Evan materialized back in the shared creation space, expecting to find Lisa still absorbed in her avatar customization. Instead, he found himself alone in the crystalline chamber, her creation interface nowhere to be seen.
"Lisa?" he called out, his voice echoing in the empty space. "Where did you go?"
He checked the drafting chamber first, thinking she might have returned to their usual workspace, but found it equally empty. The monitoring displays showed dozens of active instances, but no sign of his companion anywhere in the familiar spaces.
Puzzled, he expanded his awareness throughout the dungeon, casting his consciousness across every corner of Fabledeep in search of Lisa's presence. It didn't take long to find her—she was in a location he'd never paid attention to before, simply labeled "Testing Chambers" in his dungeon architecture.
With a thought, he transported himself to the location, curious about what she might be doing in—
"What the hell happened here?" he breathed, staring at the devastation around him.
The testing chamber looked like a war zone. Smoking craters dotted the floor where something had unleashed devastating attacks. Training dummies lay scattered in pieces, their straw stuffing still smoldering. Mock building facades had been reduced to rubble, and scorch marks decorated the walls in artistic patterns that spoke of controlled but overwhelming destruction.
"About time you showed up," came a voice from behind him, musical and alluring in a way that made his spine tingle with appreciation. "You took forever."
The voice was unmistakably Lisa's, but transformed—it carried a song-like quality that was impossibly attractive to the ear, each word flowing into the next like notes in a perfectly composed melody.
Evan turned around, and his breath caught in his throat.
A brief identification window popped up in his vision: The Voice of Forgotten Stories, The Architect's Muse. Unlike his mobs with their glowing red names, or the players with their green names, or the neutral NPCs with their yellow names, this one glowed a deep, mesmerizing violet.
Lisa's avatar was magnificent and terrifying in equal measure—a towering, bipedal kitsune that stood three times the height of a normal person. Her presence filled the chamber with an aura of elegant menace that made the destroyed training equipment seem like mere decorative touches.
Her body was wrapped in impossibly pale fur that seemed to drink in light rather than reflect it, shimmering faintly toward the extremities where it faded into ghostlike translucence. Across the pristine surface, delicate lines of arcane tattoos pulsed with soft luminescence—intricate patterns that seemed to shift subtly whenever he wasn't looking directly at them. The markings coiled over her shoulders, down her sides, and across her massive frame like the work of some forgotten calligrapher, adding hypnotic complexity to her already striking form.
Nine colossal tails fanned out behind her in deliberate crescent arcs, each one heavy yet graceful, their tips trailing fine, misty filaments that drifted through the air like ethereal smoke. The same glowing motifs that decorated her body spiraled and knotted toward the ends of each tail, enhancing the sense of barely restrained power.
Her head retained its vulpine shape but elongated slightly beyond natural proportions, crowned by tall, sharp ears. The left ear was pierced several times with small, dark metal rings and studs that glinted against her pale fur. Thick, engraved metal bands adorned her wrists—dark with age and set with small stones that hummed with the same subtle glow as her markings.
Her claws were long, white, and elegant—less like brutish weapons and more like quills sharpened to perfection. Her eyes shone like pools of liquid silver, catching the faintest light and reflecting it back with unreadable depth.
What struck Evan most was how her form seemed designed for versatility. Her back legs ended in large, powerful paws, while her front limbs terminated in remarkably human-like hands. The overall impression was of a creature equally comfortable standing upright or moving on all fours, able to adapt her posture to whatever the situation required.
The jewelry and tattoos didn't diminish her menace—they enhanced it, giving the impression not of a beast adorned by others, but of a sovereign creature who had chosen each detail as part of some ritual or myth known only to herself.
"Wow," Evan managed, still taking in the full scope of her transformation. "You look incredible! It fits perfectly with your companion form's race as well."
Lisa's silver eyes gleamed with satisfaction, her tails swishing behind her in complex patterns. "I wanted something that embodied elegance and destruction in equal measure," she explained, her melodious voice carrying undertones of barely contained mischief. "Something that could inspire beauty and creativity, but also chaos and unpredictability. When I finished the creation process and manifested for the first time, the system automatically brought me here to test my abilities."
She gestured with one clawed hand toward the devastated training area. "I even have a full set of powers tied to this form. The system mentioned that our capabilities will grow as we reach new Core milestones."
Evan nodded, impressed by both her appearance and the implications of what she was describing. "That's fascinating. The system is treating us more like evolving characters than static NPCs."
He took a deep breath and activated the option to manifest his own avatar form. The transformation was immediate but gentle—reality rippling around him as his consciousness settled into the physical vessel he had so carefully designed.
Somehow, Lisa managed to whistle in her massive fox form, the sound carrying musical harmonics that seemed impossible from any normal throat. "The Archivist of Endings," she said, reading his identification display. "Grand Architect of Fabledeep. Very impressive."
She began to circle him slowly, moving with the fluid grace of a predator examining something of interest. Her massive form prowled around him on all fours, silver eyes taking in every detail of his pristine white appearance. Even in her lowered position, Evan realized she was still significantly larger than him—a fact that made him feel slightly self-conscious despite his own imposing presence.
He forced himself to remain still as she completed her examination, the adaptive mask on his face remaining smooth and expressionless while his mind raced with nervous energy.
Finally, she settled back in front of him, sitting in a position that somehow managed to be both elegant and alert. "I like it," she declared, her musical voice carrying notes of genuine approval. "It fits you perfectly, and it definitely works for Fabledeep. Very mysterious, very... authorial."
Evan brightened considerably, his mask rippling to show a pleased expression before returning to smooth stillness. "Thanks. I was having some doubts about whether it struck the right balance, but I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out."
Lisa's eyes widened, her ears perking forward with obvious delight. "That mask thing is absolutely incredible! The way it just shifted to show your emotions—that's such a cool feature. I can't wait until the players see us in action."
She stretched luxuriously, her tails fanning out in complex patterns behind her. "I've already decided to lean into the mischievous yet elegant and beautiful role, you know? Keep them constantly guessing what I might do next. What about you? How are you planning to portray yourself?"
Evan paused, his mask remaining still as he considered the question. He hadn't really thought that far ahead, focusing so intently on the design aspects that he'd neglected to consider the performance elements.
"I... honestly haven't thought about it," he admitted. "I guess I can't just go and act like myself, can I?"
"Absolutely not!" Lisa exclaimed, her voice carrying harmonics of scandalized amusement. "You have a role to play! You are the mysterious creator of Fabledeep! If I'm your muse, you have to be appropriately eccentric and seem inspired by forces beyond mortal understanding!"
Evan thought it over, his mind already beginning to envision the possibilities. Melodramatic speech patterns, as if he were narrating a story even in casual conversation. Mysterious and graceful in his word choices, everything delivered with the weight of someone who understood the deeper meanings behind surface events. Every statement should feel like it carried significance beyond the immediate moment.
"I think I've got it," he said, his mask rippling with a slight smile. "The eternal storyteller, speaking as if every moment is part of some grander narrative. Everything meaningful, nothing casual or throwaway."
"Perfect!" Lisa said, her tails swishing with excitement. "This is going to be so much fun. Players are going to have no idea what to expect from us."
Evan looked around the destroyed testing chamber, then back at his companion's magnificent and imposing form. For the first time since his entrapment began, he felt genuinely excited about the possibilities ahead. They weren't just going to manage encounters—they were going to create genuine theatrical experiences that would leave lasting impressions on everyone who encountered them.
"Ready to give some players the experience of a lifetime?" he asked.
Lisa's response was a laugh that sounded like silver bells mixed with distant thunder. "Oh, Evan. They have no idea what's coming."