The last of my Storm Essence rocketed through my dungeon, making the black walls tremble with anticipation before it lanced into the soul forge. The divine sigils lit up a bright, brilliant blue, and I watched in astonishment as the forge instantly consumed the tiny effigy that Alaxon had left behind, sending the organic blueprint of the tiny creatures straight to my consciousness.
Zagorath gained spawnable minions!
Storm Sprite
Core: Storm
Rarity: Common
Essence Cost per minion: 25 (Storm)
I summoned a single Storm Sprite and studied the creature as it floated above my soul forge, glowing blue. It was a tiny, almost insect-like pixie-creature, probably no bigger than Von Dominus’s thumb. Tiny wings like a dragonfly kept it in the air, and a crackling reserve of Storm Essence hummed inside its body, ready to be unleashed through eight pairs of little legs. My guess? They latched onto adventurers, electrifying them.
I poured the rest of the Storm Essence into the forge, spawning seven more sprites. Five went to the antechamber, zipping into the vents, and I left the last three of them in the Pretzel, tucked up in the curving passages by the side-altars.
“Wow. That actually worked,” Abby muttered in disbelief.
“Couldn’t have done it without you,” I told her, shaking my mental head in disbelief. “This is incredible. The next pack of adventurers won’t know what hit them.”
Abby’s consciousness pulsed with happiness, her jewel flickering a bright azure. “I suppose you’ll be spending your Soul Essence now.”
My entire reserve of Soul Essence was swirling, shining gold, brimming with power, and it needed channeling.
“I wish I knew where to—” My jewel brightened. “You know what I can use Soul Essence for, don’t you?”
“I do. You can evolve your champions.”
“I was wondering when I’d get the chance to do that.”
“I’ve never seen an evolution,” Abby said. “I’m excited to watch.”
“Not as excited as I am to do it. But there’s one other question I have—what did you use your Soul Essence for?” I asked.
“I extended my avatar’s timer.”
“How long do you have?”
“Twenty hours,” Abby replied smugly. “It was the only thing I ever used Soul Essence for.”
“Like I said earlier, I charged a high price to enter my depths. Not all dungeons are ruthless murderers. We evolve and adapt, but we always profit. That is the way of a dungeon. You’ll learn in time, young one.” Her jewel strobed playfully at the name she’d given me.
We’d slept together once, and now she was more than happy to tease me. I couldn’t help but feel a glow of appreciation for her. She was comfortable here, with me, in Zagorath. And, if our earlier conversation was any indication, she trusted me.
I wouldn’t let her down. Or my champions.
It was time to evolve them.
Soul Essence spiraled through my edges, ready to be released into something new. Using old gaming terminology, it would’ve been the closest thing to experience points I’d seen up until now. Recalling my champions and their evolution paths, I reached out with my mind and found Puck. He was sweeping in and around the shining claws of the soul forge, his whole body flooding with seemingly limitless energy. I touched his mind, and he answered immediately.
“What does the master desire?”
“You’ve served me well, Puck, and our spoils have given me the power to transform you into something better, stronger, and far more potent.” I thought about my choices. “Lilith has decided to gift you with a choice of two transformations, in order to better serve Zagorath. You can become a Lava Imp, or a Shade.”
Puck halted, his mind unusually thoughtful as he perched on an outstretched thorn of the soul forge. “What does the Master desire?”
Zagorath wasn’t designed to deal with lava, not yet. I’d need time and careful consideration before I started hurling any kind of molten rock over my floors and walls, even if it was more offensively viable.
“Will the Shade still be able to use shadow-spheres?” I assumed the imp would know about his evolved form but he might have known as little as me.
“Yes, Master. There was a Shade who lived among my tribe a few centuries ago, and it was said that his shadow-spheres were the largest and most powerful ever seen.”
“That pleases me,” I said.
Puck’s shadow-spheres were one of the dungeon’s greatest offensive weapons, spreading over wounded adventurer and turning even a minor scratch into a hellishly painful experience. Again and again, Puck had proven that he worked better as a mobile shock-trooper.
“What else do you know of the Shade?” I asked the imp.
“It is a master of the shadows. I’m afraid I know little else.”
“You’ve told me more than enough to make a decision. Your speed, stealth, and Infernal magic have served me well. If I can increase their potency, your ability to serve Zagorath by slaying those who invade us will increase tenfold. The shadows suit you best, Puck, as they did when we first met.”
I felt his whole mind flush with pride. “It will be my honor, Master.”
I gathered the Soul Essence and opened the floodgates, blasting him with the shimmering golden lifeforce. The moment it touched him, it twisted and morphed his form. Instinct—or, perhaps, the invisible, clawed hand of Lilith herself—shifted the path of the essence. Under the new influx of shimmering power, Puck began to change. His short, squat body lengthened, flesh and bones curling to accommodate the transformation. My champion’s black-grey skin deeped, until he was almost the shade of the soul forge itself.
Bone-white claws lengthened, and I watched in fascination as his wings expanded outwards, becoming almost the same size as his body. They curled behind him, razor-sharp blades of bone jutting from the skeletal fingers wrapped in leathery flesh. His arms and legs extended, too. His face became less pig-like, and took on an almost human visage while his blood-red eyes flashed with
