Aby had been reviewing what it had gained. Their memories were less useful than before, due to a lot of it being repetitions of what the five mer-people taught it. The imitation dragonkin was more useful, teaching it a little more about adventurers, and something else called mercenaries, people who do what the core felt was useless tasks in return for shiny objects.

It took note of that, finding that these people seemed unreasonably excited about the prospect of earning more of them, and filed that away for later use. They were paid to come here apparently in order to scout out the floors, and the decorated harpoon that was brought was supposedly capable of inflicting grievous wounds on living reptilians. This displeased the core some, as it seemed they were going to use it on the wyrm and weaken it. Thankfully, they weren’t very good at what they did, and the core felt itself pleased at the failure.

Besides the enchanted harpoon, and well-made sword of the drake-kin, an inferior breed of both drakes and dragonkin, they had also brought various tools into the dungeon that were assimilated. Some of them were much the same as the last groups, strange objects composed of a soft seashell, and with the inside being made of ground mana corals, something it was intimately familiar with. It knew that these were used to replenish mana or heal the wounds of the invaders, something it learned thanks to the five mer-people, and wondered why they did it this way.

There were also crystals being carried by the biped that acted similarly to those shells, they were full of mana aside from a few drained ones. They differed however, when Aby spawned one to compare to its coral, they didn’t simply leak mana out once it had been filled. They even interacted nicely with the corals, when “planted” right beside them they would start passively gathering mana of whatever flavor was being produced by that coral. This also meant less work for the core, as it didn’t have to convert so much varying elemental mana back into water and ice, and could just treat these crystals as waste that grew with the coral. While it didn't find the task particularly difficult, or even tedious, it freed up more mental strength by using the crystals.

After it realized that it could lighten the mana pollution of the brightly colored corals, it wound up planting empty crystals en-masse throughout the halls. These crystals had surprising capacity, and could absorb and store truly large amounts of mana even before “sprouting” where they would start expanding in size and making intricate fractal designs. When they did start growing, they would begin taking on the tint of whatever element was absorbed most, even growing similar to the behavior of that very element, all side by side with the various corals that radiated their own rainbow of light. While a crystal absorbing the element of earth would grow densely and compacted, one absorbing that of air would branch and split unrestrainedly, almost whimsically. Despite the differences, they seemed to match with one another, and already the seeded crystals near the entrance had started subtly growing, whilst the heavily mana-dense lower floors had made their sizes and shapes explode into brilliant patterns and colors, matching with the corals own increasing brilliance as one descends.

After confirming that the crystals were growing splendidly, it returned its attention to the kobold tribe, who had finally returned to their tribal grounds, and while they mourned the loss of one of their own, they celebrated the victory he had helped achieve. Aby returned its attention to the notifications that it had gotten after the fight. It had learned from the wyvern to keep its creatures in a safe place during evolution after nearly losing the creature to that invader.

Congratulations! Your creature “Coastal Kobold Chief-Mother” has reached the threshold for evolution! Options available:

Coastal Kobold War-Lady

A kobolds natural inclination is to fight, something the matriarchal War-Lady does well. Leading her army, she conquers the shores as her own.

High Kobold Chief-Mother

Many think kobolds equals to the goblins in terms of intelligence, yet they know not of the high kobold, who leads with an iron fist and a keen mind

Lesser Beach Dragonkin

Kobolds are known to be in possession of weakened, diluted bloodlines of the dragons themselves. Very rarely, a kobold may awaken this and become a dragonkin, uniting their tribes and creating an empire that spans the coasts.

Aby already knew the dragonkin to be incredibly powerful, something the frozen waters dragonkin, a B+ rated creature that could still grow more, demonstrated. Selecting that option, Aby watched as the small horns over her eyes grew, in much the same fashion as the wyverns own. Her sandy scales remained unchanged in color, though they changed massively in shape and overall placement. Her body too changed from the highly reptilian build of the kobold, to nearly what the humans looked like before. Much like the other dragonkin, its entire foot changed structure, changing from digitigrade to plantigrade, and her hands went from brutal looking claws to sapient looking hands. Her head shifted from a nearly crocodilian appearance to a much more mammalian one, with a delicate look that appeared similar to Carmines and Selas. Her large and bulky frame began condensing, squeezing the two and a half meters to merely one meter and ninety centimeters, and somehow changing the dense musculature to a slim, toned body that appeared well streamlined. The blue-green pattern that lined her face had changed, and now the scales across her body had blue lines running all over, knitting themselves in an intricate pattern resembling tribal tattoos. On her scalp grew soft, downy feathers, causing what was once a kobold to be completely unrecognizable.

She opened her eyes, staring down the surrounding tribe members, most of whom appeared to have gotten taller, and then focusing on the changes of her own body. Despite appearing much less menacing than before, none of the other kobolds tried to start something, feeling an oppressive feeling that stemmed from their very blood. As she got acquainted with her newfound strength, the shaman was next on the roster to be improved.

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Congratulations! Your creature “Coastal Kobold Shaman” has reached the threshold for evolution! Options Available

Coastal Kobold Storm-Bringer

A shaman is merely the first step on the path of magic that some kobolds may tread. Calling winds and rain, the waters bend to their might.

High Kobold Shaman

Thought to be merely slight improvements to their lesser brethren, High Kobold Shamans are some of the most frighteningly capable magic casters of any near-sapient.

Lesser Steam Dragonkin

Kobolds are known to be in possession of weakened, diluted bloodlines of the dragons themselves. Very rarely, a kobold may awaken this and boil the waters that surround them.

Once again, Aby had little issue selecting this option, the female shaman brightly shining, attracting the attention of the rest. Unlike the matriarch, she instead grew taller, though her final height was still a hair shorter, ending up one hundred eighty five centimeters from foot to feathers. Her face and limbs also rearranged themselves in much the same way, and the fluffy head of feathers grew longer. However, she had also started changing colors, with her previously sea-foam green scales changing to a shimmering light grey, appearing to truly be made out of steam. Her feathers became a vibrant red at the roots, yet shifted to a light blue as they grew longer.

Her own awakening was punctuated by her, as advertised, boiling the water that had collected at her feet on their tribal grounds. Gathering and playing with the collected steam, she appeared to be far more capable of casting her magic, and in much shorter order.

After she dispersed the steam she was playing with, flicking it away and allowing it to condense and fall as rain, Aby turned to the spearman who’d formerly lost his right arm. While Aby had healed it in short order, just like what happened to Sela, there was now a vivid scar that showed exactly where his impromptu amputation had taken place. He did appear to have some of the only remaining interesting evolutions.

Congratulations! Your creature “Coastal Kobold” has reached the threshold for evolution! Options Available

Coastal Kobold Warrior

Not often seen, kobolds tend to avoid setting down in areas like swamps and seas, though it isn’t unheard of. Coastal kobolds become far more capable of living in and around the ocean, as well as massive improvements to hunting in water.

Beach Drakekin

The Drake, a creature with a moderately awakened draconic bloodline. While incomparable to a true dragon, Drakes and their kin should never be taken lightly.

Much the same as the drake-kin who’d only recently invaded, Aby knew this to be a B- ranked creature, a direct step up for the kobold. The body structure of the drake-kin was apparently less refined than the dragonkin, he reached two and a third meters before he ceased growing, and his body didn’t have nearly the same elegant grace that the dragonkins’ had. His head was more animalistic, and his hands more feral. His feet also didn’t make the shift from digitigrade to plantigrade, which had only added to his height. His entire body was muscular to the extreme, and when he woke up, he accidentally broke the walls of one of their limestone rock houses by punching it. He appeared pleased with this transformation nonetheless, and the scar on his right arm had only grown more prominent afterwards.

The other two kobolds didn’t have nearly as impressive choices, simply given the option to become high kobolds or coastal warriors. While Aby had one become a coastal warrior, for the sake of knowledge the other became a high kobold. It appeared almost identical, though had grown taller, reaching two meters, and her sandy yellow scales had once more become the dull and muddy coloration of unevolved kobolds. Black feathers grew from her scalp, and the optimizations for the water that she’d had faded slightly.

And then, the warrior, the one Aby was excited for even without seeing the options, due to the announcement.

Congratulations! Your creature “Coastal Kobold Warrior” has fulfilled a hidden condition(s), allowing it to undergo a special evolution!

Creator titles: Randomizer, Invasive, Adaptive, Ambitious

Overpower a creature of a greater draconic bloodline than itself, resulting in its demise

Special Evolution Available

Lesser Coastal Drake

The Drake, a creature with a moderately awakened draconic bloodline and of considerable power. Despite being slow, and having little magical inclination if any, the sheer brute power and brutal nature of these lumbering landlocked menaces earns them a reputation for violence, one well deserved.

And its expectations were most certainly not let down. The warrior had already left the tribe by this point, continuing his wandering along the floor, when he had felt that change it had experienced once before. Closing his eyes, he laid down on his side, before it begun.

Unlike the others, whose heads had lost their snout in favor of a more sapient structure, the former kobold had his own skull double down on the change, growing into a toothy maw over half a meter in length. His body changed its shape, becoming more barrel structured, and his arms and legs both shifted positions until they were coming out from either side of his body rather than directly under him, much like a crocodile.

However, unlike those inferior reptiles, his own limbs were proportional to his now three meter length body, each one only larger than what they had been, and scandalously bulky. His hands and feet both became fully digitigrade, lengthening his gait even more and the claws present grew out to become sickle shaped nightmares, designed to rend flesh from bone with the same ease as one would cut a jellyfish in half with a sword. A muscular tail the same length as his body nearly completed the image, and all that remained was the spikes that grew swiftly along his spine, and a tail ending in sharp barbs.

From a distance, one could mistake him for an oddly colored crocodile, but up close the similarities fell apart. He was built for running, for chasing and hunting rather than merely ambushing, and his very body broadcasted this predatory nature at full force. The drake had grown too large to comfortably move within the halls now, and upon waking up, he found himself both notably more powerful, and notably more stuck than when he’d lost consciousness. Aby watched his upset roars for a moment, finding it humorous to watch a noble and regal drake, wedged between the walls of a cave, on his back as he thrashed and tried for freedom.

After enjoying the sight, it made the halls a little wider for him, allowing the drake to proceed to floor number twelve.