“The Adar take on some of the characteristics of the terrain and dungeons they dwell within. Some of the changes are skin deep, and others more profound. Regardless, they adapt well to changing conditions.”

-Heug the Physician, Common Physiology of Near-Human Counterparts

==POV: Zidaun==

The others left me alone with a smile or nod as they took their leave. I allowed myself to sigh and then sunk down into my awareness, allowing it to expand. The feel of the stone, the air, a view that saw all things from every angle extended out from me. The skill compensated for my limitations, my mind suddenly able to process how much more I had become. I was a tiny echo of the divinity I imitated. I could see the branching aura around me and tapped into in. A tiny bit of my mana flowed out of me and sealed the door shut, the stone growing together.

I sat down with my legs crossed facing the altar. I clasped my hands together and the thorns at my elbows and knees jutted out. I took a deep breath, and began speaking the language of the Adar.

“Dungeon, ancient progenitor, thou who art the God of my people, hear my plea. If thou art Awakened, hear me. Know my words and heed me. In this I speak for my people.

Bind together thy fate with ours. Take from us our service. Take of us our flesh. Take all that we can possess. Make us thine.

Give to us refuge. Give to us growth.

With this compact shall we protect thee. With this shall we serve thee. And together we shall be bound, each raising up the other. And I shall be thy servant forever.”

I finished and offered up the same prayer in the common tongue.

I rose and took a step, placing myself directly in front of the altar. Then I spoke a new phrase, first in the Adar tongue, then in common.

“I offer thee a seed borne of my own flesh. May it be a symbol of our accord.”

I raised my right hand to the top of my head and lightly held one of my hairs. The magic of my race began to flow and it came loose in my hand.

Magic swirled into the room.

Even as I held the hair in my hand the mana of the dungeon spiraled inward. A rushing torrent was drawn in and the hair grew. The base expanded into a bulb and roots spread out to cradle my hand and wrist. The plant became less fern-like as its stem thickened. It soon started to grow hardy branches. In moments it was a short tough bush, and looked nothing like its origin.

Finally, the flow of mana calmed as the bush bloomed with small white flowers. The petals were waxy and the flower released a slight sweet aroma.

Reverently I gently untangled the roots from around my hand. Then I placed the bush into the center of the ruby bowl in the altar. The bush started to dissolve into nothingness, and my world went black as I collapsed to the floor.

==POV: Caden==

I was enjoying having these new guests. Well… my only guests so far.

Of course, any company was welcome at the moment. The rest of my satisfaction came from watching my various precautions and triggers work as they were supposed to.

Their attempts to loot my buildings were amusing, and all my anti-theft settings worked perfectly. The next day they seemed to go about things a little too slowly, but I understood their reasonable caution. Still, watching how captivated the plant man had become with my new trees had given me a certain sense of pride. I had let them take samples before I turned the anti-theft settings back on again. I would need to provide more of the trees somewhere in the dungeon if they turned out to be valuable.

I had noticed that any new plants and monsters I created could be appraised for levels, but their values would not show up. Since even the relative value of dirt showed up when I appraised it, as did any plants that were not mutated too far, I assumed that the value of these new things was simply undetermined at the moment. Likely people would need to see what they could be used for before I would be able to see their worth.

The triggers I had in place for entering the dungeon worked, which I was glad for. The dungeon menu’s options sometimes reminded me of a programming language. I could make a great many things happen if I was willing to set up conditions and triggers for them to occur. I mainly used functions from the puzzle sub menu, and I suspected I was using them far differently than normal.

Regardless, everything had been proceeding normally until the adventurers entered where I arranged for sacrifices to be made.

I had been quite excited for all the various plant and animal bits that they had fed me. The new types of cloth and such were fine as well, but not so exciting. I had already recreated the plants in my garden, and was working to plant them elsewhere as well. I was looking forward to seeing what the plants were like.

The animals I hadn’t created yet. I had a sense of what I would get, but it was a loose idea. I was preparing some new environments for them now. I was going to have my first larger creatures soon.

And now the plant man was praying and performing some ritual. I had been curious about it, but it only truly captured my attention when huge flows of mana started to spiral inwards. My aura twisted and it made new formations I had never seen before. Mana flowed through and around my aura turning a green hair into a bush.

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I was surprised, but when he dropped the bush into the bowl I started to absorb it anyway. I hadn’t expected to be able to, since it was alive, but it vanished into nothingness with alacrity. My mind was suddenly full, and I barely noticed as the man collapsed.

For the first time I knew what a perfectly clear biological pattern felt like. I could not understand everything, not even close, but I could see clear paths of intention that connected everything together. The messy nature of DNA and organisms had been so omnipresent that I only now knew what it was like to have the signal be perfect. Most organisms, even simple ones, had junk in their DNA. Some of that was actually hidden mechanisms to tell the cells how to behave, but a lot of it was actually just junk. This… this was like Michelangelo’s David next to a hunk of rough hewn marble. And the pattern was different in another way too. It was divided into sections:

The first layer contained instructions for the fairly simple plant that had been offered to me. A noticeable part of its design caused it to focus mana into it in a specific way. It looked like it would actually hook into my aura directly, and in doing so it would minimize random mutations. It was designed for a very specific high mana environment: dungeons.

The next layer contained a seemingly endless series of variations a plant might need. Each was simple on their own, but combined they would allow a plant to be customized for almost any dungeon. With tweaks the plant could be adjusted to an ocean, a desert, or an arctic tundra. It was designed so that it could survive, and even thrive, almost anywhere. The different abilities were not labeled, but I could feel a sense of intent for each one.

The third layer was a metamorphosis where the plant transformed into its next stage of development. The plant would grow larger, and also become dangerous and animated, though it would remain rooted in place. And the fourth layer contained more adaptations for this form. They contained triggers that would automatically activate depending on the plants current form.

And after that, another metamorphosis with another layer of options. The plant became ambulatory and was able to perform a variety of attacks and abilities. This again varied due to its preexisting form. And after that…

A humanoid form, fully conscious and aware. Streamlined. Many options were removed, but with a rigid set of patterns that always appeared. And some options that would rarely be triggered.

Though now was one of those times.

I felt a connection to the plant man in front of me. I could see his form. And I felt I had the power to make changes, to customize him in a way that would suit me. I didn’t want to make changes, but something was insisting.

I suspected that, for the first time, I was feeling what Exsan always felt. I had a set of instincts that told me what to do. I didn’t like it. They insisted that I make him mine in some way, and would not take no for an answer. I was somewhat… distressed by this, but I decided to see if it would respond to my intent. If I must make a change I would do it my way. I wished for him to be improved in ways that would make his life easier instead.

Whatever intelligence governed this process accepted that, and the feelings disappeared.

As the lingering feelings faded away, new notifications blinked merrily at me and I opened them.

Skill Increases

Your skill Vital Comprehension II (Life) has increased to Vital Comprehension III (Life)

Your skill Destructive Assimilation II has increased to Destructive Assimilation III

New Titles Added!

Soul Bond (Master)

Your soul is permanently* bound to the Adar you have made a pact with. You are the master of this Adar and may command and direct it as you choose. Your choices and nature may alter their nature. You may resurrect this Adar if they die.

*This bond is currently unstable and incomplete due to an inability to communicate and understand the nature of the pact. Once you understand the pact you may complete or refuse the pact's conditions.

Bonuses temporarily suspended

Additive Pact I

When an Adar bonds with you, or the ancient under contract, the bond will also extend to the other member of the pact. Additional soul bonds do not create ancients, or allow for resurrection.

Bonuses temporarily suspended

Soul Adept I

An upgraded form of the Soul Specialist forged from your focus on soul related skills and multiple soul connections. You have already made progress using the powers of your soul, and now your connections to others have allowed that power to grow.

+10% Increase to power of soul related skills

+Connections with other souls can provide additional benefits

+100 Ability Points

+100 Bonus Points for skipping the Soul Specialist Title

The plant man’s form was changing, but I was distracted by my own changes and brought up my status.

Status

Dungeon Name: None

Name 1: Caden

Name 2: Exsan

Species Type: Dungeon Core

Subspecies: Twin Souled

Level: 7

Crystal Integrity: 100% - Undamaged

Status Effects: Current synchronization: 1% (~350 days)

Available Mana - Caden: 792/800

Available Mana - Exsan: 796/800

Passive Mana Generation: 169/Day

Survival Points:200

Next level: Costs 1000 Mana + 300 Survival Points

Subsections Available: 2

Ability Points: 2867

Skills: Directed Mana Absorption II,

Limited Omniscience (Dungeon)

Soul Mana II (Mana)(Soul)

Dungeon Aura Expansion II

Manipulate Earth II (Earth)

Learning III

Enhanced Aura Perception II

Ambient Mana Manipulation II (Mana)

Soul Meditation II (Soul)

Interdimensional Repository II

Aura Mobility II

Destructive Assimilation III

Matter Fabrication II

Found Dungeon

Pain Resistance II

Vital Comprehension III (Life)

Mana Construct Intuition II (Mana)

Mana Lexicon II (Language)

English IX (Language)

Living Creation II (Life)

Mana Diffusion II (Mana)

Dungeon Control Menu

Appraise II

Manipulate Metal II (Metal)

Dungeon Law II

Titles: (Shared)

First of its Kind

Skill Evolution

Mana Specialist II

Escape Artist IV (Deception)

Dungeon Martyr III (First)

Touch of the Grave I

Dread Salvation I

Seen the Infinite Void

Investment Specialist

Back from the Brink I

Dungeon Progression I

Innovator III (Dungeon)

Swift Descent

Soul Bond (Master)

Additive Pact I

Soul Adept I

Titles: (Caden)

Reborn Soul

Titles: (Exsan)

Immortal Soul

I was mildly surprised by a few of the changes. The system was now labeling what was considered a mana or soul skill. Or in the case of one skill, Soul Mana, it was labeled as both. With a name like that, it was hardly a surprise. And that appeared to be effecting my mana gen too. I took the time and did the math. The bonus from the two titles I had that gave me power to mana and soul skills were not just cumulative. They were multiplicative. At this point it was just giving me an extra point of mana a day, which was not very exciting since I had no issues getting mana. However, if my titles grew they might be very powerful together someday.

There was, however, one change that I was really excited for. The synchronization level had not changed, but its estimated time to completion had jumped forward at least fifty days. And the completion was still sitting at one percent. That meant my synchronization had simply gotten faster. And the only real change was gaining another soul bond, and a title related to souls. Since both of those were concerned with souls, I needed to make sure I continued to work with my soul. It might prove crucial in letting me move if this place turned into a death trap.

Well… it was already a death trap, just not for me.