It was only about twelve hours later that Matthias announced he would be upgrading his rarity. Upon initiating the process, his core was enveloped in a familiar violet eggshell. His mind felt separated from the rest of the dungeon, but everything still seemed to be functioning. His presence had not faded—only his attention.

  "Huh," Lucy mused. "That is odd."

  "Indeed," Chloe agreed.

  "Is something wrong?" Sylt asked.

  "A metamorphosis does not usually happen until higher rarities," Lucy answered.

  "It is a process where the dungeon core becomes more like its dungeon," Chloe explained before anyone could ask. "Whether that be the formation of an avatar or the actual core becoming something else."

  "That would indicate Matthias is several times stronger than he should be, then?" Rey asked.

  "I think we all already knew that," Lucy teased.

  "So, would now be a bad time for me to visit the capital?" Sylt asked.

  "And Alycia?" Chloe teased with a lecherous grin.

  Sylt just rolled his eyes. "Perhaps," he conceded.

  "I permit it!" Lucy announced.

  Before anyone could countermand that, he vanished into a shadow. Rey just sighed. She decided she would be the responsible one and monitor the dungeon.

  Serenia, Lucy, and Chloe were all playing with the Arachne child. The little one was beginning to babble, so they were using flash cards to put words to pictures for the child. Matthias had been adamant about ensuring the child had a proper education.

  The fourth floor felt like home to Rey as she stepped into it. The floor was now teeming with Fey. There were still fewer than a hundred in total, but they were already making the floor their own. Some were setting up new buildings—some for war and some for civilian use. Others were picking up crafts, while some were exploring and mapping out their new home.

  It was still early, and there were no nobles or royalty yet. But it still felt like home to Rey. She took a few moments to bask in the presence of the Summer Wellspring. She knew her chances to enjoy this warmth would be rare. It would probably never be allowed again once the royals were spawned. It took considerable effort of will for her to move away and continue her journey.

  The third floor was more chaotic than usual. Rey had heard that hobs were stronger than beast goblins, but what she saw here made her wonder what was going on with the hobs in this dungeon. The hobgoblins had taken to taming some of the massive lizards on this floor to use for both recreation and daily life. They had even set up small farms.

  The rest of the megafauna was busy fighting for the now-open boss slot of the floor. Without the Primeval Hydra there to eat all rivals, the competition was fierce. To Rey’s surprise, the current winner appeared to be an offshoot of a brontosaur. It had gained the dire, armored, and spiked modifiers, and it was currently using its spiked tail to bully all challengers.

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  On the second floor, Rey was surprised. The Horrorpede was dead. It was being eaten by a massive horned beetle. It had no modifiers, but Rey could detect a cultivation core within it. The beetle was easily forty feet long, not including its horn, and its core felt to be at least tier fifteen. Rey moved on quickly after it turned its attention toward her.

  The Primeval Hydra was still swimming, but Rey noted the turtles were bigger again. It seemed some had evolved into dragon turtles.

  "Perfect. That is just what we need—dragon turtles," she sighed, running her hands down her face.

  The Primeval Hydra now lived exclusively off the dragon turtles, which in turn lived off the wide variety of crustaceans that Matthias had allowed to breed in the depths.

  Everything in the swamp seemed to be flowing as it normally did—until she saw the snakes with hands. She had no idea why snakes would only have front arms, but they did, and she did not like to look at them. It was not that they looked malicious; it was that they looked curious. As if, given too much attention, they would begin asking her what everything was. And she was already doing that for the Arachne child.

  So she promptly moved on to the training camp.

  "Lady Rey!" Greg called out. "Thank goodness I found you. There is a visitor, and I have not been able to flag down the dungeon’s attention."

  "Sorry about that," Rey apologized with a dip of her head. "The dungeon is increasing his rarity and has entered a torpor state."

  "Ah, I see," he nodded, as though he understood completely. "Glad this place can basically take as many as we can throw in, even when he is tending to his other needs. But we do have a guest who has asked to speak with you. He is in the premium conference room."

  With a bow, Rey headed that way. She actually walked instead of hopping between beams of light. She had a feeling she would not like this meeting. She almost walked away when she opened the door.

  "Please wait!" the man inside called out as she turned. "Ms. Crowder has been dealt with. She will never trouble you or your dungeon again."

  That grabbed Rey’s attention. "Dealt with?" she asked.

  "She was charged with treason due to some of her transactions," the man explained. "I am Tu’Elda Neldala, the eighth prince of the elven nation."

  "Only the eighth?" Rey teased as she took a seat on the couch across from him.

  Tu’Elda was a tall man of six foot four, with silver hair and eyes. He wore practical leather travel clothes and riding gloves. Despite his seemingly carefree attitude, the skin of his face was a bit tight.

  "You seem to have gone through much recently," Rey noted.

  Tu’Elda nodded. "I recently completed my coming-of-age hunt. I ran into a few beasts that were beyond my skill, so my performance review suffered."

  "A few weeks of tough living?" Rey asked.

  "Good guess," he confessed with a chuckle. "But we are not here to talk about me. We are here to attempt to build a rapport. So, is there anything I can do to show my kin are serious about wanting a good relationship with your dungeon moving forward?"

  "You could explain the Department of Dungeon Diplomacy to me," she offered.

  Tu’Elda snorted as he suppressed a laugh.

  "They are a joke now," he confessed. "They used to hold authority—back when dungeons were basically giving those people free things. They were supposed to be a dungeon’s first real interaction with the outside world. They were meant to explain mortal politics and where the dungeon fell into that order. But that also meant they tended to be the first people the dungeon learned to trust. Various factions infiltrated the organization and began exploiting that relationship."

  "I see," Rey mused. "So all these individuals had set up secret trade routes with the dungeon?"

  "You catch on fast," he agreed.

  "Sounds like the organization would have plenty of capital, money, and political power," Rey noted.

  "It did—until those trades dried up," he pointed out. "Now they are scrambling to find a new source before that lack catches up with them."