Well, that was certainly something. Valterra had been about to summon new creatures when he received a prompt from the System. Seemed like his Mouse Scouts had returned from somewhere with the power of Ascension bubbling beneath their fur. As soon as they had passed into his domain, the System reacted by giving him a prompt. And boy were the options exciting.
Your “Mouse Scouts” is ready to Ascend!
Please choose from among the following stages:
Mouse Ranger (Unique, Rank D - Iron)
With a further condensed Aether Core, this mouse has determined that the outside world beyond its lord’s territory is a threat that cannot be waited upon. Adept at wilderness survival with enhanced instincts and physique, the Mouse Ranger can survive hostile environments long enough to bring information back to their Dungeon lord.
Mouse Sneak (Unique, Rank D - Iron)
Mice are rarely seen if they don’t want to be and the Mouse Sneak takes this to the next level with the beginnings of a Darkness Affinity and a penchant for sneaking up on prey. From blinding enemies to wrapping themselves in shadow, the Mouse Sneak has everything it needs to surprise and confound the recipients of their Dungeon Core’s wrath.
Mouse Whisperblade (Unique, Rank C - Steel)
Giving up all future potential this mouse has chosen the path of the perfect assassin. No one sees the Whisperblade unless it wants to be seen. Armed with the ability to make weapons from its enhanced Darkness Affinity, this mouse is never unarmed and any enemy that makes that mistake will find a quick death.
Valterra couldn’t help himself from giggling at the options. What had they been doing to be offered such great options, the final one in particular? He glanced through their minds and received some hazy images and thoughts. Huh, apparently they had gone and dealt with the ants that had been invading him. Well, that certainly deserved a reward and he was in a position to make that happen.
Unlike with his guardian, he wasn’t as apprehensive about choosing an option that gave up future potential but he was also leary about separating the crew of mice. While he could do what was best for his Dungeon and get each option he didn’t want to abuse his creatures like that. It was perhaps childish but he could at least take his creatures’ feelings into account. With that thought he hovered through their minds to gather any subconscious desires to help him make his decision.
What he found surprised him. They all wanted different things. While they had remained together thus far out of a sense of kinship the bonds were weak. It wasn’t at all like he was expecting, especially compared to the relationship his mouse guardian displayed with his kin. Perhaps that was because they were born as children and he had partially raised them?
Valterra didn’t know but their individual desires actually gave him the leeway he had been afraid to use. He crafted a hole in the ground and moved the mice there before choosing. Three of the mice, the ones with the strongest bonds, would become Mouse Rangers. One would become a Mouse Sneak, having chafed against failure to slip in unnoticed. The final mouse would become a Whisperblade.
While Valterra was uncomfortable choosing something that limited future growth the mouse herself couldn’t care less. Her mind was fixated on the fact that if the queen ant had died first and died fast than the ants would have lost cohesion and unity, allowing the mice to kill them without taking as many wounds. She was a beast that desired further strength regardless of the cost. Valterra was a little unnerved if he was being perfectly honest but he respected her subconscious desires and selected the option.
As they were wrapped up in golden light, the Dungeon Core moved on, content to let his mice Ascend. They would awaken in time, though he was interested to see how long it would be before his Whisperblade woke up. He had found that the time it took to Ascend to the next stage took longer based on which Rank was being reached. He pushed aside that consideration before moving on to his next project.
The first thing Valterra did was summon around fifty mice, twenty of which were House Mice and the others an even spread of Mouse Guards, Mouse Scouts, and Mouse Soldiers. He figured that would be a good test base and the mice didn’t take much Aether to create or maintain. He summoned them in rows and then held them there with his will. It was hard but the mice seemed to acknowledge his presence after a while and turned their attention to him. Projecting his thoughts to the arrayed mice he gave them their orders.
‘Loyal Dungeon Mice! You have been created with a purpose. You are to grow and Ascend so that you might take your place in my Dungeon as its defenders.’ He then directed them to the turf war and released them, watching as they scurried to do his bidding. He chuckled internally. He had never given a speech like that before and he found he kind of liked it. His goal was to continually seed the territory outside his third floor with mice.
Lots of mice. And perhaps some other creatures.
He figured that they would either Ascend or be slain. He did not wish for them to die but wanted as many of them to Ascend as possible. The Savage Mink had been a terrifying creature and the Tiny Dungeon wanted to be ready for any more invaders of the same caliber. He was sure they would come.
With that done he turned to his Dungeon. Sinking his senses into his Dungeon Body he tried to get a feel for just how large his spaces actually were. His first floor was twenty inches by forty inches and also contained his Core and Aether Funnel. His second floor had started as a little half-circle pocket barely ten inches in diameter set roughly two feet up the inner wall, with a little tunnel through the wood that led down to an entrance set at the bottom. Feeling the boundaries of the second floor, Valterra was surprised to find the floor had expanded by at least 20 inches upwards and horizontally across the wall.
Tunnels had been carved into the wood, creating miniature highways that the Empowered Danians could use to get from one place to another. Interspersed between these highways were five floors that descended until reaching the entrance. Each floor had columns that held it up and workers who continued to dig and expand. The original alcove where he had placed the queen was still in use and contained each of the different stages of the Danian life cycle. There were eggs, pupae, and larvae as well as a few hatchlings that had just begun adult life.
The Danians fascinated him as he watched them industriously move about but also left him feeling a little bewildered. They had floors just like him but were almost done with five and were moving on to a sixth, just above the alcove. Valterra didn’t know how to feel as he watched the Danians build a more cohesive Dungeon than he had. Did he feel…impressed? Proud?
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
He figured it was both. After all the Danians were the first actual manipulation he had done on a Framework and with an additional stage they were formidably energetic. He would have to come up with a suitable reward for them. Maybe he should try and do what the Spirit of the Natural Order had done for this latest stage of Ascension.
Yeah, that could work. Instead of relying on the gods he would craft his own Path of Ascension for them. Excited Valterra turned away. He wouldn’t be able to do it yet since the Rank of the Frameworks he could create only went as high as Rank E but that would change once he had Ascended.
That led Valterra to his next task. He wanted to make additional floors. Each floor had brought him closer to his own Ascension and he figured he just needed to make more. To do that though, he needed space. Lots of space.
He could decide to make small floors. His Third Floor was only a half circle 25 inches in diameter if measured from the entrance to his Dungeon proper which was tiny compared to the 200-foot labyrinth of the Fourth Floor. He found that he didn’t much care for the idea. He wanted to create impressive areas with ecosystems like his fourth floor.
Valterra recognized that the fourth was unique since he had created it primarily for his only Rank C Framework, which had been massive. His next rooms would not need to be that big but he was also blessed in the sense that he did not need to build something new when he could just claim something already built.
Using the vast amounts of Aether from the “ritual room”, as his memories called it, Valterra began happily claiming the entirety of the cabin. He started with the area directly outside the ritual room before moving into the “living room” and then into the “kitchen” from there.
In the middle of claiming the “kitchen,” he stumbled onto a patch of white cottony growths that was growing on a particularly damp section of the floor and wall. In fact, he claimed it so quickly he had partially moved on before the system brought it up, startling him.
New Framework Acquired!
Mold (Mundane)
The bottom of the barrel of fungi, mold grows naturally in the wild but is also found growing in structures and buildings. Considered an infestation it is normally eradicated swiftly to prevent health problems. When disturbed mold releases spores which, if inhaled, can cause respiratory problems. If care is used when disposing of it then the risk of infection drops to almost zero. All in all this microorganism is rarely, if ever, a threat to most creatures and is content to consume dead matter to further its spread.
As the first Dungeon to use such a microorganism as a Dungeon Environment, you will be able to create and modify its Path of Ascension Freely.
Warning! May have unforeseen consequences.
Valterra hummed in satisfaction. He had no idea what he could do with the fungi but he figured he would apply his mouse approach combined with his grass approach. He felt like it was fitting considering it wasn’t quite like a plant but clearly wasn’t an animal.
He finished claiming the kitchen before turning to his new Framework. He figured a little experimenting couldn’t hurt and decided to spice it up a bit. Diving into the Framework he quickly found that they were decomposers of dead matter, turning the decomposed material into food for itself. This was especially interesting to Valterra since it reminded him of himself and how he turned dead creatures into Frameworks and Aether. Now that he had claimed the Mold he could feel how it ate at the dead damp wood, slowly but surely turning it into fuel. That gave Valterra an idea.
He dove into the Framework eager to begin playing again, especially after his close brush with death. Like a child he moved on, shoving aside the trauma and anger at Trik’Weri in favor of his new toy. In the back of his mind though, the trauma lingered and a subconscious part of his mind held onto the rage that had begun to simmer.
He poked at the Framework for Mold shifting it this way and that. He knew he couldn’t change it a lot without sacrificing on the altar of change but he did have an idea. First, he changed the structure of the Mold to give it the ability to decompose more efficiently before also changing how it decomposed.
Instead of simply eating dead things and turning them into food, it would eat the dead things and whatever Aether remained inside before turning it into a pseudo-Aetheric substance. It then would go through its normal process of fueling itself and the leftovers would be further converted into an Aether-like dew. Valterra figured the dew would attract prey that would then disturb the Mold causing its spores to spread. He increased the Mold’s capability for infection and then released his hold on the Framework.
A new stage on the path of Ascension has been synthesized from an existing Framework! The Framework “Mold” may now be automatically Ascended into the following Framework:
Aether-Dew Mold (Rank F - Copper)
A fungus with new tricks. Synthesized from mundane Mold, this fungus now boasts a trap made from the remnant Aether in dead material. Drawing prey in with this Aether-Dew, it sprays its target with spores that cause infection. If the prey dies the spores begin decomposing the body and the cycle begins again.
Valterra hummed again, pleased with his new creation. It certainly wasn’t the most powerful thing in his Dungeon but it would do as the backdrop for a floor at least. He began to spread it only to find a problem. His new Framework worked fine but it was a decomposer, not a plant that could live with just Aether. He supposed he could change it again but he worried it would become a whole new species at that point.
He glanced around his dungeon. There were very few dead things in his territory since his Aether kept most things alive. Then again, the wood that was used in the making of the cabin was already dead when he claimed it and didn’t seem like it was coming back to life. He wondered if it would work and swiftly began spreading his new mold into various places in the kitchen to see what worked.
He found that the mold liked wet wood best in out-of-the-way places that didn’t see much sunlight. He spread his Mold into the places he found and left it at that. He would come back and try to figure out more places later.
From there Valterra moved on to claiming territory. He claimed the “porch” next and the “West Wing” before moving up and claiming the roofs of both buildings. Pushing himself to go further he expanded to include the shadowed sections under the “porch” and the foundations of the cabin. It took him another day to claim everything, which pleased him. It had taken him far longer to claim the basement and he could already feel his enhanced Boon and Title making their presence known.
He would have to sit down and go through the upgrades in more detail but for right now he was content to create his newest floor. It was at that moment that he felt a pinch. All the new territory he had claimed was drawing even more Aether out of his Core to fuel his domain. Valterra knew instinctively that he would have to either craft a larger Column or move to a larger room where the storm would be able to flow easier and thus lessen the amount he had to spend.
In fact, looking deeper into his instincts, he realized that while those instincts had succeeded in pushing him to his first Ascension they hadn’t been so concerned with the proper flows of Aether. Valterra felt how in comparison to his third and first floors, his second and fourth floors didn’t receive nearly as much Aether as they should.
His Fourth Floor especially should be receiving a much higher ratio considering its size and the size of the creatures in it. Valterra realized that he would need to change how he was going about building his floors and he was glad he had a ton of room to experiment.