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The Creator, Atlantis, The Kalenic Sea
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I spent the next month in a half-trance. I watched the Guilders explore the dungeon, helped Kata govern Atlantis, and adjusted trap timings and monster numbers. I did some mild terraforming and touch-ups on almost all the Elemental Isles, as well as the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth floors.
Between all that, I established two new islands, completing the roughly circular arrangement of the Elemental Isles. The Gravity and Sound Islands filled in the remaining two opposing spaces, though they weren't exactly opposing concepts like some of the others.
Perhaps my circular opposing-elemental wheel design was flawed, but it was too late to change it now.
Ilha da Gravidade was an unconventional island, mainly because it was a floating island, taking advantage of my recent discovery of Gravity Cores. Disconnected from the ocean floor, it bobbed up and down gently on the surface. The waves pushed it around slightly, with an anchoring enchantment keeping it from wandering too far. It was unsettling to walk upon, like standing on a ship. The vertigo experienced was an added hurdle. The island was taller than it was wide, with towering cliffs and no easy access route to the top. There was only one spot where the island dipped into the water where it was even possible to climb the cliffs, but it wasn't exactly easy to spot. Around the island's immediate vicinity, boulders like the one I'd used to test were anchored to the island by giant vines.
For now, no monsters inhabited the island. Gravity Manabeings, however, were a different story.
They took a variety of forms. Most were normal stone golems but were unique because their body parts were disconnected. The stones floated around each other with a purple glow, looking like a certain Storm Atronach from a northern land. The fairy-sized Manabeings... Calling them fairies all the time was getting confusing. Pixies. I decided to call them Pixies. Plenty of pixies populated the plethora of islands. The few Potentium golems I gave the manabeings were terrifying to behold. Like the stone golems, they deconstructed their bodies into floating chunks arranged in a vaguely humanoid form. Where the Potentium golems differed was in their ability to shoot pebble-sized chunks of their bodies at their targets with the speed and accuracy of a railgun.
Like I said, Terrifying.
The Island of Sound, Strana Zvuka, was primarily underground. The sound was most dangerous when confined and allowed to bounce, and this island took advantage of that.
Sound Manabeings were, unsurprisingly, more ethereal than Air manabeings but less than darkness manabeings. They could be disrupted but not harmed by standard weapons. They were, quite literally, sound itself. The powers their golems and Potentium golems possessed were quite self-evident; they could generate pulses of sound at various strengths. Radar-like pulses could be used to map the tunnels and search for intruders, or they could focus it enough to cause flesh to explode!
I scattered Sound Golems and smaller versions of the Hellbats throughout the tunnel and caverns. Unlike their Hellbat cousins five floors up, though, these were wholly blind and far more in tune with their magic. The tunnels were soon full of thunder-clap-like bursts of sound, and anyone who entered the bare hole in the ground would need extensive hearing protection to even approach the island.
I was still deciding what the island's Relics would do and what they should be. I decided to wait till later; there was still plenty of time before any guilders made it to the Eleventh.
Like I'd suspected it would, the hole my Core Island left behind turned into a lagoon. It was populated by a considerable number and variety of fish monsters, taking advantage of the high mana content of the waters left behind. It was a good thing I'd redirected the manastream in the currents around the lagoon to a now-permanent waterspout under the storm clouds. Otherwise, the mana down there would have started mutating the fish beyond all recognition.
When I finished my first pass over the two new islands, I focused on the clouds above.
Every cloud that floated through the skies of the Eleventh now hid an island from any looking up.
I quickly discovered that Water cores could be enchanted to produce an endless stream of water and set up a few on each island. To be honest, I just liked the aesthetic of eternal waterfalls that sustained the clouds shrouding the islands. They were heavily populated by Four-winged feathered Pterodactyl-like monsters that resembled those from a distant planet occupied by blue people. I wasn't sure what to call them yet. Banshees? Ah, it'll come to me, I'm sure.
Wave was excited to explore the islands and had a very pertinent question to ask.
"Creator, when will you create more like me?"
He'd been playing with a couple of the four-winged monsters but stopped to perch on a rock and look towards the storm clouds.
I'm not sure, Wave. I always intended for dragons, dragon-like monsters, and Children to be among my most potent defenses found in the dungeon's depths. Your current state certainly wasn't in my plans, at least not this early. Are you lonely?
"A little. It's fun exploring the Eleventh, but... as much as I try to explain what it's like to Taura, there's so much that I just can't explain. How it feels to fly and dive into the deepest parts of the ocean, the freedom I feel..."
Could I examine your memories and feelings?
"Of course, Creator."
I examined the blue Amphibious Wyvern. It'd been a while since he'd been changed, and as far as I could tell, he'd entirely accepted his transformation. There was no longing for a smaller body, only a wish to share with his friend. There was some loneliness there; Aston and Towers had left the dungeon. Taura was the only one who visited his cliff-side home. The other Children in the port town below his lair were too respectful of his status to bother him.
Something I could more than emphasize with.
Alright then. Maybe a few more. As I've often seen, having one of any species is a risk.
"Thank you, Creator! If it's not too much, could I request Taura be made a Wyvern, too?" Wave asked, almost pleading in his earnestness.
Wow, those feelings... He really loved that minotaur, huh? Is this the first case of a cross-species romance among the Children? As far as I knew, yes. How to handle this...
I'll certainly try, Wave, but only as long as she agrees. A warning, though. Even if Taura is made into a Wyvern, you probably won't be able to have children with her. You may look the same, but your genetics are very different. Minotaurs are mammals descended from cows, and you are a reptile descended from salamanders.
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"Are you sure?" Wave asked. Though the wyvern no longer processed a body capable of blushing, I could literally feel the embarrassment in his mind at my words. It seemed the thought had crossed his mind...
No. I'm not. You can certainly try... just, go into it with a clear mind.
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Wyvern's Rest, The Eleventh Floor, The Dungeon
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Taura woke quickly, blinking awake as light streamed into her window. She rose from her bed with a yawn and stretched, leaving the comfort her sheets promised behind. The bed was springy thanks to the steel wool springs, with ordinary sheep and Capriccio wool to make it soft and keep in the warmth. Taura quickly dressed and began her morning routine.
Her breakfast was a mixture of oats, seeds, and hay, with a decent helping of milk. The 'cereal,' as The Creator had dubbed it, had everything a Minotaur needed to start their day. It was complimented by a small helping of cut fruits and a glass of juiced oranges. Now full of energy, Taura grabbed her bag and left her small home.
Well, small was a relative term. It was sized for a Minotaur, so by definition, it was medium-sized. What Taura meant was that it was a two-room home.
As Taura walked down the broad avenue to the water's edge, Taura waved to the Children going about their days. Drake-kin, Kobolds, Snowbolds, Minotaur, Capriccio, Scorpans, and Crabfolk are all enjoying the sea breeze. Wyvern's Rest, named for her best friend, was the largest town on the floor and certainly the most populous. Plenty of Children had made the descent to live here, and there were even a couple of farms outside the town growing crops and raising animals.
The port was bustling by the time she arrived. Crabfolk, the newest addition to the Children, were the majority down here. They had an affinity for ships and sailing that most other Children lacked, a natural ability Taura could only claim had been gifted by The Creator Himself. Taura's destination today wasn't the port itself but the bazaar that had sprung up nearby. Though trade on the Eleventh was still in its infancy, there were enough smaller towns with unique resources to trade to Wyvern's Rest.
One stall was full of fruit and vegetables grown and gathered from Fons Vitae, the Life Island. Another stall sold a huge variety of fish and the cores harvested from them. But it wasn't just the islands that provided trade. Goods from every floor could be found here, as could the items Taura was looking for.
She quickly located the stall selling jewelry, and her eyes glittered as much as the stones. The Drake-kin behind the stall scales a rose-gold color, was very helpful, and Taura left that day with a new nose ring! It'd cost a decent number of Talons, but it was well worth it in her eyes. Her old ring was very old, one she'd been wearing since she was... undersized. This one was more appropriately sized.
Taura finished the rest of her shopping afterward, stocking up on various foodstuffs. She found a set of Phoenix Feathers she thought Wave would like, remembering how he said he was initially from the Third.
Just as she was finishing up, a roar echoed across the floor. It was one she was very familiar with. Wave flew down from a cloud, his blue scales glittering against the fluffy white and grey. He was back! Taura rushed home to put her shopping away, then sprinted down the path to her friend's lair.
The clip-clop of her hooves against the stone road was a decent warning for the Children ahead of her to clear the way. Some 'excuse me!' and 'make ways!' sufficed when that wasn't enough. Most smiled, laughed, or waved as she ran past them.
She made it up to Wave's Lair in good time, and after a couple of seconds to catch her breath at the entrance, she walked right in.
Wave was sitting attentively, his eyes locking on her the instant she entered. At that exact moment, Taura felt The Creator's presence intensify.
Hello Taura.
"Creator! Is something going on?"
Well, yes. Taura, Wave has asked if it's possible for you to join him as a Wyvern.
Taura felt her breath hitch, and her eyes immediately locked on the nervous flying lizard himself.
He wishes to show you the floor, not just tell stories. If you agree, He'll bring you to the Core Island, and I'll get to work. I know you two have feelings for each other-
Taura felt her heart beat faster in her chest, eyes still locked on Wave. He felt... He had feelings for her, too?!
-I've never made two completely different Monsters into the same species before, so I don't know what the result will be. I also don't know if you'll be compatible, but it is possible.
"Yes," Taura said aloud. "I want to be wi- like Wave."
Alright then. I'll be seeing you soon, then.
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The Great Hall, High Temple of the Gods, The Holy City
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It'd been a long month for Tamesou Akio. His training had really intensified after that first dungeon dive. Confident that they could handle a little more and granted 'Silver' rank after being registered with the Adventurers Guild, they were taken to three different dungeons. They spent a week in each, and Akio could feel the differences between them and Amaterasu's old dungeon.
The three dungeons they delved into were 'Tamed.' They were dungeons claimed like Akio claimed Amaterasu, but kept as dungeons rather than turned into equipment. They were cultivated and guided into shaping their dungeons as the 'dungeon master' wished. Monsters were carefully designed and created for express purposes and implanted with instincts to act in certain ways.
Akio likened them to attack patterns and pre-programmed responses, like monsters from a video game. Compared to Amaterasu's dungeon, they felt artificial and constructed.
They felt fake.
Oh, the danger was still real, but there was a feeling he'd noticed and found Sophie and Bruce shared with him. There was a lack. Once they learned the monster's attack patterns, they were easy to bait into overextending and then taking advantage of the given opening.
Each dungeon had its own 'theme' as it were. One was a classic dungeon in the middle of a city with cobblestone walls and plenty of iron bars and doors. The monsters were mostly giant rats, dogs, and cats. The boss of each floor, or 'Guardian' as the natives called them, was just a larger version of that floor's monster with a bit of extra oomph.
The second was a 'Cave' dungeon. This one was full of foxes, a couple of overly aggressive deer, and even another bear! That one was much smaller than the one they'd fought before. And easier to fight.
The third was called a 'slime' dungeon. It was pretty unique, according to Jinasa. It'd apparently already created the 'slimes' before it was found, and as with all unique things, it'd been exploited for all it was worth. The slimes resisted slashing attacks; his sword did little but part their gelatinous bodies, which immediately sealed back together. While his sword was useless, Bruce's water magic could pop the things with the wave of his hand. The small, weak ones, at least. The larger ones had thicker skins and had less water in their makeup.
Honestly, Akio felt like his skills with the blade had grown more from his training with Guard-Captain Heliat than fighting the monsters. He didn't want to get too comfortable or arrogant here; these were little more than NPCs. They weren't real opponents; they couldn't innovate and change things up, nor learn from their mistakes.
Which brought him to where he was now, having just expressed frustration to his sensei after a day of training. The paladin had nodded sagely, sheathing his sword.
"Good, Young Akio," he'd praised, to Akio's slight confusion. "It is true; tame dungeons aren't much of a challenge. It's the Wild dungeons that really push you to your limits. Unfortunately, most wild dungeons are hunted down pretty quickly. If they're given too much time to grow and learn how to purposefully breed their monsters, they could start flooding their surroundings with hundreds of evil creatures! That's how most wild monsters ended up out in the world, though I doubt any first-generation monsters are alive on the surface. Their descendants, though, certainly." The man patted Akio's shoulder.
"Don't worry, my young trainee," Heliat said, his voice taking on a conspiratory tone. "You three are doing much better than your fellow heroes. I heard the High Priest say they were ready to send the others off to the dungeons we just visited." Akio felt his eyes widen. Were they that far ahead? Why? How?!
"But either way, you're right. Tame dungeons are too easy for you three. I'm looking into getting permission to take you further abroad. I've heard talk of a Grindstone off the East Coast, though that one has a Gold Rank requirement. There've also been strange rumors of monsters in cities on the East Coast..." Heliat's brow furrowed at the last sentence. He shook his head and once again gave Akio his trademark confident grin. "But never mind that. It won't be for a week or so at the earliest. Take a few days off; spend them with your friends. After that, it's back to training! We'll see how quickly you can earn that Gold Rank, hmm?"
Akio rushed off to meet his friends, excited to share the news.
They could finally be able to see more of this world, and their real journey in another world was finally about to start!
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