Since I started this construction project, I've had a few successes. It only took a day to position the initial section of stones and ribs, but it was far from the end of my project.

It's been a few quiet days of ranbi killing, resource conversion, and stone-and-bone placements. One of the best parts of it came when I received a notification I had been expecting for a while.

Congratulations! Your summon Ropert has leveled up! + 5 Maximum HP

+ 5 Maximum MP

+ 5 Maximum SP

+ 1 STR

+ 1 DEX

+ 1 INT

+ 1 CON

+ 1 LUCK

+ 1 RES

Ropert's level-up is a good sign of his growth, albeit I am worried that the lack of level-ups from Bomber and Ivy might start being a problem. Comparing Ropert to them, his stats are lower... but even whilst unable to ensnare and choke the life out of other plants, he was able to pick up another level before the other two.

It just sucks that unlike me, it didn't immediately present evolution options for him hitting level two.

Brogdar not giving experience for kills really stings when you realize how slow it makes everything. But that's okay because I think that progression and stats in this world don't make a difference nearly as much as an evolution. The difference between Bomber and Ivy's levels had been minuscule and mostly in granting an additional attack, but the instant they evolved it was a massive difference.

Just comparing all of us to the Omega Ranbi had shown that the difference from levels can make a difference, though. Its evolution was better and probably around the third or fourth evolution of a ranbi. Leveling up or obtaining experience obviously also acts as a means to unlock evolution so there's no reason to shirk or favor one solely on the other.

Instead, it should really only be me who prioritizes solely focusing on leveling up. Unlike the others, I have absolutely no control of my evolution unless I utilize the card. So either I use evolution in emergencies or solely when the card is available.

... Sorry, I know I got derailed. Enough about leveling up and evolving, let's address the notification in the room. Even though this is a single piece and still not finished, the system already has an idea of my plan. Using the vines and ribs to help additionally stabilize the partly-buried stone barriers, I'm trying to make the most basic defensive fortification known to man.

A wall.

Although I've amassed the Favor to create more houses, I don't want to start making them until I've placed more defenses. The last time I placed the house was random but influenced by all of the stuff I've sat down. It may be randomized placement but it looks like it will only place in an area that's both clear and unoccupied by defenses. The house rose just beside the grass line... even though it would have had much more room if it was a bit further back into the grass.

Squeeze this vine and secure it with a neat knot...

... and we... are... done.

With the ribs lined up against the stone, all six of them act as perfect binding posts. Not only do they help close up some of the wider gaps I accidentally made when forming the wall, but each rib being made of bone meant it was easy to make grooves to give a better grip to the vines.

It may have taken all morning but I've made it. My grand-

[Notification] Construction Primitive Half-Wall detected.

Adding variation and original Construction to [Dungeon Manager].

... Primitive? That's a fair assessment but it could at least try to be nicer about it.

Dungeon Town: Construct.

[Dungeon Town] Name Summary & Effect Costs Water Tank

[Select] Unlike a dungeon, a town needs water. For those unlucky enough for an immediate water-source, this is the beginning step.

Increases Population Limit by 1.

Unlocks Water-based Traps and Defensive structures. 50 Favor

10 Stone Simple House

[Select] With the dungeon's reach, its town can become complete. Erects a one-room home made of stone from the earth.

Suitable for a couple at most; best for single residents.

Modified by Infrastructure & Dungeon Town-related levels. 25 Favor Primitive Half-Wall

[Select] | Variant: On Defensive Structure. The half-wall isn't useful against tall creatures but it has long protected civilizations.

Not included as Construction.

May increase Defense Level. 5 Favor

1 Stone per 3 ft. [Back] | [Confirm]

The pricing isn't that bad for doing it through the construct menu. With this, I probably won't need to do it step-by-step and spend all day even doing such a small length of the wall. Giving up Favor isn't very ideal but the amount of time it saves makes up for the sunk cost.

While the walls aren't very tall, there's zero chance of ranbi actually being able to get through it. Ideally, the goal is simply to create walls for most of this clearing and fill all but three directions: the path to Roth's Pond, the path we cleared leading to the Great Statue, and the northern path that loops out just around to the path to the Amassed Creeper Thorn.

For now, though, I don't have enough stone to do anything.

Primitive Half-Wall: Variant Off.

The menu's option toggles and I close it. The price doesn't change but, hopefully, I can see how the half-wall naturally looks when I construct it next time.

...

Confirm.

[Notification] House placement randomized.

A new house identical to the one Bomber and Ivy reside in erupts from the ground... and although it might say randomized, it comes in exactly where I wanted it: the eastern end of the clearing.

[Notification] Building #2 is currently unoccupied.

Would you like to assign resident(s)?

[Yes] | [No]

Yes. Confirm.

Today, Ropert finally gets his own house. In my prior life, giving a plant an entire house - no matter the size - would be insane. But without him, my sanity would probably have waned much faster by now. As great as both Bomber and Ivy are, their inability to communicate with me has been extremely taxing on my desire for social interaction.

Deep down, I must still somewhat be human to desire to talk so much.

But while waiting for my Favor and Stone stockpile to increase for house placement, Ropert had finally explained how we could talk. While the method was mentally communicating with my thoughts, he assured me it's actually a feature that the Creeper Thorn and other sentient plants like us develop.

Bioelectrical Mediation.

The theory sounds completely bogus to me but Ropert clearly knows about his species more than I do. He understands movement, for example, naturally whilst I had to learn it manually. But to summarize his explanation, all biologically evolved plants like us can communicate in various ways from various scents, through the soil, or through energy.

Due to their nature as summons, Bomber and Ivy are connected to my dungeon and I; that connection triangle allows me to communicate because the dungeon can convert my mana into various forms, as I learned from it channeling through me for resource conversion. Most likely, I've been able to at least transmit orders to them because the Dungeon helps facilitate it.

Ropert and I are different, though. Even without the dungeon, we naturally communicate via energy; because mana is foundational in life, mana itself is a form of energy. That connection allows us to perceive mana as a language when it's used in the proper flow.

Basically, imagine there's smoke and we write on it by poking Morse Code dot-dashes into it. I hope that makes sense, at least.

Master, is this truly my home?

Ropert's question stirs me from my thinking. The faithful summon slithers his way up alongside me, looking through the doorway as the furniture starts carving its way out of the walls and floor of the room. Compared to the ranbli duo's house, Ropert only gets a pool of water, a window, and a storage cabinet.

Yes, Ropert. It helps contribute to our new defenses, too, but I'd like for you to think of it as a gift.

And an apology. But I won't tell him about that.

I understand, Master. Thank you.

This is why I like Ropert. He's simple.

If you need anything, just let me know.

For now, I turn my attention off Ropert and his housing solution and on the space nearby. I've had time to stockpile stone and had spent some of my stockpiling mana to create more. The spacing of the grass between the ranbi duo's home and Ropert's, paired with the pathways between them, is finally getting walled up today.

...

Primitive Half-Wall: Confirm.

[Notification] Defensive Structure identified; designate the start and final points, then modify the shape.

Even though it had been two and a half weeks to amass all of the stone required for my defense project, it's finally reaching its final strides to completion. And just in time, too, since the amount of ranbi had finally started to increase again; rather than a handful over the course of the day, we had almost fifteen of them show up yesterday. Completing these barriers couldn't have come any sooner.

The semi-transparent points are set down and I mentally push it out, matching the wall to the curvature of our clearing. It covers the final stretch of "wide path" left, guarding the grassline that runs from Ropert's home to the northern opening.

I had rearranged our DCT, too, so that it's condensed into key locations; we have three openings that each received two pieces, set-up on the inside and angled to funnel anyone coming in or going out. The remaining four of my traps were positioned on the rooftops of the houses at angles so that you'd have to either run into them or attempt to jump.

Multiple ranbi had already died trying to jump over it, but not in the way you'd expect. The ones who cleared it successfully ended up flying right over the DCT... and right over the ledge of the roof. They fell a long way to the ground for a tiny rabbit, so it's best summarized as them hitting the ground and wishing they were dead.

Finishing off the ranbi at that point is more about showing mercy.

Finalize.

One-by-one, the stones appear and slam into the ground. The sand moves and wedges against each one, affixing it into place before solidifying into dirt.

Compared to my other wall which relies on the vines and ribs to support the sand, the original version of this wall was built with dirt fortification and was much sturdier in its presentation.

[Notification] Defensive Structures and positioning have met the required thresholds.

Improving Defense Level of Dungeon Town. [Dungeon Town] Defense Level has increased to 1.

Additional [Construct] options added for Dungeon Town.

Conditions met for Dungeon Edge. Siege Rookie - Dungeon Edge #00003 The basics of sieges can only begin when you have both harried traps and a wall. Even the most remote of hamlets can be defensible with these basic fortifications. For a dungeon, the best barrier is a secure town above it.

+ 5 Max Storage for all resources

+ 1% to Defensive Fortification HP.

Not only did I level up the Defense Level and receive more Construct Options, but I also gained a Dungeon Edge. It's a pretty good one, too, given it improves the HP of all walls by 1%; that may or may not apply to my traps but I'm content with the walls being harder to destroy even if it's by tiny percents. If walls have a thousand HP, that 10 HP it gains could be the difference between life or death. But I digress. Instead of going on and on about the 1% HP part of the Dungeon Edge, I should be far more excited about the Max Storage improvement.

Coupled with the improvement I received before from Beginner Hamlet, that makes my max resource storage at 20. Although I'm currently drained on resources from my wall construction and still lacking Favor for another room, I can't help but get excited.

It's finally possible for me to acquire the Teleportation Chamber. The only issue, really, is acquiring the Favor for the room and then the 200 for the room itself. Back when I was being attacked daily, that number wouldn't have seemed so big but now I can't help feeling overwhelmed. Either I can wait for a few weeks...

Or I can hunt.