Huh. Valterra looked at his System window with only a mild amount of consternation. This is a bit disappointing.

  Your “Sylcyne Caterpillar" is ready to Ascend!

  Please choose from among the following stages:

  Aethersilk Moth (Rank E - Bronze)

  Having feasted on Aether-rich material, this moth has Ascended to bring forth silk threads that are infused with Aether. It uses these threads to make a home for itself. These moths are highly sought after for the silk they produce, and many humanoid races pay a high price for hunters who find them in the wild.

  Apparently, his comment to Natalia had been spot on. The Sylcyne Caterpillars really were affected by what they ate, and in this case, the Aether-Dew it had fed on certainly qualified as an Aether-rich material. He was a tad disappointed that it hadn’t received anything terribly special, but that was just the way of things. After all, not everything in his dungeon could be special. There would always be the more normal creatures to supplement the growth of others.

  Still, Valterra found he wasn’t quite satisfied with the situation. This wouldn’t be the first time. His experience with the former Mantis Pack-Leader came to mind. The whole reason he had come up with the Concept of Wrath and the Red Tide was to give his defender the reward he was due. This was a far smaller situation, and the caterpillar wasn’t some grand defender who had made great sacrifices on his behalf, but the precedent had been set.

  Let’s make some changes, shall we?

  It didn’t take much to take hold of the Ascension process manually. Not only was he the first dungeon to use the caterpillar as a proper monster, which gave him control over its framework and path, but he was also an Administrator and divinity. The helpdesk opened before him, the hazy figure of the caterpillar hanging before him. Now that he was here, Valterra realized that he didn’t really know what to do. He didn’t have much practice with creatures that changed forms entirely upon Ascending.

  Luckily, there were plenty of examples within the System’s archives, and the caterpillar itself contained the genetic code needed to transform it. Valterra simply had to unlock it and tweak it according to the insect’s Pool of Ascension. The dungeon core watched as the Ascension began to unfold naturally, Aether fueling the metamorphosis into an Aethersilk Moth. Here, Valterra stepped in.

  The tiny, fur-like scales of the moth became a fluffy white color, the color of the Aether–Dew Mold’s spores. Internally, the insect became immune to the mold’s infectious strategy with a specialized organ devoted to isolating and keeping separate any spores that breached its exoskeleton. That was made even more difficult by further changes made to the moth’s fur. Valterra designed it to grow thick, with tiny soft bristles that would catch spores and hold them. The moth would become a carrier of its food source without falling prey to it. He added additional instincts for it to guard the source, making sure that it would try and save his Guardian if it could.

  Valterra wondered when the Guardian would Ascend. It had been some time, and the mold had been the reason behind many a creature’s death. He took a break from the Ascension to check and found that its instincts were hindering it. It had no intelligence beyond the most primitive of instincts, that of spreading. Additional Aether had been siphoned away due to Valterra’s design of the Aether-Dew, the trap that helped it spread. Essentially, it was his fault. Valterra could only chuckle at the irony.

  Well, he had made the problem so perhaps it was time to help it along. With the last of the new moth’s Pool of Ascension, Valterra added a connection, formed of Aether and Potential, that bound the moth to the mold. They were still separate, but the moth would now contribute Aether to the mold’s Ascensionary growth. It wasn’t much, perhaps a quarter of its overall gains, but the dungeon core was sure it would add up over time, especially once it finished Ascending and he could make more of them.

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  Now finished, Valterra named it and let the System take over.

  New Path of Ascension synthesized from an existing Framework during the Ascension process! The Framework “Sylcyne Caterpillar” may now Ascend into the following Framework:

  Sporeguard Moth (Unique, Rank E - Bronze)

  Aether-Dew from a mold has fueled this moth’s Ascension, and by the dungeon’s will, it has become a symbiotic creature. Now capable of carrying the mold’s spores without succumbing to them, this moth shares Aether with its food source, creating a positive feedback loop that ensures both can thrive in the dungeon’s hostile environment.

  Excellent, the Core thought, shifting the creature into the field of spores, trusting that the field would provide a decent deterrent to anything wishing to harm the Ascending moth. He came back to himself and turned to find Natalia’s group huddled nearby, looking around warily, while Natalia herself stared upward with a shocked look.

  Are you alright? He asked gently, mentally lowering the volume of his voice to a softer tone.

  As if startled, Natalia seemed to come back to herself. Her thoughts drifted upward from her like smoke, projected clumsily as they were. What just happened? You said you had access to the System?

  Hoh? Yes, I do. Well, I have access to a System. Are you saying you have access to one as well?

  Her face twisted into a look of confusion. Valterra chuckled. You will have to forgive me. You are the only delvers I have received in my halls, so I have no idea about what you are capable of beyond dim memories left by my father. Well, I was attacked by Fae, but I considered them invaders more than real delvers.

  Fae attacked you! A barely concealed yell of alarm mirrored Natalia’s thoughts. The only one who noticed was a man with pointed ears, who looked over at Natalia with concern. He began to move toward her, and Valterra knew their time was up for now, unless he wanted to bring the rest of her party into the mix. To be honest, he had a bit too much to do at the moment, and he didn’t feel like fielding their, most likely many, questions.

  It seems our time is at an end, for now. I believe it is time for your group to climb. Reach the roof of the house to find a way inside, and do prepare your team niece. After all, I can’t exactly make it easy on you.

  Chuckling, he pulled away just as the man reached his niece. The look of consternation on her face was worth it, and he chuckled again as he diversified his awareness to cover a larger portion of his dungeon, which was why he noticed when an exhausted Geckodo exited the pond with yet another corpse of a creature on his shoulder. It was only then that he realized he did, in fact, have a servant on par with the adventurers currently within his halls. Truly, Geckodo had gone above and beyond to fulfill his ever-changing quest for penance. Valterra homed in to examine the beasts, finding that they weren’t ones he knew of, even when compared with the amount he had received from claiming the pond.

  Instinctively, he knew that they were new arrivals, beasts that had entered his halls from the outside and had made a beeline for the pond rather than his mansion. Which meant that Geckodo had obeyed him by hunting in the pond for Frameworks, but not wasting his effort on creatures he already had access to. Even worse, many of the older corpses meant nothing, as they couldn’t be absorbed, but at least the newer additions were within acceptable time limits. He absorbed the lot of them, older corpses included, feeling the new Frameworks settle into his soul.

  Geckodo noticed, his weary eyes shifting to where the majority of Valterra’s awareness rested, and he bowed. Valterra felt the last of his ire toward the creature and his people vanish. He let his gratitude flow into his thoughts as he projected his will toward the beastman.

  Geckodo, Chieftain of the Risen. You, who were once Fallen and an enemy of this dungeon. I Name you Geckodo, The Forgiven. Your penance is complete, and your people fully accepted. The past need be spoken of no more. Return to your people and rest.

  Every muscle in Geckodo’s body seemed to relax at once, and the look of utter discomposure on his face flooded Valterra with conflicting feelings. There was certainly gratitude, mixed with a kind of relief, at knowing Geckodo could be trusted. Empathy that came from having felt the beastman’s feelings during the process. The final emotion was a hint of shame that he had required so much from the creature before he felt he could be trusted. Valterra let it all go, coming to an internal place of acceptance.

  They had once been enemies, but they weren’t anymore, and he wouldn’t hold onto anything that would compromise their future relationship as master and servant. He watched as his newest Named servant left, trudging off to where his people’s rough village was located. He would follow soon; he wanted to check on them now that they had been fully accepted. It wouldn’t do to have them feel neglected. Still, he had Frameworks to look through and Delvers to follow. He couldn’t wait to see what they got up to.