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The Dungeon, Uncharted Island, Unknown Ocean
Morning of Day 6, Week 6 PC
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The effect Mana has on living organisms is fascinating. From what I'd observed, once a monster gains a core, their bodily functions are almost entirely supported by the mana they passively absorb from the air around them. They don't even seem to need real food, though they continue to eat out of habit.
It's been more than three weeks since I had made Sebastian, and he had only deigned to eat from his feeding pool five times. Even then, he only swiped a single fish on each occasion. I suspect most of his biology is made of mana simulating real flesh since he was only about an inch long before I modified him. To me, it looks just like real flesh. I can't see the difference between Sebastian and Gull, who I haven't changed.
Speaking of tiny crabs, I'm inundated! I was right that mana could influence their breeding cycle. What would typically be a four-month brooding flashed by in about four days. The female buried herself on the shore in the secret cavern I'd made for this purpose. With an infusion of mana with the intent to breed, she soon laid them in a large breeding pond. Good thing too, since she laid thousands of the things! Each tiny little larvae was the size of a plankton. Thankfully I had a connection to each one and mana-infused about three-quarters of them to grow faster, half of those to go even more quickly, and about fifty to speed-run their life-cycle.
With those fifty, I could begin my experiments.
Of course, I gave all of them cores because it made everything so much easier. I'm not sure why, but having the core somehow made them more mutable or receptive to change. I made ten Crab Knights from the fifty, about half the size of Bastian. For context, that's about the size of a wolf. The next thirty, I made a similar size but gave boxing-glove-like claws and thicker forwards-facing armor. This made them slower but more able to take a hit and dish it back. These I named Crab Brawlers.
The final ten were smaller still, about the size of a Rottweiler. These I gave thinner armor and two long, sharp claws. I tried to up the twitch-nerve response time, and it seems to have worked. They undoubtedly move faster than their larger brethren. But whether that's their nerves or the lighter armor, I'm not sure. Both would contribute to their increased speed. These will be the Assassin Crabs.
Unlike my boss monster, the rock-colored sedentary creature that he is, the Brawlers and Knights all have brightly colored shells. Each has a unique pattern of swirls, ridges, and valleys, with colors ranging from yellow through orange to red. They were quick to pick up the use of their shells in some kind of mating display, which was quite amusing to watch.
Why would I make them so visible? Well, that's because they will be my front-line fighters. The bulwark all must pass through. Their coloration is to draw the attention of any potential invaders and keep it on them. The assassin crabs, however...
Much like Sebastian, I made them rock-colored to blend in better. Their shells are molded and shaped to allow them to fold their claws and legs in and seem merely a rock to all who would gaze upon them. While the Brawlers and Knights keep any aspiring adventurer's attention on them, these sneaky crabs would stay concealed. In that perfect moment, when all attention was on the fighters, the assassins would strike from behind. They'd cut tendons and slice soft tissue open! I made sure to give them the mental image of mages and healers clad in robes. They were priority targets if the crabs saw anything remotely resembling those mental images.
I spread my new monsters out through the dungeon. Each knight got a squad of three brawlers to command. They were to roam around the caverns and through my first-level tunnels. The assassins I mostly let choose their hiding spots. At least two were in each of my four caverns, with the final two in the second and fourth caverns.
The crabs would be an excellent first line of protection against potential intruders. Their high reproductive rate would also help replace any who died defending me. As my first line of defense, I anticipated needing to keep their numbers high. They would be the first monsters encountered in every run and would likely take the most casualties due to that role.
With the monsters mostly sorted, I ensured replacements were ready to infuse with mana, then worked on refining the ambiance and environment of my caverns.
The first cavern would remain open, a wide crescent of sand caressing a black pool of water. Every cavern after the first would have little sand covering the uneven and sharp rocky floor, filled with jagged stalactites and stalagmites. Walls of rock would lead potential invaders on a twisting path across the cavern, with plenty of points to set up ambushes and traps. The mana-star in each cavern threw light and shadow in equal measure, the contrast working in my favor to better hide the assassins among the rocks.
Between the caverns were long, dark, and narrow passages. These passages rose and fell. They twisted around, above and below each other, and would do wonderfully to disorient invaders. As it was pitch black within the tunnels, they'd either have to traverse them in complete darkness or use torches. It was a choice between ruining their night vision with torchlight or fighting in the dark. Both options provide me opportunities to attack. With the tunnel's width barely enough for invaders to pass through in single-file, it would also allow the crabs to ambush invaders in a pincer movement inside the tunnels if need be.
The cave mouth remained as it was; a large triangular gash in the side of the cliff. Sand and water shared the entrance, the dominance of each decided by the tide. At the back of the cave was a short tunnel, shaped like an isosceles triangle, leaking a ghostly teal light.
So, with my first level complete, It's time to contemplate my second. What creature could I mutate into a monster? How would I arrange the floor's defenses? My first level reminded me of the deep caverns in Until Dawn, with markedly more sand. Dark, dank, and mostly natural-looking. Perhaps my second floor could be more civilized?
At the end of my dungeon, on the opposite side to the entrance of Sebastian's arena, there existed a rough doorway and tunnel leading to my core room. I molded the opening into a double-wide door frame, with intricate carvings decorating it. If the carvings had the rough and angular look of Norse runes, I would blame my obsession with Vikings before I ended up in this world. Finally, I created a pair of stone doors that rested on stone hinges. I used my mana to pull the door shut, and the stream of mana leading to my core objected. Violently.
The mana built up quickly. After a few seconds, the door exploded inwards and fell to the sand. The stream rushed through the now-open doorway and again began collecting in the disk around me.
Okay then. I must maintain a clear and unobstructed pathway to my core for the mana stream to use. Lesson learned. I think I have a solution, though.
Just above the doorframe, I carved a series of evenly spaced holes. Slowly, I guided the mana stream upwards and let the mana flow through it rather than the doorway. After putting the doors back on new hinges, I let them shut. The mana continued to pass through the vent over the door. Success! Now that I could close the doors, I added stylistic carvings of a crab knight on them; its sharp claws raised to a tear-drop-shaped star above.
The next part to work on was my core room, which would become the staircase to the next floor. Slowly a spiral staircase was carved from the rock around a central pillar that my pedestal remained on. The walls in the room and lining the stairs gained a brick-like façade, despite still being completely solid. I manipulated the legs of my pedestal to walk down the stairs, then hollowed out a large room with four large doorways at the bottom. My idea for this floor was that it would be a maze.
As I hollowed out the hallways of my future maze, I pondered on appropriate monsters to populate it with. The few lizards and bird species in the rainforest on the island would do better on my third floor, which I already have an idea for. What I need is something... Foul. Something that infests ruins and abandoned places the world over.
Rats.
Unfortunately, It seems this island lacks any rodents of usual or unusual size. Bah. I'll come back to the rats later.
So, I needed to double down on the maze, with no appropriate monsters available. I let the digging, carving, and decoration consume my attention for a time, and the maze soon became more of a labyrinth. Each of the four entrance points from the central staircase led down unique paths, and more than a few crossed through, over, and under others. While digging, I kept the right-hand rule in mind: if you follow the right-hand wall, you'll find the exit. There wasn't much I could do about it except make sure that if you only followed your right or left hand from any of the entrances, you'd end up back where you started.
With the confusing maze done, now was the time to set up some traps.
I'd neglected to add traps to the first floor, though maybe a few weakened stalactites I could break with a thought would work. A quick shift of attention made that vision reality, then back down again.
At select points in the maze, I created pitfalls filled with obsidian spikes. Also, something to remember is that I don't disintegrate rock or anything like that; I turn it into sand and manipulate it out of my entrance. Though with my most recent work on the second floor, I've created another tunnel that leads out under the water line, so I don't have to shove the sand through the first floor.
But I digress; back to the pit trap. A thin sheet of rock patterned identically to the 'floor panels' I carved into the ground of the entire floor was placed over a pit too deep to climb out of, or otherwise escape easily. I wasn't sure about the thickness of the panel, but hopefully, it will break with two or more people standing on it, which should be about 180 pounds. Again, I'm unsure how thick is correct, so I aimed for the thinner side. As I gain experience, I'll adjust it.
Some spike traps were in the middle of unassuming corridors, others in corners. One was an entire hallway!
With my maze complete, I created an empty boss room. Perhaps some giant, minotaur-style rat would inhabit it one day?
Now I want rats more than ever! Le Sigh. It would happen if it happened.
I took a quick break from construction to shift my attention to the surface and watch the brilliant sunset. It was beautiful, but it also highlighted the black clouds sweeping southwards. As the clouds reached my island and the sheet of rain began pounding the land, I pitied anyone caught in this storm.
Oh, that looks like one heck of a storm.
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The Merchantman Ship Good Tidings, The Kalenic Sea
Navigator Kailen Gresh
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The day began like any other day at sea. The wind was measured, both its strength and direction. The ship's speed was identified, and their rough location was extrapolated. The storm had likely blown them far off course last night, and they'd need to find a landmark to be sure of any heading. In the meantime, they couldn't go wrong with a westward heading. Not like you'd end up anywhere other than Theona.
"Captain Hart!" Kailen called as he emerged from below deck. "How fares the crew?"
The man laughed heartily. "Navigator Gresh! The crew fares well; a little rain and swell aren't enough to dampen their spirits!" Hart replied, getting a few chuckles from passing sailors. "How fares the cargo?"
"Dry and in good condition." Kailen confirmed, "Should make for a tidy profit when we make port. We do have bad news, however. I'm afraid that 'little rain and swell' last night has blown us well off course; we'll have to wait for nightfall to make any corrections. In the meantime, westward ho." The captain nodded.
"Aye. Westward ho." Hart agreed. He had opened his mouth to continue when the man in the crow's nest shouted a phrase all aboard longed to hear; his arm stretched towards the horizon off to port.
"Land Ho!" Immediately, a half-dozen seamen crowded the ship's port side, straining for a glimpse of land.
"Land?" Kailen asked, frowning, looking in the same direction. "We're still at least three days off the coast of Theona, and there aren't any islands on this course."
Hart slapped him on the back, pointing one hand to the spot of green that was indeed on the horizon. "Well, there's one now. Add this to your charts, my friend." He stepped away from his navigator and began shouting orders to the crew.
"Make for the Island!"
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The Dungeon, Unknown Island, Kalenic Sea
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Oh. That's a ship. Big, wooden, and with three masts draped in square sails. It wouldn't look out of place in the renaissance back on earth.
The only reason I'd even seen it coming was thanks to Gull, Who had been flying and spotted the white sails against the blue sea. You're an excellent Birb, Gull.
Well, it seems I have less time than I thought to prepare. Hopefully, they aren't here because of me. That wouldn't be good at all. I'm not ready to face seasoned adventurers! Please, please, please be unprepared sailors.
Le Sigh. My location was going to get out, eventually. I'm pretty confident I could hold them off, though. And hey, maybe they won't even notice I'm here!
Look for the silver lining! They might have ship's rats.
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© Max Porteous, 2021