I regret my life decisions. I mean, yes the beelflowers were a huge hit but, at what costs. Now I am going to stuck with this yandere dungeon for the rest of my life now. Yeap, relationship status with bee dungeon is now at "Trusted", MAX reputation points. I wanna cry..... To all those who are wondering why we haven't moved on to the "Oathsworn" status yet, read the name again. We are in no way sworn to each other, meaning that we are not Oathsworn. Real life is really different from those games huh.
Aaanyways, the beelflower was a huge fail-success. I have managed to once again improve the food supply of the bees, who by now have simply left the fungi to dry. Seriously, they are going to go extinct you know? You still have to care for your creatures you know? *Sigh* Never mind, this one handful of a dungeon can go suck a.........beelflower. What did you think I was going to say? Hm?
Right, following the 'spectacular' success of the beelflowers, which by the way have somehow managed to incorprate themsleves into my current so called ecosystem. It's just a bunch of plants honestly. They kind of hybridised themselves with the manaberry flowers, so when they initially simply just spreading seeds with somthing similar to a blueberry bunch, they have become much better now. Now, they are the only flowers you will find in my dungeon, the rest have lost out in this selection. The white orchid looking flower was now pink at the tips, with one more very small petal at the top (the flower is sideways so yeah) which sort of shelters the stigma. The flower requires full on support from the bees (or a very bored largot) to be polliniated, which is kind of not what I wanted but hey I'm not complaining. The best part? I can now harvest manaberries in bunches, around five of those per bunch.
[Manaberry] Requires: {external aid in pollination},{water},{soil},{mana}. Production Rate: {5/12Hrs}. An extremely sweet and nourishing berry borne by a beelflower.
Juuuiiicy! Now, I still have lots of time, so let's carry on with some more experimentation. We have so much good results from experimentation don't we? Right, now onto the next splice. Actually.... no. I wish to create a new plant. Multiple actually. Ooohh my creativity cap is on! Grind those gears and get going! Make a list of the plants we need.
Food Production [minimal achieved] [Manaberry](vakiolum) Diplomatic [do not proceed any further] [Beelflower] Defensive [not in demand but completely absent] - Offense [not in demand but completely absent] - Supportive [minimal achieved] [Manaleaf] Utility [not in demand but completely absent] - Monster {1/20}
Right, from the looks of this, I need my defenses and offenses stat. Defensive plants can double as utility, so that should be fine for now. Let me see, I would first need a hanging plant with vine-like structures, a plant that can hide and house my larvae, hopefully some toxic plants as well.
Welp, it's time to use our great friend, Domain Manipulation. Not that I have the skill, but this should help a little. Let's get one of my vakiolum seeds lying around (from the berries), aaand hup.
I dove into the seed. No, I'm serious. It's that toilet bowl thing again, just that this time it's more like an elevator, since I do not enter the seed, but rather simply inside the seed to observe it. .. .. Gah! It's hard to explain. So right now I'm staring at the seed, no, the fully grown plant. The seed will grow into a healthy vakiolum, bear beelflowers and eventually die. That's fine and all but.... I don't want that.
So the first thing I did was turn the plant upside-down. The plant will now be anchored not on the floor but the ceiling. It would grow strong roots, very strong roots, capable of holding on to the stone up till a whole 5 kg of wieight. It would grow multiple long vines with short leaves at fairly regular intervals, eventually allowing the vines to touch the ground. Once they reach the ground, long and thin roots would spread out, drawing in nutrients from the soil. Their flowers would be high up to avoid competition, but it would also be a lot smaller to compensate for its slight lack of nutrients.
Congratulations! Through manipulating your domain and concentrating your influence, you have delved deeper into the secrets of this path. [Domain Manipulation]: {4/5}. You have unlocked a (Vine) variation to your Vakiolum. It can be added to the seed at no additional cost.
Perfect. Now select that and splice it with a sticktrap seed.
Vakiolum(vine) seed Sticktrap seed (collect product here)
Now begin manual splicing! The power! The potential! All possible because of me! Yay me!
Focus.... We need to caaarefully set this thing up now. We do not want this to be non-beneficial to us, but we still want to keep those features that can be. Tough choices man. Firstly, the grass is completely out of the sticktrap. Gone! Here is the interesting part. I can make the leaves of my plant sticky, BUT that would also mean that my dear larva and the bees can get caught in it as well. I need a way to counteract that. I don't see a friendly fire off button, so I guess I will have to do it myself. I think the most important thing is to make sure that the leaves are not sticky all the time. I made it such that they were able to control the secretion of the sticky fluid. Thus, when time comes for a Dungeon Battle, I can immediately get them to make their leaves sticky and slow down the enemies. Next up, a self defense mechanism. I mean, sure they already have the leaves but, I need to make them perfect. Once they are suddenly pulled by a large force (generally at 4.5 kg), their roots will immediately loosen up and the entire plant falls down. Then, even on the vines there will be sticky fluid, allowing the plant to entrap whatever was the cause. The plant would also release a pheromone when doing so such that all nearby vines would do the same as well. That will hopefully give the troublemaker no chance to escape. 10kg should be their limit for the falling sticky net. Yes, go! I shall call it the vakiolum variation [sticknet] for their last resort reaction. Through time, they probable would develop better versions of these skills but for now, this will do.
Seeds Spliced! You are now able to purchase [Sticknet Vakiolum(vine)] in the Catalogue at [15 DP] each. The seed cannot be spliced yet. Mature Time: [5 days]. Requires: {Mana},{Water},{Soil}
Wowee! That is one heck of a deal! Let's get, like, 20 of them stat! Ok, now we chuck them at the ceiling and all should be ok. [1900 DP], still looking good.
Next up! We need to have a somewhat poisonous plant. Just so happens that I know of a treacherous ground which readily has venom availible. *Sigh* Life is harsh.
"Honey came again! I'm so happy! But darling doesn't look too well, have you been having enough rest? Dungeons need to rest too OK? Take care of your health, alright? Wait, what if I just take care of honey when he is-kyaaa!"
"First off. I'm completely fine, so get your delusion of me out of your mind. Next, I need some venom. I wonder if you could spare me som-"
"Hurry! Get the Elite Soldier Bees right now! Get them to test their venom, I need the strongest dose of venom right now! Ha? They are busy? Tell them to drop it, my orders." Oi, oi. No need to go so far. I just need a small sample right now. He-Hello? Are you even listening? Oi!
That was.... awful. At least I got my samples now. *Haaaaa* Give me back my peaceful life. Alright, now we need to somehow incorprate this into a seed. Hmmmmm. I could also incorprate this into my larva as well. A poison team? That sounds good. I'm just going to casually grab 5 of those eggs and see if I can incorprate venom into them. I'll do my larva first, then the plants.
First off, I used my domain manipulation again, zoom down the elevator into the egg. I sensed the pulsing life force in the egg, one that will soon hatch into a larva. So, I decided to give these five a small head start. I took a nice portion of my bee venom and saturated them with mana. Pure mana. The now throbbing with energy venom flowed in my grasps just like mana did, so I slowly poured it into the eggs. The venom immediately started to act and began to kill the still developing embryo. But I did not panic. I cannot. With a steady hand, I guided the venom to not destroy, but join with the larval embryo. It resisted my directions, it did not want to join. It was not meant to join, it was meant for only one, one that would use it to defend its home. But I suggested otherwise, for I too, will use this venom to defend my home. I will not use this venom. I would use mine. I filled the venom with even thicker mana, condensed and pulsing. I willed it, willed it to change. To flow like water, yet sting like the fire. A composite mana, Poison Mana. A milky green, very similar to the colour of chlorine gas. Honey bee venom is an irritant, causing inflamation and anti-coagulation. Very effective in deterring, not so effective in killing. It can, but only in large amounts. It was meant for the hive to stand together and overwhelm their foe. My larvae would not. They must stand alone and fight. To utilize whatever means they had to outsmart their enemy, to wait, to ambush, to retreat and wait again. Their venom was their weapon, their ally, their lifeline. The venom slowly broke down into venom mana, infusing and incoperating into the larvae. I smiled. They would be a wonderful addition to my armada.
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Wonderful! You have made excellent use of mana manipulation of incoperate an element into raw mana. You have managed to manually procure a composite mana. You have managed to incorperate mana into your monsters. With deeper understanding, you now delve deeper into the secrets of this path. [Mana Manipulation]: {6/10}
Pooooose! I did it! Soon, I shall be unstoppable! Invincible! Muahahaha*cough*! Okay, on to the plants.
Using the same technique, I turned the venom into poison mana and allowed it to be incorporated into the vakiolum. This is, by the way, a non-flowering one. My other dungeon monsters have no poison resisting capabilites, so doing this and causing the leaching of toxins into the other plants is pretty bad. Either way, long story short, I got this result.
You have unlocked a variation to your vakiolum. The (toxic) variation can be added to your seed at the cost of [15 DP]. (Toxic): The vakiolum now contains mild toxins that act as a inhibitor in the respiration pathway. It's not lethal in small amounts, but the same cannot be said otherwise. It is possible to develope resistance towards this toxin.
That is... rather expensive. Welp, we'll get 16 of them for now an even our DP balance at [1500 DP]. Hmmm, I can't really think of anything else to do.... Oh! The tree!
Let's quickly splice it with a vakiolum seed, and see the results. Cool, trees are so much more different compared to little plants. The way they grow, the way they take root, it is all so different. I'm afraid I'm losing confidence in this one. Gaaaah. Focus me! The greatest dungeon master needs a good tree! Think of a tree! Hmmmm, let's imagine a tree. An apple tree, a mango tree, a pear tree, all the fruits. Waaah, the all look soo delicious. I would like the tree to have, say, many thick main branches but the other ones a little thinner. I would, I would like the leaves to be nice and large, a little like a heart shape.
Oh my! Why not just make the tree grow its own vines! This is a fantasy world anyways, might as well go all out. I'm bored as crap from all that serious stuff. Lemme do something fun for a change. Let's make the tree's centre trunk so thick that it's centre is hollow. Yes, and there would be holes leading to this empty space above most of the large main branches. Let it take shape.... It would look fairly similar to an umbrella, like those pine tree's shape but a lot fatter at the bottom. The vines would bear the flowers, which will look like bleeding hearts from my past life. Ooohhh, this is looking good! Some of the vines would droop to the floor, just like the vine version of the current vakiolum. For reproduction wise, it's definitely got to be fruit. Lots of fruit. All the varieties that I can imagine right now. Heck, make it grow strawberries and cherries as well. No, make the flowers accept any pollen from fruit bearing flowers. This way, any other fantasy fruit can be produced as well. But we need more, throw more onto this tree. I'm blowing a lot of DP on this, gotta make it count. It's sap would be very useful, I don't have a concrete idea on how, so I'm just going to tell it to be useful. The leaves got to be different as well, denoted by their coloration. Some when ground into pulp would be a potent toxin, some when consumed will give a huuuge burst of energy, some when boiled will produce a broth that has healing abilites, some can be used as antidotes and sooooo much more. Creativity is OP! Heck, make it grow lights as well, and make it able to house larvae as well. Add this, add that! No, that has got to go.... it's useless.
*Phew* That was quite the ordeal. I spent literally half a day customizing my tree to the most minute of detail. I completely lost count on what I had put in. Ohhh boy this is going to be sweet. Finish the Splicing! Let me see the final product! Huh? I fee.l...sl..e...e...p...y.....
*#% Err@r in^gener@ting *#% Requ&ire *#% Unstabl~< Animu$&*# Authori$@tion Commence. Generating...... Animus depleted. warning Animus depleted. Utilising all availible resources..
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I have never drunk before in my life. So can someone please tell me, am I drunk? Cause my core is definitely smaller compared to before and I have a splitting headache. Gaargh! It hurts. My brain feels like someone took a jackhammer and slammed right into it. It's called a hangover right? Hm? Wait, what is that? *Gasp* My tree! It's ready!
[*#% Tree]: A tree of unknown origin created by a dungeon. Possesing features that many would kill to acquire, this tree is close to being omnipotent. It's seeds are only capable of inheriting some of its qualities, thus making this plant unique. This tree is of an unknown rarity. The seed of this tree cannot be spliced. The full extent of its abilites are unknown. Cost: [X Animus]. Mature Time: [Minimal 100 years]. Requires: [unknown].
Eh? Errrr, okay? This is getting weird. Why in the world is there garbles in the blue boxes? Hello administrator? Fix your boxes! Jeez. I guess I'll have to ask that bee lady again for this. I really am starting to rely on her a little huh. I mean, she is really nice if you do take away her yandere tendencies. Her voice sounds very pleasing too.
"HONEY! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Hey, pipe down. My hair and ears are flapping from the gust again.
"Nothing much. I tried to splice a tree and *bam* I fell asleep. No biggie here."
"No biggie my foot! Dungeons do not enter such a deep sleep so easily. They only do that when they need to restore a major functional error in their system, its called hibernation. But the thing is, you did not hibernate! What happened? What did you do?"
"Ehhh, what do you mean by I did not hibernate?"
"When a dungeon hibernates, all the monsters and creatures still continue as per normal. When you fell asleep, as you say, all your creatures and monsters simply flopped and did not move for a whole 2 weeks! 2 weeks!"
What! I was asleep for 2 weeks?! Wait, what about my monsters and plants? If they did not move it meants that they are...
"I helped you feed them, no need to worry, darling. So tell me, what exactly did you do?" I'm getting the chills. Like the kind a cheating husband gets found out by his wife without knowing he got found out, and the wife is super angry at him.
"I just spliced a tree, simple as that."
"Explain to me, then, why was the dungeon core that you acquired completely gone, with your crystal core now a quater of its original size."
Gufua! What! A quater? Isn't that like, really bad? "What do you mean by the other dungeon core completely gone."
"Check you inventory. Your Animus as well."
No way! The ant dungeon core is really gone, all that's left is the 25 gems and...... [0 Animus]?!
"I had to inject you all the Animus I had, you know. Couldn't even get to enjoy it properly. You owe me one, okay honey? One time of core to core direct Animus transfer. Seriously, what did you do that took [8000 Animus]?"
E-Eh-EHHHHHHH?!?!? Firstly, I had to use so much animus? Oh my god, I can't repay you that, it's too much. You probably saved my life too, judging from the fact that my core is tiny now. You even fed my monsters and kept my creatures alive. I need to thank you, so much. No wait, why does the transfer sound eerily similar to mouth to mouth? Erm...
"Honey. Honestly, you have to warn me when you this kind of thing okay? It is alright to rely on me, we are more than just friends alright? I'll do anything for my darling and he would do anything for me, isn't that right? So next time, don't just fall asleep like that, okay? Oh! Darling~! I managed to make something real nice! Hold on for a second. La la la~"
Hmmm. That is quite the information overload. Judging from the fact that she also knows about dungeons extensively, and the fact that she saved my life, I think I can confide in her for this one. I mean, yan-yan will keep your secret safe no matter what! Even if it means that yan-yan will kill, yan-yan will still do it for you! This kind of yandere logic..... strangely doubles my confidence in her.
"So I was wondering, do you know what these red gems are?-" "Darling~ Look! It's Exotic Jelly-"
Welp, a bee had flown into the larva I was possesing (which was the seeded larvack) and knocked the red gem into the jelly. For a moment, me and her both kind of laughed at the funny thing that happed, but as I reached out for the gem.
...
....
....
It dissolved.