The moment of revelation soon fades back into background noise as the perspectives from each of his scions are magnified and brought further into focus. He sees that they’ve found a hollow in a nearby tree and have managed to construct a cage or fence over the entrance. The prisoner tweeting angrily at their guard and although there are some patches of ice on the wee branches, a quick tail lash discourages any real attempts at their attempts to break the cage itself.

The impression he receives from the guard, one of Cutest’s mice soldiers, is that the bird has become more agitated in the last few hours. Unbeknownst to them though, he also watches through the barely developed eyes as a tiny little pup crosses the distance between where Cutest has set up her burrow near the dungeon heart and this tree. When the pup arrives, the older larger mouse picks it up and tosses through an opening where it is quickly pounced on and devoured messily.

Cutest sends to him that despite her ability to have her soldiers fight to the death, even against seemingly hopeless odds. Their instincts won’t let them be sent to die without others alongside them. Hence the guard tossing the pup through the mesh. Still, they’ll charge to their deaths if there are enough of them present, especially if given the mana to mature.

The battle with the {Flare Lynx} proved they were willing to throw themselves at a stronger opponent, and while it managed to flee, the taste of blood collected by the survivors of that battle made them distinguishable from the rest. So much so that they must be rotated out of boring or exceptionally dangerous duties, else they’ll just foster it off onto their lesser siblings.

“Wait. There was a big fight against a cat with fire magic. Why don’t I remember that?”

Gnat sends that it was after they had secured the weakened bird in its new home. Cutest and Thing working together were able to somehow get the small branches to graft into the base to stop it from escaping once it woke up. She says that he had dived deep into his meditation when the hot feline pounced. She’s embarrassed that she didn’t recognize it as a threat when she first noticed it seeming to follow in her wake.

Not being of particular interest to the non-avian predators caused a lapse in judgement, that spiraled into a full conflict once it got close enough to spot Cutest. It wasn’t until it casually snuffed out one of the perimeter mice that Gnat realized the danger.

Cutest on full alert with the death notice of her scout, when the cat full charged after her, dozens of mice threw themselves in its path to dissuade it. Many died, but many also managed to sink fang or claw into the beast, and it soon decided that trying to chase after Cutest while being bitten and scratched wasn’t worth it. While the swarm hadn’t really managed to inflict any true wounds on it, those that dealt enough damage were made stronger for it.

He nods along to the report as he takes it in, only just then noticing how much larger his heart has become of late as Cutest tends to their nest at the base of the pool. Gnat picks up his surprise and he feels another wave of frustration and shame from his first scion. He asks her about it, but she merely responds that she’s once again too small to be able to carry him effectively.

She’s hoping that once Thing manages the Assimilate Territory that she’ll be able to grow larger once more. Only being able to carry him in an emergency and by dumping a bunch of Mana is a source of inadequacy for her.

He offers what comforts he can as his focus shifts more solidly on Thing. First, he notices they’ve grown larger too, taking up a similar amount of space as Cutest, Thing’s central mass has nearly tripled in size. Now about as large as a child’s head, while still pulsating and slick with their coating of goo.

They’ve taken up their residence in the hollowed cage as well, the proximity and exposure to the occasional peck of frost has been beneficial with tailoring a new strain to work on the frosty chirp. The experience in modifying their Thing-sight for his Patron and the success with conquering Cutest before they were Cutest, sharpened their focus. Even if the practicality of an ice element bird being different enough that most everything needed to be built from scratch.

His attention is so hooked up with Thing’s perspective, “Greetings, Patron.”

Cutest freezes at his words and the piercing screech of surprise that comes in response. She further stills herself and her brood as a wave of sharp attention slashes through the area, “[Greetings… young dungeon. You have grown considerably if you were aware of my passage through your territory. I was not expecting that for quite some time.]”

The attention slicing its way through the area and edge in his voice compels the dungeon to speak up, “Not a domain thing. A Thing, uh, thing. Thing can still ‘see’ you from our last session. I mean, maybe we could have known when you crossed into my domain, because they only seem to be able to make alterations when you’re inside of me. But, we’ve been focused on completing that {Quest} you gave Gnat.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

There is a melodic coo from the firebird, “[Is that actual deference and respect I hear from you, young dungeon? You have grown. Good. Nevertheless, I am here. Present Thing so they may try-try again. My time is more valuable than your failings at fulfilling my will.]”

Cutest calms and continues about her business while giving her green troops their marching orders once again, though still advising the veterans to keep out of sight. No sense in losing assets unnecessarily. Because in those few short moments that greased up lava fowl just ruined their image in the dungeon’s thoughts again.

He’s dealt with these sorts before, and pretending genuinely for a short time is easier than the consequences of being honest, for now at least, “Of course, Boss. They are already on their way. We just had an incident with the initial capture and so have chosen to isolate the prey away from my heart. No need to draw additional predators towards my core, even if I’m not particularly vulnerable to being subsumed, it’s about best practices.”

The higher fidelity from the mouse pups catches the eye roll and dismissive posture from the smokey ostrich, but he puts that out of mind. Mostly because even as Thing is running over to make their appearance, he can already feel them working on both birds at the same time. He gets a slight nudge from Gnat to push all his focus to Thing, help their concentration, like he did for her during the battle with the frosty chirp.

He wonders about that even as he takes her advice. Musing that his attention acting as an amplifier for the amount or perhaps just the quality of the Mana and Mako he’s channeling makes sense. Though, admittedly, even as deep into Thing’s perspective as he is, the how of what they are doing is still totally alien to him. He can feel the what, with each of the birds getting their systems saturated. The constant battle of attrition and resources going into them to ensure that progress continues, new experiments being conducted to affect more of the host. But the how: absolute gobbledygook.

There comes a point though, where Thing seems to stop splitting their focus so much, and merely glances at the smaller bird while devoting themselves to expanding the links in the larger beast. He doesn’t mean to, but with how deep inside of their Patron Thing’s concentration is, the question is said out loud, “Why have you stopped deep diving into the little birdie, except for a few moments at a time?”

Thing sends an echo of the two subjects imposed upon one another that has just an overwhelming amount of unparsable terminology baked into it that feels natural to the organ spider. He just sits back with confusion swamping him as he tries to sort through seeing each of them in double and overlaid and just so much that Thing seems to intuit that just makes no sense to him.

“[Ahh… I think I know the problem. You haven’t acquired all that many different creatures have you, young dungeon? And yet, I imagine your roster of diseases would be nigh uncountable by most others, correct?]”

Latching onto the distraction, if only to pull himself out of the feedback loop he was stuck in, “I mean, I can make a few different critters I suppose, but I don’t actually make diseases by themselves. They’re spawned by my mobs, not me directly.”

“[How many different ‘critters’ can you make? A sweep of my gaze in just this clearing shows me: gnats, fleas, mosquitos, and mice. Since our agreement allows only one ‘Thing’, do you have any other creatures, out in the woods?]”

He gets the impression that Aurora Hephaestus is actually being helpful in this moment, so chooses to be more open and honest, “If you consider Thing to be a butterfly, I technically can still spawn in the caterpillar they evolved from- even if none of them can become their own butterflies. Or rather, they could perhaps become butterflies, but not spiders. But I’ve only ever made the one. The base pattern is a bit much to allow it to grow without supervision, and it’s kind of overwhelming on its own.”

There is a snip-snap of blades as he speaks of legalese, but while the gaze sharpens initially, the hostility dims as he finishes speaking. His Patron is silent for some moments, the contemplation clear from the hundred eyes focused on him and their surroundings.

“[Bring out your heart-]” the immediate plummeting of temperature from hundreds of creatures preparing to sacrifice themselves while their Scions draw deep from his wellspring and Thing’s catalogue for hypothermic diseases. The magic crackling in the air as all the idle eyes in the clearing and beyond gather towards him. And what is his response?

The firebird’s mirth flows out with strands of amusement and a refreshing spice of adrenaline as he ruffles his feathers with a quick shimmy. A short yet not unpleasant laugh issues forth, “[Calm yourselves, everyone. Your Dungeon is under no threat from me, our initial {Contract} still holds firm. I merely wish to confirm a suspicion and see about granting a minor {Boon.} Unless I’m mistaken, young dungeon, your theme may be preventing you from spawning in creatures you have assimilated. Much like how our agreement prevents you from making more ‘organ spiders’ you may be similarly locked out of various other insects, plants, rodents, reptiles and birds.]”

“But I haven’t actually gotten that many patterns yet. Every time I do there’s a popup in my log that I can go back and check,” as he has Cutest direct her minions to carry him out from their burrow despite her protests to the contrary. While also directing her to tunnel more exits and preparing to collapse some of them to keep herself safe, just as a matter of vigilance.

The apex avian sighs and shakes his head, “[You truly are a strange one. When my application was approved for the chance to host a dungeon core, I was expecting something very different. Something like the other Wild, Divine, or even the Profane dungeons I’ve witnessed before, but you are something new. You are much more a creature than a simple force of nature or a Lair busy churning out denizens.]”