Corvis peered through the hole, looking outside through his innate dungeon senses. His vision was met by small saplings and sprouts of plant life. Behind that was a large wall of stone. Looking up the rock wall, he saw large trees above, with vines and other plant growth slowly making its way down, crawling down the steep rock face. Steaming water slowly ran down the cliff in some spots, create small puddles of water at the edges of the crater.

Everything growing in the valley appeared to be new growth, all of it being small. Small patches of dark blue grass grew from the solid stone ground, slowly blinking white every few minutes. The air was moist with steam, emanating from the hot water raining down from above the valley. If I had to describe this scene, it would be mystical and mysterious, thought Corvis with a mental smile. I feel like this is something you would read about in some books about untouched places in this world. 

His eyes drifted toward the small saplings, each having black bark-covered trunks. The young trees each had small crowns filled with leaves of light blue. Glowing mosses of varying colors grew along the wet stone face with small bulbs suspended above them with delicate-looking stems.

Plants weren’t the only things appearing in the crater valley though, as small circular creatures floated in the air, slowly puffing their bodies like jellyfish whenever they got near the ground. They had a similar glow to everything else, except they shifted from white to red and all the colors in between every time they propelled themselves with the pulse of the movement.

The small copse gave Corvis the feeling of some alien grove.

"From what I can tell, it seems we are in The Starspring. It appears to match the description of the Starfall in the center. Perfect! I can continue my research even in my rebirth!" exclaimed the biomancer.

"That's great news! I can't wait to watch it! I hope it's exciting!" answered back Starlid.

"No doubt about it. The only problem is getting specimens. The only way to do that is to wait for something to come into the dungeon. Still, before I start experimenting, I need some dungeon monsters to defend us." said the biomancer turned dungeon core. Starlid nodded.

Time ticked by as the two waited. Hours passed as Corvis's mind swirled with ideas for improvements to his dungeon, as well as other projects that can take up his attention. As he waited, his mana slowly regenerated.

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Days passed as the duo waited for something to enter the dungeon. As the hours passed, Corvis would look outside through his hole, looking into the mystical grove that grew in the valley above. Every time he looked, it seemed more vibrant, with more plants spreading, inching closer to his dungeon.

Finally, after almost a week had passed, small patches of blue moss grew right outside his dungeon.

"Why did these plants grow so fast?" Corvis asked his partner.

"The abundance of star mana lets the plants proliferate as well as mutate. They are growing closer to your entrance because star energy is leaking out, meaning the plants grow in this direction", answered Starlid.

"Really? So can we expect this to turn into a vibrant forest?"

"We can! I just hope some animals will come when that happens. It's so boring just waiting." Starlid put its hands up "Not saying your bad company. I mean, you are, but I don't want to be rude. Let's get to the dungeon stuff. I'm getting bored of listening to you mumble about laboratories and other weird things."

After a few moments of silence, Corvis spoke. "It has been rather boring; there isn't much to do but wait for something to enter the dungeon." after a short pause he continued "I suppose what I talk about would be uninteresting to you; after all, you seem to appreciate action over research. I'm afraid your and my interests don't quite match up. I prefer to perform research and see the results over action. The action was reserved for my younger days. I'm the kind of person who likes their peace and quiet, you on the other hand---"

"My whole life has been peace and quiet! I want action, battle, adventure!"

"Exactly"

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A few more hours elapsed, the sound of heavy rain echoed through the rising forest around the dungeon. Water pooled on the hard stone ground or splashed into steaming pools, flooding over and spreading into the lowest parts of the valley. The plants normally not able to reach water seemed to rejoice when the rain landed at their roots.

As rain breathed life into the plants that needed it most, Corvis was busy once more. Using the mana he had regenerated, he set about turning the walls into Starstone. Days worth of mana disappeared in a matter of minutes.

Curiosity overwhelming it, Starlid asked the core about his reasoning for doing this. "Why did you turn all the stone into Starstone?"

"I did it for several reasons. First, it can store small amounts of star mana, meaning the mana concentration in the dungeon should go up. Second, you told me that the plants prefer areas with high star mana concentrations, so I assumed that as the plants took root, they would benefit from the stored star mana in the walls. It also doesn't hurt that it brightens the place up, if only a little", responded Corvis in an informative tone.

"If you want them to grow well, then you'll also need plenty of water," responded the elemental while pointing in the direction of the entrance.

"Your right. And therein lies the problem. This is a Fallen Star, last time I checked, Starfall's don't have any water sources. I'll have to find a different way to get water." said Corvis in an unenthusiastic tone.

Before the core's mood could darken further, he felt a new sensation, like some sort of insect crawling across his body. Corvis's vision went from his core to the entrance, checking for the cause of the disturbance. Quickly, he found the source, an intruder, the first creature to find his dungeon.

"Oh. A creature entered the dungeon." Corvis said with interest.

"What! This is great! What kind of monster!? Or maybe it's one of the sentient races! Let me see!" said Starlid in a highly excited voice.

"How do I do that?" asked Corvis in a tone decidedly opposite of his eager companion.

"Imagine a projection of the image into the air in front of me!" said Starlid, practically shaking in excitement.

I doubt Starlid will be this excited when it sees this thought the core. Using a tiny bit of mana, an image slowly manifested into existence.

"Hmm, what kind of magic is this? Illusion? Clairvoyance? How does this work?" asked Corvis, now curious.

Starlid responded, "It's a function born from your spell matrix" with a disinterested wave of its hand.

The diminutive elemental peered into the image. Displayed on the projection was a display of the dungeon entrance and a small creature. The creature's back was covered in a spiral shell covered in layers of strange yellow crystal, some appearing fresh and others appearing older. These crystals seemingly growing from its shell. The parts of the shell uncoated in yellow crystal seemed to have several different colors, from greens to a metallic sheen. The metallic parts catching the little light in the entrance and giving an interesting effect.

The strange creature moved forward at a snail's pace through some means Starlid couldn't determine as it had no limbs. It seemed to simply slide forward, leaving a trail of glowing… something behind, catching the light and shining. Long stocks sat at the front of the creature, facing upward toward the ceiling of the entrance tunnel. Two smaller stalks hung down from the face, pointing toward the cavern floor, slightly moving this way and that.

"What kind of monster is that?" Starlid asked, less excited and more curious.

"That would be a snail. Something not commonly referred to as 'monster'. It's just a simple animal that goes around living a decidedly non-menacing life. This one is of a variety I've never seen before, though. Evident by the yellow crystals on its back that are decently common of the insects of the Starspring." answered Corvis.

The snail moved forward slowly, utterly unaware of the conversation about it taking place deeper inside. It moved its small olfactory stalks, apparently searching for something.

"You should dominate it. That way, you can have a monster that can leave the dungeon to collect things", said Starlid, still excited, but much less so.

"Yes, it will be the vessel through which we can collect more specimens." thought the biomancer out loud. "The only problem is that I don't know how to do that."

"I'll guide you through the process. First, force mana into its body very slowly, and try to exert your will over it. Be very careful; you could kill it if you go too fast or are too forceful." stated Starlid, voice shifting from exited to that of a teacher.

Okay, thought Corvis. Slowly, the core funneled mana into the snail. As the mana began to enter the snail, it lifted its upper body up. After several more moments, he felt something new in his core. Peering into himself, he saw that more branches had grown from his matrix. Subsequently, new pages were added to his internal tome.

 

 

Two things stood out to Corvis.

These ones are written from my perspective. Why? And why did I gain pages about these but not the absorption ability? Thought Corvis.

"Starlid, do you know why these abilities got pages in my tome, but absorption wasn't added?"

"Well," Starlid tapped its face, "maybe it's because the ability isn't as straight forward and you know less about it? Or maybe it's more of an instinct than ability, so there is no matrix to light up. It could even be that it was already active in your matrix before the tome part was, so the ability won't show up."

"I suppose we can cross that bridge when we get to it." responded the core.

Corvis's vision shot back to the snail. The tiny creature was simply wandering around aimlessly, lifting its head and looking around every few moments.

With a sigh, the dungeon core spoke, "Not the most imposing defender, nor the most interesting specimen."

Starlid responded by nodding, "It could become both of those if you make it a unique monster."

"I'm afraid I don't know what that is or how to do it," said Corvis.

"First, you need to give the chosen creature around half your mana, or if you're willing, around seventy-five percent of it. After that, the creature will enter a stage of rapid change. After that is completed, name the creature, and using the name, form a link to your spell matrix. After that, the creature will be bound to you, drawing mana from you directly. When that happens, the creature's soul will fuse to your matrix. This will increase the intelligence of the creature and allow the creature's soul to enter your core upon death, meaning it can be revived." Answered the elemental, once more excited.

"That brings up a question I have. Why did I have so much mana when I woke up? It seems like my capacity is much less."

"Oh! That's simple. Before you were fully formed, your core gathered mana, and once it reached capacity, filled the area with a massive amount. That's why you were in a void in the ground when you woke up. It eroded the stone around you. The massive amount gathered made it seem like you had a larger mana pool than you actually did since when you ran out, you simply absorbed more from your environment."

With a mental nod, the former biomancer looked down at the snail. "Back to the special creatures. If they are as significant as you seem to make them, shouldn't I save that for something… more useful?"

"While you do have a limit to the amount you can make, I think it would be worth it to make this one of them. I agree it is rather ordinary, but it is also our only defense. As an added bonus, it can also explore the outside world. I think that makes it worthy enough to become a special monster", answered Starlid with passion in its voice.

"Very well, I'll trust your judgment. After all, you seem very passionate about it."

"Of course! It will be the first interesting thing to happen around here, no offense! Not only that, but I can also piggyback off of you and watch through its eyes! I can see more of the outside world!" exclaimed Starlid, clearly giddy with the chance to see the outside world.

With a mental nod, Corvis responded, "Once my mana pool has fully refilled, I will make it a special monster." Corvis told his companion. "maybe in the meantime, I can have it bring back some specimens to absorb." Said Corvis in an even tone.

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Several hours passed as the duo watched the snail slowly bring plant matter inside. During this time, they discovered the snail couldn't actually see as they could. It could only make out changes in light. This led to Corvis having to guide the mollusk to all the plants he wanted before it could even get some. After this process, it carried several small pieces of plant matter back, from moss to sapling.

Every time the snail brought back a piece of whatever plant it went out for, it would disappear almost instantly. Every time, Corvis would frown. No matter how many pieces he got, he was unable to get a template of the plant. Every time he absorbed it, nothing happened.

Corvis pondered this and quickly came to a conclusion. Let's try something else.

This time, the snail dragged a much larger piece of moss into the cave. But that wasn't the only change; Instead of simply absorbing it like before, Corvis focused on specific parts of the moss. His first target was the basic structure of the moss, whatever let it hold its shape. As he did this, he felt a trickle of knowledge flow into his mind, but he quickly realized that it was very vague, simply a fragment of the whole. After this discovery, he had the snail bring in much more moss.

Slowly, the antechamber was brightened by a pile of glowing moss. After building the stack up to be as tall as the snail itself, Corvis began his work. Slowly moss disappeared, and he gradually gleaned more information, each time focusing on different parts of the moss. Slowly he understood how it moved water through itself, how it used sunlight, and all other functions, from significant to minor. Then he knew how to create it, and even better, change it.

His matrix glowed as a new branch glowed into existence.

Corvis felt giddy.

"With this, I can start making this place into a proper environment," he said.

Using the little bit of mana he had, he started covering the core room with it, and the moss took like a fish to water. Almost as soon as the moss appeared, it started glowing intensely, making his core room as bright as the outside world. In only a few minutes, the moss had covered his core room and began to produce bulbs of star mana. Slowly, the moss crept through the tunnel leading up to the first floor. At the edge of the tunnel right before the room, it stopped. The plants thickened slowly, covering every surface of his core room, from the floor to the ceiling.

"I like the new look," said Starlid as it brushed the moss with its hand. "It feels nice too."

"I want to see if high mana concentrations will further mutate the moss. I also want the snail to feed on the moss to easily absorb a lot of star mana. I'm hoping that will cause some interesting reactions." stated the core. Starlid nodded before it sat down.

Corvis contemplated his next move. After thinking for a few moments, he made a to-do list. First, collect more plant specimens to populate the dungeon. Next, make his first creature a special monster. Third, fill his dungeon with plant life. Four, get access to a water source. Five, get more creature templates.