I began work on the 2nd floor just before reaching level 11. Even with [Fast-Paced] speeding up the natural processes of the dungeon creating a new ecosystem from scratch was beyond my current cap. While waiting I had spent a ridiculous amount of time figuring out how to create a new floor at all.

Just digging downwards and making different creatures wasn’t good enough for the voice. After all my current hallway leading to the core is underneath the Mangle Bog but still labeled as such. The key had been opening [Dungeon Status] and visualizing the floor total increasing to 2.

*WOULD “UNNAMED DUNGEON” LIKE TO BEGIN CREATION OF THE 2ND FLOOR?

YES/NO

‘Yes I’ve been trying for over an hour...’

*BEGIN CONTRUCTION OF “NON COMBAT ZONE” SEPERATING THE LAST AND NEWEST FLOOR

*” NON COMBAT ZONE” CAN BE ANY DESIRED SIZE

*” NON COMBAT ZONE » MAY NOT CONTAIN ANY AGGRESSIVE CREATURES

‘Okay... ?’

Having an interlude between the floors hadn’t been part of my original plan but I could work it in somehow. I guess this would be the equivalent to a save point? Maybe I could use this safe space requirement to profit somehow?

To begin I pushed the core room down around 500 feet to match the next floors planned height. Replacing the tunnel down the stairs guarded by the Swarming Slime I constructed a rectangular room of white marble about the size of a school cafeteria. At the back I placed a black marble staircase with white walls down to the current core room and future 2nd floor.

Looking across the simple white room I grew dissatisfied. Sure I’d met the requirement but this was so lame... It will cost some extra mana but... Ah, Screw it! If the voice wants a save point I’ll make it the grandest one I can muster! Otherwise it’ll never stop bothering me.

Committing to the concept I raised several dozen black marble tables with bench seating for visitors to sit at. In the back right corner I carved out counters and cabinets for a future kitchen or dismantling station. Sadly I don’t possess the proper knowledge to create working ovens but I’ll find a work around in the future. Finishing the main room I made several metal lanterns hanging from the ceiling that acted like plant pots. Inside I placed several white Luminous Shrooms that chased the shadows out of the underground room.

Moving over to the center of the left wall I carved out an open doorway and placed a light blue stained slab over the top. On the right wall I repeated the process but stained the slab a gentle pink. I could have simply chiseled out the words “Men” and “Women” but I know from the books I kept from Ford that the characters used in this world are different. A fact made more interesting when considering I hear and understand what the natives say out loud. I suppose the voice is translating for me in limited capacity.

Past the open doorways I made 3 stories of long hallways with black stairways at the end leading up and down. Each floor had 50 smaller doorways with lockers beside them large enough to store the armor I’d observed the knights wearing. Beside the end of the first floors stairway I made large bathrooms similar to those of an earthly truck stop. Regrettably I lack knowledge of plumbing so for now each toilet is little more than a lid and a hole down to a fecal storage room.

Inside the rooms themselves I recreated Ford’s straw mattress and gave each a small island counter, desk, 2 chairs, and a stone bathtub with vine curtains. For convenience I would drain the used bathwater out at midnight and refill the tubs at around 6. By limiting access to water I can save myself the trouble of monitoring whenever someone needs to use the tap. All my amenities would repeat for each genders 150 rooms, leaving me with around 300 1 person apartments.

Wiping my mental brow after finishing the last room I realized I needed to put in a system to profit with. Just giving my invaders a nicer save point than required wouldn’t do me any good! Maybe I could charge rent?

Thinking on the concept I eventually came up with the welcome [Banner] explaining the rules. Despite getting close to writing “I’m alive help me!” the voice didn’t stop me from publishing the [Banner]. Why this description differed from before I’m unsure.

Hello and Welcome to the Save Point!

Here is a basic description of what this place is:

The safe zones are located in-between each floor of this dungeon and are completely safe from any form of attack from the dungeon. You are free to spend your time here gathering your strength for the coming floors by sleeping in any of the available rooms on your genders side of this main hall. Blue for boys and Pink for girls. Each room is equipped with a bed and a bathtub. The tubs will be drained at 12 o’clock midnight and filled with fresh water at 6 am for you convenience. You may also feel free to use any of our public bathrooms found at the end of your respective halls instead of relieving yourself somewhere in the dungeon. The lockers found along each side of the rooms (locks not provided) are free to use at your discretion. Finally please take advantage of the Safe Zones kitchen located in the back right of the main room when preparing your rations (ingredients not provided).

Here are the Basic Rules of the Safe Zone

As the dungeon will not be attacking you in this safe zone the dungeon asks that you not destroy this safe zone it has graciously provided you in return. Anything left in lockers will be taken by the dungeon in the event that the person in question dies in the dungeon or is absent for more than 3 days. Please clean kitchens after personal use for the next group Please cook all meals in the kitchens to avoid making the rooms smell Men may not enter the women’s side of the safe zone and women may not enter the men’s side of the safe room (or they will be banned from the Safe Zone permanently) The dungeon will always hold the right to ban anyone it wants from the safe zone it has provided but promises that it will not simply use this power on people it doesn’t like but only on those who deserve to suffer the consequences of their actions. You may stay here as long as you feel necessary!

From these rules I had purposefully left some things missing. The biggest being lack of any punishment for how visitors treat each other. If anyone happens to die in the Save Point I’ll of course absorb them. If someone comes down from the boss fight above and dies, if someone breaks into another’s unlocked room and kills them, or even if someone poisons the public kitchen I will benefit. While not the perfect system to “profit” of the necessary non-combat zone the Save Point is the perfect start.

Looking over at my mana capacity I realized some more waiting would be needed after my spree and went back to waiting.

---

Soon as my mana hit a comfortable amount to begin working I began [Terraforming] an enormous rectangular room at the bottom of the Save Point’s spiral staircase. Since the process was so cheap I only stopped after making the floor over 5 miles long, 1 mile wide, and 500 feet tall. The reason for such an increase in head room is to accommodate this floor’s centerpieces, the redwoods.

These redwoods were much more expensive than the Superlunary Mangroves above but were needed to create the atmosphere I wanted. So for the next several hours I began planting and experimenting on the wooden giants. Said experiments involved a lot of fire and a lot of patience while healing the trees with mana. While they burned I replaced the stone floor with nutrient rich dirt and heat absorbing rocks. As I’d done for the Mangle Bog I also summoned some small and normal animals like worms to keep the ecosystem functional. These species were unlikely to evolve or be useful for more than maintenance and occasionally earning a few points of mana.

As planned in advance the trees were giving off immense amounts of heat as they perpetually burned. With proper spacing the entire floor’s temperature would raise to over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. But that limit could perhaps be raised higher by their new evolution.

* YOUR “REDWOOD” HAS REACHED THE EVOLUTION THRESHOLD! 2 OPTIONS AVAILABLE PLEASE SELECT AN EVOLUTION OPTION:

TOWERING REDWOOD: This evolution of the redwood tree enhances their already impressive size to almost 1,000 feet and toughens their bark to make it as hard as iron.

*SPECIAL EVOLUTION REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN MET! ADDING “INFERNAL REDWOOD” TO EVOLUTION OPTIONS.

INFERNAL REDWOOD: After being bathed in flames for their entire lives some redwoods will awaken an affinity for fire. With their new magic abilities these trees will never burn down and instead feed the flames mana allowing them to burn as long as the tree lives. With enough practice the trees may be able to add special effects to the flames.

Selecting all the available trees my forest fire glowed an even more intense orange as the changes were made. When they came out I was stunned at their towering beauty.

Each tree had grown to 450 feet tall, the maximum height of this species and had changed leaf color from green to muted orange and reds. The bark had changed as well to have several thousand tear shaped red markings up and down their trunks. Still burning away I watched mesmerized as the bark would instantly regrow after burning away. During these periods of replacement I saw that inside of each tree roared blazing rings of pilot flames. To make the flaming trees even more impressive they could attack!

Whenever an Infernal Redwood sensed the presence of a nearby invader they would release spouts of flame from their teardrops marking. These small jets of flame would also be used to close escape paths and keep the temperature of the floor insanely high. So high that anyone in armor would be hard pressed to move forward.

Placing several hundred of the new species across the floor I soon had over 5 miles of forest fire meant to be traversed. Against the backdrop of the flames I created small hills similar to the one my entrance was found on and a large creek running horizontally across the midway point of the floor. Inside of which I began creating a population of the recently obtained salmon and catfish.

Given that salmon are known for swimming up and down stream while jumping up waterfalls I placed one on either side of the creek. Atop these were large and still ponds for the salmon to spawn in. To keep the theme going I decided to switch the direction the water flows every few hours. The creek itself was around 100 feet across and only waist deep at the center. It was in these regions the catfish and other bait fish would swim to avoid the intense current. How people decided to cross once my creatures had evolved would remain to be seen.

I stopped for a while on the rocky shore, gazing at the brilliant sight of flames reflecting off the crystal clear water’s surface. Given the constant flames the entire creek soon began emitting large amounts of steam. Without the ability to completely disperse into the surroundings the steam made something resembling a layer of clouds around the 450 foot mark of the floor. Luckily the increased temperature of the water didn’t seem to affect my reinforced fish much.

Besides the infernal redwoods I also got a new evolution of Poison Ivy called Igniting Ivy. I scattered these amongst the normal grass and stones as their appearance was rather similar. The new evolution no longer creates a rash like mark on anything it touches, now creating 2nd or even 3rd degree burns on whomever is unfortunate enough to touch them. I curiously noted that the leaves themselves were not incredibly heated. Instead they seemed to simply manifest burns on their victims. Such biology made me wonder if they were more magical in nature.

The last plants I integrated into the floor’s base design were the much anticipated stalks of corn. Personally, when I think of corn my mind immediately jumps to popcorn. How is popcorn produced? By heating corn kernels enough that the insides burst outwards. Now what would happen if, like the Luminous Shrooms, if I made this fascinating aspect of the species stronger?

Corn Grenades.

Practically bouncing as I grew the towering corn stalks I modified their kernels to be almost as tough as lead. Using my new knowledge I also implanted in them the power to sense nearby intruders like the Infernal Redwoods. Now when they sense someone they should be able to detonate their corn cobs automatically. Upon detonation the kernels would explode everywhere as shrapnel, tearing into the intruder and the environment.

*YOUR CORN HAS REACHED THE EVOLUTION THRESHOLD! 1 OPTION AVAILABLE WOULD YOU LIKE TO EVOLVE YOUR CORN INTO “BURST CORN”

YES/NO

‘Wow it actually exists? Yes please!’

Emerging from the light the stalks changed from green to bright shades of red, burning and regenerating just like the redwoods. The yellow corn cobs had grown in size and now resembled small missiles, having become more aerodynamic. Testing a detonation I also witnessed the cob regenerate in just under 5 minutes! Even more incredible the stalks would swivel to aim at nearby movement!

When they sense nearby movement the stalks will move the flames towards the cob itself and then angle the bomb towards the target. As a result of the fire directly against the missile, the kernels closest to the base will pop, launching the corn towards the invader before the rest of the shrapnel shoots off. After some mishaps I also made sure the corn wouldn’t explode from the ambient heat of the floor and only from their own stalks pilot flame.

‘I’ve done it... Corn Grenades are now a real species...’

With the main attractions of the eternally burning forest itself created its time to introduce the creatures that will be living in it. To start with I moved the original breeding pair of Solar Salamanders and a select few of their children into the forest near the creek. These guys would have no problems surviving in the flaming biome and would hopefully evolve further. Of course their descendants will still live in the Mangle Bog, but the new generations that will evolve further shall live on the new floor.

For a moment I considered adding some Timber Wolves and Tempest Hares to the forest before deciding against it. This place would become a completely new ecosystem when compared to the first floor. Having the same monsters as above would make the floors seem too similar for my liking. Besides, I was eager to begin tinkering with some fresh creature templates.

Reading over the creature index in [Population Control] I had to decide between White-Tailed Deer or Caribou. I could already imagine invaders being chased through the burning forest by herds of Reindeer only to lose their footing and fall face first into some Igniting Ivy. So between the two I think I’m going to choose Caribou. While on Earth they lived in colder climates they had bigger antlers than simple Deer. It may take longer for them to adapt but they should have greater combat potential given how the voice tends to consider evolution paths.

One of the other creatures I’ve been wanting to use for a while are the Ocelots. They are only small wild cats, but I sense some strong potential within them. Cats are naturally agile and good at dropping from heights, not to mention climbing. Combining all this together creates some interesting strategies for the cats to use with the verticality of the redwoods. Inside the steam and smoke rich environment I’m anticipating many opportunities for good stealth kills. For now I’ll create about 30 and leave them to adapt and evolve while keeping them alive.

This steam and smoke filled skies had been unplanned in my original idea for the floor but had flooded my imagination with more ideas. Just the idea of stealthy predators hidden past a sky of steam swooping down to hunt sounds awesome. With this idea in mind I created two new aerial creatures that would stay hidden amongst the steam. My Red-Tailed Hawks and Fruit Bats.

The Red-Tailed Hawks were already incredible hunters in their own right but when I was done with them they were truly something to be feared. The first thing I did was increase their body size to almost 4 feet tall, more than 2 times the original size. Next I increased their wingspan of almost 4 feet to a definite 8. The last thing I increased in size were their talons. Each foot has 3 front talons and 1 back talon. I made them retractable and when fully deployed they are almost 6 inches long each. Of course I also reinforced these and sharpened them to a razors edge. Just before summoning them I gave the birds infrared vision like my anacondas so they could see through the black and white sky, picking out blue targets amidst the red flames.

For some added flare I sharpened the hawk’s wings to math their talons. When flying through the air the birds almost seemed to be dual wielding two incredibly large blades. As a result of their sharpened features the hawk’s would create a tearing sound as they flew through the air. This constant sound of tearing from above and the crackling of burning wood below created a great atmosphere inside the forest.

The 200 fruit bats also received an insanely high boost in size from about a foot to almost 4 feet. I changed them from omnivores to strictly carnivores and their sleeping habits from nocturnal to diurnal. The bats themselves weren’t made insanely powerful or poisonous. Instead they would overtake their targets with numbers and then take them back to the colony for feasting. For this to work I would need an inordinate amount of the bats and a place for them to live together.

For these bats I carved out a large cavern in the ceiling of the floor above the steam and smoke clouds. With such an enormous and impossible to reach cave the bat’s population should be safe to breed into the thousands

Most of the bats feasted on whatever they flew up into the cave many scouts would be scattered amongst the floor, hiding in the branches of the infernal redwoods with their heat resistant bodies. Once a scout found some viable prey, they would begin screaming out in a high-pitched voice, around that of a dog whistle, alerting the rest of the colony. Soon, hundreds of giant bats would fly down through the steam and past the burning trees towards their target. The target would find themselves completely engulfed in a storm of bats that would lift them up towards the treetops kicking and screaming. If the invaders allies could not repel the bats, then they would watch helplessly as their ally was taken screaming up past the trees and out of earshot.

Just before my mana emptied I created 7 new caribou and placed them in the back area of the floor. For now I only reinforced their fur and hooves, so they won’t be burned when stepping on the Igniting Ivy or by standing too close to any Infernal Redwoods that go off. I simply told the herd to breed and stay alive until evolution. If no good pathways opened up I would modify them further.

For curiosities sake I created a clay golem which did melt almost immediately upon entering the forest. Eventually the melted clay did harden, but only once whatever made the golem move had perished. In the future I can try making a mold of sorts that will heat the golems while also letting them keep their shape, but for now I just don’t have the mana.

With my base experiments set up and all my creatures preparing to breed I placed a new [Banner] at the bottom of the Save Point’s staircase.

“Welcome to the Smoldering Sequoia.”