Terse Elements

When a worldlet is created from claimed void, the Nothingness of the void is converted into Somethingness in order to fill the worldlet with world stuff. Some aspects of the claimed void trickle through and influence the composition and concepts of the worldlet. The aspects that trickle in are strongly filtered by the expectations of the actor which does the claiming of the void. The vine dungeon core didn’t have expectations but it did have instincts that evolved over billions of years to react to soil, air, light, and stress. If the dungeon core had been capable of speech, it would only have had a vocabulary of four words.

The new worldlet *bloop*-ed into existence on the left side of the main worldlet. Instead of the vine pushing up against an invisible wall, the vine ran into a wobbly patch in the air and disappeared into it. Inside the new worldlet, the vine exited an identical wobbly patch of air and reached to the ground, sinking its roots in as it continued to grow.

At almost the same time, a vine on the opposite side of the main worldlet triggered the creation of a worldlet and sank roots on the other side.

*bloop*

The dungeon core vine spanned three distinct worldlets in the dungeon. The main worldlet was very similar to the forest “outside”: loamy soil, dim diffuse light, moderately humid. The second (left side) worldlet had rather sandy soil with rivulets of water creeping back and forth, carving across the sand. With somewhat brighter and warmer light, this worldlet was much like a river delta. The third (right side) worldlet had red light and hot, dry, clay soil. In the middle of the third worldlet, there was a twisted fragment of red-orange metal. The metal fragment stood about the height of a human adult and was the source of the red light. Sparks occasionally flew off the broken metal edges and burned out on the ground. The System eagerly supplied vital information to the dungeon core.

_ WARNING: Void Artifact Detected. Void artifacts are items, constructs, or materials of unknown origin that survive intact or mostly intact through the creation of a worldlet. These artifacts are normally devoid of mana or interact with mana in abnormal ways. Do not approach or attempt to assimilate void artifacts. Consult with your dungeon fairy on how to deal with each artifact _

The vine was struggling to grow across the hot, dry, clay soil. The river delta worldlet had plenty of water for the vines to absorb and pass along, so water and mana were directed to support the spread of roots and leaves in the hot worldlet. When the vine grew close enough to the void artifact, the leaves began to intersect the falling sparks which burned black spots on the leaves. A few sparks would be no great stress, but the flow of sparks was unending. Leaves near the void artifact began to die and drop to the ground. When the fallen leaves had dried sufficiently, they began to catch fire from sparks near the ground.

As the spark-burned leaves pile up, more and more water and mana were sent to support the struggling vine. The flow of mana through the main worldlet and around the dungeon core increased in volume and density. When the mana in the hot worldlet reached a certain level, the System recognized a common dungeon core action and immediately analyzed the situation in order to provide options.

_ Forced Mana Evolution Attempt Underway. Select Upgrade Path for ‘Poison Berry Vine’:

Fire Resistance

Mana Shield

Slime

Water Alignment (spray)

Do Nothing

_

After a minute delay, the System fell back on the directions from the dungeon fairy.

_ Random Selection. “Water Alignment (spray)” Selected _

The mana in the stressed and burned vine pulsed and swirled for a few minutes. With a final pulse of mana, the vine turned blue (though to human eyes it would appear black under the red light) and the mana from the roots near the entrance all the way to the tips of the leaves changed to water aspected mana. The leaves of the vine began spraying water mist in all directions.

The sparks hit the water mist as they fall toward the leaves and all their heat is sucked away. With water droplets everywhere and only dead sparks, the leaves on the ground stopped burning and let out a bit of smoke before collapsing into ash and mud. The clay soil soaked up every drop of water until it became a thick and heavy mud. The whole worldlet began to resemble a sauna, and the vines in the sauna worldlet began to thrive.

_ Multiple Dungeon Floors Constructed. Spawn Functions Unlocked. Spawns Available:

Poison Berry Vine (Mutation Option: Water Alignment (spray))

_

The vines all over the dungeon began to generate fruit and infuse mana into those fruits. Ripe fruits dropped to the soil sprouted unnaturally quick into young vines. These spawned vines were similar in size to their natural cousins out in the forest. In the sauna worldlet, fruits from the blue vine would occasionally spawn into young blue vines that would also spray water into the air.