Hoping for the Best 1/3
I began the lengthy but still exciting task of looking through my resources, in order to sort things out before I started any serious upgrades to my domain. The first thing I checked was the Nihtu Totem piece. The necklace had proved to be a disappointment in what it could offer my Dungeon. The perks were permanent but didn't really add anything we didn't already have. Low light vision, which we already had, and a measly 2% bonus in scavenging activities, weren't really worth taking up a slot in my Core's capacity for totems. I could have up to three Totem Pieces at this time and this wasn't going to be one of them. So, I sold the piece to Trishda's Dungeon shop for some precious Gold, hoping to invest it in something more worthwhile. It netted me 300 Gold, which wasn't a lot but better than nothing. I also absorbed the fallens heroes' equipment, adding them to the items I could summon in exchange for mana. Simple leather armor, fancy robes, a war-bow design, quiver and arrows. The best addition was the mages stick! The wooden sceptre had actually been a magical item, my FIRST magical item! I did a small dance of celebration as I read its description.
[ Simple Arcane Conduit: This Sceptre can be used as a focus for spellcraft and Mana manipulation. -5% Mana expenditure. +5% Spell power. -10% Casting time. ]
Next were the Crystals of Mastery and Mana. I put those aside, having decided they were going to be used on my Followers instead. Specifically, I had decided it was time to invest once more in my Progeny skill that I had neglected for some time. Eve and Adam had proven themselves invaluable and it was time ti expand the Vorsani tribe. Unlike the Ghoul's mindless Vorska zombies, my Vorsani were sentient beings with great potential for growth. This meant that unlike the undead monster, I couldn't produce dozens of them at a time. At Rank 1 of the Progeny Skill, I could only have 4 Vorsani. Additionally, they had been deemed a "Humanoid Race" by my Dungeon, meaning that I couldn't summon them as Dungeon minions as I lacked that affinity. I had been hoping that my two next Vorsani children would become Smiths and Crafters but as wae loomed over the horizon, we would need warriors for now. My Dungeon's power would have to suffice for producing items, advancements in technology and weapons for now.
As the new Vorsani would require me to gain the Essence of another in order to create them, I shelved the project for later and concentrated on my minions. Sunfür the Dire Coyote had proven himself in the battle against the undead, protecting Sumiré and had served as a faithful mount to Adam since then. I had been meaning to make some changes to my Blood Wolf design and, since he had reached Lv.10, thought that maybe Sunfür deserved a unique evolution of his own. Firstly I revisited the Blood Wolf evolution. I removed the the bladed horns since they were barely used by the monster and were unnatural for a canine to have in the first place. Instead I invested more heavily in their muscles' explosive speed and elasticity. The sharpness and toughness of their fangs and claws and a small surprise in the form of a defensive mechanism. A collar of sharp, bony spikes that the Blood Wolf could "POP" out of its neck, in case anyone or anything tried to get of hold of it. Lastly I used the excess evolutionary energy remaining from the discarded horns, to strengthen the bony protrusions that protected the beast. I made the creature's ribcage protrude from its chest slightly, like a primal breastplate. And that was it for the Blood Wolf. I finalized my design and I could feel Fiona transforming next to me.
Sunfür was finally up and I really grinded my brain for something new. He was lovingly named after his uncommonly yellow fur by Sumiré. I didn't want to make him turn blood red like Fiona so, as a gift to my beloved Follower, Sunfür would be getting a Variant evolution. Firstly I gave Sunfür 50% of the size and strength boost that a Blood Wolf had, leaving space for evolutionary potential. I summoned the blueprint for the Sunstone and concentrated on the Radiant magic aspect of the mineral. I transformed the edges of Sunfür's bony spine, into light absorbing conduits. I then poured my Aether into the beast's mind and Core, expanding its potential for magic and mana capacity. The result was quite unique. Sunfür came into being, standing just a bit shorter and less muscular than his older kin Fiona. His fur was a vibrant yellow and orange and seemed to constantly shift, like the flames of a star. He had a spiked collar of sunstone protrusions in addition to his spines, which all pulsed with flickers of radiant energy.
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Starfang Wolf, "Sunfür" Rank 3 Lv.2
Beast type
Skills
Radiant Fang Rank 1: The wolf summons a maw of Radiant magic around its jaw and bites down with the searing might of a star.
Star Burst Rank 1: The wolf expels Radiant magic from all its conduits, burning and temporarily blinding anyone nearby.
Light Magic Manipulation Rank 1: At this level, Sunfür can absorb light and turn it into Mana. Being in bright light, strengthens his abilities by 10%.
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Happy with my creation, I patted the newly reborn wolf and sent him off to play-fight with Fiona. Next, I needed denizens for my Gardens, monsters that would take care of our crops, defend the room and come to our aid when needed. And who could make for good gardeners? A raised a finger and my mana swirled around it, bringing a small bee into existence. The little queen sat on the edge of my nail, buzzing about and cleaning its antennae. The Elgolar Hunny Bee was a scarce resource and yet I could create as much as I had mana to spend. A summoned a swarm into existence, giving them directions to build a hive. Then I created a second queen and pumped a few of Aether points into the frail insect. The result was a bee that was easily as big as the biggest hornet I had ever seen.
[ Elgolar Hunny Bee (Queen) Rank 1 has reached Lv.10. One evolutionary path available, Elgolar Elephant Bee. Would you like to evolve this specimen? ]
I agreed to the prompt and continued feeding Aether into the little queen, strengthening all aspects of its evolution and raising its level at the same time. It immediately became big enough to fit into both of my open palms! It had a more primal look to it, just like the Dire Coyotes looked like an ancient variant of a modern wolf.
[ Elgolar Elephant Bee (Queen) Rank 2 has reached Lv.10. No evolutionary path is available for this summon. Would you like to sculpt one? ]
I kept it quite simple. I used my mana to simply heighten the potential of all the beast's aspects and gave it a few small perks by exploiting my Chimera skill. I was able to give the species a better stinger, compliments of the pesky Burrow Tyrants. My level was too low to also give it their hard carapace however. I also managed to improve their eyesight by complimenting their genes with that of a praying mantis. The final design was a queen bee, the size of a very large dog! I named the new Rank 3 species, Hive Titan and my first Queen "Beth", after Queen Elizabeth from back home. Beth of course was given a Core, which was partially why she grew to be about 50 kilos of pure Bee-Power. After Beth was sent to the Gardens, happily buzzing over her new kingdom, I created 4 daughters for her hive, in the form of Elephant Bee workers. They would construct a hive for their queen and together, protect the Gardens and tend to our crops.
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Hive Titan (Queen), "Beth" Rank 3 Lv.1
Beast type
Skills
Bee Stinger Rank 1: The Bee can deliver a powerful, venomous sting to an enemy.
Buzzing Wind 1: A Hive Titan can produce strong vibrations by flapping its wings incredibly fast. Nearby creatures suffer Thunder damage and may be pushed back.
Queen's Stand Rank 1: Beth can empower all members of her hive during combat with her mere presence. Range 20 meters. +10% Defence, +10% HP, +5% Damage to all Bee species under her command.
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With only four spots remaining for any Minion ranked higher than 1, I created four Rank 2 Dung Beetles. The critters had been added to my roster for some time and I decided to add them to my Garden for extra protection and variety. They would use their limited Earth manipulation magic and immense carrying capacity in order to work the fields. They would also assist the Bees in the room's defence if needed. The Rank 2 "Elgolar Dung Monger" was quite the funny thing. They were capable of lifting loads worth many times their weight and were about the size of a large cat. They wouldn't make very good soldiers but I didn't expect them to. As a last resort, each of them could explode into an cloud of foul smelling, poisonous gas that would mark our foes with theid scent and hopefully slow them down enough for us to defeat.
After that I finally had no more room for ranked monsters, other than my Vanguard force which I needed to reorganize. I picked up one of the bundles containing the shards of the Hero Cores, examining them.
[ Hero Core fragments detected. Would you like to absorb fragments into Avatar: Minoa? This will result in the formation of a Hero Core foundation. ]
And there it was. My Avatar could attain a Hero Core of its own, independent of that of my Dungeon's. This would surely close the gap between me and those greedy adventurers, ensuring that I would be able to protect my domain for many days to come. I absorbed the fragments into myself and the small crystal shards became liquidus as they sank into my skin.
[ Hero Core foundation has been created in Avatar: Minoa. Continue to absorb Hero Core fragments in order to fully form a Core. You have received 6 Skill Points! ]
I smiled upon reading the prompt and the fact that I had 7 whole points to invest in my skills! I allocated them greedily but not before taking my time to think it through and enjoy the process. I was about to absorb the second batch of Hero Core shards when I paused. Someone else in my Dungeon, was already ahead of me in gaining a Heroic Core. Maybe it was time to come clean to Sumiré about her potential and also see if she knew anything about it.
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Skills
1) Bound (Rank 4)
2) Progeny (Rank 3) {+2}
3) Aerial Maneuverability (Rank 1)
Passive Skills
1) Fire Resistance (Rank 5)
2) Natural Allure (Rank 4)
3) Minor Regeneration (Rank 5) {+1}
4) Fire Manipulation Magic (Rank 8) {+1}
5) Apprentice Swordsman (Rank 4) {+2}
6) Crafting (Rank 2) {+1}
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[ Progeny has reached Rank 3. You can now have up to 4 Vorsani or variants of their species, under your command at any time. The potential for your Progeny's growth has been raised. Your influence over them has been raised. Your control over their genetic makeup had been raised. ]
To my disappointment, the number of Progeny I could have was not raised. However, the "variants" of their species and my control of their genes becoming greater were very intriguing. Especially since I had my Chimera skill just reach Rank 3, after creating Beth! It was time to get messy and make some mini-me's!