“Now that you have several defenses I’ll go and talk to the other fairies. To let them know that you are open and have your first level complete. Is that ok?” Arizo looked a bit nerves

“Of course you can go back home and visit. But you will come back right?” I replied, equally nervous to be on my own.

“Yes I’ll be back. I want to check in with the teacher that took over my class, see a few friends and make sure I have the history of our location correct.” She looked both relieved and happy.

“I guess I’ll see you soon.”

“Have fun spending your other points. See you in 2 days.”

“I will and you still need to find me a really good garden puzzle.” I replied to her.

Arizo giggled and waved as the same magic door she had arrived through appeared and she was gone.

I could feel her absence right away. As a distraction I turned to the dungeon and worked on making it even better.

________________

First I looked through my creatures to see how many points they were each worth.

The mouse and cave shrimp didn’t cost any points. The snail only cost half a point and the guardians varied in cost. I focused on my Jack, Sally and Emily guardians. Jack had cost 3DP but the girls only cost 2 each. So size and fighting ability must have something to do with it. Jack is 2ft taller than the girls and has claws.

Focusing on the catedral room I made a stone guardian using stone and slate. It was modeled after the grim reaper, a dark figure in long robes whose face is hidden by a hood. I armed it with an iron scythe with a wickedly sharp blade made of amethyst.

Blueprint Unlocked: Iron Scythe

Iron Scythe: A grain cutting tool, effective though heavy.

That cost another 4DP. So I focused on the room as a whole. Once it was outlined like the boss room had been I selected to add a puzzle. For this one I made it very simple. Put an item in the guardian’s open hand and the door unlocks. But if anyone tried to force their way through the door the guardian would attack. Or if they attacked it first.

A small stone plinth for it to stand on with a plack that asked for a toll should be enough of a clue.

Before I left that room, I put a slate chest at the bottom of the well for anyone willing to go looking for it. And 6 stone benches arranged like church pews facing the guardian.

Blueprint Unlocked: Chest

Blueprint Unlocked: Bench

Bench: like a chair but much wider.

Chest: A box designed to hold valuables. Comes in many shapes and sizes.

Looking at that blueprint my mind started to whorl with ideas. Skipping over the rooms with the chickens and bats I focused on the labyrinth. It really didn’t deserve that name, more of a small maze than anything. I hoped to make a great winding labyrinth that would be the stuff of legend later on. But for now this small one had potential.

I started by pulling up the blueprint of a chest, then focusing on it and hoping more than anything.

I felt the same resistance as with the guardians. Then there was a breakthrough

Blueprint Unlocked: Mimic

“YES!” I cheered just what I wanted.

Looking at the mimic’s blueprint, I could see it would vary in DP based on its size and complexity. It had a minimum 2DP and 5MP so I played around with shapes sizes and materials till I made one that I liked and only cost 2 DP.

I settled on a small iron box with a simple lock and an aventurine jewel for it’s eye. It was only a foot long, 10in wide and about as deep.

My heart melted when it blinked its green eye and its large tongue hung out. It was so cute!! Arizo was gonna love this little thing.

I just watched the mimic wander around and explore. It was very slow using the 4 short legs the box had to move.

After an unknown amount of time just watching and cooing at my new creation I got back to work.

Focusing on the maze I added its puzzle. Making more mimics so there were 5 identical ones and 10 chests that looked just like them. I moved them to various places in the maze. 7 of the boxes would hold rings that fit on the keyshaft I hung near the entrance. Once they were placed in the right order they made a key that unlocked the door to the boss room.

But first they had to find the door out of the maze. I made it another pocket door that blended into the wall. The other 3 chests in the room would have rings too, they just didn’t do anything. Since it was a puzzle dungeon magic took over and would randomize the lock combination each time it was reset.

Onto making the rings. I made some plain ones and them ones with different types of quartz as a set.

Blueprint Unlocked: Jeweled Iron Ring

Blueprint Unlocked: Iron Ring

Iron Ring: A ring of iron. Used for basic and beginner enchanting.

Jeweled Iron Ring: An iron ring with a jewel setting. Pretty and decorative or useful in enchanting.

The mimics took up 10DP leaving 14. I added another pair of kobolds to the first room, one male and one female. Giving the male a spear and the female an axe along with a vine bag.

Blueprint Unlocked: Iron axe

Blueprint Unlocked: vine sack

Iron Axe: Good, cheap cutting tool.

Vine Sack: a large sack made woven from vines. Lightweight but not very durable.

I needed more materials. More metals for sure. But unless I found some digging that wasn’t likely to happen.

Using my last 8DP I placed 4 mandrakes in the garden. I changed the 4 raised beds so that each was made of a different type of quartz. There were also hanging baskets made of vines and wall mounted planters made of quartz.

Blueprint Unlocked: Basket

Basket: A woven container to carry larger loads.

Moving the 4 large planters out a bit I put a massive honeysuckle in the center of the 4 beds. Then filled all the planters with what plants I had.

Next up was the chicken room. Several lives worth of memories contributed to this puzzle. The chickens were to run around and avoid anyone that enters. The people had to catch them and place them in cages that I made in 3 of the 4 alcoves in the room's corners. When they caged 5 chickens the door would unlock. If they caught more chickens, then a chest would appear in the 4th alcove. More chickens equal better prizes

Kill any chicken and the door would open, but the next hall would become choked with poison ivy and fireweed.

To finish things up I added a few hidden treasure chests in the bat room. In either pits, behind rocks or inside crystals growths.

Jack, Sally and Emily were still as stone…. standing right inside the door to the room. I had them move to new positions. Watching them move I felt a bit sad. They were like puppets. Not the animated beings from my memories. Dolls that I could pose but had no life. Asking Jack to smile was even more creepy so I told him to stop. Thankfully one of my fish distracted me from the sad thoughts. I added an order so that Sally would attack after people were there for 5 minutes. Emily after 10 and Jack after 15 minutes. Or if any of the guardians were attacked before their time they would all activate and attack.

Looking over the rooms I didn’t really know what else to do here. I watched my creatures just moving about living their lives. The mimics were wrestling for the best hiding spots in their room. The kobolds were checking out the traps in the hall past their room and integrating the 2 new kobolds. The chickens were being loud and running around. I gave them a shallow dish of water to drink from and covered the floor in a thin layer of soil for them to scratch in.

I don’t know how long I just watched my creatures and looked over the rooms to see if there was anything I could add or improve. While I had some places I wanted to improve I didn’t have the resources.

It was after day break and the kobolds had left for the morning when I got an itch. A little voice telling me to dig.

Why I hadn’t thought of making my second floor yet I don’t know but now the desire to hollow it out and expand was there.

I started with a long circular shaft going straight down just beyond my stone guardian in the hall from the boss room. It wasn’t very wide yet but it would become a spiral staircase. I already decided that where the 1st floor was mostly boxes the 2nd would be round. Circles and domes and ovals. The thought had me digging even deeper. The whole floor was going to be a circle maze with loads of tunnels that looked the same and loped back on themself. People would be back tracking for days if it turned out the way I imagined. It would also be the perfect place for my Black Racer.

_____________

My attention was ripped away from digging when a strange feeling fell over me. I remembered the feeling from the Racer, something had entered the dungeon.

4 of the kobolds were fighting in the entrance against a …. tree woman? She was about 5ft tall and looked human but was green, made of plants and glowing. The blood on her claws told me what happened to the other 2 kobolds. They had likely been killed while out harvesting.

It was tempting to send my grim guardian forward to help them, but I resisted. This was a dungeon challenger. I had to play by the rules I set. Though I could cheat.

“Fall back to the first room. You’ll have more space to attack together there.” I told the lead female.

They did as I said and the creature gave chase. Looking at it closer, I could see there was something wrong with it. I didn’t know what and the name for this being was lost in my head. But I just knew it wasn’t right.

Another kobold fell. Its body dissolved into the ground leaving a single claw behind.

Finally the 2 spearmen stabbed the thing in the heart and it fell. All 3 kobolds collapsed in exhaustion.

The creature dissolved into my floor as well.

Blueprint Unlocked: Dryad

Blueprint Unlocked: Dryad Bark

Blueprint Unlocked: Dryad Heart

Dryad Bark: The skin of a dryad. Dryads shed their skin every spring. Much harder than regular wood. It is resistant to fire and can be used in many potions and alchemy recipes

Dryad Heart: The heart of a dryad. Rare and easily destroyed. Is a valuable potion and alchemy ingredient. In many places dryads are protected, selling one could see you arrested.

Out of curiosity I created a dryad in the core room before restoring the kobolds. The same plant-like lady appeared only this time her glow was much softer and she just seemed happier.

“You don’t yet belong here.” I told her.

She gave a small laugh but nodded not seeming bothered that I was going to reabsorb her. I created the 2 female and one male kobolds that had died and equipped them. I was just glad that the lead female had survived.

Thinking on the dryad. Her anger and odd glow must have been a side effect of the mana in the forest. I wondered what other creatures might be out there. And how they might be twisted. It may take a while for any sentients to reach me but what about the beasts of the wood?

After congratulating the kobolds on their defense I cautiously went back to digging. Though I was interrupted again.

Blueprint Unlocked: Granite

Blueprint Unlocked: Mica

Blueprint Unlocked: Feldspar

Blueprint Unlocked: Sandstone

Feldspar: an abundant rock-forming mineral typically occurring as colorless or pale-colored crystals. Used in making glass and ceramics.

Granite: A coarse-grained, light-colored, igneous rock that contains mainly quartz, feldspar, and mica minerals. A strong building material that can also be polished to a high shine making it more desirable.

Mica: A naturally occurring stone that is used in pigments and cosmetics due to its shiny and glittery appearance. Also used in fine pottery.

Sandstone: Composed mostly of quartz or feldspar. A building material. Most ovens are made of sandstone. As it is softer than most rocks it can be more easily carved.

Since I was distracted again I checked on the Kobolds.

They seemed to have recovered. How fast they healed when resting and how well they took the death of half their numbers was amazing. I wondered if it was a property of all kobolds or just because these were made in a dungeon. Looking to the entrance I also wondered what happened to their bodies when they died outside my walls.

With a more heavy heart I turned back to the second floor.

I didn’t plan to use any doors on this floor unlike on the first. My snakes couldn’t roam if there were doors in their way. I hoped more species of snake came. Maybe some spiders too. The thought of having loads of snakes and spiders roaming the halls freely and spooking people made me chuckle.

Mood lifted. I put more effort into making my next floor.