Chapter 133

Unedited, but that's the norm. It's good to be back writing, a newly married man!

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The Creator, Atlantis, The Kalenic Sea

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With the Beastborn, Scaleborn and Mer settling in well, I decided it was high time to start work on that training area the Guild petitioned me for. Though more than half of the island was being used for farming by now, It was simple enough to pick the right spot.

On the back side of the cliff my dungeon's entrance was in, the one topped by the lighthouse and freshwater spring, there was a small valley. While most of the island was relatively flat, apart from the volcano, it wasn't like there weren't hills. The human settlers had long decided to expand westward, toward the flatter part of the island, while writing off eastward expansion as more trouble than it was worth.

All the better for my purposes.

First, I cleared most of the excess foliage. If this was to be a training area, I wouldn't make them push through it like it was the third, except for a small section were they'd have to do exactly that. Next, I cleared paths. There would be three main 'routes' through this section; the Forest, The Clearing, and the Cliffs.

The Clearing was mostly open, with some lone trees accenting the path. I added some bunnies, and some other barely-enhanced animals for 'babies first run.' For example; the bunnies were horned, but it was just a horn with no special magic. I did add one special kind of monster, though. Something I hadn't tried before, but felt I had a better idea now of how they'd work.

I decided to try my hand at slimes. 

The main problem is categorization. What is a slime? Is it an enormous amoeba? A colony of bacteria or other cells? Instead of trying to build a new creature wholesale, I took something that was already half-way there. The humble Jellyfish. Semi-transparent, brainless, it was practically perfect. I quickly chose one floating around the eleventh floor and gave it a core. 

First, I stretched it's membrane around to encase it fully; it didn't need any trailing tendrils, after all. Next I filled the newly empty space in it's sack-like body with a less-dense, acidic version of the same. The main point of the slime is that it's only organ is the core, and absorbs and dissolves it's victims, after all. Of course, as it had no physical means of locomotion, it needs to use mana to move. 

There were two options: water magic, to 'throw' around it's own body, or gravity magic to do the same. For now, I went with water magic. Giving it gravity magic might be too much for this training zone. Maybe a future variant. Some basic instincts later, along with a quick demonstration of how to move around, and it was rolling through the grass on an ordinary island, eating and dissolving all the grass it rolled over. The grass visibly bubbled and sizzled in it's acid, and slowly disappeared. After about an hour, and having reached the size of an average car tire, the slime moved into the shade of a tree and pressed itself against a hollow in the roots.

I'd thought long and hard on how the slime would reproduce. First, I thought it split in two, each half the mass off the original. In the end that wasn't feasible, since I couldn't exactly split it's crystalline core in two without shattering the thing. But here's where my choice of base animal came in clutch; Jellyfish have a larval form, called a polyps, which anchors itself on the ground and grows, then releases dozens of juvenile jellyfish.

It was simple to make Slimes asexual, since I wasn't planning on any genetic variation anyway. So, I had the slime produce it's own egg and sperm, combine the two, then deposit the resulting egg in the dirt. It moved away after, returning to it's grazing.

I focused on the egg, feeding it mana to accelerate it's growth. The larval form grew into a dark blue spherical coral-like structure covered in small depressions. Each depression had a small light-blue orb at it's center which slowly grew larger. After another hour of accelerated growth, which would normally take days to complete, a dozen juvenile Slimes detached, and proceeded to eat their egg. The fist-sized slimes dispersed after than, exploring the island.

Satisfied, I asked some Children to collect, then transport the juveniles to the surface. A slime would only reproduce once on it's own, so I was fine with leaving the adult one down on the Eleventh to experiment with later. While they were doing that, I focused on the next area; The Forest.

The Forest was exactly that, entirely covered by trees and with plenty of bushes for monsters to hide in; Thinned enough to navigate, true, but not enough for easy traversal. As for monsters, I spread some giant spiders (lone spiders, not a colony; I'm not a savage), a giant wasp nest (of Wasps about the size of the average fist), as well as plenty of snakes (None with venom, only constrictors.) This would be the transition from easy monster-killing to a point where you actually need to watch your surroundings, defend yourself from ambush, and work on team coordination. 

The Cliffs took advantage of the natural cliff formation, hugging the rocks and leading out around the promontory my dungeon entrance rested in. The monsters found here would mostly be smaller versions of my Crabs, only the size of a basketball at smallest, and a tire at the largest. The Seagulls who nested in the cliffs above would also contribute, giving the trainees a flying enemy to fight, and the final boss of the training area would be; a giant seagull I decided to name Scuttle, Son of Gull. He was one of Gull's many offspring, and at a strength level I judged perfect for a final test.

There was still some adjustment to do, but with all the areas done, it was time to invite the Guild to perform their test run. I was confident they'd invite the summoned heroes to do the first run, as the least powerful members of the guild on the island, with Haythem and Bertram acting as their minders in case they got in over their heads.

I couldn't wait.

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Surface Training Area, Atlantis, Kalenic Sea

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"This looks... interesting," Tamesou Akio commented, eyeing the entrance to the so-called 'training area.' "So, the dungeon... accepted your idea and made somewhere people weaker than Gold rank can train in? Why? As a dungeon, Isn't it sort of counter-intuitive to train people who'll dive the dungeon later?"

"The Guildmistress has her own ideas as to why The Voice accepted our proposal," Haythem replied, his eyes likewise narrowed. Akio didn't blame him. It wasn't often you saw two trees intertwine themselves into an archway. Especially because it hadn't been here the day before. "Personally, I think the dungeon wants more Golds on the island, specifically Golds who're inclined to view it favorably. The dungeon has proven itself remarkably benevolent, though there are moments... The Voice said those refugees went into the dungeon of their own accord, but they disappeared overnight, so we can't exactly confirm that."

Akio actually did believe they went in on their own accord. The people they'd spoken to at Blackwater Bay, and here on Atlantis, really seemed to believe in 'The Creator' as a god and a dungeon. Which... seemed like a dichotomy, but people could believe whatever they wanted.

"It's sad we couldn't bring Elize," Sophie said, unsheathing her twin shortswords. She'd upgraded after it was made fully clear her daggers just didn't measure up. "But I suppose this is the first time it's being explored. What did the Voice say about it?" She directed her question to Bruce, who'd been reading the piece of parchment in his hands with furrowed brow.

"Three 'areas' to explore of increasing difficulty," he summarized. " 'The Clearing', for noobs, 'The Forest' once they've got some idea of what they're doing, and 'The Cliffs' for a final challenge. Soooo we do each in order?" Everyone nodded, and together they passed through the archway.

As they did, Akio felt a chill run down his back. This... "This feels like being in the dungeon, but not?" 

Apart from some nods, no one else commented and they followed the path further. A minute later, they reached a crossroads. Three paths split off, each with their own living wooden archways and signs. The leftmost path had a single tree, the middle multiple trees, and the right what looked like a stylized cliff. Akio motioned to the left path, and they moved down it.

After another minute, Akio had to squint as they left the shaded forest and emerged out into a sloped clearing. At the center was a single tree, one larger than all the ones they'd already passed. From their elevated position, at the top of the hill, Akio could spot a dozen places where the long grass shifted and moved unnaturally; against the prevailing winds. The path they were on narrowed and looped around the tree, leading back to their position.

"Interesting..." Akio said, shifting his shield. "Shall we?"

They descended, following the path, and within a couple of minutes reached the first bit of rustling grass. Though it was less than ten yards from the path, and they hadn't exactly been quiet, whatever was in there hadn't moved toward them.

"Maybe it's pokémon rules?" Sophie ventured, unsurely. "We're safe on the path, and will only be attacked if we step into the grass?"

Akio shrugged and took a steadying breath. He knew this place was meant to be a safe area, for people just learning how to fight, but there was the nagging voice in his head that said it could all be a trick or a trap. He raised his shield and sword, then stood into the grass. Nothing happened. Each step brought him closer to the rustling grass, and he quickly saw just what it was.

It was... a slime.

A Real, Genuine, Sky-Blue Slime. It had a spherical core floating around inside it as it slowly rolled through the grass, and wasn't larger than a basketball, but whatever he'd expected, it wasn't that.

"It's a slime!" He called out, incredulously. "Come look at this!"

The party surrounded the little guy, Bruce and Sophie sharing his Incredulity, while Bertram and Haythem looked intrigued, but unalarmed. They didn't know what this was. How could they? Monsters were meant to be enhanced animals, and though this dungeon had obviously gotten very good at designing monsters, how was a slime even possible!?

"Soo, how do we kill it?" Bertram asked, glancing at the teens. "You three seem to have some idea of what this is."

"It's a slime, an amorphous monster common where we're from." Sophie explained, carefully. "We didn't think there were any here. They should be easy enough to kill. Akio?"

Akio took his cue, and slashed down with his sword, slicing the blue blob in two. It sagged, it's inside spilling out with a honey-like consistency. The core was easy enough to grab from the sticky liquid. Said liquid hissed audibly on his glove, and he quickly wiped it on the grass. Right. Acidic.

"And how are these dangerous?" Haythem asked, sounding unamused. 

"At this size it seems easy, right?" Bruce commented, still watching the guts spill out. "Imagine one ten times that size. It slowly rolls over everything in it's way, and absorbs them. Once inside, you slowly dissolve in it's acid until all that's left are bones. It's membrane is too thick to cut like this ones, and crushing weapons do nothing. Magic might affect them weirdly. They're not dangerous for the aware, but they like to cling to the ceilings of caves and drop on you, deadly to the unexpecting."

Bertram and Haythem looked at the dead slime with a little more respect in their eyes. "But at this size they're not dangerous?" Haythem continued.

All three teens shook their heads. "Good enough for me. Alright, lets continue. There are meant to be a few monsters in each area, and we need to find them all.

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...

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The Heroes reacted with appropriate wariness to my abomination of nature. Goooood, goood. They're right to be worried, of course. I'd have a dozen variations whipped up and shipped around the dungeon within a week. The rest of their trip through the training area went as expected, and though they had some trouble with Scuttle, Son of Gull, they still killed him fairly easily. All as expected.

This area was far too weak for them, after all.

It was only after they were finished that it's intended users would arrive.

Guildmistress Losat was quick to put out the news after the training area proved appropriate; Silvers were once again allowed on the island, but must complete a training course before they'd be allowed to delve the dungeon. They were originally banned due to the influx of Gold and Platinum guilders, which would have caused an overpopulation problem, and high casualty rates. 

Now, with the port more developed than ever, more berths, more inns, more taverns, more farms and higher crop yields, Atlantis was actually exporting a decent amount of food, along with other finished goods made from stuff they'd harvested from the dungeon. I know, for a fact, someone commissioned a full set of armor made of crab shell. No one on the island actually bought it, so it got shipped off to the mainland. I'm sure someone will want it.

But either way, things settled into a comfortable routine over the next two weeks.

The Teen Heroes managed to reach the third before Haythem and Bertram decided to rejoin Isid and Paetor's parties for deep delves. The healer-princess, who might not be a princess, but could be, started in the training area with a party of barely-adults who were fresh to the island. A half-dozen such parties had reached the island, and explored the training area (Really needed a better name for that place). None had managed to finish it out, yet, but it was inevitable someone would.

I'd continued to refine and expand Olympus; adding a few odd island on the ocean as well as in the sky. I was reaching the limit of what I could do without adding monsters, though I still didn't know what to add. I wanted to keep the haunting silence of a dead city, but wasn't sure what kind of monster would add to the vibe. I couldn't even contemplate a boss until I'd chosen the monsters, either.

So I was left with a choice. Go even higher into the sky and add a third part to the Eleventh, or finally make a start on the Twelfth Floor. Right now it was just a hollowed out cavern from all the rock I'd been excavating to use on the Eleventh, but with expansion enchantments... I could go big. I could go real big. If the Eleventh was about the size of Poland.... It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to make something the size of Europe as a whole, right? Something that'd take weeks to months to cross, with multiple biomes to cross; mountains, deserts, plains, forests, tundra... combining every survival trick the guilder's had learned so far into the ultimate test.

There would be little to no water, except for perhaps an inland sea/lake not much larger than the Eleventh...

Yes. It's all coming together...

But before i get started with all that, the reunited CHI raid group has once again reached the Ninth, this time with all their party members awake. Time to see how they fare in the desert.

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