Population

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I knew I was still learning how to best make use of my near omnipresent vision because I was getting better at multi-tasking. With one part of myself monitoring the influx of water and Glowmouths, the other was free to watch Kyr explore the newly remade first floor. I couldn't help but notice the little bit of growth that had added to his length from the mana he consumed near constantly. Nevertheless, I was quite curious at what the reaction would be from the currently sole dungeon creature. When he emerged from investigating his new nesting spot, he radiated an air of satisfaction. I restrained my desire to celebrate getting that right, knowing there was quite a bit left to go.

Kyr immediately began heading the rest of the way up the tunnel, pausing only when he reemerged onto the first floor. The vista he was greeted with was very different from the last time he'd been there. Instead of a roughly hewn chamber with a slight layer of water covering the rocky ground, it was now solid and dry rock underfoot, or in his case, underscale. I had drained the remnant water into the tunnels below the ground as an afterthought before, but Kyr seemed to appreciate it as he started forward. He began with investigating the refined outcroppings, ledges, and stalagmites that occupied the stone floor. While I had spent effort on refining them, I had also been very careful to preserve the natural look. Most of my effort had gone to solidifying them, so they wouldn't collapse suddenly in the future.

Winding his way through quite the number of these, I doubted for a moment whether or not Kyr had noticed the water features. Fortunately, it was only ten or so minutes later that he deigned to inspect that as well. Coiled at the top of the rock pool, he looked down. If I could speak snake, I would've sworn he was unimpressed. I was slightly put out in spite of myself, I'd been proud of the water features! Kyr seemed to sense this and decided to have pity on me. He uncoiled and followed the stream section for long enough to make me happy before going back and checking out more parts of the regular rock sections. Well, I guess Kyr probably isn't going to be a big water predator then... Which is unfortunate, since those are the only creatures I can make or have right now...

By the time I left Kyr to his explorations near two hours had passed and I'd regained another three mana. I was considering whether or not to create some dungeon Glowmouths to compete with the natural ones that were slowly washing into the rock pool. By that time, there was roughly a hundred of them swimming about in the rock pool, and the water was high enough for some of the lower tunnels to start filling up. I only realized just how big I had made my network of tunnels when I saw how much of the rock pool still had to be filled after two hours.

It was fortunate I was paying attention to the Glowmouths at that moment, because one of them had been acting odd to me. It had been staying mostly still, mouth pointed up towards the surface of the water and staying as still as it could. A moment later, I saw the insect hovering over the surface of the water. It was a spindly thing, small and with even smaller mandibles that were stained blue for some reason. Other than its oddly blue mandibles, the rest of its chitin was either the same color as stone or pitch black. Before I could decide what to think, it had hovered ever so closer to the water on its almost invisible fast moving wings. That little bit was all that was needed though, the Glowmouth having surged upwards with a single, surprisingly powerful flick of its tail, catching the insect in its mouth before falling back into the water. A minute later, a message flowed through me.

You have gained the schema for : Humming Flyant

Humming Flyant

The Humming Flyant is an entirely herbivorous offshoot of the Humming Mantis. Their diet consists of different types of moss and fungus, which often stain their mandibles different colors, depending on their preferred diet.

Huh. Very good to have, providing me with a good base for the Glowmouths foodchain. Now I just need some of that moss or fungus... Which will be hard to get, considering they likely won't grow naturally into the dungeon, or at least not quickly.. To my surprise, another message followed almost immediately after that thought, then another!

You have gained the schema for : Bluecap Mushrooms

Bluecap Mushrooms

Bluecap Mushrooms are often found near water, given their voracious appetite for the life-giving liquid. They root into the sides of the bank and grow into large and widespread colonies.

You have gained the schema for : Infantile Azure Mossling

Infantile Azure Mossling

The Infantile Azure Mossling is the very youngest active stage in an Azure Mossling's life cycle. While the species is only barely more animal than plant, they are highly protective of their young.

For a long, long moment I just absorbed the information, trying to figure out how I had gotten these. Quickly scouring the first floor with mana-vision, I couldn't figure out how it had happened... It took until I came back to the Glowmouths before I figured it out. The Flyant had eaten them, and had been carrying them inside it. Then, when the Glowmouth had killed it, I had just gotten them by accident as well. Well, that's fortunate. And certainly welcome!

I sent off a quick warning to Kyr about the area I would be testing in, and began immediately. Wielding as small a bit of mana as possible, I tried for the first time, to use one of my 'schemas'. First breaking up and weakened some of the stone beside and slightly in the stream, I began spinning mana into Bluecap Mushrooms. To my delight and fascination, a faint glow manifested and as I worked a Bluecap emerged and began digging into the stone. Then another, and another. By the time I'd used up even half of a point of mana, I had a colony spreading across over ten meters of streambank. Another part of me noticed that Kyr had slithered over to investigate the sudden explosion of color. I felt a jolt of amusement when he grew disinterested after seeing it was mushrooms.

I spent a decent amount of time using the rest of that point of mana to expand the colony even further. Once I'd finished with that, I tried creating a group of Humming Flyants to eat the Bluecaps, and then be eaten by the Glowmouths. A few quick and surprisingly intuitive creations later, and there was a faintly buzzing group of the insects flying about. I watched for a short time as they sought out nesting places and found what I assumed was a veritable buffet set out. When the water gets high enough to fill the stream bed, the Glowmouths are gonna start making you work for that food though... A dry chuckle resounded within my core, in that way only a Dungeon Core could do.

Before I could experiment with the Mossling, a feeling of sudden... Wrongness burst through me. I swiveled my head over towards the entrance, and almost immediately relaxed. The feeling of wrongness vanished immediately as well, as I saw a darkly colored rat scurrying down the slope past the entrance. It raced down the uneven rocky terrain, making it to the ground before immediately taking off away from the entrance. With a small sense of amusement, I notified Kyr of its location. In response, I felt a sudden surge of interest spark in Kyr as he began slithering towards the rat. Given all the advantages Kyr had, experience with the floor, me feeding him directions, and being slightly faster, he caught up to the rat quickly.

I assumed the rat heard Kyr's scales whispering across the stone, as it froze for a moment before darting away from him. Unfortunately for the rat, Kyr seemed to have come to the same conclusion. I watched as the golden scales down his spine glowed slightly as he used their natural mana generation to empower himself instead of help feed himself. He immediately almost doubled in speed, taking off in pursuit. A few seconds later, the rat made a fatal error, dodging left around a rock outcropping when it should have gone right. Kyr used his knowledge of the floor to cut off the rat.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

To my surprise however, when Kyr lunged forward, jaws wide open and fangs extended, the rats tail whipped forward while it scurried to the side. While the movement wouldn't have been enough to dodge on its own, something I hadn't expected happened. As the tail whipped forward, it turned gray and stopped flexing, becoming like stone for when it struck Kyr mid-lunge, letting the rat dodge the first lunge. Unfortunately for the rat, his mouth wasn't Kyr's only weapon. A moment later, the nascent blade on Kyr's tail shot forward and speared through the rat. It let out one last squeak before ineffectually batting its tail against Kyr once and dying.

I took a short moment to celebrate Kyr's success before checking the message.

You have gained the schema for : Stone-Tailed Rat

Stone-Tailed Rat

The Stone-Tailed Rat is a common sight in subterranean excursions and settlements. While its ability to temporarily transmute its tail to stone would be remarkable, several drawbacks affect the rat. For example, it can only be used once before it needs to slowly build up mana once more.

Interesting... For a short time, I enjoyed having received what seemed like a bottom rung creature for the surface sections of the first floor. Then that thought inspired another, not so welcome thought. The rat is a bottom rung creature... So why did it enter the dungeon? And why did it seem so hurried?My suspicions were unfortunately confirmed a moment later when I returned my gaze to the entrance to find yet another creature on my doorstep.

A firmly-built feline creature stood just within the entrance. It was thirty-five centimeters tall and roughly forty-five long, not counting its surprisingly soft seeming tail. Its fur was a dark-grey, allowing it to blend well with either stone or darkness. I could see the interest in its eyes as it pawed at the ground. During one of the paw strokes, I saw why the rat had been running, aside from the traditional cat eats rat relationship. The felines claws seemed to be blade-like, and carved from hard stone. It flicked its tail and sniffed the air for a long moment, before starting to slowly pick its way down the slope, much slower than the rat but along the same exact path.

I focused on this new intruder while I sent Kyr the information. A burst of acknowledgement later, and Kyr was on his way. If I was to compare totals, I supposed the two would be roughly the same size. However, I had complete faith in Kyr. After all, the only reason the rat's tail trick had saved it earlier was because it had surprised Kyr and I with it. Kyr had been holding back his mana-empowered strength, otherwise his lunge would still have struck true.

With Kyr heading towards the feline, and it tracking the rat deeper into the floor, it wasn't long before they met. I could tell when the cat recognized Kyr's presence because its tail began flicking wildly and it immediately crouched down hissing. Slithering over a rock outcropping, I quickly recognized Kyr's plan for this fight. He was going to try the same trick as with the rat. Make the feline focus on his fangs and strike with the tail blade while it was distracted. Kyr was hoping that by letting his tail hang down while he lunged downwards, he could help make sure the cat didn't see the blade coming. Unfortunately, it instead sprang backwards, letting Kyr's weight and momentum of the feinted lunge carry him down onto the floor.

A moment later, it pounced forward. I recognized the scales flare up in an attempt to dodge, but the cat was faster than he'd expected. The stone claws carved four long gouges into Kyr's hide, elicting a loud pained hiss. The powerful swing of the tail blade drove the cat back again while Kyr coiled himself and recovered from his failed plan. A long, long moment of waiting passed, the two of them sizing each other up. The cat stalking slowly to one side and Kyr stared at it from his coils. I ignored my own instinct to push mana into Kyr. He needed to do this himself, I wouldn't coddle him.

So instead of pouring mana into him, I simply watched tensely as the standoff seemed to last forever. It really lasted barely five seconds, but I no longer cared once it ended. Kyr shot forward, lunging hard towards one of the cat's legs. It sprang backwards before launching itself forward again, clearly trying a repeat of its first strike on him. I winced to myself as the hits landed, carving into Kyr again. Unlike the cat however, I could see everything, so I saw what it was too focused to. Instead of slashing his tail blade at where the cat was, Kyr slashed behind it, keeping it from escaping away again. So while it paused after seeing its escape cut off, Kyr quickly lunged again, this time purposely missing and going between its legs.

When it went to raise one of its paws to claw at him, Kyr instead coiled around the leg, weighing it down trapping the cat with him. Seeming to realize this, it suddenly panicked, flailing out at Kyr. I winced again and again as cuts shallow and deep appeared across his scales. Despite that, he was continuing to tie up parts of the cat, until finally it couldn't move the front of its body fast enough. His tail spike struck hard and with his full mana-empowered strength, slamming straight through fur and muscle and breaking the bone in the neck. A hideously long moment later, the cat fell to the ground, dead.

I quickly dismissed the cat's schema message to examine Kyr. I could feel that I could use my mana to speed his healing. I couldn't just instantly heal him, but I could halve the time. Kyr didn't argue, and so I spent the necessary mana, feeling it soak into his cuts as he slowly made his way towards his nest in the tunnel. Seeing he was going to rest, I turned back to the cats message, just wanting to know its name, that it could hurt Kyr like that.

You have gained the schema for : Rock-Claw Lynx Kit

A moment later, another followed that made me do the equivalent to blinking in surprise.

The schema, Rock-Claw Lynx Kit, is locked until next Guardian Creature Selection!

I... Can't tell if that is a bad thing, or if it'll be a good thing later.. It seemed like that creature had only been a young one of its species, and yet it'd still clawed up Kyr. I felt my gaze turn back to the entrance, a bit more wariness now present as I regarded it. The opening into my realm might be the best way to gain more creatures and be a source of power, but this was the most obvious example of the danger it held as well... I sent Kyr a feeling of pride in his victory now that I knew what the creature was, and that it was apparently powerful enough to be considered a potential future Guardian Creature. Kyr's response was sluggish as he let himself rest.

Without imposing on him further, I decided to allow him that rest. Instead, I decided to focus on the rest of the first floor. But for that, I'd need mana... Which meant waiting..

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In the end, my desire to work more on the floor outweighed my desire to wait until I had full mana. When I decided I had enough to start, I had waited thirty hours and recovered to fifty-seven mana. Luckily, thirty hours of waiting had done wonders for the water features of the floor, not to mention the population. During that time, another aquatic species had washed in, a few times actually. A predator this time. I only gained its schema when a pod of Glowmouths pummeled one to death in a small tunnel after it tried eating one of them.

Streamer Lamprey

The Streamer Lamprey's name derives from the way its venomous tendrils stream behind it as it swims. The paralysis venom within paralyzes its prey and then the prey is dragged to the lamprey's mouth to be eaten. The sleek long shape of the lamprey's body allows a fast swim speed that lets it chase down slower prey.

I was quite satisfied with this, as it meant I was starting to have enough creatures to actually populate the first floor of my dungeon. Luckily, nothing much had decided to enter during the wait time, as Kyr hadn't quite finished recovering, even with my assistance. Keeping a wary eye on the entrance, I set about creating an active, working ecosystem in the first floor.

Before anything else, I carved out a few small puddles disconnected from the main stream and rockpool, but connected to Glowmouth nests in the underground network. Around those puddles and along the stream, I continued growing many, many Bluecap colonies. While I wanted the stream and rock pool to be the main water sources, I also knew that they'd have dangers within them that not all the creatures on the floor would be able to risk. For example, the Stone-Tailed Rat. I created a few small nests of them scattered throughout the chamber, and near to the puddles. After ensuring that they could indeed survive off the Bluecaps, I was happy. Since the access the Glowmouths used to enter those puddles were too small for the Lamprey, only they would be able to enter those pools of water. That was important, so that they could 'hunt' and eat the many Humming Flyants that would otherwise be unchecked.

After that, I created my first couple pods of dungeon Glowmouths. Unashamedly being a nepotist, I created them in some of the nicer tunnels that the others hadn't discovered yet. After they were well and settled in, I decided to give myself some entertainment. In separated parts of the underground and underwater network, I created five Lampreys of my own. I gave them very clear instructions; hunt and kill all non-dungeon Glowmouths. Then, they would hunt and kill all non-Dungeon Lampreys. They could do this together or separately. But after that, they would hunt each other, and whichever one survived till the end would be given its own home wherever it liked in the networks.

While they weren't intelligent enough, I liked to think that they were excited about that. I noticed that two of them had teamed up, but the rest had gone off solo. And so, for the first time, I sat back and just watched my creatures hunt. Unlike Kyr, who I tended to be more active in either watching or aiding, the Lampreys would be entirely on their own. I was quite interested to see how it went.