I went back to my dorm room to avoid any further distractions. After setting a pot of coffee brewing, I sat down at the table in the space that doubled as both my kitchen and my living room. I was tempted to pull up a hologame and retreat into that for a bit to unwind, but I knew if I did that I likely wouldn't finish my self-assigned reading.

With a sigh I put my holophone aside and pulled out the book again to continue from where I had left off before I'd been interrupted by the meeting with Mr. Jones. The author theorized about potential sources of mana for the dungeon core aside from the mana released when a human being died, but none of them were viable. I shook my head. This book must have been even older than I thought, as most of these had already been tried and proven ineffective.

Still, something about what it had stood out to me earlier, and I tried to recall what it was. Something about cycles. Plants release oxygen which humans take in. Humans release carbon dioxide which plants take in. Neither could live without the other, but together they were sustainable. What was it about that cycle?

I finished reading, but I still couldn't put my finger on whatever half formed idea I'd had.

Setting the book aside, I gave up on figuring it out and pulled up my status menu. Ever since I had agreed to Janus’ terms and conditions, my status had remained unchanged. I was still a Level 1 Dungeon Maker. I only had one skill available to me: Create A Dungeon. I tapped on it and stared at the familiar text moodily. At Level 1, the skill was very limited.

Create A Dungeon Level 1 Requirements: Level 1 Beast Core of Any Elemental Energy, 2 Slime Eyes, 10 Carnivorous Dandelion Seeds Location(s): Subterranean Size(s): 1 Square Mile Available Monsters: Slime, Carnivorous Dandelion

I sighed as I always did when I read the requirements. Level 1 Elemental Beast Cores weren’t exactly uncommon, but for someone like me they were tough to get. The price was around $10,000, and that was for one of the common elements, like Earth. If you wanted Air it would be much more expensive. Either way, the cores were beyond my means. Slime Eyes were doable, they could be found on the first layer of the Public Dungeon, but Carnivorous Dandelion Seeds would be problematic.

Carnivorous Dandelions were primarily found on the second floor. Individually they weren't that dangerous, but they tended to group together in large numbers and they were highly aggressive, making them a serious danger for most low level adventurers. On the other hand, they weren't worth the time for most higher level adventurers. Thus, there were very few people who could and would supply them. Especially since they were only really useful for beginner Dungeon Makers, and there were only so many of us out there.

The total cost of the first level 1 dungeon tended to be around $30,000 because generally you had to hire an adventuring party to get the materials not commonly available on the market. Slime Eyes had uses, but they were less individually valuable than Slime Jelly and required far more care to harvest. As a result, most adventurers didn't bother preserving them.

Letting those thoughts fade in the background, I found myself fixating on slimes. There was something about them, something that reminded me of what I'd read earlier. I went over to the small bookshelf along one wall that held my textbooks and quickly found the 17th Edition Monster Compendium. The 20th edition had already been released, but maybe because of that I was able to get a great discount on the older version. It didn’t hurt that I actually bought a print version. Print books were so out of fashion these days that most books weren’t even available in print. The only reason I found this one was that it was from a good 5 years ago, when print was still being phased out.

I flipped through to the entry on Slimes. There were many types of slimes, but the first entry was on the common variety.

“Slime (common). The common Slime is a characteristic creature of level 1 dungeons. It is believed that Slimes feed by absorbing organic matter. After a Slime has fed a certain amount it will reproduce by splitting a part of itself off from the whole. The more it eats, the faster it will reproduce.”

It felt like there was something there. Could the newborn Slime serve as additional mana for the dungeon core? I quickly dismissed the thought. The amount of mana in a single Slime is so far below that of a human, it would take the death of 1 million Slimes to come close to the amount of mana released from the death of a single level 1 human.

I quickly flipped back through the Monster Compendium to the entry on Carnivorous Dandelions.

“Carnivorous Dandelions. Carnivorous Dandelions, unlike normal dandelions, do not require sunlight to grow. Instead they require mana. The Seeding state of Carnivorous Dandelions is triggered when a large quantity of mana dense liquid is absorbed by the roots. Each Carnivorous Dandelion Seed contains mana condensed roots that quickly sprout and grow into a full grown Carnivorous Dandelion upon landing in an area of sufficient mana.”

I thought about that as I doodled circles in the corner of the book next to the entry on Carnivorous Dandelions. Maybe there was a way to get the Slimes to consume the Dandelions? But Dandelions were much stronger than Slimes, especially in a group, and it was unlikely the Slimes would survive any fight.

I continued to ponder the problem as I doodled, but I didn't get anywhere with it. Eyes heavy with exhaustion, I fell asleep with the book still open in front of me and my head full of thoughts of Carnivorous Dandelions Puffs dancing in the wind.

The next morning I woke with a start, immediately reaching for my holophone to check the time. I had forgotten to set an alarm and a feeling of dread filled me as I looked at the time. But looking at my phone, I had actually woken up when I was supposed to. I felt myself relax at that realization and I took a deep breath of air to let the tension out as I laid back for a moment.

“One last exam,” I thought to myself. I got dressed, throwing my textbooks in my bag and heading towards my classroom. The Dungeon Maker course had all its classes in the same room, a traditional classroom with a holoprojector. Unlike the other courses, we didn’t engage in any practical training at the college. When you add on the fact that there were only 10 of us, compared to the average 1000 students in each of the other courses, they felt a single classroom was enough.

None of my other classmates were present. Most of them had elected to do an internship for their final credits, rather than this class. Maybe because I was the only one who showed to class, but it had turned into an Independent Study course on pretty much anything I wanted to look into. My professor was really just a supervisor. I doubted he had ever read the material I was learning, and the exam he administered was a standard exam created by the Dungeon Makers Association. I'd learned the majority of the content it tested on years ago.

I sat down at the desk and pulled up a holoterminal, putting headphones in. I selected for the exam to begin and a voice began directing me to answer various questions.

I breezed through them, barely able to stop myself from shaking my head. The fact that this was considered an advanced exam was sad.

Another two hours passed before I finally answered the last question and submitted the exam, letting out a sigh of relief. Easy it may have been, but I was very glad to be done sitting there. My back was stiff, and I stretched as I waited for my results. They came through a moment later letting me know that I had passed with flying colors. I stood up from the desk and nodded at the professor supervising the exam, who was staring at something on his holophone. He waved a hand in dismissal, and I left the classroom.

“Just like that, I’m officially done with college.” I thought to myself, feeling a strange unease. It didn’t quite feel real yet. Unlike in the old days, no one really held graduation ceremonies anymore. Instead, once you had enough credits, they simply updated your citizenship information indicating that you were a graduate. Prospective employers could see it whenever they ran a basic background check.

I went back to my dorm. I’d have to get ready to move out soon, as the university would only give me one month to find a new place to live. The pressure of the future landed on my shoulders and I felt my adrenaline rising as I began thinking about the next step.

Since I had chosen not to enter an internship, my next stop was obvious. I had to go to the Public Dungeons.