Tiny Dungeon

POV Danian Queen, 1st Colony

The Danian Queen felt the gaze of her Master and looked around her in pride. They had lost many of their number but they had fought hard and they had succeeded in defeating the invaders. Their success was shown in the Aether shining from their bodies. As queen she could feel it, roaring through the collected members of her race. She knew that they were different, formed for greatness by her Master’s very instincts.

For so long she had been irritated by the rate at which the other creatures in her Master’s domain evolved into greater forms. Finally, it was her colony’s turn. She felt her Master hover over them and felt excitement at what choices might be presented to him. Then she felt his annoyance and felt despair. Were their options not good enough? Had they not done enough? She felt calm through the bond with the Master and relaxed. He would figure it out. All would be well. She shuddered as the Master felt around her simple mind for her desires and the desires of her people.

When he pulled out there was a lingering determination left behind. She felt him shaping Aether and some other nameless substance. Something divine. She could feel it and it changed everything. She had felt the pulse of divinity inherent in his aura before but she hadn’t realized that her Master was capable of manipulating its very substance. He was a god. Of course, it made sense now. Her Master’s greatness far exceeded her previous expectations.

She settled back to wait for her evolution to begin, content in the knowledge that her Master would know exactly what to do to make her people into a powerful force within his mighty Dungeon. All she had to do was trust him.

POV Valterra Unok’Davaas

Valterra had no idea what to do. His options were so abysmal he didn’t even want to look at them again. In his opinion, they were all devolutions and made his creations more like the ants they came from than the intelligent monstrous race he wanted them to become. It was obvious to him that the System Krat’Imos had designed did not have previous examples of intelligent ant species.

He considered that perhaps massive monstrous ant races existed in other Dungeons but he did not wish to make his Danians larger, simply more intelligent and with a greater agency within his Dungeon. So once more he dived into his Divine Potential reserves to craft a solution. This was where he got his first happy surprise. Because of the way a multilayered Schema was set up, he would be able to design a rare evolutionary path for the Schema as a whole for the same price as an evolutionary path for a single monster.

Valterra understood the premise and his recent work with his mantis helped him understand why it worked. He would only be able to do so much for his Danians as the entirety of their Evolutionary Pool had to be spread out among each member of the Schema. That meant that each option he prepared within the Schema had to be balanced so that the Schema wouldn’t collapse.

He started by making them a tad larger and bulkier. They had struggled with conflicts before and he wanted them to be able to deal with at least these invaders they had been facing. They ended up around 4 to 5 inches tall or so when he was done and he locked it in. Next, he started by expanding the amount of options for each layer of the Schema. When he was finished the System itself acknowledged his work.

High Danian Ant (Unique - Rare)

A unique creation of the Dungeon Core Valterra Unok’Davaas, High Danian Ants are the evolved form of Danians with increased layers to their Schema never before seen in an ant species of their size. Larger and more intelligent than their lesser counterparts, these insects are prepared to serve their master and god in any way they can.

Note: This is a multilayered Schema consisting of separate, internal, Evolutionary Paths. Those Paths are Queen, Worker, and Noble. These are additionally split in the following ways:

Queens: Empress, Battle-Monarch, Broodmother

Worker: Builder, Soldier, Caregiver

Noble: Magus, Shaper, Champion

These Paths may be summoned as separate Dungeon Monsters but be warned. Ant monsters made in such a way will see themselves as belonging to another colony and will fight to the death.

As the Dungeon who created this creature as a Dungeon Monster, you will be able to freely create and modify its Evolutionary Paths.

Warning! May have unforeseen consequences.

Would you like to confirm this Evolutionary Path?

Cost -> 500 Divine Potential

Yes/No

Valterra mentally assented to the Evolution and watched as the light of Evolution took over their bodies. He was pleased with his creations and the different layers they had access to. He had used up most of his stash of potential but it was worth it. He had one more blessing to hand out and it would take up the remaining 500 but he wasn’t concerned. It was too soon to tell but he thought he could feel his Divinity producing more potential naturally. If that was the case he would have more to spend in time.

He went back over his High Danian Ant design and poked over the different layers. The evolutions for the queen he was most excited about. Each one would provide so much benefit for his creations. Empress would be able to command lesser Danian Queens and add them to their colony as serfs. He got that idea from the Pack-Lord Mantis evolution. This way his other Schema wouldn’t be made obsolete by the better version.

The Battle-Monarch had greatly increased physical and Aetheric capabilities at the cost of a lower brood count. Broodmother was the opposite. Increased brood laying across the board and brood laid by a broodmother would have increased capabilities. It was unable to move well, however, and would be a soft target for any further invasions.

The worker evolutions were simple as they were the backbone of the colony but not the key players. Builders were like enhanced workers but more geared towards building things. Soldiers were just that, larger workers with increased physical capabilities that would be able to protect the colony and his Core better. The caregivers were workers specially bred to care for the larger broods that the High Danian Queens would be producing. With their help, the broods would be raised quicker and stronger than normal.

The nobles were his favorite. He would finally have true magic in his Dungeon. The Magus were more intelligent than their counterparts with diminished physical capabilities but he had managed to give them just a small hint of his ability to see Aether and sense its movement. It was all he was able to give them but he felt like it was worth it. They would be able to study it further and perhaps make some discoveries of their own.

Shapers were direct wielders of Aether and each one would have an affinity between fire, earth, water, and air. He had been able to study them significantly while the invaders had been fighting and was determined to have an answer if they ever came back. Champions were the last one and he was excited to see what they could do. Minimal Aetheric powers but they were physically superior to their brethren in every way.

Valttera hummed to himself, pleased. He had a few more evolutions to take care of and then a loyal follower to bless. Then he could finally get back to putting his Dungeon back together.