A small mound of dirt sprouted from the earth, a spire for gestation. An entire colony of ants hatched within minutes under the care of the dungeon core. Their exact species were to be determined during this crucial step.
> Processing…
> Original Species unavailable: missing information, please select template format from options below
* Harvester Ant: diet consists primarily of seeds and other plants
* Leaf Cutter Ant: Unavailable - requires knowledge of fungi
* Carpenter Ant: Unavailable - requires knowledge of wood
* Bullet Ant: Unavailable - requires knowledge of venom
* Arbor Ant: Unavailable - requires knowledge of construction or silk
* Hunter Killer Ant: Unavailable - requires knowledge of carnivores
> Selected: Harvester Ant, applying…
> Created: Red Ant Colony
With the template created and applied, the dungeon became the habitat of the new monsters. A small colony that would serve as the spawner for the insects. The central hub for a species owned by the dungeon, where it would own and manipulate their very DNA.
And that’s what worried System.
Red ants, a highly invasive species. Modeled after the Core’s own desires and personality quirks, always focused on expansion and hunger. If they let that hunger flourish unchecked, the colony would evolve into an unrelenting force that would decimate everything in its wake. A double-edged sword that would both protect and hunt the very dungeon that gave them life.
A small hiccup that occurred because System could not learn the original species of the invaders. Originally a carpenter ant with enlarged mandibles, the knowledge was lost because of inadequate samples. Their unique species and racial traits were lost forever, and now red ants became the default.
Insects that scoured the land. The echo of their biology told them to burrow for seeds to bring back to their homes even though there was no requirement for food. Each day, their work tilled the soil and sowed seeds never to be eaten. Perfect farmers tending the fields for the spring months that rapidly approached.
The cold and snow slowed their progress, but without direction from the Core, they would follow the imprint of their lives. They would tend to their spawner, excavate new passages and caverns to sleep and raise the young, to grow food and live. They would construct a dungeon around the Core they protected. Smaller than most adventurers, it would become the template for future expansions to follow. A cave dungeon created by the work of a hundred tiny insects.
An undertaking that they needed help with. No better than the common insects of the world, they were unevolved, unspecialized, and without the dungeon’s upgrades. They could be better, become more. All System had to do was modify their upgrade menu so that the Core would understand.
While it was beyond the stage of instantly closing all messages, the Core was at the capability to expect it to manage resources or make choices. All things System had to account for when designing the simplified format.
System had their work cut out for them.
They would start with numbers. The quantifiable mark of progress. Standard units of mana measurement would be useless here. They just needed numbers the Core understood. They had to change it to a metric it would know, food. Plants contained tenfold the mana of soil, and ants were an order of magnitude above even that. Insects were the most mana-filled creature the Core has come across, and the cheapest of all upgrades. A baseline unit of measurement System would have to deal with. The basis of the menu formed by their will.
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> Red Ant Hill: Upgrades Available
* Body Upgrade: increase size, stats, and power of species; costs 5 ant’s mana (AM)
* Efficiency Enhancement: less passive mana consumption for every ant generated; costs 3 AM
* Swarm Density: increase maximum population size; 8 AM
* Racial Ability Enhancement: Increase ‘Family’s Instincts’ potency; 11 AM
* Caste Specialization - increase chances that stronger versions spawn; 18 AM
> The Following Upgrades have been locked by System
* Alter Habits: Diet, schedule, and workflow may be changed as knowledge is unlocked.
* Poly-Queen hive - enables genetic drift, only available during spring.
* Ancestral Paragon - You don’t need a super ant
* Innate Spell-casting - no
By far, the worst menu System had ever created. Rounded fractions, odd numbers, locked upgrades, and ants as a form of measurement. A way to count that will only lead to inaccuracy as the amount of mana the Core can gain from a single ant changes over time as it learns. A menu that would need constant updates to maintain.
The splintered menu would only last for so long until the constant maintenance became more effort than it was worth. Eventually, System will use standard templates and formats, avoiding this shoddy work altogether. Eventually, the thing will go smoothly as the Core thinks for itself.
Eventually, everything will be simple.
Unfortunately, System knew just how long that would take.
-----------------
Reformed. That’s what yesterday’s enemy had become. Reformed and conquered to become agents for the dungeon. They still crawled, burrowed, and bit, but they were no longer foes. A weak imitation of the insects they had fought just days prior. He had brought the killers to justice, and this new life was their penance. The Cavern slime had completed his job. Had avenged his sister.
All that was left was to collect his payment. The proof of victory, of success.
His Client was different now. They had changed so much since he first took the job. Learned about the ants’ way of communication, and used it to become more. It was his hope that those changes meant his Client could understand what he wanted, what he needed. Words flowed like molasses, as each was new to communicating via smell and pheromones, yet it was enough to learn. The intent to understand is what mattered.
‘Boss, I have completed your dirty work like a hired grunt and saved your skin. I think it’s about time I get paid.’ He knew what he was trying to say, but the method of communication was untested, cruder than oil. He knew the Client only received a fraction of the original message. A soft prayer to the uncaring gods above as he hoped they understood.
“You get mana. Food for strong slime,” the crystalline core shot back. It was right, the detective had skimmed mana off from every kill. The payment was complete in his Client’s eyes. It would be rude to ask for more.
‘Then take the mana back. I want something else. I want my sister. Bring back the slime that shimmers.’ The request was far-fetched, yet he had to try.
“Green slime, not strong. Not needed.” A simple fact that hung in the air like smoke. It lingered, waiting to be disproven.
He knew it was unjust. To let another die based on the merits of war. Yet he had no argument. His Client controlled him, it wasn’t his place to argue or fight back, to break his contract. However, there was another who could. The Informant stepped in like a ray of hope to help strengthen his resolve.
> INFORMATION: As with ants, there is strength in numbers.
A brief message. To the point. He could feel the Client ponder this new information. They had seen how a single slime is stronger than a mob of ants. If strength was all that mattered, then a slime was worth more than the ants. The insects had lost, and so were weak. The Client had to understand that.
A strong smell washed over the dungeon. It spread across the snow as it rolled out like a wave. The smell of agreement, of desire and will. The words of acceptance.
The wave of the agreement changed shape as it folded upon itself, condensing. The mana-rich battlefield took shape as the mana was repurposed. A single dew drop formed. It grew, expanded, and dazzled as it reflected the snow’s radiance to outshine it. Snow blindness given form. Round, curvy, and full of love, the green slime was given new life.
Shimmer, the slime of sunlight on the morning dew was reborn.