Only a few minutes after leaving the core room me and Scarlet were talking atop one of the Red biome’s plateaus surveying the entire desert. Behind us was one of the heated springs which Scarlet was currently dipping her long tail in. She’d already reviewed their quality over the last week many times and greatly appreciates their addition in her workplace.
After dipping my [Projection’s] foot in the water and being dismayed at the lack of feeling I said “How about we go ahead and get started. Just let me know what creatures you have in mind and what you think your tribe will need to be successful. Keep in mind your tribe only needs to work shifts here while we’re building our town.”
Taking a notebook off her hip, a gift from Noire to all her sisters, Scarlet turned a few pages and asked “When will the Lazarusss Temple be completed Father? We’d discusssssed waiting until the ssssafe zone is built but I wanted to be sssure.”
The current plan I’ve concocted with the [Named] is to make the 4th safe zone into a settlement for the dungeon’s sentient races where adventurers and tourists alike can visit. Within the town my monsters will run businesses ranging from hotels to stores while paying a small tax back to me. Of course that money will go right back into growing the dungeon and buying materials or services from the outside. But I’ve decided to leave the specifics of how the town will grow to my creatures. It wouldn’t be difficult to simply give them a city and the materials to build it with, but that wouldn’t mean much to them. So to make them feel like a true part of the dungeon I’ll be providing them with ways to gain materials like stone and wood while letting them purchase more extravagant items directly from me, or more hopefully, from the world outside.
“Well that’s up to all of you as tribe leaders. As promised I’ll provide one temple free of charge wherever you want it. It is really expensive though so I can only make one for now.”
Making a note Scarlet muttered “We’ll need to vote on it soon... I’d rather not have our girlsss passing on before it’sss built.”
Within the Utility section of the [Construction] tab I’d found a building called the Lazarus Temple. As the name may suggest its main purpose is to resurrect dungeon monsters. The only caveats being that all those being resurrected come back 4 days later, it doesn’t work on those who die of natural causes, and only sapient monsters can use the temple. Still a pretty good deal considering my Lamias and future Oni don’t need to die permanently!
Finishing her note Scarlet began “Well regardless of the temple I plan on traveling the biome with my girlsss and sssetting up ambussshesss. Sssince those adventurersss need to bessst me before moving on that ssshould keep them here longer.”
“I approve! Just remember to show up enough to be seen. If you stay hidden too often the adventurers will stop looking for you altogether. I’ll set up the same behavior in your [Instance] later on as well.”
“Keep them interesssted but don’t let them bite?”
“Exactly. That works for your tribe but what are you thinking for creatures?”
Splashing her rattle tipped tail against the water behind us absentmindedly she answered “I wasss thinking of adding some large Gila Monstersss that rest atop the plateaus. Thosssse without springsss in particular ssshould make great heat ssspotsss. Maybe they could be sssimilar to the Volcanic Sssalamanders with mouthsss of fire? I was alssso wondering if they could ssswap elementsss during the night or day. Would that be posssible?”
Thinking back to the original Sun Salamander I’d killed during the shack days I recalled they’d possessed affinity for both fire and water magic. Using them as a base and turning them into reptiles similar to Gila Monsters shouldn’t be difficult.
“That shouldn’t be too difficult. I wonder if their venom will incorporate into their magic? A fire that poisons people would be pretty interesting.”
“How delightful!” she smiled clapping as I created several hundred of the modified Sun Salamanders across the desert. The changes were pretty minimal on my end as my skills modified their biology for me but I did add some mana absorbing properties into their scales. Hopefully they’ll be able to absorb the heat of the Prismatic Worms to recharge their mana capacity faster.
“Asss for plant life I’m imagining sssparse placement of desssert flowersss that match our red sssandsss and cacti. Those cacti could launch ssspikess and the flowersss could become tumbleweedsss of sssharp wires. In the middle of the tumbleweedsss I want some nice gear to reward thossse who break them open.”
While placing desert bushes around the floor at random, and leaving their roots sharp and brittle to encourage tumbleweed formation, I asked “Did you know that some cacti can grow to over 40 feet tall? I always imagine them as ankle height but they get massive in the right environment.”
“I don’t know if we need them that tall... But what about changing what they hold inssside their stems? Inssstead of water how about healing potions or something similar?”
“Ooh I like that a lot! What if the flower color denoted what liquid is held inside? That way some could contain violent chemicals and others could be medical remedies. Good thinking.”
“I try.” She said with a small smile and bow.
Designing the cacti I gave them all the capability to create a wide variety of liquids, helpful and harmful. Every time their flowers bloomed, about once every 3 days on our accelerated schedule, the liquid produced would be randomly chosen. It would be up to the adventurers to figure out what each flower meant.
“What should be the practical use for these cacti? Desert animals back home break into them for water but what about ours? Although getting past those spines could be difficult.”
“A bird ssspeciesss could get through perhaps? Although not many come to mind in the desert...”
Cupping my chin in thought I said “A desert makes me think of terrestrial birds. Maybe a Roadrunner species or ostrich? I’ll give them sharp beaks and enhanced speed so they can get into the cacti. Since we don’t have a big idea let’s just leave them to evolve naturally. Anything else?”
Pushing her index together as she turned away Scarlet asked blushing “I would like sssome Jeroboasss Father... I find them very cu- aggregable! Rather I believe they could have sssome potential.”
Chuckling to myself I said “Alright will do. Let’s keep them small and add some magic. That way they’ll be cute enough for you and still useful. I usually add some standard animals as well to the population list to keep the ecosystem stable. As I don’t modify them they tend to stay the same. Jerboas are desert rodents so they’ll need to burrow and fight off normal rattlesnakes. Probably should add some desert hares as burrow mates then...”
Turning back around as inspiration struck Scarlet said with eager eyes “What if they could usssse Earth magic! Not like thossse goatsss with rocksss but sssand! Whipping up sssandssstormsss to hide inside of with their sssmall bodies could be interesssting.”
“Then I’ll give them some Earth gem claws and put an extra large one on their tail’s end. Going with the sandstorm idea they will be situated in the center and the storm will persist until they’ve been eliminated. A pack of these guys could make for a hard fight.”
While I began creating them exactly as discussed around the floor with access to the underground tunnels, Scarlet tapped my shoulder slightly embarrassed.
“Fine.” I said with a well meaning sigh and summoned a single Jerboa on her shoulder to play with.
Soon as the small rodent fully materialized the venomous matriarchal rattlesnake knelt down and began playing with the little rodent. Admittedly he was rather adorable.
While she was distracted I went ahead and added some creatures of my own. Mainly adding some of the second floor bats to the underground caves and introducing some modified scorpions.
My bats had fought so well during the war against the pixies the entire colony was close to evolving after all this time. For putting in so much effort over the last few months I decided to reward them with a new environment to shine in. What they become is of little consequence to me.
In regard to the scorpions I’d taken an idea from a Smithsonian exhibit about their reaction to blacklight. These scorpions will glow different shades of red and light blue during the night when they come out to hunt. During the war I’d come up with 2 ideas for magic scoprions. One species will be able to change sand into vast quantities of salt and dehydrate whatever they sting with their tails. The other species can wear down metals through physical contact and control rust particles. Incoporating such specific powers into the scorpion template was harder than anticipated but showed just how far my techniques have grown. Finishing off the designs I left no limit on the scorpion’s size simply for my own amusement.
“I think we’ll leave things like that for now Scarlet. Monitor the biome over the coming weeks with your tribe and I can make changes when necessary. When the time comes for choosing evolutions I’ll call you to the core room to help. Next order of business is allocating your tribes specialization.”
Getting up from the ground with her cute new friend on her shoulder Scarlet dusted herself off and said “About that Father. I’ve been thinking about what direction to take my tribe but I’m sssorry to sssay I haven’t come up with anything. I know I’d like to do sssomething with entertainment but the ssspecificsss essscape me.”
With plenty other things on my to do list I shrugged “Don’t worry about it. You’ll know it when it comes to you. See how your tribe feels as well. We won’t be limiting what Lamias can join what groups but talking to them could help.”
Nodding Scarlet asked “When will our tribesss be sssummoned? I wasss ssspeaking with my sssisssters regarding our role asss leadersss and we’re hoping to arrange sssome cooperative huntsss between our tribesss. Asss you put it we want them to intermingle and not become ssseparated by color or sssubssspeciesss.
“I’m happy to hear that. Bringing the tribes together is another benefit to all of you building the 4th safe zone yourselves. As for when, are you ready now or do you need to prepare something?”
Gesturing that she wanted to summon them on the ground I followed behind Scarlet as she slithered down the side of the plateau. As she descended she took several deep breaths to ready herself. This was a big step in her life after all so she wanted to be presentable.
“Keep in mind this first set will mature at the same rate you and your sisters did, around 1 week. Take good care of them since the temple hasn’t been set up. Also remember that they may begin laying eggs before too long so prepare yourselves to take care of young ones in the coming weeks. I’ll gradually extend the maturity process as out population grows as well but you’ll know ahead of time.”
Stolen story; please report.
“Underssstood.” She said with a salute.
Bringing the maturity option of 1 week and choosing to summon only 10 Sidewinder Lamias the sand around us began to glow orange. Moments later several young lamias appearing 10-12 years old were coiling up their 6 foot long tails which trailed behind them. All of the new lamias kept Scarlet’s red scales with brownish yellow rattle on the tips of their tails but their human characteristics were surprisingly varied. Hair color, skin tone, height, and everything else was seemingly randomized. If I had to guess the lamia template contains a lot of genetic diversity since not all lamias are born warriors. Some will become merchants and business owners, while others will become miners and lumberjacks.
As the young serpents began to stir I have a Scarlet a knowing nod and flew off towards the entrance to Covenant Cavern. This was an important founding moment for her tribe and my presence would only get in the way of things.
---
Flying into the sulfur filled skies of the Yellow biome I’d never been happier to not have lungs or a nose. Melina’s home may lead to interesting evolutions but I pity anyone who has to travel through several miles of sulfuric air to make a living.
Touching down on one of the pathways carved into the mountains I murmured “Good thing I got her that Purifying Hood...”
“Yes it works perfectly Father.”
“HOLY SHIT!” I screamed, accidentally falling off the side of the walkway before catching myself midair.
Standing directly behind where I’d just been was Melina with her hood raised over her head. She’d changed into her full assassin’s garb which rendered her movements dead silent.
Trying my best to reclaim my dignity I coughed politely and said “I-I see your trainings coming along well! Happy to see that.”
“Mph.”
Used to her quiet personality I knew Melina wasn’t being dismissive. To her mph meant yes and she never meant to be rude using it.
“Well are you ready to get started? I already know what you want your tribe to specialize in although I wish we didn’t need any.”
“Assassins are useful.”
“I know but it’s a sad world we live in where professional killers are needed. The Reapers are one thing but assassins...”
“The Reapers are good spies, we’ll be good tools. If someone gets in our way we eliminate them and if someone targets you we eliminate them. Nothing more nothing less.”
Sighing in resignation I asked “Any thoughts on the Shady Merchant’s performance? I haven’t looked at the report yet but I have high hopes. Especially once they start travelling in caravans.”
“Satisfactory but not outstanding. People were apprehensive when speaking with them.”
“We expected that though. That should change as people get more used to trading with them. Regardless our information network should increase greatly.”
“Mph.”
Clapping I asked, “Bringing things back here though what creatures are you thinking for this biome?”
“Mantises, Llamas, Raptors, Vultures, Mimics, and Octopi.”
“Uh, well first off you mean Octopodes, and two I need a little more to go off of than that. Any powers or physical augmentations you want?”
Pulling out her own notebook Melina simply flipped to a page and handed it over to me. Written down were each of the aforementioned creatures with in depth descriptions on how she wanted them implemented. Although...
“Melina?”
“Mph?”
“Who wrote this?”
“Me.”
“Oh... okay.”
The contents of the notebook were perfect but the handwriting with hearted I’s, wild highlighting, and crayon drawings in the margins were... charming. It’s good to see she isn’t a completely cold blooded killer on the inside and out.
Scanning through the descriptions I said “The Mantises with far reaching cord like limbs within their arms are doable but the evolution will determine what they can do. Love where your head’s at though.”
“Mph.”
Taking the standard praying mantis template and increasing the size to a towering 8 feet I began the lengthy process of introducing entirely new body parts into it. The first step was hollowing out the mantis’ arms and filling them with organic rope like limbs. Next I created 3 diamond shaped exit points for the ropes to release from. Fully extended each would be around 30 feet long, perfectly suitable for the puppeteer work Melina is envisioning.
“Anywhere in particular you want the space gems to be embedded in the raptors and llamas?”
“Legs for the raptors, tongues for the llamas.”
“Got it. I’ll try to evolve some heavily modified hawks into raptors first but if that fails we can try shaping golems. Llamas I’ll do now but we’ll have to hope they get the powers you want.”
“Octopodes?”
“We can only hope they don’t die immediately. You may need to keep them alive for a short while until they can breath air and fly when they evolve. Getting them this big may be a challenge but we can at least match that of a giant squid if we’re patient. As for the vultures though...”
“Not doable?” she said with a tilt of her head.
Scratching the back of my neck I answered “Well I’ve never made something that shifts its state of matter before. The Phantom Eels come close but I don’t exactly know how they do it. We’ll have to see what they evolve into on their own.”
“Mph. Will my bridges work?”
“Yeah Mimics are pretty easy to change. I’m pretty sure we can make them snap closed, teeth shoot out from various places, and possibly even walk around by themselves. Shouldn’t be any problems.”
In accordance with what Melina wanted I got to work placing birds of prey modified with reptilian parts and llamas with space element crystals. For the mimics I fashioned them to look like a standard rickety wooden bridge. The wooden planks people will walk across are the inside of the mimic’s stretched open mouths which can snap closed whenever the mimic senses weight standing above them. Finally for the vultures I gave them large lung capacities in the hopes their evolutions would be influenced by the sulfuric environment.
“I’ll put a few temporary aquariums around here for the octopodes with air crystals for suckers. We’ll hope they can breathe air and fly post evolution.”
“Mph.”
As I created 14 open air aquariums I asked, “I’ve already summoned Scarlet’s tribe, would you like me to summon yours?”
“We’ll need more hoods first.”
Buying 10 more of the same Purifying Hood I’d bought Melina I handed them over. Each was relatively cheap at only 500 Rhilos which leads me to believe purification technology is common in this world. Not that it matters since the sulfur’s threat is how it obscures the environment rather than poisoning adventurers.
“I’m ready.”
I gave Melina the same cautions as Scarlet about how her tribe will grow before summoning 10 more Eyelash Viper Lamias. Soon as I did Melina began making her way to each of them and wrapping them in hoods. While flying away I caught a rare smile on Melina’s face which put any worries I may have had that she would treat her tribe members harshly at ease.
---
“She’s probably in her witch’s hut.” I whispered to myself as I flew over the toxic swamp reflecting the orange light of my body.
After Lila had fallen down the magic research rabbit hole she’d requested a personal lab. As her mind is an important asset for me to nurture I wasted no time and erected a revised version of Ford’s old shack in the Violet biome. This new shack stands on tall stilts deep into the swamp and has a door designed by Lila herself.
She’s dubbed them Janus Doors and they come in groups. The first door is just a regular mundane door, the design can be changed however I need, but once a paired door has been placed a portal is created between them. This portal will lead to wherever the second door is placed up to a range of 3 miles when opened by someone with an authenticated mana signature. If someone without the proper mana signature opens the door it simply leads to the other side. Naturally someone with proper authority to enter the portal can choose to pass through the door normally or be teleported.
Using her invention I gave her a large lab for her to do what she wants with underneath the swamp. Since it was within the swamp she could work below while still fulfilling her shifts in the biome above. Theoretically her [Instance] could fill in for her completely but if I did that she’d never leave her lab...
Opening the Janus Door I willed it to bring me below. The doorknob hummed slightly to confirm my intent and I was brought into the Dungeon of Season’s Magic Research Lab. It was designed to be a sterile environment filled with machinery to run tests but honestly it looked like somewhere a cult would meet. Magic lights fashioned after candles lit the dim room, papers with strange symbols written on them were thrown wildly around the place, and quiet murmuring could be heard from farther in.
“-but if a [Creature Core] is an organic part of the body acting as a filter for mana which syphons off approximately 13.64% of all observed creature’s mana intake gland when does it test for dungeon mana? If I could just figure out how dungeon mana differs from mana found naturally in the atmosphere this would be so much easier! Maybe the real question is how Father himself generates mana? Do dungeon cores introduce it into the world in the first place or does mana come from- AGGGGGGGGHHHHHH! Turn them off! Turn them off! My eyes!”
Dimming the magic lights to a reasonable 80%, still much better than the 10% they’d been at prior, I asked “Lila how can you even read down here?”
Still rubbing her eyes in pain she yelled back “I only write them down for everyone else! I know what they all say!”
Picking a random sheet off the ground I read the title “Baccus Bench?”
“Oh!” she rushed over and began excitedly explaining “That was an idea I had for the bars in The Cascade! They measure the sobriety of anyone sitting on them so servers know when to stop serving. Progress was good until I realized some people might want to be 100% drunk at bars.”
“Really? How do you measure through the seat- No! I’m not here for that. You won’t trap me here again!”
Slithering around my [Projection] Lila whispered in my ear “Oh come on Father... you know you want to talk magic items again... I have so much to discuss with you!”
‘Not good. Every time we get going I’m in here for hours running tests! Then Noire or Mulan will yell at me again!’
Placing a hand on both her shoulders and pushing her away I defiantly stated “Not today! I’ve already promised your sisters to help set their biomes up so I can’t stay! It doesn’t matter what you show me.”
Pouting Lila fell back into her chair and whispered “I guess you don’t want to hear about how the mana batteries for outside are coming along...”
“Did the clothes design work? No! Just give me your list of creatures already! I’ll come back later when I have time to talk about that!”
Clicking her tongue at her failure Lila used her tail to pick up a seemingly random paper from the floor and shove it into my face.
“I want gators, just curious how they evolve in poison, same with the otters and dragonflies. Just choose what you want from the available evolutions.”
Flipping the page over and making sense of her irrational rambling I asked, “What about the flies and... mosquitoes? Those will be hard to evolve.”
Spinning around in her chair excited again Lila began “Those will be my babies! Blood can be oh so useful for my curse magic and any I keep can go towards testing. If things go well the mosquitoes themselves can curse anyone whose blood they take. Powerful curses may be hard but I’m hopeful.”
“Same for the leeches I assume? Getting the blood of anyone who falls in the water should be easy.”
“Actually... the leeches are a different experiment. You’ve described problems with getting creatures who hunt in large groups like the second floor bats and insects to evolve. That is because the evolution point variable, which is likely the monster equivalent to the level dream variable, is divided amongst all those who assist in a kill. But what if a group of creatures could be recognized as a single monster by the god’s voice?”
“The experience wouldn’t be split and smaller creatures could evolve faster?”
“In theory. So I need you to make a Leech Hydra for me.”
“And how would I-?”
Throwing a paper folded into a small plane at me she said, “Read that one too.”
Scanning through the gibberish I looked up with wide eyes “A Leech Variant that compels other leeches to form the hydra when hunting! They’ll be recognized as a single entity while gaining experience and then separate again to evolve. If this works that opens the door for so many new viable creatures...”
“I’m pretty great aren’t I?”
As she laughed like she belonged in a psych ward I got to work summoning her selected creatures. First were the Alligators, otters, and dragonflies. Lila didn’t care much about them but I decided to grow the dragonflies up to match the size of a human. For the mosquitoes I increased how much blood they could carry within their bodies and altered their growth factor to range from the standard to match the size of a human hand.
Moving onto the leeches I started with the Leech Variant which I chose to nickname the Leech Conduit. How I decided to make them group up was by giving it a small gland with which it could release a pheromone. This pheromone would then attract other leeches to group around it increasing its size. Finishing off the unevolved version I gave all the Leech Conduits 9 heads. Hopefully that will be enough for the voice to get my intentions like with Blast Corn.
“Alright then I guess all I need to do is summon your tribe then I’m off.”
Waving her hands dramatically Lila slithered across the room and wheeled out her personal Monitor “That’s great! I’ve been wanting to watch again with someone!”
“Just be sure to work while you watch.”
“Duh, I work better with background noise!”
Bringing 10 more lamias into the world I got one look at the evil grin growing on Lila’s face before flying back out the Janus door.
‘I’m sorry other Cottonmouth Lamias... you’re about to sit through all her favorite shows back to back mere moments after existing. Just hold out till later today when I come check on the mana batteries!’