"So you wanted to test the effectiveness of the spell crystals and spawned one here on this patch of grass with the Plant Growth spell in it. The grass then started channelling the mana produced by the crystal. From that, the grass got enough mana to gain two levels and a Class. Then it initiated a link with you, that you let through without knowing its effects. Then when it asked for mana you just pushed 'some' out without thinking things through. The mana you gave it was too much for it to handle and it started withering from mana poisoning. To save that patch of grass you fused it with a blank spell crystal so its mana channelling speed gets a boost. That made it evolve and get a monster core." Lily said with a sigh.
"In summary," I said feeling a bit of pride at my achievement, the System even gave me Achievements for it!
"You didn't even think about making a space far from your vulnerable core so that if some accident happens your core would be safe?" She asked me in a tired tone. I hadn't even thought about that! But I didn't say anything and opened up the descriptions of the Achievements I got.
> Evolutionary:
>
> To induce an evolution so precise and directed is an act of defiance against the chaos of chance, a revolution in the tapestry of life. Such is the power of the Evolutionary, whose influence shapes destiny through an unyielding vision of transformation.
>
> - Effect: Grants the user the ability to choose specific Evolutions in creatures under their command.
>
>
>
> Monster Lair I:
>
> With a monster that bears both a Class and a Monster Core, you have laid the foundation for a formidable legacy, the first step in an escalating journey toward the ultimate dominion of Monsters.
>
> - Effect: Enhances the user's control over monsters within their domain, providing greater influence and command over their actions and development. Naturally-born creatures in the dungeon are more likely to undergo mutations and form Monster Cores.
So {Evolutionary} negates the problem I had with not being able to select the Evolution of my creatures and {Monster Lair I} gives me better control over the Monsters, but the latter part I didn't understand. "I was spawning the creatures in the Dungeon, what did it mean by 'Naturally born'?" I asked Lily.
She then replied, "We will get to that but first you have to know that the creatures that you spawn normally don't have a monster core in them, those need to be formed by taking in ambient mana. When the core forms it takes an attribute based on three factors, the Affinities of the Dungeon as primary, Affinities of the Creature as secondary, and the mana type of its environment or the mana it absorbed the most of, most of the time those two are the same but not always.
Now the Achievement makes it so that the creatures that are naturally born, which means that the creature has to be born through natural procreation not spawned by you, are better at creating the monster cores. The mutation part is that the naturally born creatures will differ more from their parents and might get a Trait not common to their species."
I understood what she said and gave her an affirmative response. Wait.... The Achievements didn't have an 'Effect' section last time I checked! I asked Lily about that. She giggled and said, "That is because you have the Identify Skill now. That lets you see the Effects of Achievements, not Titles or Skills. You might also want to check the effects of the other Achievements." I also opened my other two Achievements to see their effects.
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> Ritual Spawn:
>
> Born from magic, magic knows you. Magic will help you, it might even punish you, just like a parent.
>
> - Effect: Grants an intuitive grasp of magic. Increases mana authority. Additionally, the user may occasionally receive beneficial or detrimental influences from the ambient magical energy based on their actions.
The innate magic part was very cool! Though the other things I had to ask Lily about. She thought for a bit and said, "Ok, think of mana authority as a general improvement to any mana-related activities. The last part even I don't know." Hearing her explanation I opened up my next Achievement.
> Fame before Name:
>
> When the essence of magic whispers your tale before the world knows your name, a title borne from chaos and magic marks your existence. Such is the fate of the nameless, whose moniker precedes their identity.
>
> - Effect: Enhances the user's Presence, making them more noticeable. People are more likely to refer to the user by a nickname or title rather than their actual name. The user experiences Fate Flux, where random and unpredictable events, both beneficial and detrimental, occur more frequently around them, influenced by the chaotic nature of their fate.
As I was reading the effect of the Achievement I felt Lily go still again. She quickly came out of it and muttered something that I somehow missed. She then took out a metallic device from somewhere and started pressing keys on it with her telekinesis. "Dammit! I need to figure out an Astral Beacon from somewhere." Then she put the device away again. This time I felt a slight shift in something as it vanished from in front of her.
"What was that device?" I asked Lily. She said, "That was a Phone, a marvel of modern artifice. It lets you contact far away people via Astral Network, take pictures, play music, play games, search up topics to know more about them, etc. And before you ask, no, no you cannot absorb this. This is my only one and I don't have enough money to buy a new one. Even if you absorbed this you wouldn't have gotten its pattern because it's very complex and it has a bunch of anti-analysis enchantments on it. I will try to get you a blueprint or something later." I felt a bit of disappointment but accepted it.
"So what should I do next?" I asked Lily as I was a bit reluctant to do something without asking her as I could have messed up pretty badly when I was trying to experiment.
She thinks for a minute and then asks, "I know that the seal on the entry rift weakened. So, are there any creatures that came through?" I remembered about that one bug that came through but I didn't know if other things entered. As I was trying to look around the rift area I felt a whisper tell me that a bunch of small bugs came through the rift. I noticed a small yellow-black bug flying up from a flower in a bush and exiting the Dungeon.
"Yeah, there are some small bugs that came through, like flies, bees, beetles etc, nothing bigger. Some even went back through the rift." Hearing my explanation she bobbed up and down.
"Ok, we have some time then. Can your animated plants attack things?"
I was about to say that I didn't know but the symbiotic consciousness again told me that the plants can defend them if needed. "The hivemind mind is saying that the plants can defend us."
"Right, you have that link and can easily converse with it. Ok then, as we have our preliminary defence let's make me a place to stay and put my things." She then excitedly said, "For that let's try to make a floating island!"
I also liked that idea! But I didn't know where to start. Before I could even ask her she told me to summon some strange stone and make it weightless. I summoned a pebble of strange stone and tried to change its weight. Then I remembered that I had to use mana for the change to take effect.
I started searching around for a good match for weight reduction when I stumbled upon a purplish mana type that felt like an ever-present force of weight and bend in the fabric of Reality. I heard a whisper of some forgotten memory call out its name, Gravity. I took a stream of it and directed it to the pebble and willed it to be weightless. The pebble sucked up a bit of the mana and floated off the ground as the blade of grass beneath it lifted it up.