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The Creator, Atlantis, The Kalenic Sea

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With my favorite raid group having left the dungeon, I could move on to addressing some problems their visit highlighted. Number one, the Ratten were underpowered, but I had a feeling that was inevitable. They were on the floor directly after the Warren, one occupied solely by Ratten. The guilders were just too used to fighting them, and that wasn't something I could fix. The Poison Clan would be harder to fight for those less skilled, like the various high-gold low-platinum groups even now attempting to push through to reach the Fifth.

I was sure their competence at fighting human enemies would increase with time, so I moved on to the next thing.

The Golems and Spirits performed as expected, and I had nothing bad to say about them.

The monsters, Children, and Court on the Sixth had adapted well to the new Lava Floodplains. I still thought it was a little empty, though. There was an empty niche here, somewhere. We had the Children of the floor, the Capriccio. They now lived in multiple villages built halfway up the cavern walls. The Bats were no longer nocturnal and were a constant nuisance. The golems of various kinds either roamed the floor or guarded the exit. I needed a living ground or lava-dwelling monster...

Snakes? Snakes.

I brought some unaltered snakes down from the surface where they'd been living in secret since I'd unleashed the giant snake on the sheep long ago. On their way down, I began their transformation. Firstly, I made them into monsters, catalyzing and growing their manacores. One by one, their scales turned onyx black, as reflective and shiny as the gem. They grew in size, but I didn't make them enormous. Next came the fire and earth magic and an enchantment that created an orange-yellow glow that peaked through the gaps in their scales.

The scales on their underside were the same orange-red, making it seem like the snake was part of a lava flow or a glowing coal in a dying fire.

Perfect.

And now for the name... Hmm. Magma Vipers? No, they weren't vipers. Lava Constrictors? Not big enough. Perhaps as a second stage, but not this one. Brainwave! Infernal Serpents! It leaned into the hell theme and everything! It was perfect.

My new Infernal Serpents spread across the floor after some accelerated breeding. They seemed to prefer to hang around the edge of the lava flows, though they were fully capable of swimming through the molten rock.

On the Seventh, the Drake-kin continued to train, mine, and forge new weapons for the dungeon. The tunnels were quite extensive now, and I had to make a few new traps to cover them. I also needed to think about a monster to go here. The Guilders needed monster encounters that weren't the Drake-kin. I had no moles, and I'd just put snakes on the Sixth. The Drake-kin represented lizards, so I wouldn't be adding more of them...

Insects? They are quite underrepresented in my dungeon, apart from some larger-than-normal specimens on the Third and the Eleventh. What kind of insect to choose, though? Ants would make the most sense, and perhaps they could add some variation to the floor. I could imagine an ant hive as part of the trap system. At random, parties could be forced to fight their way through the ant colony and find the exit.

Yes, this was the way.

My entire dungeon was practically saturated with insects, though I didn't think about them much. There looked to be a suitable ant colony in one of the less-mined areas of the tunnels; the queen had even developed a manacore all on her own! I pumped her full of mana, then did the same to ten workers and soldiers. Beyond modifying them to survive at the size of a Labrador, I laced and plated their exoskeletons with metal they could eat from the walls of the mines. This gave rise to six different types of ants.

Each worker and soldier's shell changed to reflect the metal they consumed, and each ant soon found themselves better at specific tasks. Those who ate silver had an easier time conducting mana; the ones who ate iron were bigger, tougher, and stronger, while the copper-eating ants became more suited for delicate tasks.

I left the colony to establish itself after making sure any newborn ants would be of the basic variety and would change to reflect their diet.

I wanted to move on to the eighth, but Kata interrupted me with a simple question.

"Hey, uh, where's Huea? I've asked around, but no one in the Drake-Kin Village has seen her for a while."

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The Ninth Floor, Tunnel to the Pyramid, The Dungeon

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Kata was worried. She'd only popped down to visit Huea as they'd previously arranged, but she found the drake-kin missing from her workshop and home, and no one had seen her in, like, a week! Kata knew The Creator was in one of his 'review and upgrade' phases, but she felt a simple question and directions wouldn't be all that troublesome.

Kata felt she had a reason to worry since she had immediately commanded his full attention and continued to do so on her trek down to the Scorpan Village. He had been evasive about what Huea was doing, only that she couldn't leave her workspace, and Kata would need to go to her. That only confirmed her suspicions. The Creator had tasked her best friend with something secret and dangerous.

"I'm not far off now, right?" Kata asked, having been walking through a secret tunnel built into the back of the Scorpan Village for a while now. "Please, can you at least tell me what you have her doing all the way down here?"

We were exploring the usage and uses of a mana type I haven't been able to use. We tested it, summoned a few sprites, and soon found we needed a more... specialized facility to continue the experiments.

"What mana type?"

The Creator was silent. She could feel his hesitation.

You need to promise not to be mad.

Kata narrowed her eyes at the ceiling, picking up the pace. "I'll be reasonable," she promised, which wasn't the same thing, but He should know that was the best He would get.

The Creator sighed in her mind.

We may have rediscovered Necromancy.

Kata immediately started sprinting.

"Please tell me you're kidding?" Kata pleaded, moving faster than she had ever done. "The use of Necromancy and Death mana was outlawed for a REASON," Kata practically shouted in her head.

Hey, no one told me! I'm winging it here! All I knew was there were necromancer wars, the necromancers lost, and their spells were banned. Everyone I've killed has known squat about how it works, or why I should be wary of it, or anything beyond Soul Mana Bad! Of course, I had to test it!

"Soul Mana, what are you talking about? There's no such thing as Soul Mana," Kata responded, finally spotting a door at the end of the hallway. "How don't you know about the mana types? You're a dungeon!"

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Kata burst through the door and found herself in a bedroom. The room was filled with Huea's things, including her keepsakes, bedding, and clothes, which were thrown in random places. Kata moved through the room to the next door.

Who would have told me? You're the first human I've connected to; I haven't exactly had the chance. And no way was I going to ask Layla, Isid, or any other guilder. I've built up this ancient, all-knowing reputation, and I didn't want to ruin it with a single question, the Creator explained. And, somehow, none of that knowledge has filtered through to my core. Honestly, there's so much mana on the disk here that it could have been scrambled and mixed through the whole thing. That might explain why I haven't picked up any new memories recently...

Kata put The Creator's rambles to the side as she passed through the door, laying eyes on her friend.

Huea looked... different. Her once grey scales, from where she drew her second name, were blackened and tarnished. The edges were still the same grey shade, but the scales' root and center quickly darkened to black. She wore a black robe over some kind of armor, likely Mithril. Huea finally turned to see who'd made the noise, and Kata saw her face. Huea's irises glowed with a pale green light. The drake-kin blinked in surprise.

"Kata? What are you doing down here? Aren't you needed on the surface?"

Kata approached slowly. She'd heard stories from her tutors about how Necromancy twisted and corrupted all who used it, but apart from the physical changes she'd undergone... Huea seemed the same. "We were going to hang out for a few days since I managed to do enough work in advance to take some time off, remember?"

Huea blinked again, realization dawning in her eyes.

"Oh, Creator. I completely forgot! I've just been so absorbed in all the testing we've needed to do that it completely slipped my mind." Huea explained, waving a hand at the other figures in the room.

Standing at Huea's side was a black-armored drake... kin? No, there's no tail, no snout. Actually, the gauntlets and boots were shaped for and have the proper proportions... whoever this was, they're human. The others were drake-kin, wearing white cloaks and showing symptoms of Death Mana usage similar to Huea, their previously colorful scales tarnished and their eyes glowing green.

"So, uh, did you still want to come?" Kata asked hesitantly. Maybe a break would refresh you and give you perspective on something you're struggling with?" As Huea nodded slowly, Kata felt hope that her friend was fine.

"...Alright. A few days shouldn't hurt. Spark, Slice, keep things going as you can without me." Huea ordered, her tone sharp. The other two drake-kin nodded and left the room without a word. Huea frowned up at her human... bodyguard? Kata was still having trouble with whether this was a human or not.

"I'm sorry, Kata, but my minion here is going to have to come with us. He's far too dangerous to risk the tether snapping, and we're not sure how long they can get. This will be a good test.

"Tether?" Kata asked, eyes flicking between the armored figure and her friend.

"Of course. How else am I supposed to order the Risen about?" Huea asked, the question obviously rhetorical. She frowned again. "Well, If he's coming with us, I should probably let you in on the secret."

You are not to speak a word of his identity, Kata. The Creator butted in, causing Kata to blink in surprise. That was the most overt order she'd ever been given, and it came entirely out of the blue. Who was this?

"As far as I know, you have never met. Kata, let me introduce you to Hallmark, The First Risen."

...

Yeah... Honestly, Kata had no problems following that order anymore.

"What The Fuck, Man?! WHY HIM?!"

He was the only soul I had on hand, and his body was easy to restore to pristine condition. I didn't exactly have a choice!

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Training Grounds, High Temple of the Gods, Theona

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Tamesou Akio stared in awe at the orb of light in his hand.

This was magic! He was channeling mana to produce Light!

Though he had spent years of his life absorbed in fiction, dreaming of having some magical ability or superpower of his own... He'd never honestly expected to have an ability like that. It just didn't happen. Earth was boring, mundane, and dull. Everything and everyplace was owned by someone. Your entire worth was gauged by how much you earned and spent.

Here, though? Here, he could be somebody.

"I wouldn't look into that thing too long, mate. I feel like it'll blind you," Bruce advised, sounding distracted himself. Though Akio had a feeling the other boy was wrong, he nodded. He closed his fist, simultaneously cutting off the flow of mana and snuffing out the light. He looked over at the tanned teen. Bruce was staring intently at a glass bottle filled with water and using his own magic to spin it around, forming a whirlpool.

"Um... What's it like?" Akio asked, pulling Bruce's attention away from the glass. The water quickly stopped spinning and sloshed about as the boy became thoughtful.

"It's odd. It feels like another limb. Flexing it makes whatever water my mana is in do what I want; relaxing it releases my control. I can flex it again," Bruce claimed, frowning. The water slowly began picking up speed, once again forming a whirlpool. "But, reestablishing the connection takes a little more oomph than you'd expect it to. What about you?"

Akio raised his hand, fingers splayed, and fed the packet of mana down his arm. He felt it as it traveled through the strange ethereal veins he now had, and then, when it reached his palm, the packet opened. All at once, a point of light flashed to life in the middle of his palm. As long as he kept feeding it mana, it would stay lit.

"It is... Like a computer program." Akio declared, getting a confused look. Akio quickly explained, "It's like.. packets of data. I make a program, then send it to my palm. When it reaches my palm, the program executes and only ends when it runs out of power."

"That makes about as much sense as anything else, I guess. But why are they so different to use?" Bruce wondered, prompting Akio to think about it himself.

"Because they are different." Miss Rav- Sophie declared, her pitch-black shadow contorting and stretching unnaturally. "They are different elements with different concepts attached to them. To use Akio's metaphor, imagine you've written your program in C# but have it run on a compiler for Java. They're similar, sure, but they don't go about things the same way. Water is matter, and light is energy. It makes sense they'd work in different ways.

Sophie's shadow, cast by the rising sun, now sat directly beneath her body in a perfect circle. No matter how she moved it remained directly beneath her, like she was a video game character.

"Remember the explanation of the elements we got?" Sophie asked, gesturing back to where the adults were getting more in-depth help. They... were not adapting well, from the looks of it. "It's a tiered circle. Fire, Water, Earth, and Air are in the middle, with the second tier being a combination of or straight upgrades from those elements. Darkness is the upgrade of Water. That doesn't make it better than water, just rarer and more nuanced," she said to Bruce, who had been looking a little upset at the implication his element was 'worse.' "My Darkness is much like water. It requires me to infuse shadows with my mana, which I can direct as I maintain a connection. But it's immaterial and can't easily interact with matter."

"How is something like darkness controllable, though? Isn't darkness just the absence of light?" Akio asked, confused.

"I said it earlier," Sophie explained, "All these elements are concepts before anything else. Light may physically be photons moving at high speed, picked up by our retinas and translated into an image in our brains, but that's not all it is. Conceptually, light is heat, power, energy, and more. Darkness may only physically exist as places where light doesn't reach, but conceptually, it's mysterious—hidden, unseen, and unknown. You get the picture?"

"I think so," Bruce said, scratching his head. "Water is associated with life, purity, the moon, and unstoppable force, right? So there should be, like purifying water magic, healing, and it'll be stronger under the full moon?" Akio thought there was some merit there, but Sophie shrugged.

"Sure, but the locals seem to use Life mana for healing. Doesn't mean you can't try, though." she agreed, her shadow snapping back to how it was meant to look, though it now looked like a portal to the abyss with how dark it was. "I'd guess Akio's magic will be stronger in the day when there is more light to work with. He might also get spells involved with illusions since they're often just light changed to show what the caster desires. Maybe even some kind of invisibility."

That sounded so cool! Would he actually be able to do something like that?

"I wish I had a cool mana type like you guys. I could have had Metal, Gravity, Space, or even Time magic! Why couldn't I have been a Chronomancer!?" Bruce cried out to the uncaring sky.

"Just unlucky, I guess," Akio shrugged. "They said we had a 'heightened chance of a talent for higher magic,' not that it was guaranteed. Third-tier mana types are even rarer."

"I know... Anyway, are you guys looking forward to weapons training? What are you going to pick?" Bruce asked, changing the subject. "I was thinking a trident or spear. You know, with the whole water thing?" Akio nodded; it made sense.

"I was going to go with daggers," Sophie revealed, gesturing to her shadow. "I might as well lean into the stealthy rogue archetype. What about you, Akio?"

"Uh, it's embarrassing. I was going to try to be a paladin. I have light magic, and... I may have a bit of middle-schooler syndrome."

"That sounds awesome, though! And who cares, man. This is the place to let all your old fantasies out! We're in a world of magic! If you want to be a warcraft paladin or something, go for it!"

"Ah, Heroes, it is good to see at least some of you are taking to your change in circumstances well," A priest with a large hat and staff said, approaching them. He was flanked by what looked like a high priestess and... an Actual Paladin!? "Please, a moment of your time? There are some things I believe you need to be informed of."

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