Trebble came to a stunningly intelligent decision.
If he hadn't a friend, why couldn't he just make one ?? He was a dungeon core, after all, making absolutely fabulous creatures was what he did.
And he did it well, Billy the rat turned out to be an absolute blast. A bit of a drama queen, but Trebble could look past that. He just hoped that the rat could get something out of the theater training. It would have been a total waste of his DP if Billy came back without any confidence, after all, confidence is key.
In the end, however, Trebble would support the rat in whatever it wanted to do. No matter how horrible its acting skills turned out in the end. Through pure chance, the rat had already earned Trebble five times the Dp he spent on it so he wasn't really expecting anything else.
Though that strange hooded drug-dealing creature that Trebble decided to christen Mr. X did most of the work, he had to give some credit to Billy. Without the rat, there was only a fifty-fifty percent chance that that crazy drugged-out human would have made the life-ending mistake of attacking Mr. X in a drug-induced craze.
Trebble was somewhat leaning in towards yes, but he still gave Billy the credit anyway. The rat was too cute to put down.
And as for Mr. X?
That strange, drug dealing, murderous, hooded, potentially dangerous creature?
Well... It wasn't as if Trebble could tell the tentacle-wielding eldritch abomination to take its business elsewhere. He was fine as long as it didn't get too close to his dungeon core. As long as no police force showed up to bust the party, Trebble could live with an extra source of income.
If anything Trebble was somewhat in Mr. X's debt. After all, it did bring in quite a bit of traffic onto Thirteenth Avenue, if that traffic was good or bad was debatable, but it was still traffic.
Something deep inside Trebble told him there was no such thing as too much traffic for a dungeon...
Right ??
Yeaaaaaaaaaa
At least he earned a metric ton of mana and Dp from that addict.
Wait how much was it exactly ??? er...
Trebble took a good peek at his stats before zooming about madly in joy.
-- Dungeon Core Trebble --
Dp - 5
Mana - 5 ( +1 a day )
Rooms - 2
Areas - Thirteenth Avenue Street, Thirteenth Avenue Stormdrains
Creatures - Billy The Rat, Little Shrooms
Titles - Dungeon On Thirteenth Avenue, First Blood
HE WAS RITCH !!!!
5 DP !!!
5 MANA !!!
That was more Dp and mana than he ever had in his entire life !!!!
That opened up hundreds of possibilities and harkened the improvement of his Dungeon !!!'
He could easily refurbish a good proportion of Thirteenth Avenue with that amount of power. If he wanted Trebble could start somewhat cleaning up that un-bearable mess that barely counted as a street.
Trebble could probably figure out some way to make Thirteenth Avenue a little more presentable, possibly beginning with the monumental task of somehow removing the ever-growing heaps of rubbish that was starting to pile up. He could even go ahead and fix up the flickering neon lights that he relied on to light his street.
Or Trebble could even work with what he had, ignoring the infrastructure of the place and instead focusing on ways to attract and interact with the humans above for more dp.
And yet,
Even though all those ideas sounded wonderful, Trebble's dungeon instincts were driving him in a radically different direction.
Looking about his prized storm drain, a feeling of melancholy infused with agitation washed over the newborn dungeon core.
Drifting around the cramped concrete room filled with the sound of dripping water and scurrying lizards, Trebble re-evaluated the space. The room in which his fragile body precariously rested upon an unadorned pillar of gold was seemingly lacking.
Trebble hated to admit it but compared to the absolutely disgusting street above his storm drain was desperately needing some upgrades. Although it was dirty, trashy, and just unhygienic; Thirteenth Avenue had one or two good points. The street itself was nasty, yes, but it was smack dab in the middle of a techno urban fantasy. An amazing location located right in the middle of a cluster of towering glittering concrete monoliths that reached for the stars. Thirteenth Avenue made up a small piece of the glowing neon ocean of light and soul that ebbed and flowed. Thirteenth Avenue was trashy, yes, but it had an amazing view of the flickering lights that jumped between the buildings that reached the sky. And of course, the strange wondrous machines that floated hundreds of miles above the surface of the earth.
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After witnessing that wondrous sight, the storm drain felt dull and drab to Trebble.
A room that housed nothing but patches of moss, rude lizards, and radioactive water, and the light from his own dungeon core.
It felt.... Unacceptable ???
What was once the pinnacle of beauty had slowly degraded into nothing but a cramped concrete coffin.
When Trebble was born, the storm drain blew his world away because he knew nothing else, but now the novelty had worn off.
It was time for a change.
Regular Storm Drains ????
Pfftttt
Those went out of fashion two hours ago.
-- Storm Drain Core Room --
-- Special Dungeon Room, inaccessible until someone explores at least 80% of the rest of the dungeon. Currently, that means walking down Thirteenth Avenue at least twice.
-- A small cramped section of the high-tech storm drains that move contaminated water under and away from the streets of " The City ". This small storm drain contained nothing but lizards, moss, and water until a small blue sphere appeared. Connected to the larger water system, the contaminated water that flows through this small concrete room will eventually make its way into the oceans. A sacrifice deemed acceptable by those that rule the city.
Upgrades / Purchases -
-- Zack the Storm Drain Wizard Lizard - 5 mana - Harkin the age of magic young soul, come learn the ways of the WIZARD LIZARD !!! ( Zack Generates mana and Dp through teaching creatures the ways of the WIZARD LIZARD )
-- Drowned Rats - 2 mana - Revive the spirits of angry drowned rats to weild against any poor soul that makes the mistake of entering your dungeon.
( New ) - Magic Mikes Magical Moss - 1 Dp - Transforms the moss found in the Storm Drain into a myriad of bioluminescent multicolored magical strains. Perfect for use in Lizard Wizard Magic's.
( New ) - Carol's Custom Concrete Construction Certification - 1 Dp - Allows the dungeon core to shape and meld the concrete that makes up the Storm Drain without restraint as long as no aggressive non-dungeon creatures are around. The dungeon must hang up Carol's metallic certification plaque for this ability to work
( New ) - Aquas Artificial Aquatic Adaptations - 2 Dp - Unsuitable for life, the water that fills this storm drain has been thoroughly contaminated by the city that it flows through. No amount of high-tech treatment can prevent the waters from keeping their radioactivity and life-destroying properties. But you're a dungeon, and you have magic !!! Allow life to slowly find a way to survive in the waters found in your storm drain.
( NEW ) - Oscars Overt Overflow - 3 Dp - Allows the dungeon core to increase the small constant trickle of deadly water flowing into the storm drains to a rushing torrent. The dungeon also must create visible " Warning Rushing Water " signs for this ability to work.
As it turns out, Magic Storm Drains are the new hot dungeon trend.
Starting his renovations off with a bang! Trebble slammed his consciousness down upon Carol's Custom Concrete Construction Certification, gliding over to watch the peculiar formation of a large one-foot by a one-foot copper plate.
Phasing into existence, the words " Certified by Carols Concrete Construction Consortium " flowed onto the large metal plate, glowing with a soft golden light that slowly seeped into the walls of the Storm Drain around it.
And then nothing....
No notifications, no words, no sounds, nothing, not even a small ding.
It would seem that Trebble had to learn how to shape the storm drain himself.
Tentatively reaching out with his mind, Trebble tried shaping one of the concrete walls of the storm drain to great success.
As it turned out Dungeon cores were great at shaping and sculpting three-dimensional objects.... if given the authority to do so.
Ahahahahahaha
With a simple push from Trebble, the wall wobbled and wiggled, warping into strange playful shapes.
And for the first time in his life, Trebble found himself able to interact with the world around him. And it was breathtaking.
Beautiful
Enlightening
Freeing
For the first time, Trebble felt like he was in control.
Because he was. There was no menu between him and the real world, he could do whatever he pleased.
In and out, In and out, under his command, the concrete that formed the walls and ceiling of the storm drain started to swell as if it was the water that dripped down into its bowels.
In and out, In and out, the storm drains slowly expanded until they could no more.
Swirling around his dungeon heart the concrete dancing and playing as it flew through the air, taking on a myriad of ever-changing forms.
Playing around with his new powers Trebble shaped the pillars that held the ceiling up into odd eye-straining geometric shapes, filled with many small nooks and crannies for the lizards and moss to take over.
Trebble then shaped the walls of the Storm Drains, imprinting large beautiful stone mosaics into the walls that depicted the story of his short life. From his first moments to the breathtaking city skyline that blocked out the sun from reaching his beloved street everything was transcribed into a mural of stone.
He really didn't have much history to record, but he could always come back later.
And then came the water, shaping hundreds of moderately sized indents through the floor, Trebble forced the water that rushed through his domain through a maze of right angles and swirling pools before allowing it to leave through an inconspicuous exit.
It was a storm drain, after all, water had to flow in and out. Trebble couldn't just go and remove the room's original purpose. Without its water channels, the storm drain would devolve into nothing but an ordinary magical room with an artificial lake.
And that, Trebble was sure, was not the newest hot dungeon trend.
Then came two new additions to Carol's Custom Concrete Construction Certification and the magical abilities that came with it.
Tossing away three Dp and leaving one in reserve, Trebble also picked up Magic Mikes Magical Moss, and Aquas Artificial Aquatic Adaptations, still playing with the concrete as he watched more magic unfold.
First came Magic Mikes Magical Moss, a breathtaking luminescent glow spreading through the moss that made the storm drain its home.
Diversifying into a rainbow of colors the lichen perked up and rapidly grew, taking over much of the empty space that resulted from Trebble's expansions.
Interestingly enough, just like the upgrade before it, Magic Mikes Magical Moss left a small memento in the storm drain. After the rapid growth and transformation of the moss, a small and unassuming plastic bottle labeled " Mikes Magic " found itself cradled in one of the many nooks and crannies of the newly renovated storm drain.
Trebble tried to get rid of it with little success, the brightly colored spray bottle reappearing every time he attempted to throw it out of his storm drain.
Oh well... At least it provided a little decoration.
Interestingly enough many of the storm drain lizards stood uncaring as they watched the world shift and change around them, occasionally shooting the blue glowing orb at the center of it all a dirty look. One feisty little reptile was even brave enough to shoot the core a webbed middle finger.
How Rude !!!!
Distracted by the outrageous behavior of the small lizard Trebble had almost missed the changes that came upon all the water that was flowing through the newly renovated storm drain.
Becoming slightly glossier, small bits of moss and microorganisms started bobbing along in the water giving life to the once dead liquid.
Making their home in some of the little alcoves that Trebble had formed. A few bits of glowing seagrasses had even anchored themselves to the concrete floor of the storm drain.
Looking around in case the upgrade left something behind, Trebble missed the tiny " Evolution Awaits - Signed Aqua" sign that was currently floating around in one of his freshly made pools.
Silently adjusting several concrete outcroppings he felt looked strange Trebble smiled as he watched the once dull storm drain come to life.
Now the only thing it was missing was a friend.
Blowing his entire mana stash at once Trebble laughed in anticipation as a small glowing cacoon formed in the corner of the storm drain.
Zach The Wizard Lizard would soon walk the earth...
Or concrete more specifically.... but that didn't matter did it?