Valterra’s search for the rats led him to the fourth floor, where he paused. In his rush to fix the flaws of the first three floors, it seemed he had neglected the flaw of the fourth. In some ways, the fourth was his first success. It was more structured than the first three and had its own ecosystem, albeit limited. As he gazed upon the flooded basement, however, Valterra realized that the fourth would have to be reworked eventually, along with the fifth and sixth.

  As it was, the fourth was too big and labyrinthine. Aether reached the farthest reaches of the floor only by virtue of the Deeplight Aether-Grass. The plant was doing the majority of the heavy lifting, with the deeper plants acting as a suction, drawing Aether from the upper waters to the deeper levels. Still, it was inefficient, and while Valterra didn’t feel the need to be hyper-efficient, as long as he was in the remodeling mindset, he might as well fix everything.

  The main basement room was a massive affair, mirroring the kitchen directly above it and extending under the living room. That was where his Aether funnel came in through the ceiling, descended through the water, and then into the ground. It then continued downward in a series of rooms that had served different purposes. Valterra had walled off some of these as they contained the Archmage Calamvor’s books and journals.

  He hadn’t been in the right frame of mind to look at them earlier, and he wasn’t in the right frame of mind now, but he did make a note to read them soon. There was a wealth of information contained within those books, and some of them might include answers to some of his more esoteric questions. As it was, they were safe where they were, and they wouldn’t interfere with any of his plans.

  To start, Valterra completely demolished the stone bridge that the invaders had used to cross his walls. It was an eyesore and highlighted the fourth floor’s flaws. There was no way for terrestrial creatures to enter, or even get close, to the water. This had the obvious detriment, in hindsight, of forcing invaders to devise their own way across. It would be much more beneficial if they believed there was already a way to cross and were lured into a false sense of security.

  Summoning his Authority, Valterra began to fashion stone steps that led down to the water's edge. When they were finished, he had them meet a broad stone shelf, similar to the one he had made for the rats. Next, he fashioned thick stone pillars that rose from the depths in different places before blooming out into circular stone shelves.

  From those shelves, he began to craft the bridges. Some ran right across the water, barely a couple of inches above it, while others were arching affairs that went soaring above the depths before meeting another shelf. While he was at it, he made other shelves at the water's height, and these he fashioned with earth and grass. He would make them into proper little paradises later for the more terrestrial creatures that made it down this far.

  A plop drew his attention to one of the shelves he had just finished making. Hmm, what do we have here?

  Sylcyne Mountain Newt (Rank E - Bronze)

  The Ascended adult form of the Sylcyne Mountain Eft, this amphibian returns to the cold streams and lakes of its childhood. Fully capable of living both in and out of the water, the Sylcyne Mountain Newt is an efficient and capable hunter. Its tongue produces a sticky mucus that allows it to catch prey on land, while the plates in its jaws enable it to hold onto prey while underwater.

  Huh, I didn’t know I had this Framework. That seems to be happening with regularity. I should probably review what happened while I was asleep. I’m sure the System kept track of everything. Still, these guys certainly fit in down here.

  It only took a few moments to summon a small army of the creatures. They were small, and with his title, the Aether cost was minimal. He would have to come back and see what effect the newts would have on the sunken, subterranean ecosystem, but he was sure it would be mostly positive. Having accomplished his mission of fixing the fourth, as temporary as some of those fixes would be, Valterra moved on to the reason he had made his way down to the basement to begin with.

  When he got to their section of the fourth, he was amazed by the primitive society that greeted his gaze. Rats crawled over the ledges he had installed like a colony of his Danian Ants. Getting a good look at them now, he was surprised by their diversity. There were three distinct kinds. There were normal rats, at least in terms of size relative to each other, and then there were two special kinds.

  The first of the special rats were hulking brutes of muscle and flesh. They stood perhaps several inches taller than even the tallest of the regular rats, with one being an especially massive and muscular female. The other kind of special rats were ones with crazy fur and sparking eyes. Literally sparking, as in their eyeballs were giving forth sparks of light like they were containers of power, and it was leaking out of them.

  That’s probably more accurate than I think, Valterra mumbled as he saw one pick up a chunk of Aetheric crystal and send a spark of blue-green lightning arcing into another rat. That was the other thing. They were actively mining for the crystal he had left behind to bolster the room’s Aether supply artificially. It seemed he had created an industry for the large rodents. While at it, he also seemed to have developed a hierarchy of sorts.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  It was clear that the ones with the sparking eyes were in charge, and with the lightning powers at their disposal, he saw no reason why it would be any different. They were followed closely by the giant rats, which occupied the second rung of the pecking order, with the regular rats at the bottom. It was a bit more complex than that for the lower-ranking rats, but that was the main gist of it, and to be honest, Valterra was much more interested in what the System had to say about them.

  Undergoing Assimilation…

  Which was nothing, or rather a very indescriptive System notification. Valterra had no idea what it meant to be undergoing assimilation, but if he had to guess, it probably had something to do with his waiting to claim them until after the battle. It was apparent to him that he had utterly transformed their lives, and he had no idea how much the injection of large amounts of Aether into their room had affected their Frameworks.

  Still, he would use them, and after a moment's search, he found the rat he was looking for. He wasn’t that hard to find. For one thing, he was larger than most of the other magic-using rats, and for another, he was about to engage in a battle for supremacy. A large circle of rats had formed down on the broad shelf by the water. One of the hulking rats crouched at the far end, all fangs, bulging muscles, and savagery.

  The rat he was after crouched at the other end. As Valterra came closer to get a good look, the rat looked up, his eyes wide and gleaming with an insane light. He began squeaking loudly, even as others of his kind brought him a chunk of Aether crystal. Valterra was able to get a good look at him in the meantime, as the horde of rats around the two combatants was whipped up into a frenzy of anticipation.

  The rat was a scarred and twisted thing. A chunk of Aether crystal had lodged itself within him, probably back when he had placed the Aether crystal deposits. He recalled that the result had been rather explosive and that some of the rats had been hit. It seemed as though this rat was one of those. Still, the creature was a strange beast and had obviously been damaged mentally by the experience. It was a wonder of Aether that none of the magic-using rats had died or turned monstrous.

  Valterra mentally kicked himself. He had been careful, but he hadn’t tried claiming the rats back then, so he would have had no way of knowing if they had turned into true monsters until it was too late. As it was, they were obsessed with the Aether crystal, and the leader before him was the most addicted of the lot. That the addiction had more to do with the power the crystals provided rather than the Aether itself was the only thing that kept Valterra from fearing for his dungeon.

  The rat turned to face his opponent, placing his hand upon the chunk of crystal, and Valterra watched as his veins lit up in green-blue hues. The glow spread from the crystal chunk in the rat’s side before eventually reaching the beast’s right eye. The eye itself was filmy, almost like a crystal itself, before the glow hit it and transformed the organ into a blazing orb of turquoise fire. With a mad cackle, the rat beckoned to his opponent. There was a mocking tint to that motion, something his opponent picked up on.

  The massive rat howled in rage before charging like a rampaging bull. Unlike the twisted leader, this rat was almost poetry in motion—a large male rat in his prime, with thick muscles and a healthy coat of fur. The leader was still cackling as he rose to his back feet, raising his hands in the air as if he was praising the sky. Valterra actually felt something faint on his divine senses as lightning exploded from the rat in a wave.

  The big rat collided with the wave and bulled straight through it. It was impressive to watch. As if incensed by his appreciation of his opponent, the mage rat finally moved. With the chunk of crystal held under one arm, the rat blitzed forward into his own lightning. A glance was all it took to see his strategy. The lightning had effectively blinded the other rat, who was still charging at where the leader had been, believing him to be there still.

  He was still charging wildly when the leader, with right eye blazing and lightning coiling all along his right arm, appeared to the large rat’s left. The arm came forward, and a thick coil of energy wrapped itself around the giant beast’s neck. There was a flash, a scream of pain, and then nothing. When the dust cleared, Valterra was surprised to find the larger rat still alive. The twisted one was squeaking softly, and from their body language, it was clear what the message was. Submit and live or resist and die.

  With a gurgling squeak, the big one gave his answer, submission evident in his posture. The coil of lightning disappeared, but the twisted leader of the rats didn’t let the other rat out of his sight until it had limped out of the circle. Only then did he turn to the rest of them to scream his victory to the basement ceiling. The other rats howled their response, and Valterra let himself feel impressed. It was a bold move to allow the challenger to live, and he wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to make the same choice.

  If Cormac Torgir were here, he wasn’t sure he would be able to spare his life. Then again, he had claimed the Fallen instead of killing them, so perhaps he wasn’t as far from the rat as he thought. Still, questions of morality aside, there was a reason he was here. Valterra let his awareness wash over the rodent, and it stiffened in response.

  Like Geckodo, this rat seemed to sense when Valterra was looking at him, although the small rodent didn’t have the same level of awareness. As Valterra attempted to communicate, he found that the sparky-eyed creature responded to feelings, intentions, and images more than direct words. Even when he did use words, the rat was able to discern the intent of his message, even if he couldn’t understand the words themselves.

  Focusing on all he had learned, Valterra sent images of a lush garden full of the bounties of nature. He communicated his desire to have it and his desire for the rats to claim it for him. He also communicated the fact that there would be danger everywhere once they left the confines of his main dungeon.

  The rat, if anything, perked up at the idea of doing something meaningful for the dungeon. For him. Valterra found the trait endearing. Perhaps these rats were just larger mice. Regardless, he left the rat leader with instructions on how to stumble onto The Garden and left him to gather his troops. As a preemptive award, he summoned a tiny wooden replica of something his creator had memories of.

  It was a wagon, and it could roll along the ground or be pulled by hand if small enough. Once he got the size right, he summoned a few of them and let the rat know that they were for the expedition. The rat was ecstatic and immediately got some of the rats to begin bringing Crystallized Aether over to fill them. Valterra felt his Core gleam with satisfaction. He would lay claim to two places of power, and soon their Frameworks would be his.