Hi! I'm Ted from ManaCorps and I’m here to talk about one of the most difficult decisions of your life. Picking a class that’s right for you.

You have been enrolled in this workshop due to your relation to one of our employees. As you all know, we care about children greatly at ManaCorps. We want you to succeed while also giving you a good chance to win at life. What better way to succeed than to follow your relatives footsteps as one of our treasured employees!

While class changes are possible, all non mastered skills that aren’t shared between the classes are lost and your new class starts at zero.

What’s worse is your racial level basically stays the same until your new class catches up – and you don’t get a chance to redistribute your stat points so depending on how differently your classes are that can be a permeant setback.

Not to scare you kiddos I’m just trying to tell you how important this decision is okay? You probably wont ever change this class so you should make it count.

A very good choice in class would be one of the crafting focused classes. Currently we have a shortage of test engineers of any kind due to a…small accident. We can guarantee you employment if you chose a related class I’m sure your parents would approve!

To unlock the class option you simply have to play with those blocks over there some of them are a bit...experimental but I promise you it's safe! I’ll have it be known I am not pressuring any of you! Remember to tell your parents it was your Idea. You are free to choose a good crafting class as well - we have several arts and crafts in the corner if you don't have it as an unlock option. I strongly suggest test engineer however! Smart children want to be Testers!

Excerpt from the ManaCorps recruitment program. Secretly titled "Children are Impressionable and Require Direction!" by members of the ManaCorps HR and Legal team.

Innearth wanted to try and “fix” some stuff. One glaring problem was that he had plenty of traps in his crystal caverns below, but not really any in the obsidian halls.

He had an idea that was vaguely fading in and out of his mind. A nagging idea that became clearer and clearer as time went on. It was about making an ambush predator and then aiding it in hiding. Not the most unique idea but one that was becoming hard for Innearth to ignore.

Currently, there really weren’t a lot of places to hide in the obsidian halls. Long straight paths and open rooms without obstacles were everywhere. While Innearth could theoretically more heavily change the design, he kind of liked how it was currently. It was different. A change of pace.

No, he wanted to make specific hiding spots or "traps".

The idea was simple. He would dig several large cubby holes in various places and then design a monster to fit in them.

Should match the theme and use fire and magma...and actually why start from scratch?

Innearth dug a nice round hole in the wall and then pulled out the magma spider schematic. Innearth blew the schematic apart so he could focus on individual parts. Tossing a bunch of the unneeded sections out of his way they slide across the panel and then blipped out of existence unceremoniously – the link to a bat, the focus on mobility etc…

First off, I think I want it to be able to grab and drag stuff into its hole.

Twisting the legs around Innearth added a 2nd joint and hooked end. They would be awful to walk around on, but in exchange much better at grabbing. As if understanding his intent, the system provided a "grabbing" stat furthering his optimization of the spider’s claws.

Next, he wanted to work on its pounce. They needed to be fast. Trying several different options Innearth settled on combining two points he knew. 1 – kinetic crystals obviously and 2 – The same springing remnants of the old jumpers I used on the crystal spike shooters can be used to launch forwards.

Each leg could be braced against the wall with a small bump of a spring, sandwiching a small amount of Fire and Water mana into a pneumatic launcher. The spiders would then be able to launch and pull prey in... but there were still a few problems. 1 – the hole is blazingly obvious and 2 – what is the spider supposed to do once it has caught something? What if it grabbed prey in a hug of death... and then the prey just broke its legs and escaped? How should I fix that?

Innearth filled a dip in the hole with some of the uncooling magma and added a dozen sharp spikes alternating between incredibly hot magma infused spikes. Sharper sword mana spikes. …And a few poison filled spikes while he was at it for good luck.

He really wanted this to be dangerous.

Next, he fashioned a black circular door and switched one of the spider’s arms to hold the circular plug in front of it like a shield.

Finally satisfied, Innearth printed the monster into his hole to test it. Even though the system did a good job of eliminating the number of duds he made, sometimes you still needed to test stuff with a real copy.

Let's see. 1 normal crystal snake coming up.

Innearth made a snake roughly 10m away from the hole and told it to slither down the hallway.

Unaware of its purpose, the snake complied happily. Noticing something strange when the wall was roughly in line with it the snake was too late. The shoddy door flipped aside with a bang as it hit the wall. Six legs stabbing out of the recess like a nightmare.

The legs flung out to the side then arced inwards to enclose the poor snake. Like a jail cell, the bars trapped it while several fishhooks dug into its side.

Pulling its struggling and skewered meal back into the hole the spider oozed satisfaction. Innearth watched as a hiss of steam was released into the corridor signalling the end of the normal crystal snake.

The spider had won in seconds. Melting the body down in its lava pool and re-entering it.

Alright. Well about what I expected. Now a greater crystal snake?

Making one of the larger variants Innearth sent it down the hallway as well. This time the snake stopped roughly halfway towards the trap and fixed its head in the direction of it.

Swaying back and forth the snake slowly advanced on the circular door. The spider within was able to sense beyond its own body and it too started tensing to pounce.

Despite its caution, the snake was still ambushed and hooked by several legs in an identical manner to its lesser brethren.

The difference this time was the hook did not end its existence. Struggling furiously the greater crystal snake smashed through its legs and stabbed into the exposed portion of the magma trapdoor spider. Rushing away the two monsters retreated to nurse their wounds.

Innearth had removed the Healing sacks around when he added the poison spikes to the trapdoor spider. It seemed a good trade-off at the time. There also wasn’t any crystal tree nearby – yet – so he fixed that by planting one within the spider’s range. Now that it was connected it started to heal. Ever so slowly. Enough that he could pull back and start ignoring it like most of the monsters in his dungeon.

Maybe I should add more crystal parts to this, so it heals faster? No, it’s not that important how much time it takes to reset. Just that it can and will hide until it does.

The snake had burst one of its healing pulses and quickly fixed any damage from being skewered. It was now attempting to navigate the hell halls and find a more suitable place to stay.

Well, it survived even though the trap spider had a spot specifically designed for it. I don't know whether to be disappointed my trap's not strong enough, or proud of how strong my snake is…

He had started to forget with how often they were getting beat by the spider bat pairs, but his snakes were his strongest solo monsters. They could beat all his non-boss monsters 1v1 and were some of his oldest and most iterated monsters.

I think I'm going to go back to working on improving them.

…

Innearth spent ages iterating his regular monsters. After gaining the system designer, he no longer had to spend mana to make changes – only time – and time he had plenty of. The biggest changes were linked to his control of circuits. He couldn't explain exactly how they worked – nor did he understand some of the reasons they worked – but he was slowly able to start to be able to debug broken circuits and guess at the function of completed ones. A vague sense that came from experience.

Part of the problem with understanding circuits is they didn't seem to have building blocks. Making section A and Section B and then combining them into a new Section C... would make effect c not "a and b". To make matters worse "good" effects only started happening with increasingly complicated circuits with dozens of connections. He made a monster with completely transparent crystal flesh so he could better observe how it "cast spells".

Maybe this will help?

At intersections, mana would split and seem to increase – a split in two would make two paths of 71%, not 50%. A split in 3 would make 3 paths of 58% and 4 would make 50% split 4 ways.

The "amount" or volume of mana changed but so did its concentration and while there appeared to be more it was weaker.

Mana would change somehow based on the shape of these trees – changing alignments and purposes at each "affinity node" or mini core and then, either recombine if the paths regrouped, or get manifested as a spell inside or outside the monster’s body.

It was simple enough to visualize but the worse part was how changes at one end of the circuit affected ones at the other. Innearth had a few circuits that had weird dead ends or "mistakes" like bumps or broken connections or even lines that weren’t connected to anything – just passed near that really shouldn't change anything...but removing them broke the whole schematic.

"Don't touch this" "removing breaks everything" dammit. Being able to see what’s happening afterward doesn’t help at all!

All this was to say his snakes were becoming true Jack of all trades that could both cast increasingly more complex spells and attack with their bodies. They steadily got stronger and stronger… but as their changes were all internal, they looked the same.

Innearth had started making rings around snakes based on how strong they were. Using a different material for the crystal scales he wrapped bands of colour to categorize them. 1 ring for snakes that seemed stronger than his old versions. 2 rings for snake variants that could survive encounters with spider bat pairs. 3 rings for snakes that could hold their own against the teamwork.

He had come across a few specialized variants that worked much better in specific contexts than the general versions – some of these deserved 4 rings as they actively pushed back and won against the pairs. A snake that couldn't attack or move very quickly but could build truly complex spells that hovered around it and almost had a mind of their own. A variant that seemed unable to do more than strengthen its body – contorting itself into weird shapes as its magic gave it even more control over its own muscles and mass. A variant that liked to make crystal platforms high up and stare down at the coming and goings of his dungeon.

The last one wasn’t specialized just different and Innearth took a moment to stare.

Is…is that it? You’re going to hide near the roof and watch everything? I guess that’s fine?

This variant made a comeback days later when it ambushed a spider patrol that wasn’t expecting a snake to come into their ceiling domain.

Objectively the focused variants were better, but it was not one of them that he sent off to “Brutality Queen”. It was a balanced mage that used magic to create crystal spikes in the ground and then slither up them. Using spikes for both movement and fighting, the snake would launch itself from heights and use magic to create pathways that didn’t exist.

Even if it’s a bit weaker, I think it has a higher chance of surviving? All these problems would be solved if I could just send multiple that complement each other.

He didn't know what to expect with her dungeon and Amy wasn't very helpful. At all. She seemed to want Innearth to get along with her friends but also...wanted them to sort things out themselves? It was a hands off attitude as if she already knew the outcome.

The only advice she gave was not as helpful as her tone suggested.

Amy: Don't worry she's...you'll be fine. Queen has the most ascended monsters of any core I've heard – 9. I'm sure once she sees that you're serious you can learn a lot from her! She's. You'll do fine!

Yep, not as reassuring as she thought. Actively detrimental even. It made him push back sending her something for weeks and weeks. Finally, he felt like he had a shot and sent Queen his snake then stepped back.

…

Waiting for a response was excruciating. Queen sent a single "finally stopped being scared huh" message then gave him radio silence.

An hour passed then two then 5 then 24. Finally, 2 days later he got a response.

Brutality Queen: ...if your monster survived 24 hours and made a decent showing I would have given you the time of day just because you were friends with Amy.

...so did I pass your test your majesty?

Innearth was low key annoyed by this whole business. He wanted to test himself, but having a Core that wasn't that much older than him act all high and mighty was hurting his pride. She hadn’t proven her superiority just claimed it. She hadn’t helped him before. She hadn’t even given him any information about how she was “testing” him.

It boiled down to Innearth feeling like the whole process was a waste of time to fuel some eccentric cores ego.

Brutality Queen: That's what would have happened if it survived 24 hours in the jungle. That...crystal snake? Survived 48 and fought nearly equally with my weakest ascended - 009. You've more than proven yourself! Heck, your snake is still alive if heavily wounded after its fight. I'm impressed and more than willing to be your friend. I’ll send your snake back right away!

…well that was awkward. Innearth had already decided he didn’t want to be "friends". Not even for Amy...

He decided to ignore her comment for a bit. Slightly petty, but really it was just karma with how she had treated him.

A second later a battered and dishevelled snake was deposited gently in his pool room. – It was empty of its self-contained healing potion and slowly regenerating it but now back in Innearth’s dungeon the snake was connected to a beacon and began to heal.

What a trouper.

Innearth’s crystal snakes were solitary creatures. They teamed up occasionally when the timing was right, or they were ordered to…but for the most part slithered around on their own.

Despite that Innearth really wanted this snake to be known as an icon. The one who experienced another dungeon! The one who triumphed over the arrogant royalty! He quickly sent his desire for this snake to be the leader…the king of the snakes!

Pool snake poked its head above the liquid pool at this message.

Leaving its nest of crystals, the snake slithered out and stared at its “leader” for an awkward moment. Watching the larger snake slowly heal, it seemed to accept the arrangements and return to its pool.

Briefly, Innearth considered letting the snake king die just so he could see what Queen’s dungeon was like…but that would really be a waste. He would never gain a new ascended monster that way.

Okay you rest up and relax a bit – you deserve it lil buddy. When you are fully healed you should rally your new troops and really fight those spiders! Grow! Evolve!

Now…I guess that means I have to start expanding again huh. I’ve run out of procrastination tools…tch.

…

Innearth expanded for 2 days then finally responded to Queen.

Innearth: Oh, that’s good you know. I just picked any old monster I’m glad it worked out.

Brutality Queen: Punctuality is important. I expect my friends to respond on time. You’re on probation now Innearth.

…no Innearth wasn’t dealing with this. Sure, he was being petty, but she had done so first! He wasn’t being difficult SHE was! Hypocrite! Stupid **** ** ***** ******-core probably only has 1 floor.

Fuming to himself he realized he didn’t have to do this. He could just move on.

Innearth: See you around.

Sorry Amy. That Core's too much. She’s too arrogant. I can’t.

Innearth pushed his annoyance into expansion for a bit then picked something else to “fix” and occupy his mind.

Let’s finish the puzzle room actually. Or not finish it but at least make it functional – I can add to it later.

Returning to the two linked rooms Innearth decided the first thing he had to do was make a door – quickly making two sliding doors similar to his “panic door” he wished he had more of the null mana material. Let’s just say if anyone tries to magic the door away, I’ll drop the lava on them and leave it at that.

Innearth wanted to quickly fix the room up so it was ready and “complete”…but quickly got lost in the details. First, he wanted to make a key to the door but it turns out just the knowledge that “A key is an item that allows a door to be unlocked” and “a locked door can’t be opened” didn’t give him a lot to go on. It was enough to make him think he knew what was happening…and then break his expectations as soon as he tried to implement it.

He finally came up with a system where there was a large pole that stuck into the wall on either side embedded into the door. The “Key” was a disk of gravity material that when pulled along the wall sideways would pull this rod in and out.

Adding arrows in glowing red metal, Innearth then carved a star on the door and put another identical star on his disk.

It wasn’t enough.

The other room opens the drawer in this room and gives them a key…there are too few steps. Plus, the other room needs a door too!

Twisting the machinery about Innearth made a second door and linked the bars on both doors to each other.

Now when one door opens the other does as well!

Oh, what if I do the reverse for a section?

Innearth ripped his system up once again. This time he made an “airlock” of sorts by making a pair of doors.

The two at the end were linked to each other. Unlocking door 1b would also unlock door 2b. However, this unlock could only be done on the second room’s side. Room 1 had a door before that called 1a that could only be opened when door 2a was closed and locked. Similarly, door 2a was mutually exclusive with 1a and had to be opened first after 1a was shut. He then left 1a open by default.

Basically, group 1 would have to open the first door. Pile into the airlock and shut it behind them. Then group 2 would have to open both doors before group 1s final door was opened.

It was needlessly complicated with several tubes above and below the two doors linking each other with sliding rods some of which were "greased" with Kinetic anti-friction material and some of which were dependant upon other rods being in certain places so the order did matter…Innearth loved it!

It could also be bypassed by going to room 1 closing the door and giving the key to room 2 then moving all the way to the second room and simply opening both doors either alone or as a group.

Don’t want to make it completely impossible for a solo adventurer…but maybe I should figure out how to divert them to a solo puzzle room? Should also figure out how to make it so both rooms need someone in the airlock before group 2 can unlock the door… but that breaks being able to technically do it with one group.

Hey, I have an idea that will make this even more fun to watch!

Innearth made the key into a monster.

The disk stayed the same, but now one side had a dozen small legs packed with nothing but kinetic materials. He added a small kinetic core on one side of the disk and covered it in metal. A metal bulb that made the whole thing look like a head popping out of a turtle. But no he already had turtles he couldn't reuse that shape.

Trying to make it different Innearth made a tail with kinetic crystals on the opposite side and connected a small circuit from the core to the tail to facilitate mana transfer.

The goal wasn’t to make anything adventurers would have to fight. It wasn’t even to prevent them from using the key.

No, the goal was to watch them scramble around on the floor trying to catch the key. It's going to be hilarious to watch. I’ll make sure to reward anyone who beats this room so they can’t complain :3.

Innearth gave life to this small key…monster. Not sure of the name yet. It really doesn’t look like anything in my dictionary. Maybe a lil lizard with a tummy? Key-Lizard. Keyzard! My naming sense is on point today.

Innearth gave life to his Keyzard and watched the little key scuttle around the room dogging back and forth occasionally with bursts of speed. The crystals worked even better on a smaller creature and even though it had much less mana, the bursts it could do affected its small mass more.

Well into the cupboard you go.

Innearth shoved the Keyzard into the second desk and reset the puzzle.

Then he decorated the room a bit more making sure to add some of the symbols the previous core had started to draw to both rooms.

That was enough of a break for now…back to expansion, I guess. Innearth sighed to himself and started his "expand+alter store schematics" schedule once again.

How much longer will it beeee. Innearth checked his level. Only 28. If I reach level 33 before I reach the surface I have to be in a worse place!

Indecisive Earth Level 28 457/1102 exp to next level. System Access Level 3 0/2 requirements met to advance. -Reach the surface -Level 33+ Stats Mana Regeneration 37.2 unit/min Mana Storage 1102.0/1102.0 units Physical Storage 79% Percent Capacity Titles. Earth Mana Specialization, Crystal Mana Specialization