Correct. Anything you summon can only be summoned as an infant as modifying a creature can only take place in a Dungeon.

Wait modifying a creature, what do you mean, I ask.

Oh, uh, I was going to tell you how to do this after you matured the creature to adolescence, but now is okay. To modify a creature, think of what new traits you want it to acquire and supply a small amount of mana. After that just mature the creature and it’s new traits will appear. Oh and to mature a creature you only have to think of what stage of growth you want the creature to reach and supply some mana, or if you want to see how it normally grows just think of how much time you want it to age.

But, why not modify an adult creature instead? I ask, confused as to why I she wanted to modify an adolescent rather than an adult creature.

Modifying a creature does not grant them the knowledge of how to use their new traits, however maturing the creature will teach a creature how to use its now mature body, this of course includes any modifications.

Ah, so maturing a creature will adapt it to its modifications, and only young creatures can be matured.

Yes and no. you can mature an adult creature but it will often age it beyond its prime and thus be less effective than a modified creature in its prime. Additionally aging a creature can also cause it to die if you age it beyond its lifespan. For now I recommend making a simple modification to the creature and then maturing it to make sure you don’t forget how.

Alright, alright. I will stop pestering you with questions but I still have more. I acquiesce.

Focusing my attention on the little squirrel on my floor and imagine it as a squirrel with shinin golden fur and let a little bit of mana loose. Looking at the squirrel I see it surrounded in a minor blue glow before it faded away and I could see that what little fur it had changed color to a nice shiny gold color. Satisfied with the simple modification I imagined the squirrel growing into an adult and let a little more mana loose. Once more the squirrel was engulfed in a blue glow but this time the glow lasted longer and grew larger along with the enlarging squirrel. After the glow faded and I could see my new creature I saw a healthy adult golden squirrel on my floor.

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Ok now that I have made the creature will you answer my questions. I ask.

Of course I will.

Ok so if I want all of my squirrels to be gold would I have to modify all of them? I question fearing that I would have to micromanage all of my modified Dungeon creatures to keep their populations up.

No. To create a population of golden squirrels you would have to create a small population of golden squirrels who would create golden squirrel offspring. If a golden squirrel had children with a regular squirrel the offspring would only have a chance to inherit the full modification. On a more positive note the offsprings that inherit a modification don’t count as having been modified so they can be modified even more, so any modification that you cannot do in one modification you can perform over several generations of modified creatures. Any other questions?

Yes, with Vita’s blessing my creatures will seek out a balanced ecosystem, but how balanced will the ecosystem have to be for the blessing to not force me to balance it myself. I ask concernedly.

Ah, yes. With Vita’s blessing your floors will all have to include more creatures than a Dungeon without the blessing but the bare minimum that is considered to be balance is a stable ratio of plants to prey to predators. The exact value changes with the composition and type of floor, but the floor titles usually make it apparent where the balance should lie. For instance our current floor is a forest so it should contain many trees, arboreal prey, and arboreal predators. Additionally Vita’s blessing does not apply to wholly magic creatures so on later floors you can use magical creatures to bypass the blessings effects. Was there anything else?

Uh, no that was it. So what is next?

Alright the last thing I have to teach you is how to banish a creature. Sometimes you will find that a creature is too troublesome to stay where it is so you will have to banish it from your Dungeon. To banish a creature just think of the creature and imagine it dissolving into mana. Go ahead and try it on the squirrel.

Aww, I wanted to keep the squirrel with me as a momento. I complain to my assistant.

I am afraid you can’t keep the creature. It has no food, no shelter, no companions and a short life span. Even if you provided for it, it would not survive to be a meaningful companion to you. I am sorry that you wanted to keep it but no creature you currently have access to could even be a companion to you.

Mmm, I understand. I understand but I don’t like it. Will the squirrel feel anything?

No, as a Dungeon creature it is designed to be painlessly dissolved back into mana if the Dungeon wishes it.

Alright. I shift my attention back to the squirrel before saying, “See you later little guy.”, before I dissolve it into mana. The process of turning the creature back into mana was a bit more sudden than either maturing it or modifying it. Once the thought of banishing it left my mind the squirrel suddenly turned into a mass of light blue mana that held the shape of the squirrel before the light slowly dissipated into dust and then vanished from the room before appearing once more in my own mana storage.

Done. Am I ready to make my Dungeon now?

Yes, you can begin creating your Dungeon now. There is nothing more for me to teach you about your abilities and everything else about your Dungeon is for you to decide.