"Trait: 'Mana Control' has been awarded. Trait: 'Spirit Charm' has been unlocked."

Kali heard the voice and absorbed the knowledge of the traits she had acquired. Kali felt a surge of excitement course through her upon acquiring the traits. She marveled at the power of Mana Control and the intriguing concept of Spirit Charm. These new abilities opened up new possibilities for her and fueled her desire to explore and master more. The week of training was worth it.

What intrigued her the most?

"Holy shit my hand feels good." Kali opened and closed her freed right hand as it bathed in the sunlight. She had her right arm, up to her shoulder blade, recently freed from its confinement. Her body was filled with vigor as she walked across the flat land with the elven swordsman. "I can't wait to test it out!"

Sighing, the elven swordsman nodded "Yes, yes." while rolling his eyes.

Though Daji desired to observe Kali's growth, she wasn't as patient as she used to be with children and their behavior. However she wondered if it was just that Kali was too much to handle? Regardless she needed a break to focus her mind on the scrolls.

"Woah! Hey, Hey, LOOK!" the chimera yelled pointing at a group at the bottom of a hill. "Are those Dark Elves? They look so pretty! Caterpillar folk? Are those Scylla?"

"Hey Dude! Be careful of that guy with the giant sword, he's strong." spoke a spirit that wore heavy armor and was missing a large portion of his chest. The person he pointed to was an especially large black skinned man with white hair wielding a large single edged, curved sword. "That guy sliced my men and me down like butter."

"Please watch over my son, he's quite hot headed." Spoke a dark skinned long-eared spirit as she looked at a dark elf boy who was talking with a few others.

"Kill that bitch! She tricked me!" a man with a face that looked like a pain-madened beast cried violently as he pointed at a particularly large scylla woman. "She violated me! Tricked me! Kill her for me. I will give you anything!"

"Oh wow you look strong!" An elderly black furred spirit laughed. "What race are you? I haven't seen you before?"

Kali heard the words of the spirits around her through her 'Spirit Charm', a greater trait that allowed her to interact with and charm spirits.

"It seems that these spirits are those of the dead." Great Wiseman, Kali's trait that acted as a second brain, remarked not being heard by anyone but the swordsman. "Its efficacy on other types of monsters like the undead needs to be tested."

She mentally noted to test out the theory after nodding at the traits' words. Kali's capabilities and potential uses in combat could be expanded with this discovery. Apparently, there was a school of magic that used spirits to cast spells the user was not capable of casting.

The thought of using 'Self Modification' to somehow mimic the traits of spirits did come into her head from time to time. She tried it a few times in private but Daji beat her every time, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. She really didn't like how her slap felt nor did she like being lectured about safety.

Still she could only imagine what doors would open if she did that and mastered it.

"Lady Daji?" A voice asked, bringing Kali back to reality.

"Deep Earth," the elven warrior greeted as a large being approached the two.

What approached was a beautiful specimen, with a human top half and a squid-like bottom half that was easily fourteen feet tall. Her top half was that of a well-endowed female with explosive curves and powerful muscles. Her hair was green flowing all the way to the tips of her tentacles while covering one of her green eyes. Her bottom half was equally eye-catching. Eight vibrant tentacles with a web-like veiny texture covered in viscous slime. At their tips were the heads of dragons.

This was-

"A Scylla?" Kali asked, pointing at the being "but aren't they supposed to be the size of a normal human?"

Her mana flowed like a river, emanating steam with a vibrant blue color similar to a sky. It possessed a purity approaching that of the Beast of Hills, but inferior to that which filled the elven swordsman. The scent was strong and lively, it brought back the memories of that creature from that village. She was more fertile, a better mate than that creature!

But she was far too big, not even Kali could grow to the size of a two story house!

"Lady Daji, who is this boy? Man? I sense something quite sinister about him." The large scylla, nicknamed Deep Earth, asked cautiously as she looked at Kali. From the black monster she felt a sinister, sticky presence that formed lecherous eyes scanning every inch of her body.

"Now's your chance!" The madened ghost yelled "Go for the waste, that's where the secondary brain is!"

"Hey, don't listen to him!" Another well dressed ghost yelled back standing firmly in front of Deep Earth. "This is my wife!"

"That's a monster!" the madened ghost yelled his form shifting in an unnatural way as he began to somehow sweat. "Your wife never existed to begin with!"

"You're just jealous you couldn't break up another marriage." The well dressed ghost man yelled punching the madened ghost causing his form to shatter like glass with a crisp sound. "That for Damian, you piece of garbage!"

"Holy mother of mystic shittery!" Kali's eyes went wide as she watched the fragments evaporate into mana.

"This is Kali." The elven swordsman answered, introducing the monster who stared at her with bewildered eyes. "She is a chimera that I found and named."

The Scylla nodded, so this monster was a female, not male, not so surprising. Some or her sisters, daughters and nieces had flatter chests and shorter hair leading others to at a glance believe they were males. There were also several races that were hermaphroditic or asexual by nature, but took on definitive male or female appearances when needed.

Regardless of which situation this chimera fell into, She could accept such a thing. However, after a few moments her eyes widened in shock then to horror as she processed something she couldn't accept so easily.

"Holy shi- um uhmmmmmm. Excuse me, my lady, I don't believe I heard you right." Deep Earth, with a half shocked and half panicked expression, conjured water that entered her ears then left them. She got uncomfortably close after shrinking down to a normal height and asked "You named this monster?”

"Yes." the swordsman shrugged, speaking of the fact like it was normal leaving Deep Earth, who had no name like many of her sisters, daughters and nieces, at a loss for words and worried.

"M-my lady your health-"

"If I could I would take it back but I can't so I’m stuck with her." The swordsman sighed, cutting the scylla off. "I need you to watch over her for a time."

"But we're entering 'Dolan's Training Grounds'." The scylla muttered looking at the campsite over her shoulder. “While I do trust your training methods, do you think she should join them?”

The chosen children from every race in the western part of the outer barrier gathered here today. The purpose was to manage one of the dungeon's monster populations while ensuring that children, who are ready for adulthood, are trained in the dungeon. This scylla was one of five chaperones chosen to watch over them.

“Tell me your real thoughts.”The swordsman sighed 

"Are you sure you want to risk her dying?" she asked honestly,it wouldn't be the first time someone died in the dungeon.

"Yeah, I know, that's why I brought her here." the swordsman started waving off the worry while Kali looked at her in shock at the mention of death.

Dolan's Training Grounds was a simple, below average dungeon. Each of the twenty floors is different from the last, and they shuffle every time someone leaves. Molten magma pits, frozen mountain sides, dry, storm-filled desserts and many more environments with monsters native to those areas. None of them would be too deadly, not if these kids prepared well or developed resistance and augmentation traits.

"She needs some good training, both socially and physically." the swordsman continued looking at Kali who had a question mark floating above her head. "It's for the best, I can only teach her so much. The last time I tried to talk with anyone I got proposed to."

"You were going to be married?" Kali asked, entranced by the thought of being a groomsman.

"Hell no! I just had to somehow be mistaken for a lady of the night." The swordsman shook his head as he remembered how the cursed blood had attempted to purchase her after years of no contact. Her cheeks flushed blood red as she remembered the embarrassing comments made by other half drunken people shaming her. "It was very embarrassing."

"Wow, Lady Daji, I didn't know you were one for jokes" The scylla laughed at the disgusted expression that rested on her face. "I will see to it, she will be safe. Enjoy yourself."

"Big." Kali said absent-mindedly, looking at the monster woman's bare muscles and breasts. "Can I touch them?"

"Sorry, Lady Kali, but I'm not your mother, I have no milk to give you." the Scylla warrior cooed, earning a small whine from the chimera. She returned to her normal fifteen feet tall form and lifted Kali with a tentacle. "Let's go and join the others. I'm sure some people would love to meet you."

"Really?" The chimera was very curious about other people. In the books it was recommended that certain rituals and techniques be done in the presence in case of injury. It was also recommended that dungeons be cleared in teams. "I don't know. Can we get along?"

Kali didn't know the people in the camp. They could be friends, allies that could help her but they could also be enemies. Even if they weren't enemies, did they want to be talked to? What if they act like shit? She had foggy memories of kids not wanting to talk to her because she wasn't 'too weak' or because she liked 'boy things'. It left her with a bitter taste in her mouth that soured her mood. She didn't want to feel it again.

Deep Earth hummed, feeling at ease with Kali's simple worry. "You're like my sister." Arriving at the campsite, she put Kali down and shrunk to a smaller size. "For now just get through this dungeon. Friend groups usually form at the end of this."

"Really?" she asked, before a spirit chimed in.

"As long as you display strength in a visual way they will respect you." a large hooded monstrosity said in a voice that resembled a young boy. "If you defeat a floor boss alone they'll treat you like the second coming of Lady Daji."

Most monsters, intelligent or not, respect those with great strength, according to the books. With sixty percent of her mana full, she would be able to display her magic power without a problem. In most cases, she could just use physical strength, and only use magic in dire circumstances. With this plan she was confident in her ability to survive the dungeon.

"Then, yeah, I'll be okay."

"Yes, I'm sure once we're inside someone will want to be your teammate." the scylla warrior nodded "Now I'm going to let the others know about our additional kid, stay close."

"Alright." Kali watched Deep Earth move through the camp and join the chaperones.

Now alone Kali walked through the campsite observing the races present.

There were cloaked people emitting low hums as they diligently carried out their task. With steady movements they fed large, oddly human looking, slabs of meat to swarms of insects and larger singular insects the size of a tree. Once all the insects were done feeding they seemingly absorbed them into their bodies through their hoods.

"Caterpillar Folk Greater Tamers." A spirit of a caterpillar folk elder said as Great wiseman analyzed and assessed the mana of the specialized race. "It would seem that they possess large amounts of carnivorous insectoid monsters."

"Tamers? Oh yeah! They train and use monsters as fighters." Kali thought of remembering the off-handed mentions in some books about a certain kind of magic that requires 'outer mana control' to cast spells through familiars. "But what kind of trait is that? Absorbing tamed beasts into their bodies? What trait is that?"

"'Tamed Beast Binding Technique'" A particularly large Caterpillar Folk spirit answered with pride evident in his tone as he explained. "It's a specialized  trait that allows one to ‘equip’ tamed beasts. It’s a trait all tamers possess.”

"So they are skilled tamers." Kali wondered, seeing the caterpillars talking to each other. She watched their controlled mana and the mana of their beasts. “They’re all as strong as me.”

"Evolutionarily speaking, yes." The trait answered, likely nodding if it had a head. "We can assume, based on mana purity and fluctuation, that they have not only evolved but also gone through at most three metamorphoses."

"Also, has your ability to analyze mana been enhanced?" Kali wondered while making small talk with some other caterpillar folk spirits.

"Yes, the ability to perceive and analyze mana has been enhanced." The trait gladly laughed “thanks to your efforts.”

"Hmmm, I don't think I'll stand out." Kali sighed out loud, disregarding the traits words as she looked at the caterpillar folk before sending her gaze to another group.

They were dark elves, wielding bows and wearing light leather armor. Their long ears and dark skin made them look exotic but they were deadly fighters. With grace and skill, they fired arrows at each other. On occasion some came closer to each other and fought with their fists and feet. 

"They scare me." Kali mumbled, staring at the sparring dark elves. "Is this hand-to-hand combat?"

"Yes!" A dark elf child spirit laughed pointing at one female elf with yellow eyes. "KICK HIS BUTT AUNTY! YOU CAN DO IT!!"

"TEACH HER RESPECT BRO!" Another dark elf woman cheered while other dark elves began cheering from the sidelines.

"They are using metal gloves that work similar to claws and spikes on boots." Great Wiseman hummed. “It's quite odd, why not use a blade?”

"I dont care, it looks fucking cool." Kali said, crudely mimicking several movements but they lacked the grace and beauty of the dark elves. "I want to learn from them."

The next group was the oddest looking. They were undoubtedly titans, extremely large humanoids with bodies that could reach up to twenty feet tall. They had definitely evolved but they looked like creatures taken from nightmares like the Vile Gods.

"Hellish Berserker Titans?" she exclaimed, looking at the titan spirit she was talking to. She had never heard of such a race, not in the books she had read.

"Yup that's what they are." answered a head with no eyes or mouth on a long neck that connected to a tree-like body covered in mouths. "But they are different from us since they signed a contract with our guardian deity, the Vile God of Slaughter."

"You think that's why they can't talk?" she asked, pointing at the other spirit titans who, like their corporal brethren, sat still not doing anything in response to being pointed at. They just stared absent-mindedly into the sky with their weapons propped up on their bodies.

"oh? that?" the fleshy tree asked, pointing a thin arm that looked like gnarled wood at the group before pointing at himself "I'm more of an anomaly ya'now? Most of us don't really talk until after our seventh metamorphosis." he then shrugged with a sad sigh. "I got it after my fourth, then got ambushed and died. Fucking metamorphosis, make sure you do it ’n a safe place, kid."

"oh? Hey, Great Wiseman! Make sure I don't metamorphosis-ificate unless I'm in a safe area!" She demanded with urgency.

"I have already begun planning the function." Great Wiseman answered, dedicating a portion of its focus to this highly important function.

Turning away she sent a glance to a clear waterfall and river where countless women with the bottom halves of squids and octopi danced and played. They sang hypnotic anthems while emitting a dull mesmerizing glow from their tentacles.

Kali felt her legs move on her own, seemingly entranced by the show but she resisted pulling her eyes away after closing them to the show. "What is that?"

"Sorry, that's just how we scylla's are." An elderly looking scylla spirit apologized. "I guess they are practicing our martial art or performing a ritual of good luck."

The Scylla Fighters had muscular and stout appearances with tribal markings, along with thicker tentacles. While the Scylla Druid’s and Mage’s were smaller and thinner in appearance with rainbow webbing covering their thin white tentacles. All of them had the tips of their tentacles resembling dragon heads but were of average or slightly below average size but not giant like Scylla Titan Warrior.

"So that one's an anomaly?" Kali pointed at Deep Earth who was calmly eating a meat slab.

"Yeah, her mother was quite odd but you could say that for her father too." The scylla spirit sighed, remembering the titan scylla and her parents. "But you, what do you think of our daughters?"

“Why?” asked Kali, regardless of their breast size they were all extremely well endowed with mana and extremely beautiful. If she was considering a long term ‘main mate’, she would have to know them for a while. “I don’t know any of them and I don't plan on meeting them right now, you know?”

“I simply wish to know what this current generation thinks.” the spirit shrugged, not wanting to lose this opportunity. “I've been dead for about 60, no, 70 years, back then humans were not as keen and snoopy.”

"Warriors are big, but druids are lacking." Kali as she looked at the bare breasts of the scylla. Though she said that the druid's albino tentacles did attract the chimera’s eyes. "I still want one to be my mate."

"Master, someone is trying to read your mind." Great wiseman said, directing Kali's eyes to the, as of yet, unnoticed golden strand of hair that had embedded itself in her exposed skin.

“Shit!” Gripping the strand, Kali yanked it from her body and traced it back to the final race.

They looked normal like the people in the village, Marzh, she visited. However, unlike those villagers, they wore clothing that could only be described as barely more than strings. It showed so much skin that even Kali felt uncomfortable looking at them. Still she stared at them or rather at their skin which was covered in eyes of every kind. Some had odd colors, others had patterns within their corneas, and there were even a few eyes that Kali knew belonged to beasts.

"These are Pythian Wizards and Pythtian Priests." Great wiseman hummed as it took in the data from the Pythian spirits.

"Yup, hey! Quit looking at my younger sister!" One spirit hissed attempting to punch Kali but his fit passed through her head.

Kali let out a low growl as she looked at the group of multi-eyed monsters who were enchanting the weapons of the other races and exchanging magic spell scrolls. No one noticed her wrathful glare.

"Fine let's try th-what the hell?" she tried to tug on the string but instead she watched as the string dissolved before her eyes. "Fucking son of a bitch!"

"OYEEEE!" She heard a voice that resembled boulders crashing together echo across the campsite. It was one of the titans, one with a crown of thorns and blood covering his face. "EVERYONE GATHER AROUND!"

Following the lead of others, Kali joined the group of nearly two hundred in front of a large, rectangular door with a white portal within the frame. There the four chaperones stood counting everyone before nodding at the bloody faced titan. "Alright, it's time and you all know the rules. Don't wander too far, finders keepers losers weepers, and, I can't stress this enough, NO FRIENDLY FIRE! Alright?"

There was a murmur of agreement with the basic rules that the village elders had taught them.

Nodding, the chaperones moved out of the way and the Blood Faced Titan pointed at the white gate. "Well? Get the hell on."