The Dungeon Without a System

Chapter 118

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The Creator, Atlantis, The Kalenic Sea

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Switching out the rabbits from their old experimental evolution system to the new one was simple, though it necessitated a lifestyle change. Before, they'd live in their burrows until they reached maturity, then rise to the surface as one of their three evolutions. Now, the ability to evolve was imbued in their cores, and they could roam the grasslands of the Tenth however much they wanted. We were getting a bit of an overpopulation problem, though. But that was easily fixed! I had around half the population moved to the Eleventh, spread across the more hospitable islands, and reduced the monsters' fertility considerably.

The remaining rabbits had plenty of space to roam, and from what I saw, their evolved forms were doing well. The older jackalopes were reaching double the size of the largest Flemish Giant; the oldest could shake the ground with each hop she took. I named this newly-appointed miniboss Eostre for an old fertility goddess from Earth. Though still having the least population, with access to all the tier-two magics, the Unihares were the most powerful they'd ever been. A more rigid ranking system emerged from the dueling chaos of their early days, with powerful Unihares having courts of lesser Unihares to attend and learn from. The Archhare, the rabbit with the most magical spells and power, I named Merlin. It only felt appropriate.

Outwardly, little had changed for the Winged Hares. They still thrived in the canopy of the forests, enjoying a peaceful and relaxed lifestyle. The only real notable change was a few discovering how to enhance their flight speed with Air Magic. Those that did were blurs, barely making any noise as they darted about the canopies. The fastest, who barely made a blur and could disappear like he was teleporting, I named Notos.

The Minotaur, who shared the Tenth with the rabbits, were likewise thriving, trading extensively with every species of Children. The milk from the unaltered cows they herded was a hot commodity, especially in ice cream form. The Steel Wool from their sheep was woven into something they called Weavemail, an incredibly flexible and tough alternative to chainmail. The sheep were easy, evolution-wise. Each sheep would only birth an ordinary lamb, and when it evolved, it would choose what kind of wool it wished to grow.

I'd previously skipped over the Minotaur when it came to Evolutions because I was a little stuck. They were already large, strong, and capable; I wasn't sure how to give them a new form without taking away something. A more Centaur-like form would be a hindrance. Doubling their size would be lazy and make living in their current village impossible. I didn't just want a palate-swap and vague cosmetic changes, either. I had a similar problem with the Capriccio, but I was sure I'd come up with something eventually.

I spent a few more hours reviewing previous floors and properly integrating the Ants into the Evolution Framework. After all that, and determining there wasn't much for me to do or change, I decided to focus on the Eleventh again. Since the Oceanids were still settling into their new homes, I concentrated on Olympus and the Cloudlands. I wasn't sure of the name yet, but it worked for now.

First things first, I gathered the dozen Wyvern-kin who'd taken the evolution already -More than I expected, certainly- and had them brought down to the Eleventh. The journey was far swifter when all parties could fly, a feat much aided by the instincts given on evolution. It turned out that the kind of Kobold, Snowbold, or Drake-kin who took the Side/Evolution into a Wyvern-kin were those who felt restricted in their tunnels or envious of flying monsters.

The result was a flock of Wyvern-kin ecstatic to be flying, diving, doing barrel rolls, aileron rolls, and a dozen other stunts throughout their flight. The majority were Drake-kin and Kobolds in their previous forms, leading to grey, brown, green, and metallic colors in their scales. While not a hundred percent indicative, there was some correlation between scale color and their primary mana affinity. Surprisingly, the spread of elements was rather even amongst the group of flying reptilians.

One was red, another had orange scales, and both had strong Fire affinities. An off-white grey and light blue were Air. Deep browns and greys were for Earth, while deep blues and navy were for Water. Only three second-tier elements were represented; Lightning, Ice, and Light. The Lightning Wyvern-kin was an electric blue with white highlights. Ice was a pure white, like driven snow. Unlike an albino, however, her eyes were black voids. Light was a soft yellow, and his scales gleamed in the midday light of the manasuns as they flew.

I checked in on Wave and Taura again, and thankfully, they were just hanging out in the cloudlands. After informing the Wyverns of the impending arrival of their new neighbors, the two rushed off to meet them. The resulting dance of wings and scales was awesome to witness. Though far smaller than the full Wyverns, the Wyvern-kin quickly picked up all the tricks of flight their larger cousins showed off.

I left them to get acquainted and moved back to the Seventh and the Experimental Chambers. I needed to figure out how to somehow give monsters the capability to transform between at least two different forms.

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The Third Floor, The Dungeon, Atlantis

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Jerrard wrung out his cloak as the rest of the raid group emerged from the water. It'd been a long time since they'd struggled on the Third Floor, and he had to admit he wasn't enjoying a return.

"By all the gods, why did the dungeon have to make the Guardian harder?" Harald complained from his spot on the floor as he ran his hands down his face.

"Because it's insane, Harald," Duncan answered, perhaps unfairly. It wasn't human, and they couldn't judge it by their standards. "A better question: How has no one died to this thing yet?"

"It tailors its strength to the group fighting it, obviously," Isid answered, wringing a deluge of water out her hair and retying it into a bun.

"What, so weaker groups have an easier fight? That's not fair!" Bertram said, frowning.

"Since when has life been fair, Bertram?" Haythem answered sardonically, to a thoughtful look and a "Good Point" from his party member.

"I wish I could have just zapped the thing with lightning. It would have been so easy!" Lilliette insisted, slightly childishly, in Jerrard's opinion.

"We'll let you have a go at the Fifth Guardian. It's fairly weak to your lightning," Paetor answered.

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"If everyone's done complaining?" Jerrard interjected, redonning his damp cloak. "Let's review the changes we saw in the Second since the First seems unchanged."

"Like the First, the Second now matches the strength of the delving party," Isid began, walking over to join Jerrard. He smiled down at his wife as she stood beside him. "It's much more effective than on the First, mostly because of the disadvantage we face in the water and the speed and strength of the new fish monsters."

"The new fish are all-around better at what they do than the old ones," Harald continued, bringing a journal and pencil out of a waterproof bag. "The Arrowfish's 'evolution' is faster, uses water magic to speed itself up, and though it's lost the blade, it's more damaging than before. Something to do with all that force concentrated at the tip of the point..." Harald trailed off, rubbing his side where one of said fish had scored a glancing blow.

"The Sharpscale's evolution's shed scales seem entirely made of metal, rather than normal scales with metallic edges. It's... far more conductive than before," Lilliette continued, "Not a problem for me, obviously, but still annoying."

"What did the dungeon call it, the Brutefish?" Haythem asked, to a nod from Isid. "Well, nothing really stands out about it. It's bigger, tougher, faster, and stronger than its old form."

"The boss is ridiculous," Jerrard finally contributed, "A combination of the best traits from the other fish monsters. I'm also wondering just how intelligent it is to know how much force to use to ensure it's a challenge but not an insurmountable one. For the rest of the floor, all the dungeon has to do is put in the old fish and keep its new ones in reserve for stronger guilders."

There was a moment of silence before Isid broke it.

"Alright, everyone, it's time to move on. As always, it will take a couple of days to reach the Eighth and every second counts. Keep your guard up; who knows what the dungeon has done to the monsters on the Third." Nods all around, and they moved on.

The dungeon did, indeed, mess with the monsters on the Third.

Worse than being larger and more dangerous, the Tiger's evolution gave the previously physically focused monsters a talent with mana. Going from four legs to six, doubled in mass, their chromatic coats became indicative of the mana they used. And not just in color; their patterning was also dependent on mana type. Water-using Tigers had swirling stripes, Air Tigers got whirls, and so on. Their hides would fetch a reasonable price, so they made sure to skin at least one of every new kind they came across.

The birds, Phoenix, the dungeon had called them, had also gained an evolution. The previous form was a relatively ordinary bird with a fire affinity. This new form was bigger and seemed to be constantly on fire, in a combination of how the light hit their gleaming feathers and a literal fire aura they gave off. In both cases, it was still rare to find one. It either hadn't been long enough since the monsters became capable of this new evolution, or the dungeon was still holding some back.

Regarding the rest of the floor, the old Kobold Trial Guardians had all moved deeper, leaving their replacements behind. The young Kobolds were a fair challenge for Silver and Gold tier Guilders but still couldn't match up to the more experienced Platinums. The various giant insects spread throughout the floor were easily avoided. The plant-based monsters, like the Pitcher traps and vines, were also easily identifiable and avoided.

After fighting Mushu and his attendants, who largely remained the same apart from the beastmasters directing the evolved form of the Tiger, they moved on to the Fourth with grim determination.

The rats were always a threat, and they couldn't afford to underestimate them.

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Unnamed Beach, The East Coast, Theona

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Tamesou Akio luxuriated in the shining sun and the sea breeze. It'd taken ages to get here, but they were finally on the East Coast! Jinasa had insisted on a quick detour off the main road, and boy, was he happy they'd agreed.

Bruce was having fun with a makeshift surfboard, shouting about 'finally being able to surf because I control the waves now.' Sophie was sitting in the shade of their tent, which had been easily modifiable into a marquee. Something about the sun on her pale skin. Elize was with her, and they had to be talking about something funny because they'd giggle every so often. Akio didn't even know Sophie could giggle like that. It reminded him of how the girls at his school would do it sometimes.

Akio himself was training, as his Sensei had declared this was the perfect opportunity to show him the differences between fighting on sand and in water compared to solid earth. After the last two hours, he could confidently say he hated sand.It was coarse, rough, irritating, and it gets everywhere! He knew this because he'd been thrown entirely by how unstable his stance was on sand. It was even worse in the shallow surf, where waves would crash into him and throw off his balance entirely if he wasn't paying attention.

Eventually, Sensei Heliat declared that he'd improved enough for today, and Akio was allowed to actually enjoy the beach.

"Oh, can you do giant water tentacles?" Akio asked Bruce, who'd stopped surfing and was diving through waves with him. The Australian boy frowned, then raised his hands. Like a puppeteer, every movement of his fingers influenced the three tentacles that rose from the ocean. Akio cheered, though stopped abruptly when one of the tentacles reached down and wrapped around his waist, pulling him out of the water.

"What the hell!" Akio cried, "Bruce!" he looked around, only to find Bruce being held up by a tentacle with him.

"Sharks!" Bruce replied, and Akio could see he was entirely serious. He looked down at the water to see three fins poking from the surf, the dark shapes around them making it obvious what they were. They were deeper into the ocean but were headed in their direction.

"Surely we're too shallow!" Akio insisted, not taking his eyes off the sharks.

"Don't call me Shirley. And no, we're not. Ocean Monsters are much worse than land monsters," Bruce explained. "The locals have been able to keep a lid on the monster population on the surface, but they can't do anything about the ocean."

Bruce's caution was soon proven warranted. The sharks leaped from the ocean at the two boys, propelled by some magic. Water trails followed the sharks, and Bruce could barely move Akio and himself out of the way in time. "Some help would be nice! I can't move us and fight back!"

"Right!" Akio answered, watching the shadows as they came around for another go. He briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was true Akio had started relying on his sword and shield as crutches, but he was the source of his magic, not his tools. Inspired, he brought his mana up from his core and into his eyes, including some precise magical programming.

When he next opened his eyes, yellow beams erupted from them, scything down into the water. Barely able to see, Akio intercepted a leaping shark and cut it in two. He stopped the spell as soon as he could, alarmed by how drained he felt. The halves fell to the waves, sizzling and cauterized. Over the next ten minutes, the other two sharks fought over the corpse of the first. The winner ate the corpses of both, then disappeared off to sea again.

It was the most tense ten minutes of Akio's life. Bruce was flagging by the end, using all his concentration to keep them out of the water. Once the shadow had fully disappeared, Bruce lowered them down, and they rushed back to shore. The others, who had apparently been watching, rushed to meet the boys. After making sure they were alright, the group moved further up the beach, the chill mood thoroughly ruined.

"So, did you feel like Superman?" Sophie eventually asked later that night.

Akio shrugged. "I mean, I could barely see a thing while the spell was going. Might try focusing the beams from my fingers next time."

"Probably a good idea," Sophie responded. "Who knows what shoving that much mana through your eyes over and over will do to them, anyway."

They were sat around the campfire, enjoying some quickly-cooked rations. Just some soup and bread, really.

"It must have been terrifying for you," Elize said across the fire. "I'd never been to the ocean before today. Is it really full of monsters like that?"

"Indeed, young lady," Sensei Heliat answered. "They normally keep to the depths and currents, though. Seeing such monsters by the shore is concerning..."

Akio glanced at Sophie and Bruce. There'd been a lot of things concerning Heliat recently. The monsters in cities, now these ocean monsters, were acting strangely. Maybe it had something to do with the necromancer? Were they messing with the world on a bigger scale, somehow?

It was nothing more than speculation within his mind at the moment, but Akio could only wonder... If they'd been summoned to deal with a necromancer... why had there been no reports of undead or zombies of any kind?

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