_ Dungeon Fairy Level Increased to 2. Evolution possible _
_ Select an Evolution for ‘Lesser Fairy’:
- Artisan Fairy
- Nature Fairy
- Slime Fairy
- Mana Fairy
- Piper Fae (requires approval)
- None
_
_ Random Selection: “Nature Fairy” Selected _
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Violet sat up with a shout of fear. He lifted his hands in front of his face to see a few wisps of mana drifting off his skin. His green skin. “AAAAAAA!” He shouted again. His voice sounded different. He tried to flap his wings to fly into the air but ended up falling off the cot he had been laying on. A raven laughed at him. Violet rolled onto his back, looking around wildly. The raven perched on a nearby pile of amber, still laughing. “What-?” Violet couldn’t think further than that.
“Fairy fly no more.” The raven said. “Dig like worm? Dig with face?” The raven laughed at its own joke.
“Shut up!” Violet yelled at the raven. “What happened to me?” He sat up again and felt behind himself. He didn’t find any wings. Looking over his shoulders confirmed that he was no longer a flying fairy. “Where’s my wings?” Violet looked around, as though his wings might just have been temporarily misplaced. He found himself in one of the roundhouses in the human camp. Probably Hana’s roundhouse, though some things were missing. He walked to the door and peeked out. Definitely Hana’s roundhouse. He didn’t see any humans around, however. Violet slowly reached a hand up to his hair. He pulled a few strands into view. He let out a relieved sigh as he saw hair was still violently violet.
Violet looked down at himself. Since he wasn’t wearing any clothes, he snapped his fingers to summon one of his outfits onto his body. The summoning failed. He tried again a couple of times. Scratching the side of his head in confusion, he tried summoning the outfit into his hand, instead of on his body. The clothes appeared, but they appeared to be sized for a child. “Huh? They shrunk?” Violet held the clothes up in front of him to take a good look. “Oh no! I’m taller!” He dropped the clothes and looked down at himself in dismay. “Taller, green skin, no wings? I’m a dirty plant lover!” Moaning with despair, he sat on his heels and held the sides of his head. He rocked back and forth for a while but straightened up when he heard voices approaching. He summoned a large sheet to wrap around his nakedness. Crataz and a large man in fur and leather entered the camp and came into view.
Crataz introduced the man and the fairy when they stopped in front of Hana’s roundhouse. “Master fairy, I present Hill Lord Andebert. He is responsible for managing the access and harvesting of dungeons in this area of our world.” Crataz turned to the hill lord. “Hill Lord, I present the assigned dungeon fairy for the Terse Elements dungeon.”
The hill lord nodded at the fairy. “Well met, Master fairy.”
Violet nodded back at the hill lord. “Hello.” He said simply.
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Crataz cleared his throat and brushed past the fairies lackluster response. “I see that your evolution has finished. Ivira and I were quite surprised when you began changing while unconscious. I do not know of many reasons why the System would choose an evolution for you, instead of asking for your preference and permission.” Crataz hesitated, then stopped speaking, allowing Violet to ask his question.
“Crataz, what happened?” Violet didn’t care about any hill lord or human manners, he wanted to know why his dungeon was fine and why his skin was green.
Crataz nodded. “Let’s sit down inside. I brought the hill lord to meet you because he needs to hear this, same as you.”
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Violet sighed. Crataz had explained how he had maintained the mana poles after the fairy lost consciousness and how the mana flow had gradually lessened until the dungeon was no longer in danger of vortex formation. At that point, the fairy’s body had begun to pull in mana to fuel an evolution. Since the dungeon connections were stable, the wizards brought him to the human camp to recover. The wizards had had a discussion with the small family about their child. The child was fully acclimated to a significantly higher mana level than was present in the world of the parents. The family had chosen to leave the dungeon with Ivira, because her world was more like the dungeon and would spare the child a great deal of sickness and weakness. The analysis that Crataz had done showed that the mana flow was stable, but not extremely so. Before interworld trade could be allowed through the dungeon, some constructs would be added to the two entry worldlets, and some changes in the tunnels should be implemented.
It would be Violet’s responsibility to manage the changes in the tunnels. Since the tunnel system would change as the dungeon grew, Violet would need to become an expert in vortex inhibitor patterns. Crataz would deliver the books when he returned with the constructs for the main worldlet. Ivira would probably deliver her books when she returned with the constructs for the… other main worldlet. What do I call that one? I haven’t even seen it yet. Violet wondered. It’s all the way on the other side of the captured space. Ivira would return with the constructs for the otherside worldlet.
Violet was distracted from his thoughts by a sad cry from the young raven. “Friend gone!” It cried. “Friend gone!”
Violet rubbed his forehead and grimaced. “Why do I understand birds now?” He asked.
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The young raven felt its connection to the human toddler cut off when the toddler left the dungeon with his family. The raven expressed its misery with its voice and with its ghostly avatar in the dungeon mind. Without the red rain, the new growth on the mental vine incorporated the raven’s sorrow into green leaves and branches. Many of the information bundles were unaffected by the mirror light spreading sorrow, but the furry animals and the peafowl felt the weight. The energy moving through the mushroom network grew sluggish.
The moon cat bundle was not affected by the sorrow. It remained in the shadows and off the ground; neither mirror light nor mushroom network could influence it. The cat stalked along a branch of the vine, lashing its tail. It had spotted a salamander on the ground nearby. Remaining in the darkest shadows, the cat perched above the salamander, ready to pounce. The cat waited, patient, for the salamander to make a move or run away or… do anything. After a drawn out wait, the cat leapt down on the motionless salamander anyway. The salamander struggled a little in fear, but it was strongly tied down by the mushroom network fibers. The moon cat batted at the salamander with its paws but found that its own claws did not cut. The cat bit the salamander but found that its teeth did not pierce. The cat licked the salamander with its rough tongue. The salamander continued to struggle and send fear into the mushroom network, but the cat grew bored and returned to the branches of the vine.
The tree spider moon cat swatted at the ghostly branches that appeared and disappeared along the vine. Pouncing on immaterial white branches was entertaining for a while, then the cat spotted the ghostly raven. The raven perched on a high branch of the vine, but the moon cat saw a way it could sneak up there in the shadows. Moving silently behind leaves and across vines, the cat drew near. A ghostly branch appeared right in the cats face, startling it. The crow let out a tremendous caw of surprise and joy. The cat leapt at the raven, but the raven launched into the air and out of reach.
The dungeon had felt three people enter the dungeon, and the raven had felt the return of its friend.