《The Dungeon of Entropy》 Prologue "Entropy you have reigned over us for long enough we will no longer stand for this slight against us. We are above nature and yet you still let time affect us so that we will become weak and powerless against you. Without your watchdog you are nothing against us." the messenger read as the doors of the gate were getting ready to close. "Know this you can not understand my reasons, but all things come to an end even for my so-called watchdog," replied Entropy. "The question is how long until it comes about. You can go tell them I said that retribution is coming for them." she laughed. The messenger started fidgeting in fear, " You really think they will ever let you out, You must be joking.". " Do you really think I only have the one helper or as you like to say watchdog" laughing as the doors finally shut. The messenger sighed in relief, " We no longer have to deal with that witch of a goddess.", as he walked away.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. 9000 years later On the world of Pietis, there are 4continents:Brehas, Atora, Ozora,and Melis. On thecontinent of Atora in a cave off of a Savanah, during a monsoon, a gem was formed. The gem felt as if it was waking up from a dream as it started to become aware of its surroundings. It felt a need to eat and grow as its mind started coming into focus. Feeling around it started drawing in the ambient mana subconsciously when it realized that by absorbing mana it reaches expands. It starts to look around itself and feels shocked when a message appears out of nowhere in its mind. "Welcome to the world little one". Then a bunch of information downloaded itself into its head and its area of influence spread to the opening of what is now understood was the cave it was in and it knew it is a dungeon. The beginning of a legend The cave the dungeon was in opened into open space with an overhang, that had a crack splitting it up until its end creating a circle of open space inside, going out into a savannah. Everything under the overhang and walls up to the plains was a part of its territory. There was a stream running through the cave out into the savannah. The overhang had a couple of trees and bushes inside the opened space as well by the stream. There was a storm overhead with monsoon level rains. Two of the sparse trees in the dungeon were struck with lightning and some of the bushes caught fire. In the morning following this, the dungeonbecame aware for the first time and the first thing that the dungeon noticed.
Unnamed Partner not found.
Mana affinity being evaluated. Fire- present. earth- present. air- present. Water- present. darkness- present. lightning present. light- present.
Then a couple of things popped into its head.
Mana affinity has been evaluated. Unnamed has gained the title ¡°Arcanum¡±- having an affinity for multiple types of mana this being could gain new forms of mana, unlike other beings which have a limit this ability can not be shared.
The following creatures have been added to the dungeon¡¯s matrix. Beetle, bird, cat, cave bat, cave eel, cavefish {2 types detected}, cave salamander, cave scorpion, cave spider, cave mouse, centipede, fly, hornet, lizard {3 types detected}, millipede, snake{2 types detected}, plant{4 types detected}, rat, worm.
All creatures in the dungeon will now be inoculated with mana to become dungeon creatures. Process starting¡­
He then thought to himself, "Unnamed what does that mean?". "You don''t have one because of the fact I am also nameless.", an androgynous voice sid back. Startled he thought back, "who are you?". "Why I am your partner and namer, but alas I can only do so after I have been named.".If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. " what''s so special about a name that you require one to name me and why do I need one?"." Why a name gives power to the weak and form to the formless, but it is everything to beings like us who are mana born. That is why I want my name and once you get one then you can start to work on your dungeon.".
Process complete All creatures can become affected naturally or manually with mana. Experiment at own risk.
The following creatures have naturally evolved. lizard(monitor)-1) has evolved into a lower water lizard. 2) has evolved into a lesser land drake. cave scorpion- 1) has evolved into a lesser dark crawler. 2) has evolved into a lesser earthen scourge. cave spider- 1) has evolved into a light stalker. 2) has evolved into a hunter widow. cave salamander- 1)has evolved into a fire salamander. 2) has evolved into a water salamander. cave eel- has evolved into an electric cave eel. cave mouse- has evolved into an earthen digger. worm- has evolved into a tunneler. rat- has evolved into a greater rat. cavefish(both)- 1)has evolved into dark fins. 2) has evolved into a rainbow fish. 3) has evolved into a lesser Aquarius. cat- has evolved into a lesser lightning lynx. (moss)- has evolved into bioluminescent moss.
" Well, it seems I don''t need you to do anything because my dungeon is already populated.", he said to the voice cutting it off."Wait a second how did you already get started, and why do you have so many affinities when you haven''t been named?". "How am I supposed to know you seemed to have all the answers a few seconds ago. And what does a name have to do with affinities?"."Well a name creates a persona and that gives you a personality or soul and affinity in one or multiple types of mana if you are lucky. But most dungeons are formedunderground so they normally have affinities in darkness, earth, fire or water. Rarely do they form above ground and even then they do not get air or lightning or light.". "Okay I understand why you would want a name if it gives you substance, But why do I need one?", He asked while trying to find out the changes to the creatures." Well by this point I don''t think you would need one except for the fact that it would limit your growth." "So I will give you a name but I want to wait for now for my own. It is better to wait now while I have the ability to do things and not limit my growth.". " I wouldn''t want to risk naming you now because it would give you more power then you could handle at the moment." After thinking for a while a name came to him, "Well then I name you Nike.".
Unnamed Partner: Nike- type unlisted.
The first of many lessons "This feels so much better it is like I was in pain and I didn''t even know it.", as Nike was talking, I looked around at the creatures in my area. " Well, let us start with the basics of how to grow your area of control. First, as you have somehow gotten lucky with acquiring a title which affects mana, you should be able to sense your capacity." "Um, and how am I supposed to do that.". After a second, It realized something, " Why can''t I see you, you said a name gives a form to the formless.". After a short pause, "Well, how should I put this, I am different, but I do not know why. It is not something that is bothering me, so why should it bother you." "I don''t understand... But how do I know you are not lying to me". It asked confusingly. As they were talking, a snake started to slither into the stream. Almost as soon as it entered the water, it was attacked by a lizard.
Lower water lizard has killed a water snake. A water snake has been added to the dungeon''s matrix.
" This is good to learn; our creatures will automatically defend our dungeon. If it were something bigger, then you would have something to worry about; however, Now let us focus on the matter at hand; focus in towards yourself." Nike said to distract the core. "Okay." I started focusing on my self and felt the energies within.
Fire mana 16/100
Earth mana 85/100
Air mana 53/100
Water mana 68/100
Dark mana 71/100
Lightning mana 12/100
Light mana 40/100
" What does this all mean?" " The higher the number means the closer to your maximum capacity for that particular element. You accumulate mana passively depending on your environment when you are formed. Afterward, you acquire it through creatures in your domain, producing it, so I would recommend you not use your lightning or fire mana until you have a way to get more. Before you ask you use mana to expand your reach and to create or alter creatures.", Nike quickly explained. "When you say, creatures, what about the ones already inside." It quickly asked? "The creatures inside us produce mana but in smaller quantities than the ones outside us. While we are talking about mana, we use it to create monsters or alter those inside us or to expand our domain in different directions. We do this to protect us while we grow." Nike responded. It decided to think about this as it looked around their domain. while taking a closer look at the creatures, it realized everything that evolved looked like its counterparts that did not change. "Why do the evolved monsters look like their animal counterparts Nike."This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "They do not just change because mana entered them. Mana alters things, whether inanimate or animate, but it takes time. They gained a mana core when you got a notice that they changed, which will slowly shift them into their new forms. As they grow into their evolved state, they will produce more mana. The other option is for you to force mana into them to cause a change, but that is wasteful at the moment, and I would advise against it." " But if they are in their evolved form, they will produce more mana, so why should I not forcefully evolve them?" "They would still produce less mana then animals or plants coming into our domain. If you wait a while, you will see which monsters change faster." "Why can you not just tell me." " You are assuming that I know the answer. I have some information that has to do with ourselves but not the monsters inside us. I can tell you the difference between a rock and a plant or an animal, but that does not mean I know what that water snake was before it came into our domain." Nike ranted, sounding very annoyed. The Core remained silent for a couple of seconds, thinking about its situation, and it was confused because it had all this information pushed into it. Yet, the Core did not understand why it was trusting Nike who appeared after it was born, and it couldn''t shake a feeling that Nike was trustworthy. " Nike, I am sorry if I am annoying you, but there is all this information in my head, and I don''t understand how it connects." " I am sorry for snapping, but you need to learn these things for our benefit. If you don''t have a good understanding of how to use mana, then you could cripple us. However, I understand how you feel there is all this information in my head and the instinct to tell you the information, but it is mixed up like multiple puzzles with missing pieces mixed into each other." " What should I do then?" " Now, if you recall, I asked you to feel for the mana inside of you that mana is used to do everything you plan to do. Whether from creating things from your matrix or making something new or altering your domain and extending it. Your mana pool is limited, which requires to be refilled over time. As we grow, your pool becomes larger naturally. I understand that it does not sound like a lot of information, but there are a lot of nuances to those things. If you have any specific questions, I can try to answer them." " I am going to assume from your answer that I should choose what I want to do but be aware of what I might be doing to my future growth." " Yes that would be correct I guess nothing is stopping you from not listening to me." " I will just play it safe for now; nothing is bothering me at the moment that would make me do anything with my mana."
One week later Throughout the dungeon, some of the animals started changing, becoming more aggressive attacking the other animals for sport rather than for food. The changes were more apparent on the smaller animals as they turned faster into monsters. By the end of the first week, physical changes could be seen on most of those animals. During this period, the core watched with Nike as the dungeon slowly changed with nothing entering its domain for awhile. It finally lost its patience," Nike, how am I supposed to get stuff to come to me." " You are already doing that passively the stream coming out of your cave has mana in it that is better at attracting things than air leaving the dungeon. It is a waiting game when some of your mana tops off we can start playing around with things, but for now, it is only a matter of time before a monster, animal, or plant comes into our domain." " I noticed that the animals became more aggressive and are eating more, but how come they seem to not disappear with how many got eaten." " They are either appearing passively, or they are breeding aggressively. If its the first one, then do not worry. It won''t cost you mana to replace the rats or eels and smaller things, and the lizards are too big for the cat to hunt, so most of your animals are just trying to be the first to evolve without being eaten." " Okay, I understand, but the tediousness of waiting is bothering me." " So tune yourself out, and I will let you know if something is happening that you would like to see."