The Ancient One's attention found Liam before he reached the Chamber of Echoes.
It was like being touched by a spotlight made of pure awarenessâa vast consciousness focusing on him as he moved through the fourth floor's corridors. The sensation was less overwhelming than during the Gathering; either the Ancient One was moderating his presence, or Liam's evolution to B-Rank had made him more resilient to psychic pressure.
*"You succeeded."*
The voice echoed through Liam's consciousness, intimate despite its power.
*Yes.*
*"The Ironhide Basilisk was a creature of stagnation. Three centuries of taking without giving. Its death returns mana to the system that it had hoarded for too long."* A pause, something that felt almost like approval. *"You have done the dungeon a service, reincarnated one."*
*I was promised access to the mana springs.*
*"And you shall have it. The spring in the basilisk's former territory is now yours. But there are othersâdeeper springs, more potentâthat I will also make available. They will accelerate your evolution considerably."*
*Why are you helping me?* Liam asked. The question had been building since the Gathering. *I'm one creature among thousands in this dungeon. Even as B-Rank, I'm far from the most powerful. Why invest in me specifically?*
The Ancient One was quiet for a long momentâthe kind of silence that stretched, that carried weight, that made Liam wonder if he'd crossed a line by questioning his benefactor.
*"You are connected to Marcus Thorne,"* the Ancient One said finally. *"The hero who threatens this dungeon. You understand him in ways that no other monster can. That understanding is worth more than any amount of raw power."*
*You want me to fight him. To use what I know.*
*"I want you to prepare. To grow. To become something that can stand before humanity's champion and make him hesitate."* Another pause. *"Whether you fight him, flee from him, or find some other pathâthat will be your choice when the time comes. But you must be strong enough for the choice to matter."*
It was a reasonable answer, but Liam sensed there was more beneath it. The Ancient One was millennia old, a being of vast intelligence and complex motivations. His generosity wasn't purely altruistic.
But for now, the help was welcome. Liam could analyze motivations later, when he wasn't racing against a four-month deadline.
*Show me the springs.*
---
The mana springs were scattered throughout the dungeon's lower floorsânatural upwellings where the energy from the dungeon core broke through the stone and pooled in accessible basins. Each spring had different properties: some enhanced physical growth, others boosted mana capacity, still others accelerated regeneration or skill development.
The Ancient One opened seven springs to Liam's access, mapping their locations through a mental transmission that integrated directly into Liam's spatial awareness. The closest was the one in the basilisk's territory, which Liam already controlled. The others were deeperâfloors five through sevenâin areas that would have been suicide to approach without the Ancient One's protection.
*"My influence will shield you in these locations,"* the Ancient One explained. *"The territorial creatures there will not attack as long as you remain near the springs. But stray too far, and my protection ends."*
*Understood.*
Liam began with the basilisk's spring, spending the first three days after his evolution simply soaking in its energy. The spring's mana was rich, dense, saturated with the mineral essence of the deep rock. It flowed into his chimera core and was converted directly into evolution points.
**[MANA SPRING ABSORPTION: +75 EP/HOUR]**
**[EVOLUTION POINTS: 127/15,000... 202/15,000... 277/15,000...]**
Seventy-five points per hour. That was eighteen hundred points per dayâmore than a week of intensive hunting. At this rate, he could reach the next evolution threshold in about eight days.
But passive absorption wasn't the only path. The spring's energy also enhanced his hunting capabilities, making him faster, stronger, more efficient in consuming prey. The fourth floor had lost its apex predator; its ecosystem was destabilizing, creating opportunities.
*We hunt during the days*, Liam told Shade. *We absorb at the springs during the nights. Maximize both vectors.*
*You are becoming very systematic about this*, Shade observed, his bond-presence carrying a note of amusement. *Very... human.*
*Efficiency is survival. And I have four months to become strong enough to face an S-Rank hero.*
*Three months and three weeks now.*
*Then we'd better not waste time.*
---
The weeks that followed were the most intense of Liam's monster existence.
Each day began at the mana spring, absorbing energy until his body was saturated. Then he and Shade would huntâranging through the fourth floor's territories, targeting creatures that the basilisk's death had left vulnerable. The dungeon's ecology was in flux; predators that had avoided the Ironhide's domain were now expanding, creating conflicts that produced easy prey.
**[EVOLUTION POINTS: 3,456/15,000]**
A pack of Mana Wolves, weakened from a territorial fight, fell to their combined assault. Shade engaged the alpha while Liam consumed the subordinates one by one, his chimera form manifesting basilisk characteristics to intimidate the survivors into scattering.
**[EVOLUTION POINTS: 4,821/15,000]**
A Greater Cave DrakeâC-Rank, level 52âmade the mistake of nesting too close to the mana spring. Liam used Trap Mastery to create a killing zone, then lured the drake into it with bait made from his own detached gel. The creature died before it understood the danger.
**[EVOLUTION POINTS: 5,967/15,000]**
After two weeks, Liam descended to the fifth floor for the first time.
The fifth floor was different from the constructed architecture of the fourth. It was a vast underground forestânot trees in the surface sense, but colossal fungi, some reaching heights of a hundred meters, their bioluminescent caps casting the entire floor in soft purple light. The ground was covered in moss that absorbed sound, making the floor eerily silent despite its teeming population.
The monsters here were stronger. B-Rank was common; A-Rank specimens lurked in the deepest parts of the fungal forest. The Ancient One's springs on this floor were in protected groves, surrounded by barriers of concentrated mana that the territorial creatures couldn't breach.
Liam approached the first spring with caution, Shade scouting ahead in shadow form.
*The grove is clear*, Shade reported. *But there are creatures watching from the treeline. Large ones. They sense us.*
*Let them watch. As long as they don't attack.*
He entered the grove. The mana here was differentâorganic, life-saturated, carrying the essence of the fungal forest rather than the mineral depths. When he began to absorb, the energy flowed into him with a character distinct from the basilisk spring.
**[MANA SPRING ABSORPTION: +95 EP/HOUR]**
**[EVOLUTION POINTS: 5,967/15,000... 6,062/15,000...]**
Faster. The fifth-floor springs were more potent, the deeper dungeon providing richer energy. At this rate, evolution would come even sooner.
But the fifth floor also provided hunting opportunities beyond the fourth.
*There*, Shade indicated through the bond, directing Liam's attention to a creature moving through the fungal forestâa massive beetle, but unlike the Crystal Golems of the third floor. This one was coated in fungal growth, its shell serving as a substrate for parasitic mushrooms that seemed to guide its movements.
**[PREY ANALYSIS: FUNGAL SOVEREIGN (B-RANK)]**
**[LEVEL: 68 | EP VALUE: 680]**
**[THREAT: VERY HIGH]**
**[ABILITIES: SPORE CLOUD (CONFUSION), FUNGAL INTEGRATION (REGENERATION), HIVE LINK (COORDINATED WITH LESSER FUNGI)]**
**[WEAKNESSES: FIRE DAMAGE DESTROYS FUNGAL COMPONENTS. CORE IS LOCATED IN THORAX. HIVE LINK CAN BE DISRUPTED BY KILLING CONNECTED FUNGI FIRST.]**
Six hundred and eighty points. Nearly half what the basilisk had been worth, and the creature wasn't actively hunting Liamâit was grazing, feeding on the giant mushrooms with placid indifference to the predators that shared its floor.
*Can we take it?*
Shade studied the Fungal Sovereign with predatory calculation. *It has regeneration through its fungal components. You would need to destroy those before attacking the core. Fire would work, but you cannot produce fire.*
*No, but I have Thermal Sense and Ironhide Scales. I can withstand heat that would kill most creatures.* Liam's consciousness churned with tactical possibilities. *If we can lure it somewhere with existing fireâa thermal vent, a magma flow...*
*There are vents near the fifth floor's floor boss chamber. But that territory is dangerous beyond measurement.*
*We don't need to enter the territory. Just get close enough to push the Sovereign into the vent zone.*
The plan took two days to set up. Liam laid traps throughout the forest, creating a funnel that would guide the Sovereign's movement toward the thermal vents. Shade tracked the creature's grazing patterns, predicting where it would be and when.
When the moment came, they struck simultaneously.
Shade appeared in the Sovereign's path, snarling, forcing it to turn. Liam attacked from behind, his gel body searing with Petrification Touch, slowing the creature's rear legs. The Sovereign tried to release its spore cloud, but Liam had no lungs to affectâthe confusion gas passed through his gel harmlessly.
Panicked, the creature fled in the only direction that seemed clearâstraight into Liam's trap funnel.
The chase took twenty minutes. The Sovereign crashed through fungal growth, tried to summon lesser fungi to its defense, attempted to turn and fight. Each time, Liam and Shade cut off its alternatives, herding it forward, driving it toward the thermal vents.
When the Sovereign reached the vent zone, it slowed. The heat was intenseâdeadly to fungal life. The parasitic mushrooms on its shell began to wither, their guidance faltering.
Liam struck.
He surged forward, his chimera form manifesting Ironhide Scales to protect against the thermal damage. His gel body engulfed the Sovereign's rear half, Absorb activating before the creature could react. The dying fungi offered no defense; the beetle's core, exposed by the heat-killed parasites, was vulnerable.
The Sovereign screamedâa chittering sound that echoed through the silent forestâand then went limp.
**[FUNGAL SOVEREIGN ABSORBED]**
**[EVOLUTION POINTS: +680]**
**[CURRENT POINTS: 8,243/15,000]**
**[NEW ABILITY AVAILABLE: SPORE PRODUCTION (B-RANK)]**
**[DESCRIPTION: GENERATE SPORE CLOUDS WITH VARIOUS EFFECTSâCONFUSION, SEDATION, HALLUCINATION. EFFECTS REQUIRE INHALATION BY TARGETS WITH RESPIRATORY SYSTEMS.]**
A non-lethal weapon. Useful for subduing prey without killing, or for crowd control against human adventurers. Liam accepted the ability and felt the knowledge integrate into his chimera core.
*Well done*, Shade communicated, his bond-presence warm with shared satisfaction. *That was a clean kill.*
*Getting cleaner every time.* Liam surveyed the fungal forest, his enhanced senses mapping the territory. *We're at eight thousand. Seven thousand more to evolution.*
*And then?*
*Then Marcus.*
Seven thousand more points to get there.
