I take a deep breath, feeling the waves of mana in my room pulse in and out of me as I exhaled. Sucking in a deeper breath, I feel the entire house shudder, and a good distance away, the school matching it.

It had been a long time since I'd taken full stock of all of my minions, so I was about to remedy that particular issue. I have Theory and Thesis - and that was still feeling like a miracle - for my own home. In terms of quantity, I'm most assuredly lacking: in quality they are unequaled. As for Dillon's domicile, I have Minion the beetle. I'm not entirely sure how he's doing if I'm honest - I haven't checked up on him in quite some time. Eh, it's just Dillon's room. He's probably fine.

Next up is the school, my primary source of mana production. I'm not entirely sure how it worked, even after all of my experience as a dungeon. I know it has something to do with the actions of the people walking within it... or perhaps it harvests some small part of the excess energy from their souls? All I know regarding the relation of dungeon mana to humans is that the moment they became a Contracted, they ceased to produce mana and began to absorb it instead, and are in fact dependent upon it.

Back to the school. I have a frankly remarkable army at my disposal, largely composed of beetles, mice, spiders, ants, and other small insects made bigger and stronger through my own personal improvements. Alongside that army are the two salamanders and Noodle.

I examine the salamanders with some curiosity. I haven't yet named them, or given them any particularly major upgrades at all. Lizards are interesting to me, although upon closer inspection these creatures are closer to frogs. With their moist skin and blunt toes as opposed to claws, my dream of dual dragons guarding the dungeon was sadly abolished.

I really need to get a book of some kind on anatomies, preferably all kinds of them, and with detailed descriptions of whatever I might be interested in modifying. Specifically kidneys, throats, skin, scales, hearts, eyes... In fact, there isn't a single part of any of my minions that I can't think of some method by which it could be made better.

Getting back to the salamanders, I elect to name them Sine and Dexter and sit back for a moment to simply appreciate my own intelligence. I'm such a genius with names, I must admit. After a moment, I grow them a good bit larger and then harden their skin to make them tougher. Before I can even move my perspective away, they begin to writhe in discomfort, and I promptly remove the tougher skin.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Watching as they relax, I sit back and think for a long moment. Clearly, that's not an option, much as I wish it was. Ideally, I would make them more resilient so as to reduce overall damage, but if it makes them unable to fight or even move, then it's not even remotely a possibility. So, with that out of the picture, what strengths do these things possess?

Focusing, I spin my attention around to Dillon's house. He's currently prone in his bed, staring at a flat, glowing device in his hands. Every now and then, he puts a finger to its surface and slides upward.

What exactly is he doing? Inept as he is, I would have expected him to be doing something stupid, but this is strange even for him. Shifting some mana into the room, I write in the air using large, glowing letters, giving myself a mental thank-you for finally learning how to read. The strangest part was how easily it happened once I devoted some time to it... but now is not the time to think about that.

What are you doing?

It takes him a moment to notice the words, but once he does, he launches back onto his bed with a yell, the glowing rectangle flying off. I catch it mentally, moving it down to his bed and replacing the words I've written. I need to ask you something.

Rubbing his eyes, he scoots a little closer to the words. "...Jason? I mean Argus! Is that, uh... is that you?" His face pales. "How long have you been watching?"

Only a few seconds. What are the strengths of the common salamander?

He blinks. "What?"

Salamanders. Do they have any strengths?

Reaching for the rectangle, he held it up and tapped at its surface for a moment, squinting. "Hmmm... It says here that they heal really fast - apparently, they can even regenerate limbs, if necessary. Some of them have poison in their skin, but those are a lot rarer. Why do you ask?"

I stare at him for a moment. What did he just do?

What is that thing?

Looking around curiously for a moment, he lifts the rectangle. "My smartphone?"

Yes, what is that?

He gives a light chuckle, nervously sitting back on his bed. "It's a, uh... device, I guess? It lets me look around on the internet. Oh, and I can call and text people with it."

Explain.

Giving a brief laugh, he starts to explain it. Its intricacies, its ability to access some kind of invisible planetary web (I simply must find the spider that wove it) that possesses the entirety of the knowledge that the human race is aware of, along with a multitude of other uses that I could replicate without any trouble.

But that web... does it have the information I require?

I need to find a smartphone.