Tiny Dungeon

With a steady stream of Aether flowing in through its entrance to the outside, the Core began to expand its influence. Feeling its way by instinct, it knew it wanted an area for its new creature and could feel what kind of area would fit best.

So it expanded upward rather than down, claiming more and more of the wooden inner wall. Once it felt it had claimed a sufficient amount it dug a small alcove and poured Aether into the shape given by its knowledge. An ant formed but one larger than the one that had intruded. Roughly an inch long this ant had a regal bearing that had been lacking in the one that its mouse had defeated.

The Core did not wonder at this. Its new knowledge told it that this was a queen. It would act like a core but for ants, giving birth to new ones like the Core birthed the queen. So it simply soothed the new creature with Aether before leaving it with a command to propagate. It then covered up the alcove but dug a small path to the ground level through the wood so that the queen or its workers could get food if they needed to and its instincts also told it to maintain an entrance to the outside. Another phantom chime sounded in the air and for the first time, the Core had the barest inkling of a thought about what it might be before ignoring it and continuing to work.

It expanded some more, both up and down, and found that as it expanded the amount of Aether it could draw on was greatly increased. Soon it was filling as fast as it could expand but began to feel as though it was going to burst. Acting on a set of instincts it hadn’t known it had possessed until now The Core began to control the flowing Aether, condensing it down. It shaped the stone of its pedestal and changed it into a column stretching to the ceiling of the cavern of its first floor. Next, it carved bowls into the column, separated by channels between each bowl. Finally, above the first bowl, it formed a tiny stalactite where the storm of condensing Aether was at its strongest. Gradually and with apparent slowness, the Aether became a vapor that further condensed around the stalactite. Ever so slowly a single drop formed and *Plink!*, fell into one of the bowls. Over the next few hours, the stream of Aether flowing into the Dungeon slowed as it was bottled up around the stalactite.

With that taken care of and no longer feeling like it was going to explode the Core turned back to its dungeon only to be surprised by the goings-on. The first floor was bustling with activity as seven baby mice tussled with each other, playing as the older mouse guarded the now-transformed pedestal. The Core felt the stirrings of what might have been gratitude at the stalwart nature of its first dungeon monster. Those stirrings faded as it turned its attention outward to its entrance. There had been no further invaders since the carpenter ant had come but the Dungeon had a feeling it would only be a matter of time.

A few feet above the first floor, the second was filled with new life as twenty eggs lay around the queen's chamber. The queen was tending to them diligently in a way that was profound to the dungeon. The image was imprinted upon its nascent mind as something important and it struggled to process it properly.

In time the thoughts faded but the image remained and its instincts sought to act upon it. Latching onto the knowledge of the ant and somewhat inspired by its mouse guardian, it began to forge a new evolutionary path for the humble carpenter ant. Working mostly by instinct the Dungeon Core reinforced the internal and external body. Then it gave it wings similar to what the ants were already capable of.

However, it then began something new. It bisected the ant right where its thorax was, turning it into two separate parts. It strengthened those segments and lengthened the front section to be longer. It then sat the head on a thick stocky neck to give it some reach while also lengthening and bulking up the two arms and giving them hands similar to the mice. It strengthened the lower four legs to give it stability.

It replayed the fight with the mouse in its mind and gave the barest hint of satisfaction. Now that it could stand on its last four legs and grapple like the mouse perhaps it wouldn’t lose as easily. Its final contributions were to enlarge it slightly and add wicked barbs to the mandibles. Then it imprinted the image of the queen upon the path while also imprinting the image of the steadfast mouse guardian. The two images melded together into an ant standing guard over the queen and the colony.

Exhausted mentally, the Core pulled back and let the knowledge fade away. It heard another phantom chime but ignored it in favor of imprinting the new path upon three of the twenty eggs, filling them with enough Aether for it to stick. The eggs absorbed the Aether greedily and the Core noticed the eggs growing larger too to hold the newly improved creature.

What it didn’t expect to see was all of the eggs grow larger and then the queen begin to glow as Aether continued to flood the tiny room. The queen, after making sure the eggs were all fine, went into the center of them and settled down, glowing steadily with an inner light. The Core, filled with something akin to awe, kept watching until its attention was rudely grabbed by an intruder.

End of Chapter Notifications:

Floor 2 Created!

Warning! Aether Overload is Imminent! Aether Funnel Formed! Aether Overload Averted!

Evolutionary Variant of the Schema “Carpenter Ant” Created! You have created a never before seen creature using your ingenuity. In acknowledgment of your imagination the High Council offers your existing “Carpenter Ants” the ability to evolve into a new creature through Aetheric Transfer.

Warning! This will sacrifice the Schema “Carpenter Ant” from your Core and you will be unable to receive it again. Do you still wish to proceed? Path of Direction chosen. The High Council has accepted on the Core’s behalf. The resulting Schema falls under the Title “Tiny Dungeon and will still be moldable.

Transfer Complete! “Carpenter Ant Queen” evolving into “Danian Queen”. “Carpenter Ant Worker” evolving into “Danian Worker”. The evolutionary Variant “Danian Noble” has been established.

The Core has created its second floor and created an entirely new species to serve as a Dungeon Monster.

Progress to Core Evolution:

66.67%