[Passive Activated: Verdant Perception – Lesser]
[Dungeon Network Connection: Weakly Linked]
The dungeon whispered.
At first, I thought it was just static mana noise—background hums like white noise from a moss-covered speaker. But now... I could almost make out words. Not in any language I knew, but in intent. Emotion. Warnings, maybe. Echoes of things that had died here.
Or things still watching.
It didn't scare me.
If anything, it made my vines itch with anticipation.
The further I spread through the tunnels, the more I felt like I wasn't just moving—I was invading. Other creatures sensed me now. Lesser slimes slithered away from my spores. Fungal toads croaked and hid behind walls of toxic bloom.
Good.
Let them run.
I was becoming something else. Something stronger. And the System agreed.
[System Notice: Evolution Available at 100% Progress. Current Progress: 68%]
I needed more.
More prey. More power. More devouring.
I found a nest next. A pit within a pit, layered in woven bone-vines and stretched insect husks. Something had built this—and recently. My Root Sense tingled with faint warmth. Mana residue still clung to the area.
Then the scent hit me. Not with a nose—I didn't have one—but a pressure, a taste in my photosynthetic core.
Magic. Fresh. Pungent.
Whatever lived here had just left. And judging by the mana residue...
[Analysis: Residual Core Signature Detected – Likely C-Class or Above]
'Okay. Let's not be stupid.'
I coiled my vines inward, made myself small, and began absorbing the residue instead.
[Mana Absorbed: +8]
[Skill Fragment Detected: Spatial Threading – Fragment Unstable. Storing for Evolution Catalyst Use.]
A Spatial skill fragment? That thing was dangerous. And now, its leftovers were mine.
'Yesss. Gimme more of that.'
[Title Bonus Activated: Predator of the Rotting Deep]
[Stat Growth Increased from Recent Prey]
I returned to hunting. I no longer needed to blindly wander. My network was growing—thin, fine roots that could slither through cracks like silent tendrils of death. Each new vine was an extension of myself. Each root another eye in the dark.
I consumed a cluster of acid mites. Gained another layer of resistance.
I ambushed a toxic spine-beetle. Gained Spiked Carapace (Lesser).
I swallowed a mana-leech mid-feed. My core pulsed from the high-density mana—and for a moment, I saw a vision.
A brief flash.
A humanoid shape. Tall. Glowing.
Standing in a ruined stone chamber, speaking words I couldn't understand.
[Memory Echo Consumed – Incomplete. Data Corrupted.]
[New Trait Forming: Echo Memory Interface – 3% Stabilized.]
My roots froze.
'Did I just see a person?'
But the vision vanished as fast as it came.
I couldn't shake it. The sense that something deeper—older—was buried beneath this dungeon. And I was getting closer.
[Evolution Progress: 93%]
[Warning: System Instability Detected. Gluttony-Type Systems may trigger Mutated Evolution paths.]
Oh?
Now that sounded exciting.
[Would you like to begin Evolution when ready? Y/N]
Not yet.
Not quite yet.
Just a little more. One more good meal. One more surprise.
And then...
Let the world meet what I become.