Tiny Dungeon

POV Danian Queen

The colony of the Danian Queen was thriving.

All twenty of her pupae had emerged during the Master’s long building project. She wasn’t concerned that he hadn’t come to check in on the second floor. She could feel him everywhere through the dungeon that made up his body. She could somewhat feel where his attention rested and knew that he must still be working on his fourth floor. What a floor it must be too, to have taken him so long to build.

A clicking arrested her attention. One of her Nobles came up to her bearing what looked like the leg of some other insect. The nobles had taken to guarding the entrance to the second floor and sometimes made forays into the third where they worked with the third floor’s guardian to bring back food for the colony.

The Queen gratefully accepted the offering, knowing that she would need the sustenance to produce more eggs. The Aether the Master provided was more than enough for survival but not enough for growth and the colony needed to grow. Her instincts were sure of that. The turf war had begun to rage even more fiercely just outside the third and it was only a matter of time before stronger opponents began to seek the Core and the rich Aether he provided.

Her workers continued to work scurrying back and forth carving new tunnels in the Dungeon reinforced wood, carrying the shavings down and out creating little mounds between the inner and outer walls of the cabin. They were tireless, her children, and already the evolution into Danians was showing its worth. They were stronger, faster, and had greater intelligence which showed in how they constructed their tunnels and worked together. Yes, they would be ready when the intruders came.

POV Valterra Unok’Davaas

Valterra started by comparing his two Schemas together. Many fundamental components of both creatures were the same. They both had six legs, they both had three segments to their bodies, and they both had a form of carapace.

The Jeweled Skitterer had high legs that were segmented twice, going first up and then straight down, providing a robust platform to support its heavy body. Likewise, its neck was long for a bug giving it a stately appearance the Cockroach would never pull off on its best day.

The Phoenix Cockroach on the other hand was compact with all of its organs and fluid producers separated from each other by complex compartments housed in different segments of its body. It also had wings or rather the remains of them. Looking through the Schema it appeared they used them exclusively while young as their fluid producers didn’t fully develop until adulthood.

At first, Valterra simply mashed the two Schemas together and the result was... less than ideal. Quickly scrapping that abomination, which would never again see the light of day, he went about trying a different approach. Simply put, he took the best parts of each bug or the parts that interested him the most and tried to fit them together.

First, he took the Jeweled Skitterer and magnified it to as large as he could. Turned out that his Tiny Dungeon perk took “Tiny” to mean anything below 2 feet and 6 inches in any direction. Briefly, the Core wondered if something could be made into a cube of those dimensions and still work with his Title but he put it off as a prospect to be looked at in the future.

The dimensions of his new Jeweled Skitter were exactly 2 feet long and around a foot high when standing straight upright on its legs. Truly the biggest thing in his dungeon to date and he was half tempted to just make one as is and watch it stomp around.

After entertaining his childish thoughts of a chirping gigantic bug he shook it off and got back to work. Next, he focused on locomotion. It could potentially stomp around in the water to move but that would leave it vulnerable to the Tidal Whales. While Valterra was largely making them as a source of food for his behemoths of the deeps his dungeon instincts disliked making a weak creature on principle.

So, he decided to experiment. He took the wings from the cockroach and changed them. Now thicker and more membranous he attached them to each leg, envisioning the bug to use them like giant scoops to move water out of the way. He didn’t know exactly if that would work but he was optimistic.

Next, he moved on to defenses. He kept the Jeweled Skitterer's natural armor but lessened it around the joints allowing for the motion he figured they would have to take to use their wing scoops. Then, he began to move the Phoenix Cockroach’s fluid production departments over to the new creature focusing on their placement and ease of deployment even when in water. While doing this he found that the fluid, while hot and dangerous, was full of nutrients which was how their babies were able to grow within their victim’s corpse. This in turn gave him a new idea but he tabled it for later.

Instead of creating separate compartments he simply melded them into a core-like structure that was situated equidistant inside the creature's body. Then he created valves in the structure that could release the chemicals as needed and little veins that carried it where it needed to go. These veins traveled to openings all over the creature’s carapace, once more protected by valves that would release upon the creature’s command.

To do this Valterra connected the core-like structure with the creature’s Aether conduits giving it direct control over its release. Satisfied, the Core pulled back and looked the creature over. It looked powerful, bigger than anything else he had created so far. The gemlike qualities of the carapace contrasted wonderfully with the internal light it generated via the fluid churning inside.

With a little giggle of glee, the Core summoned Aether to make one.

Evolutionary Variant of the Schemas “Jeweled Skitterer” and “Phoenix Cockroach” Created! You have created a never before seen creature using your ingenuity. Some in the High Council are intrigued, others applaud your use of existing creatures, while others are mildly horrified. Overall the High Council is entertained.

Warning! This will sacrifice the Schemas “Jeweled Skitterer” and “Phoenix Cockroach” from your Core and you will be unable to receive them again. The resulting Schema falls under the Title “Tiny Dungeon and will still be moldable.

Do you still wish to proceed?

Valterra frowned at the message that he had received. While not attached to his new Schema, having them taken away felt like being forced to relinquish Aether he had only just absorbed. Looking at his new creation he was set upon by a sudden wave of doubt. ‘What if it doesn’t work?’ He thought. ‘What if it fails and I lose the Schemas for nothing?’

‘But what if it does?’ A new thought popped up. He thought back to meeting the High Council and the answer he had given. He had said he wanted to play, to create, and he wasn’t going to back down now. He said yes to the prompt.

The next moments were extremely painful as he felt the knowledge of the two Schemas forcibly ripped from his Core and transformed into something new. He also felt the presence of a Divine being as one of the High Council took control of the developing Schema. It tweaked it subtly and Valterra watched in awe as the creature was made holistically better in seconds.

Tiny, tiny details were corrected and fixed, hidden flaws that would have corrupted the whole, while taking into account Valterra’s vision for what he wanted the Schema to do. Then it was done and new words rolled themselves across Valterra’s Core followed by a chime that echoed through his Spark Matrix.

End of Chapter Notifications:

New Schema Acquired!

Deeplight Belcher (Unique - Rare)

Created as the result of merging two separate Schemas, this insectoid creature is the unique creation of the Dungeon Valterra and exists nowhere else in the world. Armed with its internal affinity over its dangerous chemicals this gargantuan bug was made to thrive underwater where most bugs would die. Equipped with membranes on each leg it propels itself forward by paddling with them reaching impressive underwater speed if only for a short time due to its heavy nature. Beautiful with its glowing gemlike carapace it is nonetheless an impressive hunter, using its affinity over its superheated chemicals to turn opponents into nutritious goo that it then consumes.

Personal Note: “Good job with this one child. I had to make a few changes but all in all not bad. You even made use of that terrible pest. Good for you!” - Qual’Dorn, High Spirit of Nature

The Core has combined two separate Schemas and made a new creature out of the whole. The Core has obtained its first Rare Schema.

Progress to Core Evolution:

25%