Valterra looked at the screen in his soul before turning his attention to the wider dungeon to confirm the information. His Third Floor guardian was also glowing with golden light. It seemed his endless devotion to his floor, coupled with participating in the fight against the invader was enough to push him over the edge. Valterra could feel the Aether buzzing in his servant's body and quickly went to work reading over the new options.

  Valterra stared at the options in wonderment. Once again he could gain a glimpse of what they were like from the description and how they felt. He dismissed the lizard option despite its interesting applications. He knew his Third Floor guardian was content being a snake and would rather become a more lethal version of himself. It was with this thought in mind that Valterra moved to choose the Razor Constrictor. It seemed right up his Constricting Green Snake’s alley, adding a new potent weapon to his constriction.

  As he was about to choose though he glanced into his creature’s thoughts and found frustration. During the fight with the invader, the snake chafed at being unable to end the fight himself. He played an integral part and knew it and yet found himself wanting something more. He wanted to strike quickly and finish fights before they had a chance to start.

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  Valterra wondered at this new side of his guardian that he hadn’t seen before. It seemed his serpent was more self-aware than the Core had thought. He chose the Emerald Adder and felt his serpent’s satisfaction as it curled up inside the third floor to evolve. Valterra shifted the earth and grass to hide his guardian better, not wishing him to be attacked while on the road to becoming stronger.

  Finally, Valterra turned to his Mouse Guard. His first and most loyal creature. He eagerly began looking through the notification.

  Even though he knew which one he would choose, Valterra carefully examined each evolutionary option with childish excitement. The Mouse Soldier would be so useful. From the sense he got from it, the mouse would become totally at home on a battlefield, able to take orders and obey them, and even be capable of minor tactics. Rather than throwing themselves at an enemy, they would work together with other mice to take down larger foes.

  The last one was the total opposite. They took “throwing themselves at an enemy” to be their own personal code of honor. Instead of relying on crafted weapons, they reverted to savagery and natural weapons. Valterra wondered if the last option was available because of the way his Mouse Guard was filled with anger during his fight with the invader.

  There was really only one choice for his Guard Mouse when all was said and done. His first guardian was a leader and warrior. Neither of the other two Schema options fit him quite as well as Mouse Captain. Valterra chose and watched the golden light settle into the mouse’s fur. Once again he would need to create more guardians but he already knew what he wanted to do. If his Mouse Captain was going to have fellow mice to lead then there would need to be more mice. Valterra got to work.