POV Danian Guardian

  The Danian Queen felt the gaze of her Master and looked around her in pride. They had lost many of their number, but they had fought hard and succeeded in defeating the invaders. Their success was shown in the Aether shining from their bodies. As queen, she could feel it roaring through the collected members of her race. She knew that they were different, formed for greatness by her Master’s very instincts.

  For so long, she had been irritated by the rate at which the other creatures in her Master’s domain Ascended into greater forms. Finally, it was her colony’s turn. She felt her Master hover over them, and excitement coursed through her at the possibilities that might be presented to him. Then she felt his confusion, and she felt despair. Were their options not good enough? Had they not done enough? She relaxed as a feeling of calm came flooding through the bond she shared with the Master. He would figure it out. All would be well. She shuddered as the Master felt around her simple mind for her desires and those of her people.

  When he pulled out, there was a lingering determination left behind. She felt him shaping Aether and some other nameless substance. Something divine. She could feel it, and it changed everything. She had felt the pulse of divinity inherent in his aura before, but she hadn’t realized that her Master could manipulate its very substance. He was a god. Of course, it made sense now. Her Master’s greatness far exceeded her previous expectations.

  She settled back to wait for her Ascension to begin, content in the knowledge that her Master would know exactly what to do to make her people into a powerful force within his mighty Dungeon. All she had to do was trust him.

  POV Valterra Unok’Davaas

  Valterra had no idea what to do. The last time his ants had Ascended, his uncle Qual’Dorn had provided the next stage in line. His thoughts returned to that time, and he realized he already had his answer. I needed him to create it since I didn’t have a Divine Spark yet! That means I should be able to create one myself, as I did with my mantis. Even as he came to that conclusion, the System pinged to confirm it.

  Your “Empowered Danian Ant” is ready to Ascend!

  Please choose from among the following stages:

  Error! The Ascending creature is a unique existence and has no available stages. The dungeon core, Valterra Unok’Davaas, is the Framework's creator and may mold it to his liking. Please utilize accumulated Aether and Divine Potential to design the next stage.

  Error! Due to the Core’s reaction to the lack of Danian Ant Frameworks, the System will now engage the Helpdesk in formatting new Paths of Ascension for Unique creations. Only one path may be created for each Ascending creature. Any Paths of Ascension created will be added to the overall Tree of Ascension for that Unique creation. The Core may choose to use an existing Framework or create a new one for future Ascensions for this particular Framework.

  “Hey there, nephew. I figured this would happen eventually, so I've included this option for you. You have reached the point where you are actively manipulating your creature’s paths, at least the ones that don’t have much divine influence. Normally, a Dungeon would have to be much older to have one Unique creature, much less the number you have, but that is as much our fault as yours. That said, you should have some decent choices within this creature’s Pool of Ascension to get your creature to the next Rank. I can’t wait to see what you do with it.”

  - Krat’Imos

  Good ole Uncle Kratty! Apparently, his uncles and aunts had considered his difficulties and implemented a way for him to achieve results himself. He cast his senses into his Core and found a strobing golden light where his Spark connected to the System. As soon as his attention lingered for more than a few seconds, the light expanded, and he found himself in a small chamber.

  It was slightly disorienting, but his connection to his Dungeon remained steady, and the whole chamber seemed more like an illusion than anything else. Hovering in the center of the room was an image of a Danian. An Empowered Danian, he corrected himself upon noticing the little gemstone within its body.

  He was drawn instinctively to the large mass of swirling energy within that small gemstone, and as his awareness touched upon it, it expanded until it filled the whole room. Immediately, he was struck by a dozen different impressions, each stemming from a different part of the insect. There were its legs, its antennae, its thorax, and so on.

  Instinct once again guided him as he flooded different sections of the Danian with energy, watching them swell in size and strength. He then withdrew the energy and found that it simply returned to swirling around within the space, undiminished by his experiments. Valterra hummed to himself as he wondered how to manipulate the energy further.

  A glimmer in the energy caught his eye, and he flexed his will to bring the shining mote into stark relief. As he did, he realized that the energy had two parts. One was a substance he knew intimately. Aether formed the majority of the energy that he was beginning to realize was the Pool of Ascension that Krat’Imos had discussed in his System message. The last and smallest part of the energy spoke to his Spark in a way that the Aether didn’t.

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  It took him a moment to piece it together, but he realized it was Divine Potential, hiding latent within the Cores of his ants. Interesting. That changed some things for him. Valterra took a step back and thought about what he wanted his ants to be. He considered that massive, monstrous ant races existed in other Dungeons. Still, he did not wish to make his Danians huge, just more intelligent, and capable of greater agency within his Dungeon.

  So, with the Helpdesk before him, he dived into his ant’s Pool of Ascension to make it happen.

  He started by making them a tad larger and bulkier. While he didn’t want them to be massive, they had struggled with conflicts before, and he wanted them to be able to deal with at least these invaders they had been facing. They ended up around four to five inches tall when he was done, and he locked it in.

  Next, he focused on enhancing their overall intelligence, maximizing it as much as possible within the available energy. It took much more than he expected, but he continued until the Pool of Ascension contained a mere 10% of what it had held before he started. He spent the remaining amount on increasing the size of their Aether Cores and conduits.

  Only after the base model was determined did he begin expanding the number of options for each layer of the Framework. This was much easier as it mostly cost Potential rather than Aether, and what Aether he needed, he was able to rearrange from what he had already spent. When he was finished, the System itself acknowledged his work.

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

  High Danian Ant (Unique, Rank D - Iron)

  A unique creation of the Dungeon Core Valterra Unok’Davaas, High Danian Ants are the Ascended form of Danians with increased layers to their Framework that have never been seen in an ant species of their size. Larger and more intelligent than their lesser counterparts, these insects are prepared to serve their master and god in any way they can.

  Note: This is a multilayered Framework consisting of separate, internal Paths of Ascension. Those Paths are Queen, Worker, and Noble. These are additionally split in the following ways:

  Queens: Empress, Battle-Monarch, Broodmother

  Worker: Builder, Soldier, Caregiver

  Noble: Magus, Shaper, Champion

  These Paths may be summoned as separate Dungeon Monsters, but be warned. Ants made in such a way will see themselves as belonging to another colony and will fight to the death.

  As the Dungeon that created this creature as a Dungeon Monster, you will be able to create and modify its Paths of Ascension freely.

  Warning! May have unforeseen consequences.

  Would you like to confirm this Path of Ascension?

  Cost -> 500 Divine Potential

  Yes/No

  Well, that’s a nice surprise! Because of the way a multilayered Framework was set up, he could design a Rank D path for the entire colony for the same price as a path for a single monster.

  Valterra understood the premise, and his recent work with his mantis helped him understand why it worked. He thought the energy had dissipated rather rapidly for how much there was. The entirety of their Pool of Ascension had to be spread out among each member of the Framework. That meant that each option he prepared within the Framework had to be balanced to prevent collapse.

  Valterra mentally assented to the Ascension and watched as the light settled over their bodies. He was pleased with his creations and the different layers they had access to. He had used up most of his stash of potential, but it was worth it. He had one more blessing to hand out, which would take up the remaining 500. That didn’t bother him in the slightest. It was too soon to tell, but he thought he could feel his Divinity producing more Potential naturally, and if his creatures also produced their own small amount, then he would have more to spend in time.

  He returned to his High Danian Ant design and poked over the different layers. The stages for the queen were what he was most excited about. Each one would provide so many benefits to his creations. Empress ants could command lesser Danian Queens and add them to their colony as sub-queens. He got that idea from the Pack-Lord Mantis Ascension. This way, the better version wouldn’t make the lower-Ranked Frameworks obsolete.

  The Battle-Monarch had significantly increased physical and Aetheric capabilities, but with a drastically reduced brood count to compensate. The Broodmother was the opposite. Increased brood laying across the board, and the brood laid by a Broodmother would have increased capabilities. However, it could not move well and would be a soft target for any further invasions.

  The worker Ascensions were simple as they were the backbone of the colony, but not the key players. Builders were like enhanced workers, but more geared towards building things. Soldiers were larger workers with increased physical capabilities who could better protect the colony and its Core. The Caregivers were workers specially bred to care for the larger broods that the High Danian Queens would produce. With their help, the broods would be raised quicker and stronger than normal.

  The nobles were his favorite. He would finally have true magic in his Dungeon. The Magus were more intelligent than their counterparts, with diminished physical capabilities. Still, he had given them a small hint of his ability to see Aether and sense its movement. It was all he could give them, but he felt it was worth it. They could study it further and make some discoveries of their own.

  Shapers were direct wielders of Aether, and each had an affinity for fire, earth, water, and air. He had been able to study those affinities significantly while the invaders had been fighting, and was determined to have an answer if they ever came back. Champions were the last stage, and he was excited to see what they could do. They had minimal aetheric powers but were physically superior to their brethren in every way.

  Valttera hummed to himself, pleased. He had a few more Ascensions to care for and a loyal follower to bless. Then, he could finally get back to putting his Dungeon back together and seeing what else the System had for him.