to worry too much. I approach the forge and remove the now-finished bones, moving them carefully and eventually standing them up so I can start sliding the rings down and into position.

With the worms and the corpses being fed to our neighbor, I've been putting off your own growth. Of course you got opportunities before, but this new direction leaves you with very little chances. Are you... satisfied with my decisions?

The question clearly takes Ropert aback given his following silence, but his continued motion shows he isn't too stunned either. The vine monster finishes stowing the body and finally begins returning his form to the forge before his voice enters my mind again.

I know that you know little of this world, Master... but as a Dungeon Master, I believe you are sufficiently trying your best. The fact both I and the duo have had their fill at all is a testament to that. Why would I feel dissatisfied when you do not use us like sacrificial pawns and care for us?

I fit the last ring onto the bundle of bones with a bit of a struggle, turning it around with my vines coiled around the grip of it.

Grey Man... told me that the only one who really had free will was me. But I'd like to think that isn't true, especially after discovering that the Amassed Creeper Thorn was like me before it expanded to such a size. He made it seem like all you guys would ever do is follow me, but I want you to be more than that. I want you to be my friends as much as my allies.

[Notification]

Unique item Core Magosbone Staff (MK I) has been created.

Current Craft (Progress %): UNKNOWN (ERROR%)

The system wasn't sure how to handle my concept of a modular staff, I guess... but Grey Man said to trust in it and that's exactly what I want to do. Ropert approaches from my flank to look the weapon over with a chuckle.

Master, you need not worry. Whether you truly believe it or not, we all see you as our friend. Why else would we work so intensely for you and still be happy?

Because they're pawns. If I was in my ghost form, I would have probably been visibly upset as that thought breaks its way to the forefront. The staff in my hand feels heavier for a moment, but I shake it away whilst I beat the dirt surface to collapse the dug rings.

Thank you for the answer. Ivy is free if you need any help for the time being. If the traps are all reset and the bodies are taken care of, go ahead and help Bomber. Just don't get where the worms can reach you, got it?

Of course, Master. Good luck with your crafting.

Ropert tips the end of his vine and departs fairly quickly despite his size.

The toolroom can be lonely but it's better for me to be alone rather than letting my mind wander with more ill thoughts. The time to ponder everything would come after we succeeded with our overgrown neighbor and I had more power.

Okay... time to pull from my storage and finish this thing.

Accessing Dungeon storage...

The crystal crown of my new staff clicks into place at the head of the weapon moments before I twist dried Creeper Thorn and Mana Grass Cordage around it and secure it. The mold storing my new crystals is filled and the full-sized stones are exactly as many as I need: 100 MP each. Four fit onto the crown easily... but the crown itself is also a 100 MP crystal. Combined with the six crystal rings that carry 50 MP in capacity, my new staff is at a staggering total of 800 MP in use. It already vastly surpasses my previous staff, but the only issue is that my previous staff could hold a proper edge on one side; the compound nature of my staff makes it impossible to use it as a weapon. Maybe, in the future, I could make something to affix to the bottom of the staff to give it that purpose... but anything that large is far beyond my ability.

[Notification] The system has detected the creation of a unique item. Updating system to account for new item mechanics...

Yeah. That checks out. My new staff is modular in that I can easily replace the crown with a different type to allow more gems, but also since I can hang a second crown from it and upgrade it further. This sort of weapon is probably not common in societies of this world... but their level of craftsmanship means they wouldn't need this. It's a creation born from my intelligence but also my unique lack of facilities to make something of high quality.

Item Created

Core Magosbone Staff (MK I)

This item is unlike any other: you are now Bonded to it.

Bonded... that means-

Bonded (Item Effect)

A Bonded item is incapable of truly being lost: it is stored inside a user's personal inventory should they desire it, no matter how far it may be.

Thanks System. So unlike my other staff that can be taken from me, this one can't? But I guess it being broken would likely remove that. Or at least make it a worthless item until I found a way to fix it. That's perfectly fine, though, since it means I'd never be without a staff. Even if I keep using my old staff for its 400 MP, I'd have an extra 800 on demand if I ever needed it.

For now, I'll go ahead and carry my new staff so I can charge it. My other staff is in the inventory and ready if I need it, but the high amount of MP the new one has means I'll have to carry it around a lot longer to properly charge it.

That is, if the new project isn't a success.

For the first time today, I slip out of the dungeon and head to the worm fields.

All three of my summons are waiting for me, each doing their own respective job to facilitate the faster work. The grass farm I set-up for it is ripe with the large worms busily going about their business, but a section of it has been filled with stones. Bomber quickly digs holes whilst Ivy carries the crystals to fill them, all the while Ropert directs them and keeps an eye on any worms that get too close to the barrier shoved into the dirt.

Everything looks like it's going well. You've already buried half of the crystals, too. Each one is a 100 MP, so try your best not to damage them. It'd be hard for me to replace them while I'm charging my new staff.

Ivy and Bomber look up at my mental speaking, the prior quickly dropping the crystals and running to my side with a few of her characteristic squeaks. She's obviously impressed by it... but I'm not stupid enough to let her get too close to the mana grass-combined cords. I pat the ranbli on her head and look Bomber over, noting just how healthy he was now.

It really was impossible to tell he died.

Bomber, you've done well. I don't have the things I need to make you a new set of armor and a weapon, but when I do I will make it better than the pair you had last time. There won't ever be a time like the last. I promise.

He nods and turns continues placing in the crystals Ivy dropped. In total there had to be dozens of them... and the multiple feet of dirt now replaced with them was certainly quite the sight. There was just enough space between them for the grasses to grow.

If this experiment goes well, though, I may be able to recharge my crystals faster than ever. After all, the worms use the grass and then the grass feeds the worms... but if we use part of the land for crystals, there's a charge the excess mana feeds into the crystals. If this works, then-

Master, are you attempting to create something that generates mana for the dungeon?

Damn it, Ropert. Just once could you be a little less intelligent and let me have my one win? I grumble and watch Bomber put the last sets of crystals into the dirt.

Well yes. But it's not just that. The Dungeon already has a large amount of mana potential, but this would also give me a means to supply all of you with mana crystals, too. Using magic isn't necessary to be powerful, of course, but supplementing your abilities could make all of you able to fight on parity with me. If the four of us were that strong, it wouldn't matter how many foes we face now would it?

It's also a vital step in upgrading our combat abilities to really start trimming the Amassed Creeper Thorn. Our neighbor's content nature would hold so long as we had food, but the cutting would need to begin very soon or we'd be completely circled. The worm farms simply wouldn't cut it if I wanted to feed it in a sustainable manner, so losing access to our wild ranbi attackers wasn't an option.

This needs to work so either all of us or at least me can start trimming it in a meaningful way. None of them could get close without risking the thing attacking them, so magic is our only option. And if not for the fact our entire dungeon was in the middle of a grasslands, I'd consider using controlled burns... but that's far too risky given the sheer size of it and no way of stopping the burning once it starts.

Okay Ropert: raise the wall and let's see what happens.

The Creeper Thorn waits until Bomber scrambles out of the dirt before tugging the wood-carved walling away... and the worms immediately bleed out from their section of dirt into the new section.

New Construction Detected Name Summary & Effect Costs Worm Farm: Mana A low-level mana farm; although the worms and grass are too few to properly harvest, this farm is able to power crystals that store mana as well as sustain a Dungeon's growth.

Gradually Recharges all Mana-Powered Objects in the Dungeon at a slow rate (1% per day).

Provides 10 Mana to the Dungeon per day. 5 Stone

5 Metal

20 Lumber

50 Favor

2400 of total Crystals

Holy shit. I just doubled my mana production.

Master, I feel... different. As if I can breathe more easily. Is that strange?

Ropert's words snap me out of my brief stunning, turning my attention to him for a moment before I turn back to the garden. The few crystals poking out of the ground begin glowing, radiating a rainbow of magical glows.

Each worm is a mage... which means each worm has the potential to use magic of the various elements. That means that the trick to making my dungeon's mana probably lies in the combination of them. It would make sense given how my magic grew from understanding the mana of my dungeon. Comprehending things about magic led to breakthroughs as a mage, of course, but the sheer power of this sort of construction is enough that even Ropert could feel it.

Neither of my ranbli seem too influenced besides their own amusement at the pretty lights, but I can't take it for granted that they haven't had any reaction to this. Given enough time, maybe they could even-

Congratulations! Your summon Ropert has leveled up! + 8 Maximum HP

+ 4 Maximum SP

+ 4 STR

+ 1 DEX

+ 5 INT

+ 2 CON

+ 1 LUCK

+ 6 RES

Wait, what? What are those increases!?

I turn to Ropert and see that he's not just "feeling something"; his body is actively soaking in the radiant mana bleeding out from the crystals!

Congratulations! Your summon Ropert has leveled up! + 4 Maximum HP

+ 5 Maximum SP

+ 10 Maximum MP

+ 2 STR

+ 1 DEX

+ 3 INT

+ 10 CON

+ 1 LUCK

+ 10 RES

His level-ups aren't making any sense. Ropert hadn't been leveling up for so long, yet simply being around this mana is making him rapidly advance? Is he the protagonist or something? That already caught him up to the total level for Bomber, but his stats are insane!

Ropert (Summoned Creeper Thorn, #3) Level: 4 MP: 20/20 HP: 42/42 SP: 24/24 Race: Creeper Thorn Class: None Role: N/A Evolution Stage: 1/1 STR: 20 CON: 26 DEX: 14 LUCK: 9 INT: 13 RES: 30 [Back] | [Evolve] | [Manager] | [Change Class] | [Kaden] | [Next]

I... I can evolve him, too? He doesn't seem to be leveling up anymore, but his stats after that are already impressive! He now has the highest STR and CON out of all of us and almost has caught up to me as far as his HP and SP go. He's got the second highest DEX with the highest RES stat to boot. Just those levels made him so much stronger but after all this time I hadn't even budged outside of new titles. My power came from my tools, but it could be argued that Ropert had stats to make up his strength. It's like comparing a hammer to a knife: both are useful but are used for different purposes.

Right now I have enough random options on my card, too. Evolve.

[Evolve]

Select your summon's evolution! Creeper Massive Creeper Burrow Creeper A deviant among plants! Created by the Grey Man, they act as ambush predators by luring others in with their human-like features. Some are believed able to even speak, using their intellect to lure in fresh prey. It may not have size, but this element of surprise gives it a window to attack that most of its relatives cannot achieve.

A Creeper Thorn's natural evolution: a Massive Creeper grows thicker and spouts smaller Creeper Thorn to help it further entangle prey. Its new size makes it far more difficult to subdue as well as giving it new, deadlier scythe-like thorns. Since it retains its shape, its new size does not hinder its mobility much. Creeper Thorn live wherever they please, but few adapt to life underground. A Burrow Creeper's pigmentation can change to match nearby grasses and can pass dirt through a channel of its body so it can dig like a worm. However, this comes at a cost: the thorns shrink and it instead relies on masses of bark that grow along its body. Recommended Class Focus: Damage & Skill-user Recommended Class Focus: Tanking & Mobility Recommended Class Focus: Subterfuge & Damage [Cancel] | [Confirm]

New categories, huh? Skill-user is obviously something that uses skills, but I never used them and do fine as a Creeper. Subterfuge... does that mean sneaking around and assassinating? It does have damage as a focus, but the mention of it having masses of bark likely make it slower.

All of them... are really good. Making Ropert follow in my shoes isn't a good idea since he doesn't have the same level of magic capabilities I do. Not to mention his stats aren't terribly great for using skills and magic, so it'd be better not to make him a Creeper.

With his new stat totals, it'd actually probably be smart to choose Massive Creeper despite its name. Neither Bomber or Ivy are particularly built for it as far as stats go despite their higher health pools. Not to mention that its new thorns being like scythes could make him even better fit to help trim the Amassed Creeper Thorn.

The other option... while it is interesting, Subterfuge isn't something I need or want them doing. If I sent him to infiltrate some settlement or spy on someone and he died, I would have to get his remains to have a chance at reviving him. There's also no guarantee it would work like last time. As powerful as it could be, there's only one option that's going to help keep him safe.

Massive Creeper.

It had been so long since I saw evolution but it was exactly like I remembered: Ropert's lengthy body illuminated in the familiar grey energy and morphed. Unlike Bomber and Ivy, his evolution was more explosive in its changes; he not only thicker in such a way that his body was almost like a boa's in thickness, but his thorns extended. Some of them broke away and dissipated into mana, but the majority of them grew multiple inches long and with a sick curve to them. The smaller Creeper Thorn vines breaking from his body almost looked like a centipede's legs with his new main body, a pair of them appearing every two or three inches of his body and quickly coiling around the main body.

In an instant, Ropert was massive. He was easily bigger than all of us even while coiled. The new smaller vines could still move him like the muscles of a snake or worm, though, so he was just as mobile as before.

Congratulations!

Ropert has evolved from Creeper Thorn to Massive Creeper. + Role evolved into [Class]; unlock [Class] & [Class Change] options.

+ Skill [Aegis Defense]

... Wait, he didn't get new stats? Just a new skill? What does it-

Aegis Defense Acquired due to evolution. Passive Personal-type The user has become exceptionally tied to their size: the larger you are, the stronger you are!

Each foot of width/length (largest value) grants an additional 2% HP based off the initial value.

... Ropert is a cheater. He gets to be huge, have cool cutting thorns, and get more HP based on his total size? Combining that with how our health works, his proportional size not only reduces the damage of smaller sections being removed but also gives him more HP. My experiment helped him break through whatever wall was holding him back from leveling up, but now it was painting a picture of just how weak I really was. Aside from my magic being absurdly strong, all of my summons were starting to catch-up or surpass me. I know I said I want them to fight beside me... but at the rate things are going, will they end up fighting in front of me instead?