Azotreh awoke in a soft bed. They reached their arm upward and stared at their fingers. The ceiling was different again. They felt they'd changed again. That their power had increased by a vast amount, and yet their body ached. At least they weren't in pain.
Nicholas was missing again, likely returned to their dungeon. Instead, the cold voice of Fuzem was the only other presence resting in their body. She didn't speak, but didn't need to. Azotreh knew that she was deeply upset, though they couldn't tell why.
Fuzem reached back into their Records of Existence and pulled free the system notifications. Azotreh didn't know why they suddenly knew they only could through Records of Existence, but the sudden awareness was odd. Something so automatic, suddenly given awareness, like manually breathing, felt awkward.
[You have made a deal with a clan of Nightshade.]
[Your name has changed: Azotreh becomes Azotreh Nightshade.]
[Due to your existence as a dungeon, you are considered an organization in pact-design.]
[Terms established:
Azotreh Nightshade's prime avatar will be officially adopted by the Emerald Rabbit-kin clan of the Nightshade Forest.
Azotreh Nightshade's prime avatar will be protected by the Emerald Rabbit-kin clan of the Nightshade Forest.
The Emerald Rabbit-kin clan of the Nightshade Forest will have exclusive access to Azotreh Nightshade.
Azotreh Nightshade will contribute to the protection of the Emerald Rabbit-kin clan of the Nightshade Forest.]
[You have been taught Ilmabi and Aemabi to the journeyman level.]
[For being adopted by the Emerald Rabbit-k– ERROR: Orphan title not found.]
[Examining records…]
[Granted title: Orphan for parental death.]
[Granted title: Adopted for being adopted.]
[For getting ten languages to the journeyman level, you have gained title: Journeyman Linguist I.]
[For forging a system-recognized alliance, you have gained title: Art of the Deal.]
[The Overlord of Gluttony has given you a new task: collect 5 monster blueprints for your dungeon (0/5).]
Azotreh checked over it briefly before double-checking. They didn't remember this deal, or any deal at all, for that matter. What was all this? Deals and protection?
Fuzem's voice emerged in their head, as if she were underwater. Azotreh's head swam a bit at the sound from within, but managed to focus enough to listen.
Nicholas made the deal with a powerful being called the Lord Rabbit. For your safety, mostly. He doesn't want to learn what happens when a prime avatar dies.
Azotreh groaned. They knew it was for them, that it was likely the best outcome for everything happening, but still. The idea of someone else using their body to make deals was not frightening, just deeply disturbing to Azotreh. They assumed that eventually someone would take control of their body for some reason, considering the three others taking residence in their soul. But it was still a hard pill to swallow.
Azotreh spent a moment simply staring at the ceiling, taking long, deep breaths. Everything that had happened over less than a week, and now this? They knew it would turn out okay in the long run. That maybe all the massive gains they were making would let them survive later. But they remembered the stories of heroes and demons. Of powerful emerald rankers in battle, how it took them a century to reach that stage. Was there maybe a reason it took most so long?
Their musings, far stranger coming from the mind of a child than they would be from someone else, were interrupted by the door opening.
A towering rabbit-kin entered, and the ears atop her head twitched when she saw Azotreh awake. She spoke in Ilmabi, only part of which Azotreh could understand. It was far more than the single word they knew before, but the master level was fluency. They were still far from that point, even if the journey was rapidly sped up.
Even so, Azotreh got the general meaning that she was happy they were awake. As he finally parsed it, she approached the bed and leaned down. She pulled Azotreh into a tight hug, something that likely would have crushed bones if they had any.
Azotreh instinctively relaxed a little at the hug. Even if it would have killed someone weaker, they weren't weak anymore. It was clear the woman wasn't trying to hurt, but instead simply showing affection.
The woman was powerfully built, specifically around the legs. Her thighs and shins were more muscular than any other part of her, substantially so. It made sense to Azotreh. They'd only met one other rabbit-kin, the one named Viket that could speak Scinparic. That one also had strangely muscular legs compared to his upper body.
The woman finally let them go, and they landed on their feet. They didn't put their guard up immediately, but remained tense. He wasn't sure this affection was genuine.
She noticed and reached down to pat their head. There was a strange sensation as her thumb brushed the soft fur of their ear.
Before, the rabbit-like ears had some nerves, but had nowhere near the control or response Azotreh was feeling now. It couldn't be attributed to their higher Reaction or Perception potens. Before they could fall into contemplation again, Fuzem spoke up.
Lord Rabbit altered our body. Made it more like a regular rabbit-kin. The rabbit ears are now our only pair, containing all the nerves our former ones had. They also match our hair, like our tail.
Tail? Azotreh tensed their legs, and sure enough, something responded at the end of their tailbone. They had a cotton tail. They turned to look at it, getting a laugh from the woman in front of them. They subconsciously used the properties of their amorphous body to turn their head further than any head should be turned, yet she only laughed.
Dread that she knew what they were filled Azotreh. How many people knew? Would one of them find a human party in search of them, like the four that trapped them under the tribulation? Once again, Fuzem had an answer.
She knows, Viket knows, Chief Asergia knows, and Lord Rabbit knows. Only the four of them, no one else. Everyone else in the village just thinks you're a secret child of Lord Rabbit or something. He's apparently known for siring offspring and forcing them on the three clans.
And how do you know that? Azotreh asked mentally.
Fuzem simply shrugged mentally and replied, Chief Asergia told Nicholas while they were making the contract. In fact, the woman in front of you is a direct descendant of the Lord Rabbit.
The woman in question snapped her fingers to get Azotreh's attention before pointing at herself.
She said something, and Azotreh spent a long moment parsing the vocabulary to determine her meaning. Only one word didn't make sense with their, admittedly small, knowledge of Aemabi's vocab. But it wasn't hard to figure out what she meant once Azotreh translated the rest.
"My name is Atu, like the berry. Nice to meet you, Azotreh."
She held out a hand, and Azotreh cautiously shook it before she pulled them into a tight hug. Her form belied powerful muscles, and while Azotreh was tense for a long moment, when she did nothing but continue to hug, they gradually relaxed.
She eventually let go but looked at Azotreh with a tenderness they never expected.
It made Azotreh a little tense. They remembered very little of their childhood before the facility, but they still remembered the kind smiles of their parents, and this one looked awfully like those smiles.
The smile was warm and friendly, holding nothing back, but it put Azotreh on edge. They could instinctively sense, even from the distance that seemed to stretch between them, that not only did it make Fuzem nervous, but did much the same to Nicholas. Errazorrus seemed ineffable as ever.
Atu's smile faltered as Azotreh tensed.
"Is something wrong?" She asked. Azotreh didn't respond, just looking nervous.
Atu didn't know what Azotreh had been through, even though the chief had told her that the man he spoke to described some past events no child should experience. Within the span of a couple of weeks, no less.
She didn't need details; there would be time for that later. For now, she just knew that she would need a lot more work to understand and help this child.
Near the western coastline of the central continent, an underground lagoon was suddenly disturbed by the movement of something peculiar far above.
A long neck arose from the water, shining with green scales dripping with seaweed and algae. It looked up as the ceiling of the cave shook; small particulates of magic fell free from their resting spot on the ceiling of the cave, like stars falling from the night sky.
Two intelligent eyes glanced around its lagoon, which it considered to be its final resting place. The wildlife it had carefully preserved seemed unbothered as whatever it was moved high above.
As it was about to return to its slumber, a voice spoke up from the cave's entrance.
"Old friend, are you well?"
The Lich of Nightshade stepped into the dense greenery at the edge of the underground lagoon, a bright lantern held in one hand. Bones coated in mycelium clicked along the stone floor as the lich approached the grand entity.
The Turtle King snorted and flexed its flippers beneath the water. It twitched its head to drop some of the seaweed off its shining scales, though much still clung to its horns.
"Not as I used to be, but nothing truly is."
The lich sighed. The king had given that same response every time they'd interacted. If it was still deteriorating this much, why did it always awaken at the slightest fluctuation in the weave?
The lich let out a crackling sigh as he stepped onto the surface of the water. The water itself seemed to bend slightly under the lich to allow him to walk along the surface.
The two glowing mushrooms held within the eyesockets of the lich pulled free with a pop to allow the lich to look straight up.
"How do you always know when I awaken?" The draconic turtle asked.
"No matter how controlled your aura, it still fluctuates just slightly between the hours of sleep and those of your wakeful life."
"Not much of a life, is it? Not any more, at least."
The lich felt pity rise in his undead heart. It was true. One of the few remnants of the old times was nearing the end of its lifespan here in this cave. It was comfortable, better than most could dream of, but death was always a tragedy, even for an old soul like the turtle.
"Why do you always refuse my offers?" The lich asked quietly.
"Because I have no interest in undeath or otherwise extending my life. I will return to the world's cycle, and with it, the power I hold will empower your realm that much further."
"My realm doesn't matter, you ignorant turtle." The lich approached the massive head of the dragon and floated up to rest a hand between the horns of the grand lifeform.
"You're all that's left in this area of the world from the old days. You're what matters. I'd sacrifice my domain ten thousand times to give you a further chance."
The turtle closed its giant eyes at the touch of the lich against its scales.
"Maybe it will finally force you to leave that tower of yours. And I know you don't care about ruling that domain. But thanks."
The lich looked at the scaled head sadly before dropping back to the ground.
"I will care for this den in your absence, for yours, as I've cared for what was the others."
"Thank you." The giant turtle muttered before laying its head back on the ground. "Now, I will rest for a while yet. I hope an heir will find me before I return to the cycles."
The lich pondered for a moment before nodding. His bones clacked against the stone ground of this final tomb, the weight of ages finally settling on his ancient shoulders.
Four sat around the cave of the hydra. While the child was interesting, this sudden lapse in extreme action was rather boring. They really didn't care as much after the tribulation.
The quiet was interrupted as the sound of muffled bone hitting stone reached the ears of the Lord Rabbit. He twitched before standing cautiously. He knew those footsteps.
The others soon stood as well, the vampire first, followed by the hydra, and finally the orc. They watched as a skeletal figure stepped into the lair. Mycelium holding the old bones of the lich together under his elegant robe.
He stood in the entrance for a moment before speaking, "Chief Bloodskull, Lords Rabbit and Sanguine, and the Mistress of the Dark Venom. What an odd coalition."
The rest continued to watch him apprehensively as he listed their titles. A slight shiver went down each of their spines as the mushroom caps filling his empty sockets fixed on each of them in turn. Finally, the vampire spoke.
"M- Master of Nightshade. A- a pleasure." He bowed slightly to the lich, though the others didn't move. The lich made a sound like the click of his tongue at the others' lack of manners.
"Wh- what would you want with our… cabal?" The vampire asked, almost trembling in his boots. Most in the room were above the Amethyst Rank, but the power of the lich's avatar was overwhelming to every sense, mundane and arcane.
"You know why I'm here." The lich spoke, holding up a speck of silver-stained blood radiating the faint aura of the vampire. "You saw the tribulation that struck the forest, and not one of you decided to inform me?"
"W- we believed it was beneath you." The vampire spoke, his voice almost trembling in terror. The lich's mycelial eyes seemed to bore all the way into his soul.
"All alterations to the territory are my business, especially in matters of tribulations. Tell me, did the recipient perish, or manage to survive? From the power of the tribulation, they must be a tin ranker, yes?" The lich didn't even bother with the others at this point. The Lord Rabbit was already tense to flee, Chief Bloodskull was trying to push against the lich's aura and give himself a moment of freedom, while the Hydra appeared ready to defend her lair.
"Y- yes, a Tin Ranker. G-Grade, with resources already at the F-Grade threshold. Th- They survived." The vampire spoke. Despite losing the capacity to sweat when he was turned, he felt cold sweat soak his back.
"Survived? How?"
"They attained a Dungeon Nexus, and it respawned them as its avatar." The vampire said.
The lich fell silent before turning his eyes to the Lord Rabbit. The vampire sighed and relaxed a little while the Lord Rabbit looked ready to sprint out of the cavern.
The lich spoke, "and I assume that the dungeon avatar currently residing in the Emerald Rabbit Village is the same."
The Lord Rabbit nodded, his eyes widening a little in terror.
"Good, the child may be a candidate. As such, I will keep an eye on them myself. The turtle is weakening, and you all have already kept an eye on them."
The lich turned to leave the cavern but paused just before he left. The stems of the fungi in his eyes extended and turned to stare down the four in the room.
"You may hold the goals of my friends. But don't believe my mercy for kindness. Don't keep a secret from me again."
With those final words, the lich swept from the room, leaving the others fearful.