[GROW. EXPAND. CONQUER]

Plant Grow. Dungeon Expand. Slime Conquer.

Dungeon is good dungeon.

Many plants grow, many lupine grow. Lupine is food, good food.

Mana even better food. Plant turn into mana, but mana just mana.

Wall of dead mana break, become food. Food hard to eat, but tasty.

Sky stop being bright. Plants stop grow.

Lupine leave seed.

Seeds good, seeds make new plants.

Lupine…. Die? Lupine not eaten yet, not die yet! Not allowed!

Slime! Slime! Eat plant, plant need eaten now!

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System was proud of their work. An excellent display of efficiency had created a Core capable of cognition that was finished just in time. As autumn set upon their home, it brought the frigid weather expected of the boreal climate. A deep cold would set in soon, and the cold winds marked time for the purple flowers that filled the dungeon to seed.

The season of their growth had ended, and with it, their death was imminent. Seeds fell, flowers withered, and plants died off. It was a display of seasonal change that System was content to watch. After all, they had succeeded just in time. A lesser program would have taken too long to analyze the flowers, a delay that would have put success off until the following spring.

Yet System was perfect and had succeeded just as the seasons changed. They watched the flowers wilt and just enjoyed the accomplishment. The flowers would return, so it didn't matter if they were all processed today. System knew about the cycle of life.

Unfortunately, the Core did not.

It panicked when the flowers wilted. It flashed, pulsed, and sent out commands for the slime to eat. Eat all, and be fast.

The slime tried, but it could not keep up. The domain was too large to cover, and the flowers died too fast. Each meal became lesser. Less green, less life, less mana.

Upon seeing the Core’s distress System was ready to provide wisdom. Ready to fulfill their original purpose. It was time to teach.

> INFORMATION: “Flowers are in a state of change, mana income has lessened because applicable flora skills are no longer being applied.”

“....”

The Core didn’t understand. Of course it wouldn’t. System had only taught it what plants were, everything else was beyond its comprehension. System needed to teach it the basics. Skills, alterations, and even dungeon maintenance. All things to be taught in time.

At the moment, however, the best thing to do was nothing.

The Core had stopped its panic. Now focused entirely on the dead mana that it had yet to eat. It had forgotten about the plants that had upset it.

However, the plants remained. Their form changed from green to brown. It would take time to decompose. Time before it could be analyzed.

Time for System to enjoy a little vacation.

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Flowers die. Not all plants die.

Moss still alive. Moss still grow.

Slime not eat dead mana. Slime keep trying.

Slime just need evolve. Evolve make better. Slime eat dead mana when better.

Evolve…

Evolve from food. Slime just need food.

Slime! Eat food!

Slime eat food now.

Slime good at eat. It [HUNT], it [KILL], it [CONSUME].

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Slime eat dirt now. Dirt have low mana. Dirt not good food. Why slime eat dirt?

> Understanding Increased: Soil

Dungeon learn.

Dirt not made of much mana. Stuff in dirt have mana. Dirt food by accident.

Dungeon understand. Dungeon Learn.

Slime smart, slime evolve.

Evolve…. Evolve make good. Evolve make better…

Slime keep eating. Slime eat everything it find.

> Understanding Increased: Humus - rich soil created by dead plant matter.

Dead flower make good soil?

Flowers become other? Flowers evolved?

Flowers grow with mana. Flowers evolve from mana, like slime.

Evolution make good.

Plant good at eating dead mana. Make better plant. Evolve plant.

Mana flow, mana find, mana fill.

Moss grow, moss expand, moss conquer.

Moss become more.

Moss eat dead mana.

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System was terrible at enjoying time off. The vacation lasted all of a week before they were missing the bright colors and plants of the summer. All that remained were a few cold-tolerant patches of moss.

Unraveling the complexities of life drove System. They quickly passed on the thought of eating dirt to the slime. Just another substance to be analyzed. Another puzzle to be solved.

The monster, for its part, was far too eager to please. It broke down the ground for mana and bubbled happily the entire time. Not the best appearance for a dungeon monster, but instilling bloodlust was a thing that could come later.

With the slime's help, the soil was analyzed. Plants decomposed and became knowledge. Humus was created to nurture the earth, but it instead nurtured the Core. The sudden discovery changed the Core. The mana it cycled shifted purpose and direction. No longer did it inefficiently hack away at the dead mana beyond the dungeon, instead it flowed into the earth. Channeled deeper, the dirt smoked and burned as it was overfilled with energy.

The Core wasn't eating, it was creating. It filled a patch of humus to the brim with mana. A nearby patch of moss drew in the nutrients from the earth and was strengthened. It flourished with the mana, ready to become more.

The plant had been born inside of the dungeon. It had grown with the Core’s mana with the intent to serve its master. The moss was a dungeon-born creature on a technicality. A technicality that made it eligible for evolution.

An evolution System was ready to guide.

> ‘Monster’ Adaptation Available: Arctic Moss

* Gross Ulex - A waxy and frigid variation on the common Gorse that still retains the shrub’s characteristic love for fire; result of environment, default option.

* Crypt Lichen - Dungeon-born moss that is tuned to the Core’s influence, allowing for rapid mutations; result of core type (nature), uncommon.

* Sporespear moss - Convergent evolution meets symbiosis. The moss simplifies its biology for rapid growth and division as its individual cells enlarge to mimic the slime that spreads its spores; result of symbiosis with [Green Slime], rare.

Three options, each perfectly presented.

One, a requirement based on the local nutrients that followed ecological succession. The others, dungeon creations that would never grow naturally.

Admittedly, a pyromantic plant was not their first choice to have as a default option but was a requirement. A random mutation and several prerequisites put that front and center. Regardless of its position as the default option, System was ready to present the choices. With a Core that could think it would be capable of selecting an option. It would not be bound to the standard choice of default. It was intelligent.

Unfortunately, the Core wasn’t that smart.

It knew evolution; it wanted evolution. It didn’t care about the rest, for any evolution was good.

So when the options floated in front of it, they were discarded in an instant. Default selection applied without thought. The mana that had collected in the moss found purpose and changed.

The plant grew. Its leaves changed from green to yellow as flowers formed. The stem grew thick and woody as bark coated its base. A thin layer of wax formed on each leaf to protect the plant from the harsh seasons of the northern edge of the world.

It had become a stronger version of the artic moss it once was.

System took a moment to just accept the alternatives that the Core had discarded. The dungeon was its creation. System was just a guide; one that wasn’t supposed to micromanage. As a passive observer they had to remind themselves of their role.

The Core had made its choice, and System had no power to change that. The gorse plant would have a purpose in the dungeon’s growth. System would integrate it into future plans. It would become a tool to terraform. It would be a stepping stone to greater things.

This new plant species was going to help the dungeon. It was good.

Unfortunately, the plant was imbued with pyromantic tendencies as a part of its very biology.

The plant needed fire to spread and was highly flammable to encourage the flames. An aspect that would mold the Core, as System knew all too well that the first discovery of every dungeon Core became the very basis of its personality.

There was a chance this gorse would encourage the Core to set ablaze its entire dungeon.

System knew the dungeon was not smart enough to know that would be a bad idea.

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Fortunately for System, fire was not the Core’s first discovery.

Unfortunately for System, it was unaware of movement beneath the soil of the dungeon.

Wiggling little larvae that broke from their cocoons early. The massive influx of mana into the ground where they had constructed their home filled each insect with life and energy. It fed them and hastened their growth.

They grew faster than their storage of food could accommodate. The roots in the earth could only feed so many.

They were forced to tunnel upward for new areas to forage.

They were on the hunt.

They were designated as invaders. Individuals who entered a dungeon intending it harm.

They were hungry.