Eternal Dungeon POV
Wha-What happened. As my mind begins to become aware again I slowly remember the answer to my own question. I overdid it, my mana consumption was too high for my generation, something I didn’t think was possible. I must’ve failed to account for something because my mana drained far faster than I would’ve liked, I’m not even sure how long I was able to keep the accelerated timefield active. System: why did I get rendered unconscious by the mana use? Instead of the normal information directly to the mind, the system actually responds which surprises me.
Notice: All cores require a certain level of mana to remain functional as soul tethers. For your core the current required amount is 99,937 mana to be exact, rounded to 100,000 to account for safety errors. If this threshold is breached the system will automatically assume control to preserve your life.
That would’ve been a nice thing to know before I started spending mana like water. I wish I hadn’t placed so many restrictions on the system help, but I wanted to be able to do as much as I could on my own. At least now I know that even I have my limits, I just need to be more careful and do these kinds of experiments in short bursts to check what the mana consumption looks like. I’m still not sure what caused me to run out of mana so fast, so figuring that out should be my first priority, that way I don’t repeat my mistake.
I do a quick check over the whole dungeon to make sure everything is order and also to check on what happened on my second floor while I was asleep. The second floor looks like a much more alive world than when I left it. The best way to explain it is that what I originally made was an illusion of life, but what it is now is the real thing.
Beasts roam about their territories looking for food, hunting and hiding, fighting and dying. The Goblin village to the east has a thriving population of little green monsters as well as several dozen new larger variants. The largest of the goblins I notice are all guarding a slightly smaller one, who turns out to be the boss.
Hobgoblin Shaman (Greater) Level 20
Hobgoblin Warrior (Greater) Level 20
Hobgoblin (Greater) Level 20
These are all the new larger variants. It looks like the warriors are a better evolution on par with the shaman himself. The main thing that makes the shaman the boss is the requirement that the boss of the village must be its leader, which as the smartest hobgoblin is him. I also notice that the boss has taken several female goblins as apprentices, I’m not sure why until the system helpfully informs me that one of the advantages of a Wyld dungeon is that their creatures can reproduce naturally. Gross but useful. I make sure to add more rules to keep the numbers of mobs from going too high, but the ecosystem seems to self-regulate pretty well.
I decided to check on the rest of my new bosses next. As I look towards the north I see a familiar face who pauses in his patrol to look at where I’m perceiving him from. Despite the changes he’s gone through I’m still able to tell that the beast in front of me was my first ever dungeon mob as well as my first boss.
Eternal Prowler (Superior) Level 20
He seems to have gotten a new unique variant. I can easily tell that he now shares both of my affinities. He’s also grown again, becoming 15 feet long and 8 high at the shoulder. His once fluffy golden mane has now shrunken down to cling closer to his form, the color of his fur is also now a pure white, however I notice that he’s able to alter its color at will. A large diamond shaped pattern of crystal blue colored fur is placed on his forehead above and between his eyes. I’ve also noticed that he now has 2 tails instead of 1, both are striped in green and purple.
He gives a powerful roar and puffs his chest up in pride as I look over him, striking various poses.
“Yes, you do look very handsome and powerful. I’m proud of how much you’ve grown buddy. Keep it up and you’ll be the first boss to earn their name” I say to him by projecting my thoughts. He seems to perk up at this, giving me a nod before resuming his patrol. I look him over with my full senses and notice that a small true-core of a soul has formed in his body, if he keeps growing he’ll likely eventually achieve sentience and sapience on his own. I knew it was possible from the system information, but it's a random natural process that I can’t really do anything about so I originally ignored it for the faster Spirit option.
As I finish looking over my new boss, I also notice that several of the lesser prowlers who moved from the first floor have joined the boss as his underlings. There appear to be several variants with the strongest ones resembling weaker versions of their boss.
Prowler (Greater) Level 16
Nature Prowler (Greater) Level 20
Spatial Prowler (Greater) Level 20
Purple Endless Prowler (Greater) Level 20
Green Endless Prowler (Greater) Level 20
I was able to find level 20’s of every variant but the standard Greater prowlers, who appear to be the weakest evolution. The Nature and Spatial prowlers seem to have weaker versions of the Wyld and Aether affinities with the Purple and Green Endless prowlers having the full affinity. The endless prowlers all have fur of the same color as their affinity which also matches their names well. All the variants still seem to have a way to alter their coloration to maintain stealth, but often choose to proudly display their normal colors when not hunting.
As I look through the mountains and forests of the northern area it seems that the cats have taken over this region as the main predators. Although I also notice one new variant that isn’t a prowler.
Stalker (Greater) Level 20
It has a slimmer build with larger teeth and claws. It seems to be a variant built for stealth and speed, a perception/agility build as opposed to the strength/agility build of the normal prowlers. The Stalker has an even more powerful variant of the stealth abilities of the prowlers and has several passives and actives that combo with sneak attacking its prey. Overall It’ll make a good addition to the floor.
With the north in good hands, err paws, I next check the west which should have the weakest boss. I move my attention over and take a look over the vast western forest and mountains. I can see that the diversity of creatures is much larger here than elsewhere. While none of the other zones were monocultures, there were only so many different species that could be supported. For some reason the western area seems to be able to support way more different species, I think it’s likely because there are no superior creatures around to dominate the local wildlife like in other zones. I check for the boss and find something interesting has happened.
Special Boss Event: King of the West
Due to the stalemated tribes of monsters only once an imbalance is created will a true king be able to step forwards. Once all but one of the princes is dead the king will be declared and the boss will become available.
It seems that a special event was created for this boss, since it fits my parameters it doesn’t break any rules and it’s definitely way cooler than a normal greater boss would’ve been. It looks like there are several tribes that each have a prince leading them and once adventurers create an imbalance by killing off members of various tribes then the beasts will be able to defeat one another until only one prince is left, who will then evolve into a king and become the boss for a set amount of time. There are more tribes than there are available princes so it’s likely that which tribes have them will rotate as well. The current Princes are:
Prince of Horns (Greater) Level 20
Prince of Apes (Greater) Level 20
Prince of Wolves (Greater) Level 20
Prince of Raptors (Greater) Level 20
It seems that some of them have more general titles. For example the Prince of Horns is from a tribe made up of horned ruminants like goats, deer, and bison. The Prince of Raptors sadly isn’t a tribe of velociraptors, but instead refers to birds of prey. His tribe is made up of mainly Hawks, Falcons, and Eagles. The Princes of Wolves and Apes have more obvious tribes with wolves being wolves and Apes being big tailless monkeys.
It seems that any creatures I absorbed that already had a mana type maintained their type when I recreated them, but all the new evolutions are neutral, Wyld, or Aether aligned. Hopefully once I get more affinities I can increase the diversity of magical creatures even more.
Happy with my western region I move on to the South to see what my last boss will be. As I look over I see that the lake is very different from what it started as. Its size has grown to turn the surrounding forests into a wetland swamp. Unlike a normal swamp the water is surprisingly clear and clean, it also lacks the normal pungent odors of a swamp. It seems that all the plants adapted well to this and all the creatures in the south appear to either be arboreal or adapted to be semi or fully aquatic. I look around for the boss and eventually find her.
Depthless Croaker (Superior) Level 20
She’s a big ole’ frog the size of an elephant with 6 eyes that allow her to see in every direction at once. She appears to have evolved from a weak water aligned species as she still has access to water mana, she’s also gained Aether mana from her evolutions. She has a mostly bluish-gray skin with small purple spots all along her head that kinda look like purple freckles. I personally think it makes her look cute, but then again I know she’s bound to me and unable to harm me.
The array of monsters in the south as well as the unique biome that's been created by the flooding helps to make the area distinct from the rest of the floor. I decided to check on the dock along with its small assortment of buildings to make sure they’re still intact. I notice that everything still looks fine, in fact the road leading back towards the town seems to have been elevated above the swamp with new bridges added where needed. The gravel has also been changed out for stone tile and the lights have become full on lampposts that are built around the endlessly burning torches.
How did all this get so changed? As I look over the house attached to the docks I get my answer. My Spiritkin. I had totally forgotten about them somehow. It seems that when I accelerated time for the whole floor they were a part of that as well. I had forgotten to account for the fact that the mana I paid to them as per the spirit contracts was based on a set period of time passing. I quickly checked through and adjusted all the contracts to be based off of my mana generation instead, in order for the spirits to accept the new contract I also gave them a larger amount of mana in the updated ones. They didn’t seem to mind and all of them accepted.
With that quick cleanup done I move on to look over the town in the middle of the floor. I’m amazed by how much the Spiritkin have grown into the place. They really seem to have adapted to their new roles well and all of them are simply going about their daily lives. I can also see a slow change coming over all of the young spirits housed inside of a Spiritkin body, I’m curious as to what that will bring for the future. It looks like the number of Spiritkin has actually grown which is curious since where are they getting the extra souls from? I examine the new Spiritkin closer and sort through what my aura recorded while I was asleep.
It seems that when 2 Spiritkin wanted to have a child they sacrificed some of their own mana to summon a new spirit and used a portion of their own mana income to pay for it. It seems that the ones who did this the most are the ones whose souls are changing the fastest although I still have no idea what the changes mean or will do.
Overall it appears that all the Spiritkin are enjoying their lives and happy with their new bodies. I guess having physical forms that can experience and interact with the physical world is pretty fun for them, I do remember missing having a body during my short time as a floating soul. The Spiritkin have all taken over various shops and houses, filling the roles that they chose to do. That’s right I simply made a list of roles and their requirements and let them pick what they wanted, I kept the exchange of Eternal Coins for mana, and just added an eternal coin based economy to the town. My plan was to keep this system across all my floors so that my Spiritkin could choose what to do with their payment.
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I had another system in place that would be very important for setting up future adventures. A quest system. One of the new additions to Wyla’s trunk on the second floor is a board that allows them to use their integrated systems to accept quests. Chip also has an upgrade to allow them to directly integrate the quests as well so that they can accept and even turn in certain quests through the system itself. This is important because one of the things that Spiritkin can do with their hard earned EC is create and post quests for others to do. I encourage them to do this through a system that offers extra payment for completing certain role tasks, and the Spiritkin are encouraged to outsource this to adventurers.
Since I’m already looking over the town I make sure to check up on several of the other systems I had set up back when I first made the town. Oh right, I also need a name for several things. I send out a thought to all the dungeon bosses, as well as the Spiritkin who accepted the Mayor role asking them each to choose a proper name for their zone. I make sure to open up several of my memories that revolve around fantasy naming sense as well as naming in general.
I continue to check through various things on the second floor, while also writing out a few quest lines for later. Wait. How am I doing all this at once? Oh right dungeon. I guess I’m still not fully used to being a dungeon core instead of a human yet. I keep finding it strange that I’m able to multitask so well because I forget that dungeon cores are able to just split their attention. I just do it naturally so I haven’t noticed until now, kinda like breathing used to be. Well enough on this waste of a thought. My stupid scatterbrain is still a problem even though I’m nothing more than a soul in a gem, guess it must be soul deep.
Luckily I get requests to speak from several of my dungeon bosses which pulls me out of my introspective spiral of pointless thoughts. I decide to stress test my attention splitting by continuing what I’m doing and giving each request a small amount of my attention. Hey System, please warn me if I’m about to break something again while doing this. No response from the system but I know it heard me. My attention is split and I am now doing about 7 things at once, this is so much better than only being able to hyperfixate on one thing, I do not miss my old adhd meat brain.
Dungeon Creature POV’s
Boss of the North
I am the greatest predator of the dungeon, I was the first and I shall make sure to be the last to fall to protect my great creator. While the vinepaw was once stronger than me due to its greater rank, I am now above even her. Perhaps she will finally agree to bear my cubs?
My musings are interrupted by the great creator who gives me a personal task. I must decide on a name for my new domain, up until now the creator has simply declared its name to be 1`the north`. This is no longer good enough, I see the creator's wisdom in giving my domain a proper name. The creator is even generous enough to offer me use of his own mighty knowledge to aid me in the creation of a name.
I decide that I want the name to reflect to all intruders what fate will befall them if they dare to enter the domain of the strongest. Yes I have the perfect name for my domain.
“Great One, I have decided on a name” I project my thought down the connection with my creator
“Oh? Interesting? Go ahead, tell me.” The creator seems curious and amused through our connection.
“I wish all to know what their fate shall be should they walk in my woods. I shall name it the Forest of Endings” I proclaim my perfect domain name. “I also have a suggestion that the mountains should be called the Impassable Peaks” I finish, puffing up my chest with pride and striking a powerful pose.
“Sounds like a good name, but I’ve already decided that the mountains shall be named the Borderlands since they make up the border between the floor and its walls. I did like your name though, perhaps you should save it for the next floor” The creator sounds more amused, but also pleased.
Good! I have done my task well, the creator even placed enough faith in me to believe that I would make it to the Third floor once it was opened to us! I refuse to let him down, I shall hold my position as boss until the third floor is opened and I am on it!
Boss of the South
Mmmmmm water feels good, big bugs taste good, being boss is good. New clutch of eggs must be protected. Am the best protector. Nothing escapes me. Hmmm? The Great One has given me a task. Name for the home. Hmmm The Great One gives knowledge to complete task. Good, much easier task with that. I chose Big Swamp. The Great One says no. Big South swamp? Still a no. Hmmm. HMMMMM. MUST THINK. Use creator knowledge more. Croaker Lake? Flooded Forest? Creator likes both names. Task complete. Must continue to wait. Better food shall soon be here. Must be ready.
Boss of the East
All the peoples are doing well. The Village grows and prospers under me. Power is merit. Merit is worth. All worth is rewarded. Must contribute to receive. All work under me for I am smartest. That is my power, my merit, my worth. A Message from the Great Creator. A name for the village. Good, this will inspire all the peoples. No vote needed, Name decided. Village shall be Hokoto. Perfect Goblin name. Great Creator accepts. Good. I shall declare our new village name. Perhaps make some of the gruntlings make a sign.
Princes of the West (exact POV unknown)
Our fighting has been halted. A declaration from The Great One, may all beasts bow their heads to his mighty benevolence. The Great One has declared we must convene to decide a name of the domain we fight over. All others argue over this name while I use what knowledge the Great Creator has allowed. I turn to the Prince of Apes and give my suggestion, offering to let him take credit and I shall support. He likes this idea. Good he is a fool. The Prince of Apes makes the suggestion `The Royal Woods`. I give some time before agreeing that it is a good name. Perfect, now the other two must agree on a name to contest our 2 votes or agree with this one and let the Prince of Apes have the win. The Princes eventually agree, no other choice. The name is a good one.
As the “originator” of the suggestion, Prince of Apes is the one to present the name to The Great One. Fine with me. A calculated loss of prestige is worth what I shall gain. The Creator accepts and the convene breaks. But now proud Prince of Apes has placed a target on his back. Good. My tribe shall be the victors of the cycle. I shall rule the Royal Woods.
Eternal Dungeon POV
Fantastic all the names got made rather quickly. I guess everyone was just excited to impress me and complete the task I gave them. I’m fine with it. It makes sense that they would treat me like their god, I am the ruler of the entire dungeon. Now I had to work with the less intelligent bosses a bit, but I figured it would all work out. All of the bosses, and actually a lot of the creatures on this floor, have started developing proper souls. It's pretty clear that my original prowler is the farthest along, but the others are growing.
Now for all the names, I needed them since I plan on making a map and offering it into the system integration in Chip’s shop. The East has the Village of Hokoto and Hokoto Woods. The South has The Flooded Forest and Croaker Lake. The West is The Royal Woods and The North is now The Forest of Endings. I also executively named the mountains that eventually become the walls the Borderlands. I’m going to just name whatever region marks the edges of the dungeon as Borderlands from now on, I’ll also make it so that some dungeon rules don’t apply there, making the Borderlands the most dangerous region on any floor.
I’m still waiting on the Mayor to finish getting a name for the town, but it seems like that’ll take a bit. He’s currently holding a meeting with the residence and they’re coming up with names to vote on. Very democratic of them, I can’t wait to see what name they decide on. With most of the names ready I decide to get started on the map. I’m going to make the most basic mini-maps for the integrated version. Nothing more than a normal map that displays where on it you are. It takes me a couple tries before I’m satisfied with it, but I did it without relying on the system so that’s a win.
I continue to work on various things to help really complete the second floor. Since I’m not less occupied and I once again have mana to spare, I also work on carving out floor 3. I’m planning on making it about the same size as floor 2, maybe smaller. My plan for all the way up to floor 5 was to keep using floor 2 as a central point and have floors 3-5 connect to it directly. Then I’ll increase the size of floor 6 and make a new central zone for the following floors. It’s good to have plans like this for the future. Helps me stay focused.
As I’m about to start working on some new experiments I get a feeling through my connection with the Spiritkin. They have finished their vote and have decided to have a whole ceremony for the naming process, something I easily agreed to. The whole town became abuzz with excited activity as the preparations for the festival/ceremony began. I was happy to see all the Spiritkin were helping in ways that befitted their roles. Craftsmen made decorations and helped with the specialized construction. Several builders helped to set up the decorations as well as a stage in the southern plaza. The mercantile roles all found ways to monetize the situation, although I noticed their prices were all discounted for the event. It was interesting how they seemed to have mixed together high fantasy and Japanese aesthetics into their own culture. They had updated basically everything in the town to fit their new cultural style. I quite liked the look of everything, even more so with the festive decorations going up.
I also noticed that all of the Spiritkin were using magic to accomplish various things. When I pulled up the status screens of my Spiritkin I noticed that all of them had a trait that would cause them to develop in the direction that their role required. It seemed that many of them also had abilities that relied on my dungeon magic to work. Such as the merchants ability to conjure a set number of items daily, which I learned was reliant on my creation power. I didn’t mind this since it just meant less I had to personally do, the system seemed very adaptable to the situation. I guess it would have to be considering it has to govern all of magic and mana plus all the things that use it.
Spiritkin POV
It was so exciting! A day-long festival which would end in a naming ceremony for the town. I absently kicked my legs as my mother finished up doing my hair. She was going for a more formal hairstyle but worn in an informal way. Mom had the Tailor role and she was an expert on fashion and styles as those were the memories bestowed upon her. I was excited for when I would be old enough to take on a role of my own and receive the wisdom of the Creator.
“Ok darling, I’m done. Go have fun with your friends, make sure to be at south plaza before sundown.” My mother tells me and I jump up from her lap to run outside.
“Kumi! Hiro!” I shout to my two friends as I burst through the door.
“Aika!” They both exclaim as we join together in a big group hug. After a few moments of linking emotions we break apart and begin to talk.
“Aika, you look so pretty! Your mom truly knows the best styles!” Kumi praises me as Hiro emphatically nods along in agreement. I blush and turn away under their intense praise.
“Well you guys look great as well!” I eventually manage to say once I get control of my reddened face.
We continue to chatter as we walk towards the eastern plaza. We agreed to go here first because it's where all the games are. Hiro’s dad was volunteering in the dunk tank and Hiro is determined to dunk him at least once. After 18 attempts and the loss of half his saved up money I finally interceded on Hiro’s behalf. I place a coin in the jar and pick up a ball, I focus on the target and use the one ability I was given at birth. Kinetic Manipulation. With my arm as the power and my mind as the guide I hit the bullseye on the first try and watch as Hiro’s dad goes plunging into the cold water.
The small crowd cheers at my successful dunk. Hiro’s mom is running the booth and has a weird smile on her face as she watches her husband get dunked.
“You're the best Aika!” Hiro proclaims before hugging me.
“No problem, what’re friends for” I quote my dad as I hug Hiro back. We exchange a quick link of emotions before we part.
“Ok, Hiro’s dad got dunked. I get to pick the next game!” Kumi butts in annoyed at being left out. I make sure to give her a hug too and exchange my apologies through the link. We move on to play tons of different games, I end up paying for most of them but Hiro contributes the rest of his funds as well. Kumi makes sure to save all her money so that she can pay for the food later, in exchange we pay for all of her games. Once our game budget is blown we move on to the Northern plaza to look at all the shows and art pieces that are on display before proceeding to the western plaza to fill up on food. I manage to drag everyone into the southern plaza right as the sun starts to set.
“Thank you everyone for being here. Thank you to all of you who helped in making this possible as well as to everyone who contributed a name for our town.” The Mayor begins his speech and my friends and I separate to go find our families in the crowd.
“Tonight we hold a ceremony in order to declare the formal name of our town in the eyes of the Creator. Everyone please join hands so that our feelings may reach the Creator as we proclaim our new name to him.” The Mayor says right as I manage to find my parents in the crowd of people. Everyone holds hands with those near them, some people even twine their tails in order to be closer to as many people as possible. As we all touch I feel the emotional link begin to grow with each new person added. I can feel mom, dad, the mayor, even Hiro and Kumi.
I can feel the mana in the air grow dense as the emotional link empowers our natural casting abilities. Once the link stops growing I once again hear the Mayor speak, but now it’s through both the link and my ears.
“Oh Great Creator who gave us life and purpose. Who brings us gifts of mana and magic. We dedicate the town you bestowed to us as the origin of our people, of all Spiritkin. We declare our home's name to be `The Town of New Beginnings` as it is from this place that our lives truly began. If this name pleases you oh great Lord Eternal, please give us a sign” The Mayor speaks and as he does I can feel the mana in the air shift. For a single moment I feel as though I am connected to mana itself, as though I am the nexus of all existence. I feel a powerful emotion of acceptance flood the link before the moment ends and all is returned to how it once was.
“We thank you Great Creator, Lord Eternal for your benevolence and for joining our ceremony” The Mayor says, he’s the only one still able to stay calm in this situation after what everyone just felt and witnessed. “Let us celebrate! To New Beginnings!” The Mayor says and I can feel his skill pulling me out of my stupor and back into the festive mood of earlier. Everyone cheers and the party truly begins. Despite all the festivities surrounding me all I can think about is the brief moment that I was connected with Lord Eternal.
Eternal Dungeon POV
I continued to watch as the ceremony began and completed. Ending in a speech from the mayor in which he personally thanked me and then declared that the new name would be. `The Town of New Beginnings`. I liked the name, it was fitting for a starter town. With the last name turned in I finished the map and then finally opened up the second floor to adventurers.