Considering he still had plenty of mana left and was constantly getting more, Dan continued with his variety streak. The centipedes would be an excellent addition to his fighting force, but they were still the same type of creature. They were all somewhat different but still technically centipedes. So, Dan looked to make some new beasts.
He wanted to make something that would add some function to his upcoming fights but also really change things up. Looking at his available beasts, Dan chose three to modify and bring to the top.
The first of these beasts was going to be a type of bird. So far, he had eagles, hawks, and bats, which, when compared to the number of ground beasts he had, the birds took a hard loss in the variety factor. It wasn't anyone's fault, as there were just more things on the ground than in the air, and Dan hoped to bring a bit of flare into his monsters with this new addition.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
🔷 Monster Statblock 🔷
Rank: Low D Rank.
Name: Flaming Cardinal.
Type: Beast.
Size: Tiny.
Hierarchy: Minion.
Mind: Bestial.
Arcane Mana: 150/150.
Arcane Mana Regen: +6 Per Minute.
Pure Arcane Mana: 75/75.
Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +3 Per Minute.
Abilities: 6.
Flame Affinity. Flame Enhancement. Body Enhancement - Speed and Agility. Flaming Flock. Flame Spitter.
Innate Abilities: 2.
Keen Sight. Mental Resistance.
Respawn Timer: 2 Hours.
Respawn Cost: 25 Mana.
Creation Cost: 50 Mana.
🔷
Dan’s idea of creating the cardinals was something akin to the octo-lilies. He was going to have them operate in swarms, hence the Flaming Flock ability, which let them boost each other the more of them there were. In Dan’s mind's eye, he saw a bunch of small flaming birds diving down at a horde of enemies and setting them all on fire.
Not only could the cardinals spit small sparks of fire that would build up in quantity the more of them there were, but the Flame Enhancement allowed them to set themselves on fire without the obvious downsides. Mainly because it was more of an outer layer that was set on fire, and their bodies were actually protected by magic. Dan's main concern was that they would set each other on fire, but the Flaming Flock's ability gave them resistance to flames created by their own types of beasts. So, when everything was added up, the more of them there were, the hotter things got, but the more resistant they were to their own fire. Of course, anyone who wasn't resistant to fire would be left behind in a charred pile.
Moving on to the last two ground-based animals, Dan began with porcupines. They were going to be the perfect artillery to use against his enemies.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
🔷 Monster Statblock 🔷
Rank: Low D Rank.
Name: Launcher Porcupine.
Type: Beast.
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Size: Small.
Hierarchy: Minion.
Mind: Intelligent.
Arcane Mana: 300/300.
Arcane Mana Regen: +6 Per Minute.
Pure Arcane Mana: 150/150.
Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +3 Per Minute.
Abilities: 8.
Metal Affinity. Metal Enhancement. Body Enhancement - Quill Regeneration. Explosive Quills. Homing Quills. Piercing Quills. Quill Discharge. Mana Storage.
Innate Abilities: 4.
Quills. Keen Smell. Keen Hearing. Mental Resistance.
Respawn Timer: 2 Hours.
Respawn Cost: 30 Mana.
Creation Cost: 61 Mana.
🔷
At first glance, the porcupines might seem overpowered. However, they could only use one of their offensive quill abilities at a time. This meant they could only discharge Homing Quills or Piercing Quills one at a time and couldn’t mix them up. The good thing was that they had variety for different types of fights. If the enemies were bunched up together, Explosive Quills would be the best. For enemies that had too much defense, no worries; they could use their Piercing Quills. And finally, if there was just a singular or speedy enemy, their Homing Quills would be put to work.
Dan had to praise himself for the Metal Enhancement idea, yet again, since the quills themselves were only as tough as they normally were, even if the beast's rank added to their toughness, it still wasn’t enough. However, with Metal Enhancement added, the quills could be made into metal needles that would add extra piercing power and durability that they would not normally have. All in all, Dan really liked what he had created and couldn't wait to see the sky filled with quills.
Out of the three beasts, the last one was his favorite. Not only would it add an extra oomph to his combat prowess across all fields, but the silliness of it all made Dan smile inwardly.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
🔷 Monster Statblock 🔷
Rank: Low D Rank.
Name: Nutter Squirrel.
Type: Beast.
Size: Small.
Hierarchy: Minion.
Mind: Intelligent.
Arcane Mana: 150/150.
Arcane Mana Regen: +6 Per Minute.
Pure Arcane Mana: 75/75.
Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +3 Per Minute.
Abilities: 10.
Wood Affinity. Conjuration Affinity. Evocation Affinity. Body Enhancement - Agility and Speed. Stealth. Basic Wood Meld. Summon Explosive Acorn. Summon Tangling Acorn. Precise.
Innate Abilities: 4.
Night Vision. Dexterous. Keen Smell. Mental Resistance.
Respawn Timer: 2 Hours.
Respawn Cost: 39 Mana.
Creation Cost: 79 Mana.
🔷
The name itself was just the best. Nutter Squirrel. Ha!
Anyways, the squirrels would be more of a one-shot type of monster. An idea that made Dan giggle. Squirrels throwing their nuts; what a dumb idea. Dumb but, at the same time, incredibly genius.
The main reason Dan had made the damn squirrels was for annoying purposes. Their whole thing would be to appear, throw their acorn at an adventurer, and then disappear. To this extent, Dan gave them the Wood Meld ability, which would let them meld into the wood of a tree. The ability seemed strong, but what adventurers wouldn’t know, at least if they had bad senses, was that the squirrel just got stuck in the spot they melted into. They would then have to wait there until the danger passed before getting back out.
Okay, well, if he was being honest with himself, he also made it for another reason: bomber squirrel detachments. Dan was going to have the eagles grab the squirrels and fly them over enemy lines. Then, the squirrels would unleash their explosive acorns, causing chaos and destruction. And to ensure they didn’t miss, Dan had given them the Precise ability, which helped with their aiming.
Another good ability, though not as good as the explosive acorns, was the tangling acorns. These acorns erupted into a mass of roots and vines that reached out to grab anything near them. They would be perfect when combined with other monsters as they would cause distractions and let other monsters hit with impunity. In fact, looking at the squirrels Dan realized they were more support animals than anything else. They were there to be annoying yet useful by setting up their fellows.
Dan was feeling rather happy with the new additions, though he knew it would be a while before he had enough to make them truly useful. In fact, Dan would focus on creating more monsters for the next week or two. He wanted to have enough so he could sweep over the green camp and the hills in one go. However, while he waited, he needed to keep his nonexistent eyes open. There was definitely a D Rank Shard out there, and there was the possibility of a second one in the making. As such, he would need to send out scouts and keep an eye on the goblin camp and the hills just in case they started mobilizing.
Honestly, Dan would have loved to charge right in, but he didn’t have enough monsters to defend his lands properly. There were too many invaders spawning, and he had just enough monsters to keep them at bay.
In a way, his own expansion had been done way too fast, but it had been for the best. He had hoped to find some shards in his three new areas but hadn’t. That alone had been good enough since he now knew where the remaining shards were and, by extension, where he would have to mobilize his forces towards.
Now, all that was left was to wait and build up before the final battles of the zone came to a head.