^^ Sybil (Thunderkin Paragon) ^^

I'd had hangovers before. Not very often, of course, due to the mixture of my aversion to mind-altering substances and my German heritage making my tolerance for alcohol far greater than normal, but enough to know what they felt like. This was similar, except instead of just a headache and some body pain, my gums and hands and spine in particular felt like they'd been broken and scalded by a hot iron poker slamming into them, and were just barely on the mend.

When I went to rub my jaw to soothe some of the pain, I frowned at the thick fangs poking out of my bottom lip, prompting me to poke the teeth with my tongue and find that they'd taken the place of the three Lower Canines and extended, perhaps three inches long in total, -wickedly sharp of course, as I found out poking the top of one,- curving slightly out and upwards in order to sink into and tear flesh apart; a true Carnivore's fangs and jaw structure. My upper canines had merged as well, but they seemed to fit into the backside of the 'v' shaped tusks, allowing me to close my mouth around the tusks easily enough. Even my lips sealed properly, having formed around the tusks without issue, and my other features were likewise changed deeply, having developed a sharp nose and furrowed eyebrows that wouldn't allow for me to wear my glasses very well anymore, thick lips I would expect to see on a young woman wearing makeup, not myself, and equally sharp cheekbones that seemed to compliment my face as a whole. As I examined myself in the mirror across from my bed, I was not disappointed in my new face; despite the fact that I had little to no resemblance to my past self except my black hair, dark green eyes, and muscular physique, I was still beautiful, in some senses of the word. Standing up, I received another surprise; my fists smacked into the ceiling of my chambers as I stretched.

The Twelve Foot Tall ceiling.

"Great... 'Thunderkin Paragon' Indeed..." I sighed grumpily, pulling on my armor while grumbling at the changes in it, as well; heavy metal bracers and a breastplate both made of a silver-cobalt colored metal and emblazoned with symbols of the Sun and some sort of Humanoid with a Hammer, joined by similarly armored thigh-boots, silver-blue fish-scale chainmail, and a silver-studded leather set of clothing underneath it all for my full ensemble. Only after being fully dressed did I notice the Bear-Skin Cloak with its Blue-Silver broaches and interior clips to attach it to my armor and keep it in place. I left it off for now because it looked nice and toasty, and I didn't need toasty right now, due to the general warmth of the city. My hammer, either due to my increase in size or some change in its make, had become a one-handed hammer that hung on my belt, made of that same blue-silver metal but otherwise carrying a disturbing likeness to the design of Mjolnir in many Sagas; I worried for a brief moment about me carrying it being perceived as Blasphemy, but then shrugged it off. If Thor or Perun had ever existed or still did, and they'd let this entire thing happen, then I didn't care if they were angry at me; It'd just be one more angry Deity trying to Murder me, after all. A new weapon was also present, a blue-silver greatsword that was scrawled with runes I didn't bother reading just yet, as it would take too long to translate them. I hefted it carefully, aware of the ceiling that was rather close by, and once I was comfortable holding the static-covered blade, I sheathed it and placed it into my Bag of Holding alongside my crossbow and my drums of bolts, which had both grown larger in ratio with me but otherwise hadn't changed much that I noticed.

Ducking out of my own door with a grumbled complaint, I came chest to face with another greatly-increased in size person; Kenny, more than a foot shorter than me and far slimmer, but with the same tusks sticking out of his lips, and far smaller than mine for some reason. His skin was a deeper shade of silver than mine, having a tint to it I couldn't decide to call either eggshell or peach, but was otherwise still covered by his arcane-archer leather armor. Wasting no time, he turned and made his way through the curiously changed room; instead of silks hanging from the ceiling, it was furs and pelts of the various creatures we'd slain, as well as mounted heads on the walls that seemed to be splendidly wrought from silver, and the spiral staircases had been replaced by ladders due to the lack of space. "As you've no-doubt noticed, there's been some changes to all of us, and it's been about thirty-six hours since most of us passed out, and we woke up about twelve hours ago. The entire dungeon has been altered, and you have twelve Hours to fix anything they broke when they altered it to this new Theme, and make all the buildings a bit bigger than before. I've already keyed up most of the fixes to the blueprints, they just require your approval."

I sat at the ivory throne with a soft sigh of resignation, then examined the changes to the dungeon; the new 'Theme' was apparently a tribal setting, and I refused it entirely, pulling up our old blueprints and making everything .25 times bigger. That would make the rooms and showers better, the weapons and traps, and so on and so forth. "I have nothing against Tribal People's, but we are not them, and to act like we were would be an insult to their history and cultures. We are Scientists, Doctors, and Engineers, all with a healthy respect and responsible wariness for nature, and our Society we've built so far reflects this perfectly."

He nodded, sitting on the wooden log that'd replaced the long sofas with a grimace. "I happen to agree heartily; Ms. Toyama, Akira, your thoughts?"

Two of the other ten or so people in the room nodded seriously, and Ms. Toyama responded. "My Kami-Sama was not happy with his Shrine being turned from a gorgeous garden with delicately designed Feng Shui into a boneyard. A repair is immediately required; I request this humbly, but firmly, Lady Sybil."

"Absolutely... a few changes, however, are required: I got a new Title that will be very useful to us, I think... it draws every enemy in a Thousand Kilometers directly to me. If I move the Throne Room to the center of the Hole, like so..." the blueprints shifted to have a fifty-meter-wide sphere in the center of the Hole's entrance, held in place by four hallways that connected to the walls, along with a ten-meter-wide steel beam directly underneath it, -cupping the entire thing like a water tower at the beach,- continuing down all the way to the ground, 950 Meters below in the water of the Fishing Grounds, which were now empty because of my work a day and a half ago. The walkways connected to the spherical throne room were triangular in shape and covered in well-oiled metal, so that if anything tried to walk on top of it, they would be either ripped in half by the hidden blade traps, or simply slide off the slick metal, unable to get a grip on the pyramid. They would then continue their journey down into the Fishing Grounds to be torn apart by my soon-to-be-replenished Piranha Army.

The walkways would be biometrically locked and would each lead to elevators that would travel down through all the Floors and even up to the Surface, though only two people Max would fit in there at a time due to its tight quarters, as a secondary security measure. The high-speed elevator ran not on cables, but on gears that could raise and lower the interior at break-neck speeds, but also halt gradually or instantly with a physical brake handle inside the small platform. The Throne Room, supported in the center, would still contain the rooms for Kenny, Moira, Akira, and myself, taking up the curved top and bottom of the sphere while leaving the middle bowed-cylinder alone for the meeting chamber, now equipped with panoramic glass bay windows, making use of the curved shape to make them available; the new view would be of the entire 'volcano', and the ocean beyond to the east, or the rest of Japan to the west, north, and south. On an off-track thought, I left the Silver Heads of all the different Enemies we'd defeated above the windows, because they were a very interesting bit of Decor, and then the various pelts as area rugs and cushions around the room, if they were suitable.

On top of the sphere, I mounted all eight of the Dire Horn Ballistae, two pointed at each walkway but also capable of pointing straight up or turning as they pleased; we were just above the surface at the resting position, but the beam holding us up was retractable, so in a pinch we could simply lower the Throne Room all the way down into the waters beneath, where it's water-proof air locks and connection to the ventilation systems and all other Utilities would ensure it could survive indefinite assault so long as the Piranha, Sharks, and Krakens all did their jobs properly and killed anything that touched the water. It's maneuverability also meant I had essentially mobilized the Dire Horn Ballistae within the Hole and the Fishing Grounds, which was a nice perk overall.

Finished, I looked around at my group of Silver-Skinned allies. "Alright, any complaints with going back to the most recent upgrade and increasing the size of everything to 125%?"

"Zat is pas de problème for moi." Moira shrugged casually, stretching her long silver legs across Fatima and Sari's laps with a smirk at their instant blushes from the gorgeous French woman's playfulness. Her transformation had been less dramatic than mine, much like Kenny and the rest, simply becoming a silver-skinned version of herself that just happened to have little tusks at the corners of her mouth, and happened to be a foot taller than she had originally been, ending up almost seven feet tall in total.

"Actually... you all only grew one foot on average, it seems... I seem to be the outlier at around nine feet tall as the Paragon. Perhaps only a fifth larger, 20%. Regardless, if no one disagrees? Good, let's get this place back to normal." I clicked the Restructure Button, and frowned at the red Pop-up.

Remove Lineage Theme 'Tribal Citadel'? (Y/N)?
Lineage Themes are often useful tools, as the only way to actively determine the extent of Your Territory's Encroachment upon Your Competitors'.

"Good to Know... Replace that Lineage Theme with the Theme I've made; Sylvan, Dwarven, Human, and Giant, all in equal parts."

Registering New Thunderkin Lineage Theme...

Architecture of Neo-Classical Interpretation...
Non-Tribal, with Cultivated Agriculture, Fish Bred and Farmed in Captivity...
Primarily-Eastern Metropolitan, Suburban, Eclectic, and Palatial Influences...
Dwarven Undercity, Artisanal Bazaar, and Sylvan Grove Architectures...

Extrapolating Thunderkin Lore for Clarification... Mixture of Dwarven, Elven, Human, and Fomorian Blood as Origins Confirmed.

Lineage Theme: Neo-Fomorian Metropolis.

The city shook once more, and soon we were all sitting in our familiar Throne Room, with a few additions and a much better view of the ocean, for the first time in a while.

"So you are playing the Bait? That's what your new Legendary Title gives you? Super Luring powers?" Kenny frowned irritably, glaring at the map.

"Essentially, yes. And it's range of 1000 Kilometers is... troublesome, considering the size of Japan as a whole. The length of Honshu in total is around 1,300 Kilometers, if my memory serves me right, with another 300 on either end from Hokkaido and Okinawa, so my radius of 1,000 Meters reaches out into the sea on either side, as well as to a good portion of mainland China. This could be good, as new cities can be built without worrying that monsters will attack them if they're hidden well enough, but it also means we will be constantly mobbed by enemies, and while I like the EXP and Loot that brings, its somewhat tiresome. Also, and this is something I think requires thought, I've just received confirmation that at some point when the Game is at a higher level, it's going to be a Command and Conquer and Siege-Type Game; my 'Lineage Theme' will apparently be used to show me the amount of land my Lineage has conquered. The Game wants us to wipe each other out until there's only one left."

"... so these Grey Lords are playing Civ 6 with us?"

I sighed long-sufferingly, leaning back into my throne. "Yes, Kenny. The Grey Lords are playing a Fantasy-Themed Civ 6, and we're the first ones to get to the higher levels. On the plus side, I've got 600 levels of Territory that'll automatically expand out 60 Cubic Kilometers in all directions whenever this Event Area opens up, and I'm the only person who has a Lineage Theme, due to my being the only person to reach Level 500. Now, how about the changes to the Dungeon Monsters; did the Artisans, Dwarves, Dryads, and Giants all change to Thunderkin as well?"

Moira sighed, raising one hand lazily. "Zey did, Oui, and all of the animals also exhibited changes, mostly in ze form of an immunity to Lightning Damage, as best as I can tell. Some also obtained silvered scales zat reflected lightning damage back on nearby enemies, and some absorb it and release it intuitively, depending on zeir levels of Intelligence. I 'ave only made five of each and released zem into ze Lake, so far, but zey will breed themselves back up to par soon enough. As for ze Humanoids, zey are not my field, and Kenny and Ms. Toyama would know more about zem."

Ms. Toyama looked up from picking at her tusks at the mention of her name, and quickly stood to reply. "Yes, the Shrine Guardians also gained tusks and an ever-present static to them, but that is all that changed for them. the Giants essentially turned into... well, you, Lady Sybil, only a little taller, and the Dryads and Dwarves as well. They still have their personalities and abilities and classes, but they're all a bit bigger, with silver skin and little tusks; oddly, something to note, the dwarves are still smaller than the rest of us, about the same height as normal humans now, and the dryads are still smaller than the Giants, so it's still easy to differentiate between them. Arguably, once could say that nothing has actually changed, except our appearances being a bit more fierce."

"Thank you, Ms. Toyama, that's very helpful. So, here's what I think needs to happen; first we'll need to clear the next Fifty Waves, and then whatever comes next, but more importantly, we need to all get to Level 500, which is apparently the Average Level of a Grey Knight of the Court of Beasts: if they come knocking, I want to be able to answer them in kind. Second: building Expansion points so that when the Area Opens, we can claim Mount Fuji and the surrounding cities all at once, and hopefully gain the entire Bay and reach to the peninsula east of us so we can alter it to make it a more effective breakwater. Third: once we've managed to get some new land, we'll turn all the surface land back into heavily forested, natural land, to make sure we have a sufficient oxygen supply for the future. Any additions?"

Kenny slowly raised one hand, still frowning. "Just one? You don't plan on desecrating Mount Fuji, do you?"

"If by desecrating you mean hollowing it out and using the Geothermal activity in its core to power our city going forward, then yes, though I intend to preserve all its outward characteristics, such as its trails and Shrines and all of that. There will be no visible changes to the mountain. Anyone else?"

"If we are preserving all the major historical sites of Japan while also destroying its outward signs of civilization, where are the cities going to go? As the resident Archivist, I'm a little apprehensive about Selective Nostalgia, as it were, but also the cities themselves have value to us as raw materials, amongst other things." Jorvik looked rather odd without his glasses, and indeed they sat in his breast pocket, but just like the others he hadn't changed in looks beyond the obvious silver skin and tusks.

"The cities will be moved beneath the surface in the same manner that the Ruins currently sit, with any intact buildings being preserved as they are and then reorganized by you and Kenny into a more useful format, and the destroyed buildings being sent to the scrapyard that was the Stone Giant's Breeding Grounds. The mountain will become our new headquarters, as it is the largest natural formation in Japan, and thus the best choice for a natural fortress to be used to defend us from the Monsters that will Spawn on the Surface. A Garden of Glass will be built above each one, as well as a Druid's Grove, producing food and energy that is sustainable for the future. In essence, Jorvik, you don't need to worry about me falling prey to selective nostalgia. My intentions are to survive, keep all of you alive, and expand our Territory until we've conquered the world and beaten these Grey Lords at their own Game. If we meet others on the way, I'll do my best to keep them alive too, unless they're hostile to us, in which case I possess the mental fortitude to simply crush them and move on; you probably have to worry about Kenny more, as he seems to have a coronary every time I destroy something. I mean, his reaction at the destruction of that Porn Convention-"

"It was a Cosplay Convention and you know it!!!"

"- indicates his own selective nostalgia is far more pervasive -and perverse- than mine will ever be. Now, if that's all, everyone should go get some rest and some food, and ready up for the next Wave in eleven hours." I smirked at Kenny's muttered insults while the rest of the team filtered out of the room and down the hallway towards the City, and then made my way to the windows facing the ocean to take a seat and relax with the view of the waves in the distance.