POV Valterra Unok’Davaas

  After the conversation with his uncle, Valterra had decided to make good on his promise to Wenigo. It was time to finish the third floor, and while he was at it he was going to observe his dungeon and figure out what all he had at his disposal. But first, he had a tree to plant. That was the reason he hadn’t stopped collecting Frameworks once he had the Pinewillow. Now, it was time to plant another.

  There was nothing special he had in mind for this one, other than it being a home for his Black Warden Ants, that is. Valterra’s awareness washed over the lower roof, taking in the structure with his full awareness. The house was him, part of him in a way no human builder would be able to fathom, the structural integrity, the forces being exerted across its oval surface, and the weight sitting on the supports underneath.

  He would have to do things extremely carefully if he wanted this to work and not have the lower roof simply collapse in on itself. First, he went to the west wing itself. If he was going to shift the roof, he needed to support everything from the ground up. That included the open basement area below. Stone was what he knew best, so stone was what he used. Stone struts began to lattice their way across the available space, providing additional support for the ceiling above.

  Then it went up. Stone crept upward, Valterra feeling his way as he connected parts of the building to provide a form of support that would be impossible for any but the most accomplished of stone mages. It was a little strange to be so explorative. For all that he liked to play and explore, Valterra hadn’t done so with his Authority. Oh, he had used it to create his different floors, but not to this level.

  By going slowly, he was able to change the stone as he went, feeling the difference in strength between different compositions and combinations of minerals. In the process, he settled on a composition he felt provided the best strength and rigidity while not being too brittle. It took a bit of time, but eventually the lattice covered the whole of the west wing up to the bottom of the lower roof. There was an empty space directly below the roof, probably to provide air flow, but Valterra was not as concerned about that.

  He was more concerned with providing for the tree he was about to bring to life. So, he filled that empty space with rich soil full of nutrients, the kind of soil that would absorb Aether and water alike with all the ability of a sponge. Deep in that soil, he created a hollow and placed a pylon similar to those on his outside floors. Taking a metaphorical step back to look things over, Valterra was gratified to find Aether flowing through the soil to reach the pylon.

  The house was prepared; now he needed to add the tree. He had chosen the Sylcyne Sugar Maple because it still retained a decent amount of height, even after being shrunk. The trick was controlling its growth as he summoned it. With a flash of Aether, the tree began to coalesce, roots exploding down, while a trunk swiftly grew upward. Valterra took charge then, his will clamping down on his creation and finding the process of directing to be far easier than he expected.

  Roots slowed as he directed their path downward. He still paid attention so that he wasn’t accidentally killing the tree as he forced its roots to go where he wanted them to go. The largest of them he directed toward the pocket with the Aether pylon, and the rest he allowed to spread where they wanted, as long as they weren’t going to destroy any of the supports. These roots he had curled around the supports, subtly strengthening them.

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  The main trunk of the tree he made as thick as possible, while making sure the foliage was full and pleasant. A second idea had him returning to the roots, with two other big roots heading in different directions. Both breached the ceilings in two different places, one being the ritual room and the other being Calamvor’s bedroom. He had plans for those rooms and figured it would be interesting if his tree acted as another way of getting deeper into his dungeon. Of course, they would need to get through an entire colony of Black Warden Ants to do so, not to mention any other creatures or floors he put in the way.

  Finally, it was time. The Sylcyne Sugar Maple towered over the roof, emerald leaves spreading verdant shade over that part of the house. Valterra thought it looked beautiful. And in a hollow within its trunk, right where the dirt hit wood, he placed a Black Warden Ant Queen. As with the Carpenter Ants so long ago, the Black Warden Ant Queen would need no help to propagate the first batch of ants; the information contained within the Framework was enough as long as the queen received enough Aether.

  Valterra metaphorically sat back on his metaphorical haunches and observed his third floor with satisfaction. Something had changed when he had created his seventh floor. He was noticing more of the beauty that came with creating. He had always enjoyed seeing his creatures coming into existence, but he was starting to enjoy designing their environments as well. Humming to himself, Valterra turned to the second floor.

  He had one more tree Framework that he could use, and while he was going to use it elsewhere, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to use it twice. Besides, the second floor had already become something of a jungle, and the Northern Mountain Ash would fit in perfectly. With a max size of a little over a foot, it would be neither too short to matter nor too big to the point of crushing the deck.

  Which was good, since he was going to be making a little forest. Humming to himself, he called on his Aether. Creatures looked up in alarm as miniature trees began to sprout, quickly outgrowing the grass already there. The miniature forest took shape like a massive green carpet, spreading along the deck on either side of the house. Valterra made sure to keep some open areas within the forest, but for the most part, the north and south sides of the house had been fully covered.

  Good, that should be sufficient for the moment. Now, how about we take stock?

  And that was precisely what the young core did. He had been surprised, multiple times now, when various creatures had reached Ascension– Frameworks that he had no recollection of having. Now, however, he would do his due diligence and make sure he had every creature represented. So that was what he did. For the rest of the day, he went from floor to floor and observed, making sure he knew which Frameworks were represented and which ones he hadn’t used yet.

  Then he summoned them. He filled his dungeon with every creature he had at his disposal, and every plant as well. The Winterberry Hollies he summoned here and there on his second floor, amid the forest he had just grown. Some Sylcyne Caterpillars followed on both of his first two floors. Some Danian Ant Queens were next, being placed in the forest as well, empowered and not.

  Then came the Graniteback Slugs, another new Framework he hadn’t known he’d had. They were almost like snails, except their acid was even more potent than before, and they wore melted stone on their backs like armor. It was craggy and rough, but they somehow made it work. The final Framework was a nascent hive of Northern Bumblebees on the first floor. He had been saving them for so long that he had forgotten what he had even been saving them for– figured he could see what they could become in the meantime, while he tried to remember.

  And that was that. Every Framework had been represented, and numbers had been increased across the board. Now, all that he needed to do was wait while his floors produced more Ascensions. Perhaps some exploring would be in order. After all, those laboratories and books upon books of notes wouldn’t read themselves.