> With the discovery of metal, you can create ore nodes throughout the dungeon to act as a source of loot for delvers. In addition, when a node is interacted with it will generate mana.

The dungeon is a genius, but doesn’t see any value in this. Delvers like traps for their reward. They need nothing else for bait. Metal is useless.

> Ants have discovered how to create artificial limbs using metal. Supplying metal will allow for stronger upgrades and evolutions.

Wait… useless words might not be so useless. Dungeon can upgrade monsters by accident? They can evolve without eating a bunch of mana?

> How have you not realized this, it's only been this way since forever…

> Answer: Yes

> Any changes to the surroundings will alter potential evolution paths that monsters can take in order to adapt to their environment.

Shimmer has changed a lot because of plants, so useless words aren’t wrong. Shimmer has also been growing a lot of plants for delvers. Is that a node? She has learned what ‘farming’ is, which creates plants like this node thing.

> Flora node designated: “Shimmer’s garden”

> Current Plant being grown: Sage Grass (chosen by “Shimmer”)

The hill full of grass shines as mana sticks to it and encourages growth. Now that hill has a different environment, the monsters that like plants can evolve. Now dungeon just had to feed slimes lots of mana so they can evolve to be more like strong plants. They can be just like the tree monster.

Mana that comes from monsters is denser than normal dungeon mana as they collect it, so that will make it better for feeding slimes. Double slime mana will make Shimmer a better plant slime. As a spell slime, she should be able to eat mana very well and evolve quickly when surrounded by plant node.

> Warning: Destablized Amber Core mutation in “Shimmer” is reacting poorly to mana manipulation.

> Warning: Please stop, she is going to-

> “Shimmer” has died.

> “Shimmer” will respawn in 12 hours.

Glowing slime popped as the orange crystal in her body shattered. Amber core? Well, the core couldn’t hold mana like it should, which makes it a bad core. If that was a mutation, why didn’t it create an evolution? The environment has changed and Shimmer had mutated earlier, so now a bunch of mana should overwrite existing slime species as they become stronger.

> Explanation: Species of slimes have not participated in combat since the last major adaptation. The mana in their body will remain purposeless until, as a species, they meet a great struggle that forces them to adapt or die.

> Other monsters are capable of adapting after their major battle with armored delvers.

Wait, delvers were here? Dungeon was way too busy trying to learn how farming works. It just grows plants, like a spawner. When did they leave?

> *sigh*

> Sparrows of Smoke adaptation available:

* Cotton Feather: With wings of fabric, they fly like kites through the sky- untethered by gravity. Being part plant, they are allies to ‘Cottonwood Conifer’; Rare, result of monster cottonwood.

* Pyre Parakeets: A small, tropical parrot adapted to the harsh climate by forgoing organs for an internal flame that smolders with arcane life; Uncommon, result of flammable material (wood).

* Withered Wings: Malnourished and unable to survive for long, this species makes the most of what they have and uses their limited time to move at speeds that kill them; common, result of paragon’s titles.

No.

Useless words have only talked down to dungeon. Dungeon is smart and tired of being insulted. It refuses to listen to useless words. If monsters can evolve because of the environment, then dungeon will do that instead.

Species can be sacrificed to make strong undead, but what if dungeon just combines monsters? Makes species offshoots, like it did with grass. Evolve some, keep others, have more monsters. Create diversity by combining strengths.

> Even if you ignore me, evolution is still evolution. It is unavoidable and constant. The world is always changing, so why fight me when I’m helping you?

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Dungeon is strong and smart, and can make monsters stronger than System can. It is time dungeon does its own dungeon building.

Shimmer’s old amber core shards are in her garden. Thats good, just need more. Get a bunch of slimes in that area to die to create an amber graveyard. Infuse slime core shards into node to create amber grass. Destabilized arcane amber grass.

> You are just going to invent wheat, I can help with-

No, not allowed.

Birds seem to like tree, and tree likes killing the birds. They can feed each other to grow stronger. Takes an hour for each bird to respawn, but that’s fine because dungeon has all the time to wait. Paragon respawns every few minutes, so he will be the one going to the tree the most. Now he just needs to build a nest.

Tree doesn’t like it, but that’s fine, because struggle makes stronger. Something about giving intent to the mana in their body.

Now time for ants, who… what are the ants doing?

“The Crown has blessed us all with the knowledge of healing. Our young will no longer be forced to limp on five legs. Wounds sustained in battle no longer spell the end, for we will adapt. It is not just the living who will grow stronger with this knowledge, but the delvers left us a gift in the ability to enchant. Soon, even our undead members of the colony- of our empire- will only grow. We will only grow in both numbers are strength. The will of the world as deemed it so.”

Ants seem pretty happy about strapping shattered pieces of metal to their body. Well, what if they had more metal to make them even stronger? Can decrepit ants evolve into metallic ones? Time to test and keep ignoring the voice that tells me not to do stuff.

> Acknowledging me is counterintuitive if your goal is to ignore me. Regardless…

> Ore Node Designated: Ant Hospital

> Regenerating Metal Selected: Iron (only known metal)

Ants like new metal because it makes them strong and healthy. They also said something about magic? Maybe if dungeon collects a bunch of monsters’ mana, it can put it all into those cores to make a really strong and magical monster.

Bunch of dead monsters and broken cores to work with, but this needs special core. Something magical and plant-based so spells can make plants can grow strong. Slimes like plants, and tree is a plant, so dungeon will start there.

> Understanding Increased: Applied Knowledge - The ability to make use of things you have learned.

> (Begrudgingly:) Intelligence increased by 2

Dungeon doesn’t care, it has work to do.

----------------------------------------

Shimmer didn’t respawn like she normally does. Today when she woke up she was part of a sibling, but then they split into two so one could become Shimmer. It was really nice of her sister to help her respawn.

But why did she need the help? Normally, she just is created from condensed mana in the cauldron. Did something happen with the slime spawner? She has to rush over to check on it. Happily, she found it was still intact and full of slime soup. The ooze that all dungeon slimes were born from happily bubbles away.

But today it looks different. There are things floating in the soup. The mana is extra thick as amber shards, sap, leaves, and exploding acid tree seeds all mix together in the spawning basin. Would that make this a slime stew? Stew is just soup with more stuff, so maybe.

She isn’t sure, but it looks like the dungeon is trying to make a slime paragon, which would be cool. The birds have one, and he is the coolest, because he is the strongest. But why is it taking so long? Wasn’t making a paragon supposed to only take a few minutes? Is the dungeon having a fight with the words?

> Yes, can you please talk some sense into your master for me?

Oh yes, Shimmer would be more than happy to help, but she doesn’t know how. She was never very good at talking to her Creator, that was always the job of… actually, she can’t remember who did it originally. Well, maybe if she can’t remember she will just have to go talk to someone who can help.

She wanted to find the Empress, since she was good with words, but Shimmer got distracted. There was a new tree she hadn’t seen before. It was tall, and bendy, and had just eaten several other slimes by absorbing their gelatin into its roots.

Shimmer was confused. Was it friend, foe, or plant? This confusion left her vulnerable to the tree’s attention. It lashed out to stab Shimmer with its branches. She expected it to hurt, but it only tickled as she climbed up those branches to get a closer look at the tree.

> Dormant genes “One with Plant” from Green Slime activated to significantly reduce damage from “friendly” plants.

Shimmer had almost forgotten about the time before she glowed. She was the only slime to be green, wasn’t she? The spell slimes were created later and so didn’t get to evolve through the same stages as she did. Well, if that meant she could hug this tree now, she wouldn’t complain.

The tree would, but that was fine. It just needed a friend and a hug.

With her friendliness seeping into the tree’s bark from her warm embrace, she could feel the tree violently shake to get rid of her. It twisted and turned to try to throw Shimmer away as if it was in a bad mood. Well, unfortunately for the tree, Shimmer refused to give up. She will make a friend.

And as the tree came to a stop, she realized she didn’t have a choice anymore. Her hug was warm and friendly and too tight. She was stuck.

In the upper branches, there was a knot in the tree her amber core got lodged in. The core was a recent thing and wasn’t soft like the rest of her, so without knowing how to get down, she decided to get comfortable.

Time passed quickly, as the birds would visit often. They brought gifts of grass for Shimmer to hold, but the tree always crushed them before they could tell her why she was holding all the grass. The tree was angry, but it just needed to warm up to people. A prickly exterior only hid the nice person underneath, Shimmer was sure of it!

Things continued like this for a few more weeks. While stuck, she made sure to be as nice to her friends as possible. The birds built their nest, saplings had sprouted, and the biggest tree had grown even more. Her light helped all the plants grow, but the branches that held her also started to glow. It was weird to see something else glow like she did, but Shimmer realized something cool. This tree was copying her mana signature!

It wanted to be friends!

Filled with excitement, she was going through all the possible names to give her new friend. Arbor, Dazzle, Prickle barb. So many cool names to give, but she was a little scatter brained and forgot to ask for their input as something new caught her attention. System had a new message!

> The first Challengers have appeared - Unlike delvers who visit, and invaders who seek to destroy, challengers are ones who are after loot and will fight to get it.

“New people,” she yelled from the branches, her excitement uncontained. “Hey Echo, let's go say hi to them.”

In her rush to go meet new people, she forgot to ask if the tree even wanted the name Echo. Well, they don’t seem upset by it, so guess it will stick.