The Dodos produced an egg nearly every other day. Dominik noticed the troglodytes liked to eat them raw. They seemed aware of this difference in male and female, and by sifting through one of the oldest troglodyte’s memories, he found that the birds bred around summer. The troglodytes seemed to understand the difference between fertilized and unfertilized eggs, and made sure they raised new dodos, which themselves matured in about a year, in time for mating season most likely. It seems like the troglodytes were smarter than he thought.

He’d like to increase their egg laying to every day, or nearly every day. Aside from trying to increase this capacity, he set out on changing them to take in mana as nutrition. To use it in order to produce all the nutrition they needed, all of the calories for sustained life, and to sustain a healthy level of body fat. He brought his consciousness fully into his main body after checking in with fran, and had the troglodytes bring him dodos. He consumed them and broke down their biology, even testing the properties of the soul. They were very simple, but stable.

As he begun to make changes, he noticed that they seemed to have barely any reaction, even the living dodos, to being altered, though aside from creating a small mana crystal the size of a green pea, and the changes to their eggs, there weren’t many major physical changes, at least none that most people would notice. He did this en masse, the whole flock of dodos kept in the cave were altered. The changes would be even more effective on their offspring, and even more so throughout the generations of dodos. For now, their uncomplicated existence allowed him to change much, and they could now massively supplement the gaps in their nutrition with mana. Though they would still need to eat and drink at least three fourths of what they had so far to live. For now. The changes would continue until dodos improved. Until they became the perfect self-sustaining food source. At least for poultry.

The spiders were already under enough stress, and their small bodies and souls, already very complex for their size, couldn’t take any more alterations. So he only planted the seeds for the next generations. Their offspring, when fully grown, would have small mana crystals, slightly smaller than a raindrop. They would be able to supplement their nutrition slightly with mana, though nowhere near as much as the dodos, especially not in the first generation. But they didn’t need much either, and they were efficient at going out and hunting, jumping on their prey, or catching very small prey in their webs.

The grubs they had eaten were large, as long as a forearm and very very fat. However, these weren’t as big as they could get. The queen of the grubs was as large as a cow, though longer, with a pulsating abdomen. Most of the grubs were female, all able to mature and grow into the new queen should the old queen die, or become incapable of producing more eggs. A few males were produced every cycle, which were capable of growing and fertilizing the next queen’s eggs.

Their forms were also quite simple, though not quite as much as the dodos somehow, and they took to the changes well. They were nearly as efficient as the dodos, and their generations would come sooner, so perhaps they could even outpace the dodos evolutionarily. Especially if the queen continued to evolve at a good rate, or if they got a new queen. He’d gleaned this information from the troglodytes memories, and he’d read some of this information in one of the books he’d purchased from the bookstore. It was a pretty nice store, there was very useful information in these books.

The queen doesn’t always produce fertilized eggs, she seems to lay the fertilized eggs on one side of the cave, and the unfertilized eggs on the other. Obviously she lays a certain amount of eggs each day, but she seems to choose which ones are fertilized. Or maybe it’s random. The book didn’t explain this kind of behavior. Maybe she’s able to sense the available resources and space in the habitat, and she only keeps the colony at sustainable levels.

Finally the troglodytes live for about thirty years, and mature in about three years. He began slowly introducing the ability to supplement their nutrition, and began forming a mana crystal in each of them around the size of a small coin. It would take some time to reach that size of course in a fully mature troglodyte. He also began working on their longevity, improving their biology, which would see even better improvements in their children and further into the generations of troglodytes.

Perhaps he could begin teaching them Gothik soon, and then have their elders teach the younger troglodytes. It would be nice if everything of a certain level of sapience could communicate with each other.

After he was finished with the dungeon, the sun was setting, golden light was coming in through the side of the curtain, and Fran was still sitting curled up with a book on magic, sitting in a comfortable chair by the bed.

Dominik realized his mistake. He’d done everything during the day. Now most of the shops would be closed, and there’d be nothing to do. Fran would need to sleep, and he’d need to keep watch until morning.

“Is there anything to do tonight?” Dominik asked.

“Well, we could go get something to eat.” Said Fran, placing a marker in her book. She likely hadn’t eaten anything since this morning.

“Alright.”

They ate at a nicer restaurant this time, but Domink didn’t think it seemed that much better. They walked around and talked until Fran got tired.

Later they’d returned to the inn, and Fran slept. Dominik sat in the chair and watched her. Or rather, he checked in once in a while, but otherwise left the avatar on standby, to alert him if it perceived any changes in the room. Any loud noises or movement, to warn him in case someone tried breaking in. He spent most of the time in his main body.

He played with the troglodytes. He had them come to his room, and he picked them up with his tentacles, and even played upsy daisy with a few of them that seemed to like it. The little ones seemed especially happy with their little play time.

Other than that he worked on hardening the outer walls and the floors of the first several levels of the dungeon. But the rest still needed work. Generally a dungeon should be a maze, making the adventurers take the longest route possible to get to the end of the floor. That’s the main benefit of having indestructible, or nearly indestructible walls, and being able to repair them. But the previous dungeon core seemed to do everything randomly. It was so inefficient. It just filled up large rooms with tons of demons and other such things, then had hallways built that led to more large rooms.

He did this until morning, then impatiently watched Fran sleep, waiting for her to be ready. He’d considered reading one of the books, but he’d prefer reading the rest of them in the dungeon. After he’d made a bookshelf.

Finally morning came and they contacted the lord of the town and said they’d meet his men near the stables. They brought everything they’d bought to their mule, strapped everything on, and fed her some carrots. Soon the workers were there with their own mules and donkeys, saddled with supplies or pulling carts with weapons. They introduced themselves and Dominik cast speed and stamina spells on everyone, including the mules and the donkeys. He explained this would increase their pace, and they all made their way to the village.

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They made it to the village by nightfall, not having to camp on the way there. They went to the mayor, who had just recently gone to bed, and began unloading supplies. Then they would request the mayor to provide some sort of lodging, or else they would set up camp near the village.

“Of course, I have a few rooms available, but at this time of night, some of you may have to set up a camp, unless you’re willing to stay in the stables.” Said the mayor, standing at the door in his pajamas, holding a silver chamberstick with a white candle providing some light in the darkened doorway.

Everyone was let in as the mayor began lighting more candles and started a fire. “I’ll bring something to drink soon, if you have any food supplies feel free to bring them in and use the kitchen.” The workers took the few available guest rooms, and the rest set up tents near the mayor’s house after bringing the mules and the donkeys to the stables. Others began cooking supplies, using some spices offered by the mayor. While this was happening, Dominik and Freya had asked to speak privately with the mayor, to discuss their job with the guild, and the mayor led them to his study.

“I had no idea you were a member of the guild Dominik.” Said the mayor after locking the door and lighting a few more candles. “Is this woman the one we happened to have…. Mistaken for the culprit of the demon attacks?” He sat down and looked a bit uncomfortable.

“Yes.” Dominik said. “This is my wife Freya. I didn’t mention that likelihood at first, as I was away for a while, and my wife came to these parts of the woods ahead of me while I took care of some…. Other matters.”

Dominik paused for a bit and continued. “Also, my name is Dominus, I just used the other name as an alias, perhaps being unnecessarily cautious. My wife told me she was attacked by the demons too. Though the ones that attacked her didn’t have any alterations, such as extra mouths, or any extra tentacles or limbs.”

The mayor took this in for a moment, then said. “What does that mean, are there more demons?” He looked far more awake now, though he hadn’t drunk any of his tea.

“There’s good news and some bad news in that regard.” Dominik said. “I believe the dungeon is changing, it seems to be getting rid of the demons, not refilling their rank. Though I don’t know what it might replace them with, or if any attacks will continue. But the attacks deeper in the forest were most likely from a different set of demons, most likely from a different source. Possibly one person, or a group. The town is investigating the possibility of some kind of cult as well.”

The mayor took a long drink from his tea and sank down lower. “That doesn’t sound like good news to me, but thank you for telling me.”

“It’s not just that.” Dominik continued. “The dungeon is being declared a permanent dungeon. So there should be adventurers to come clear out, or at least cull the number of the creatures on the first few floors. And if any creatures come out and begin raids, the adventurers will be paid for killing them and defending the local villages and towns. If they happen to notice any other demons in the area, I’m sure they’ll kill them too. The guild will pay them for proof of any kills.”

The mayor sat up a bit at that, and added a bit of sugar to his tea from a small cup. “Well that is a bit better, and I suppose we might get some more business around here if adventurers start camping out around here a bit more often.”

“Yes. For now the mayor’s sent supplies, bows, arrows, slings, spears, some older gear from the guard.” Said Dominik. “We’re also going to stay here for a day or two and help train the villagers to use them. I’m sure you could help us find people interested in protecting the village.”

“Of course.” Said the mayor. “We have some people who already practice with bows or slings. With a few more trained and supplied I’m sure we’ll be more prepared for attacks now.” The mayor was trying to sound hopeful.

Dominik smiled and finished his speech. “Hopefully it will just be a precaution. I’ll search the forest for demons, and my wife and I will slay them wherever we find them. You might just have to deal with a few stragglers.”

They continued the conversation for a bit, then they joined the workers at the table for dinner. Then everyone went to bed, including Dominik and Fran, who had been given a nice room to stay for the night, and the next few nights.

The next day, the mayor gathered up men and women who were either skilled with some sort of weapon, or willing to learn and take up arms to defend the village and their farms. Weapons and gear were distributed. Dominik gave instruction on spears, axes, hammers, and any sort of other bludgeoning weapon. He also aided Fran with the archery training, though his technique was less refined than Fran’s.

Fran taught archery of course, but also offered advice and showed proper technique with a few of the old swords provided from the guard. They spent most of the day training various groups. The villagers spent hours learning what they could, while they still had access to the trainers. Though of course the hunters were already quite proficient.

Dominik had also asked for the sick and injured to be brought to him, or else to be guided to them if they were too sick or injured to come. After the morning training, and throughout the training as people came over seeking healing, he had cured the sick, and healed many injuries, even old wounds that hadn’t healed properly. His healing magic was of such a level, it could even heal scar tissue.

Later that night, they ate, read some books, and slept at the mayor’s house. The next day they continued their training, and Dominik healed the last few people that needed it. The past two days however, dominik had also been scouring the forest with his crows. Eventually, they found a gathering of the demons further up to the north.

The demons were very altered, clearly belonging to the previous dungeon core. Dominik felt no connection however, perhaps the connection had been severed when he took over the dungeon because they weren’t in the dungeon, or because they were too far away from the dungeon at least.

These demons seemed half mad, attacking trees, sometimes attacking others, wandering around aimlessly, or simply standing there staring at one spot. Clearly these were failed creations, and without the dungeon core’s guidance, they were truly useless. Only attacking whatever they saw.

After finding them, Dominik and Fran made their plan. Fran conjured up an illusion of several lesser demons, just on the outskirts of town at night. She had them make demonic sounds, similar to what she’d heard from the demon that attacked her mule just a couple of days ago, but she made it louder so everyone in the village could hear it. They made a show of running after them and told the guards they’d been training to stay back and keep the village safe in case more demons came.

They chased these illusions deep into the forest, until they were sure no one could see, then Fran dispelled the illusion and they ran toward where Dominik had found the real demons from the dungeon. Most were gathered near each other. Dominik bashed their skulls with a hammer, while fran cast ice spears through them. They killed the bulk of the demons that had been gathered together, then went and killed the others near the area, which his crows had found.

After this they cut off the ears and horns of all the demons as proof. Except for one head, which they found unaltered, though the same couldn’t be said for the rest of its body. They cut off this head, to prove as an example of an unaltered demon. They cut the head off another that was very much…. Altered. Many of the ears and horns showed no clear signs of alterations, so they could stretch the truth as much as they wanted.

They put the ears and heads in a bag Dominik had brought, stuffing it full with them. They waited around for some time and talked. Then they returned to the village.

They showed the mayor, and several of the villagers that were still up and out, the heads and ears. The mayor didn’t seem too happy to see them, but it was important that their story had witnesses.

They’d told the guards they trained, and the mayor, that they would go out and hunt more of the demons, then turn the proof of their kills into the adventurer’s guild. The guards were meant to stay and protect the village of course.

Dominik and Fran ran toward the village. Going about halfway before stopping so Fran could get some sleep. Thankfully they’d brought a bedroll. While Fran slept, Dominik worked on improving the crow’s vision at night, and their hearing. He also wondered what other kinds of animals would make good scouts for the forest. But mostly he watched Fran sleep through the night, making sure she was safe.

In the morning, they continued on to the Adventurer’s guild, and brought the proof of their kills up to the counter. They explained that three fourths of the ears and horns were from the altered demons, and the other quarter were from a group of unaltered demons. The guild manager was there, so they showed him the heads they kept at the bottom of the bag too.

“You don’t need to bring their heads too.” Said the guild manager. “But since you did, I’ll be sure to show this to the lord of this town, to make sure he knows the threat is very real for the villagers.”

They were paid for the proof of their kills, then they went and bought some spices for the food in the dungeon, and made their way back.