Ian zoomed back into the dungeon to create his fungal monster. Even though he was creating a monster from biota, he was pretty sure the monster would be an Ankle Biter with how ubiquitous they were. Mushrooms about half a calf muscle high grew a mouth with sharp teeth and tried to bite anything that passed them. They were quite common monsters in fungal ecosystems and dungeons.

The Clear Web Spider he had created earlier was likely something he hadn’t seen before because he infused it with attributeless mana. Most biota have nature attribute mana when they are born and only later in life does that have any possibility of changing. If Ian had infused the web spider with nature mana, it would have likely transformed into a normal web spider monster. When he had the time, going through all the attributes was a must.

A red cap mushroom spore was summoned in Ian’s core room. He could have done it in the first floor, but he liked experimenting in his core room. Just like the other biota, he infused mana and aged it into a normal red cap mushroom, except he used nature mana this time.

Race:

Red Cap Mushroom

Attribute:

Nature

Development:

0/100

Description

A very common poisonous mushroom throughout the world. This mushroom can be used to create weak poisons, but if cooked properly can be eaten for nutritional value.

Ian created the nature attribute mana heart in the cap of the mushroom. He lost the same amount of mana as he had when creating the web spider’s mana heart. After updating the basic structure, nature mana flowed into the mushroom. At 100/100 development, the only evolution available showed Ian was right. The red cap which had been at ankle height grew to halfway up a human calf muscle and a hole with razor sharp teeth opened on the lower end of the stalk. A few quick snaps of its mouth, and the Ankle Biter seemed to huff at their being nothing to chew on and its mouth disappeared.

Race:

Ankle Biter

Rank:

G-

Attribute:

Nature

Development:

0/100

Titles:

Biotic Born

Skills

Spore Creation

Bite

Poison Secretion

Description

A common monster in fungal ecosystems and dungeons. It comes in many varieties depending on what normal kind of mushrooms there are in the environment. Depending on what type of mushroom it mimics it may gain additional skills. Like other fungal monsters it can create spores, but has also developed the ability to bite its opponents. Its mouth blends in and becomes nearly impossible to see when not attempting to bite something. The biggest detriment to making this monster dangerous is its inability to move. While its bites can hurt like a bitch, if you stand far enough away it’s a sitting duck.

Common Item Drops

G- Mana Heart

Mushroom

With red caps and ankle biters in hand, Ian started placing them throughout the Deep Cave First Floor. Ankle Biters were placed at corners to catch intruders unaware and chew on their namesake. The red caps were placed in a similar manner to the ferns throughout the floor, but Ian made sure to mix in ankle biters to keep people on their toes.

There was a sequence of three medium sized rooms with the middle one being the moss room. Should he make the other two in a similar style? Yeah, he should. The farthest from the entrance of the three rooms would be the mushroom room. Unlike the moss room that only had moss, the mushroom room already had ferns, moss, spider, jellies, slimes, centipedes, mold, puddles, and traps in it. Ian removed all the creatures but kept the flash and earth spike traps along with the puddles. Just like the moss room every square inch was covered with mushrooms and ankle biters. The problem of the size difference between red caps and ankle biters was overcome when Ian realized that 100/100 nature development red caps were the same size as ankle biters. The windows offered to make the 100/100 development mushrooms the basic red cap structure, but Ian refused. However, the windows offered him another choice. For 1,000 DP he could make the 100/100 development red caps a separate creature entry. Unsure of how useful it would be, Ian almost said no but decided that he would need to test it at some point and accepted.

The new entry was termed a Medium Red Cap Mushroom. The most noticeable difference was the previous full development was now at zero. Ian’s mind was about to go into full ‘what amazing things could he do with this new information’ mode, but the combination of his nagging subconscious and having relearned some personal control kept him on task. So, since he had two of three themed rooms making a fern monster for the third room was completely on task.

For the fern monster, Ian decided to keep the nature attribute going. The monster that resulted was termed a Constriction Fern. It looked the same as a normal fern, but when something got too close it would extend its leaves toward the intruder, wrap around any available space, and constrict. At G- rank it didn’t have much force behind it, but it was a nuisance.

Race:

Constriction Fern

Rank:

G-

Gender:

Hermaphrodite

Attribute:

Nature

Development:

0/100

Titles:

Biotic Born

Skills

Spore Creation

Extend

Constrict

Description

A common fern monster in forests, caves, and dungeons. It’s size and shape do not change from the type of fern it is based off of, so its reach and ability to cause harm are determined by its original species. Instead of the pollen creation skill of most plant monsters, it has the spore creation skill that most fungal monsters have.

Common Item Drops

G- Mana Heart

Frond

After the creatures were removed, the third room of three, the closest to the entrance still had a puddle, pitfall, earth spike trap, and a treasure location. Like the mush-room, he kept the puddle, traps, and treasure but filled every space with ferns and constriction ferns. It was certainly unusual to see ferns growing from the ceiling, but the more unusual part was gravity didn’t seem to affect them. Maybe it was one of those things where he didn’t want gravity to affect them, so it didn’t. He’d fuss and examine it when he had the time. The final of three themed rooms was complete, and Ian made sure to place constriction ferns throughout the floor like he did with moving moss and ankle biters.

Ian had a feeling that making a core connection didn’t have anything to do with Magical Beauty, so figuring out why his floor didn’t meet his subconscious requirements was next. He zoomed about the floor until he stopped at one of the ponds. ….There was nothing in it. That wouldn’t do. What did he have? No fish sadly, but snails and salamanders would fit. Even with snails and salamanders the lack of fish bugged him. ….A light spell appeared above his head. He could make illusionary fish that swam in the pond and up the stream!

Now, did he want to make illusionary cave fish or another kind of fish? Lack of pigmentation and red eyes may increase their magical effect for unknowing intruders. Cave fish it was then. Converting into illusionary mana required constantly tricking the mana into different types until it believed it was every attribute. This allowed illusionary mana to form into any shape imagined by the user easily. The best illusions mimicked everything about the original until the mana ran out. With mana not running out in his dungeon, the illusions he created would last until dispelled or taken out of the dungeon. The illusionary cave fish mimicked real cave fish to the best of Ian’s ability. The micro world Ian had discovered through the mana stone made him sure he hadn’t replicated that part of the fish correctly. However, anyone but him would find the fish a perfect replica.The best part of the illusion spell was it didn’t just trick creatures it even tricked the world around it. The water in the ponds reacted as if actual fish were swimming around in them. Ian wondered how long it would take people to figure out they were illusions. Hopefully not too soon because it would take a SS rank Illusion Mage at minimum to see through it. He certainly didn't want someone that strong strolling through his dungeon with only a couple floors. ....Maybe he should get rid of the fish....nah.

It was time to make snails and salamanders. With six monster types already present on the floor, Ian decided that placing anymore would be overkill. So, he did what he always did and pumped the biota full of mana until they forcefully grew up. The salamander, unlike the other biota he had forced to grow up, had four stages including adulthood compared to the three stages of the rest. The cave snails were placed around every available water source on the floor, while the salamanders were concentrated around the two ponds. Five salamanders were allowed to roam around the floor however. Why five? Ian just felt like it was a good number.

Race:

Soris Cave Snail

Gender:

Hermaphrodite

Attribute:

Nature

Development:

0/100

Description

A cave snail. Just like all other snails, except this one has lost its pigmentation.

Race:

Spotted Salamander

Gender:

Female

Attribute:

Nature

Development:

0/100

Description

A primarily black amphibian with yellow spots. It spends most of its time on dry land and enters ponds during breeding season. Its larval diet consists of zooplankton while its adult diet primarily consists of insects.

Ian didn’t know what zooplankton were, but he did love the new information.

After filling up the ponds with biota and illusions, he did another zoom through the floor but didn’t find anything that stood out. Ian did a much more thorough examination of the floor looking for anything that bugged him which took a couple of days. What he found was a mountain of little things that didn’t harm the floor in any way and were hardly noticeable. If these were the reason Magical Beauty wasn’t met, then did he have a problem? He wasn’t that fussy was he? With a sigh Ian started fixing the little things he noticed about the floor. Most of the problems consisted of something looking too manmade rather than natural. Others included improper density arrangement of vegetation, ugly looking rocks, illusions that didn’t improperly shimmer in the right way, and traps that only worked 99.9% the same way. Ian really hoped Magical Beauty had taken his love of magical and natural beauty and cranked it up by a thousand percent. He didn’t want to be the kind of person that fussed over such inane details subconsciously. ….Admittedly while one small change didn’t make a difference, the cumulative effect did make his floor look a lot better. After two weeks, or sixteen days, of fixing problems, Magical Beauty was finally met.