They Wanted a Hero. They Made a Monster: Born at the Bottom
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 46: Born Deficient
The severed ends of the mycelial tendrils that carried the Spore Cannons writhed slowly. Complete conical structures had already woven themselves back into place.
Under the effect of [Mycelial Reconstruction LV2], Knight’s six mycelial tendrils had almost recovered their original form.
Their color was merely a little paler than the rest of the body.
The claw mark across the shell remained clearly visible.
Because the shell was produced by a skill, it did not fall within the range of structures Mycelial Reconstruction could restore. Evan would have to generate a replacement later.
Outside, the Monster Tide had finally entered its closing stages. Monsters were returning to their original strata, and the Dragonbeasts entered the rifts one after another.
The monsters had also resumed attacking one another as usual.
Evan watched a Riftfang Beast seize the tail fin of a small Dragonbeast before leaving and drag its struggling prey into the stairway.
Every monster above LV25 that remained lost on the Fifth Stratum and could not find its way home gained a negative effect.
[Permanent Effects: Soul Siphon (gradually reduces Stats and skill proficiency)] This was plainly how the dungeon restored order between its strata after a Monster Tide.
Any creature unable to return would presumably be drained dry in the end.
But having one’s soul siphoned...
The thought alone made Evan shudder.
Fortunately, he did not possess the condition.
Neither did the Dragonkin.
This matched Evan’s theory. Neither he nor the Dragonkin had been part of the Monster Tide.
In Evan’s case, the dungeon family had never truly accepted him.
The Dragonkin’s behavior revealed the same separation.
During the Monster Tide’s unnatural peace, she attacked other monsters to protect her food. Rather than hurrying to escape the dungeon, she searched the entire Fifth Stratum for Evan’s Puffcaps to eat.
Evan’s special status came from his Hero title.
As for the Dragonkin, perhaps it was because she was an Ancient Dragon’s Scion.
Speaking of the Dragonkin...
“Hungry...”
Less than twenty square yards of open space remained within the collapsed cavern.
The Dragonkin crouched in one corner with both claws resting on her knees. Her eyes remained fixed on several battery Puffcaps across the cave, and she was practically drooling.
Sigh.
One battery Puffcap crossed the rubble and approached her with soft puffing footsteps.
She swept it into her arms and affectionately rubbed her cheek against it. The scales on her face soon scratched several cuts through the Puffcap.
Like Dylan, the Dragonkin had developed an instinctive affection for Puffcaps after being infected.
At least she had not awakened and resumed fighting Knight to the death. She was even willing to listen to some of Evan’s instructions.
She still intended to eat the Puffcaps, of course.
The battery Puffcap possessed only 10 HP. The scales scraped it to death, and once the Dragonkin finished cuddling it, she began eating around the edge of its cap.
This Dragonkin was not very intelligent.
After connecting her to the Mycelial Network and exchanging a few words, Evan discovered that her mind resembled a child’s.
That level of intelligence certainly matched her earlier behavior on the Fifth Stratum.
Logically, however, one parent was human and the other an Ancient Dragon. Neither species lacked intelligence, so there was no reason for their offspring to be a fool.
The Half-Dragon Evan encountered before had seemed as intelligent as any ordinary person.
The answer lay in the Dragonkin’s Status Panel.
[Permanent Effects: Innate Deficiency: Intelligence (Intelligence reduced by 80%)] The Intelligence stat related to spellcasting ability and was not identical to intellect.
Even so, an innate deficiency probably meant she had been born with an impaired mind, which appeared in her Stats as low Intelligence.
Worse, that was not her only deficiency.