Chesu worked with Shriek to get the newly-turned Servitor caught up with the state of the world, the dungeon, and more.

Meanwhile, Gem focused on maintenance.

With Shriek now wielding a fancy new intelligence and thus being infinitely more useful than just a Plantling at a generator, Gem had to make a new Pylon and a new Plantling to replace him. Neither were particularly difficult, and Gem took advantage of the lack of adventurer groups downstairs to quickly install the Pylon along with his others.

He also replaced his engorged, lava-filled trap Mob Hearts with actual loot. While he liked the idea of the trapped Hearts, and absolutely put them in his inventory to use later, it felt underhanded here. It was a relic from his humble beginnings, and now that he had a few odds and ends that could be used as loot, it seemed rude to continue tricking the Adventurers.

With loot in place, Pylon planted, and a new Plantling (this one nicknamed Howl) created, Gem turned his attention to other tasks.

I need materials and levels. The one I can handle on my own, but the other…

Gem turned his attention to his entrance. There were no adventurers lined up that he could see within his area of influence.

Gem asked Chesu, interrupting the conversation between wisp and Plantling.

Both looked annoyed by the interruption, but Chesu didn’t scold. “Some of it might be fear of dying. Sleyn hasn’t seen a dungeon since the surface was abandoned.”

“Comfort. Deep down, they all must know the world is coming to an end. And it’s the nature of creatures to just kick back and let it happen… after a certain point.” The wisp grinned. “Pretty sure the World Core scooping you and your friends up to put you on a floating island so giant shadow monsters don’t kill you counts as the tipping point.”

“They need motivation,” Shriek added, those grass-green eyes looking everywhere at once. “Adventurers are not Mobs that exist to do what you want them to do.”

“How does the system motivate you?” Shriek widened his arms to motion at the floor they stood on. “You built all this for what reason?”

Chesu shook his head. “No good. You don’t unlock those for a few levels.”

Shriek made a ‘harumph’ sound and crossed his arms over his chest. “Then I see only one other option.” The Plantling’s mouth twisted in an imitation of a grin. “Sabotage.”

###

The plan, as Shriek described it, was simple. As a Servitor, he had the ability to leave Gem’s Area of Influence. He could go out to the adventurer city, cause some trouble, and then scurry back.

Instant motivation.

There was risk, however.

“If you die out there,” Chesu said, the words coming slowly as if he were trying to be diplomatic about it, “there’s no coming back.”

“Yes.” The wisp shrugged as if anticipating the follow-up question. “If your Servitor dies within your Area of Influence, you can resurrect them like a normal mob without having to go through the whole creation process again. But if he dies outside your Area of Influence, there’s nothing you can do. He’s just dead.”

Shriek fluffed his petals with both hands, as if preening. “I guess I need to not die then. Quite a simple task.”

Gem sent the Plantling an image of a frowning crystal.

“I don’t need to have witnessed combat to know what I’m doing. Observe.”

Shriek shook out his limbs, one at a time, and then folded them in along his body. He bowed his head, closing his eyes.

And then he went still.

Like he was nothing more than a flower.

The illusion wasn’t perfect. Against the backdrop of Cobblestone Blocks, Shriek looked a bit ridiculous trying to mimic a plant. But down in the dungeon he would blend in perfectly.

There was no way for Gem to know what kind of plant growth the adventurer island would have, and if the Plantling would blend or stick out even more. But regardless, the camouflage was a neat trick, and one that would likely save his life.

Shriek shook himself back to animated life. “How would an armed and armored plant blend in with his surroundings? It would be an obvious sign that I’m not just a flower.” He made a sound like branches dancing against a window.

Gem realized it was the equivalent of Chesu clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

“He should,” Chesu said, and then instructed the Plantling on how to pull up said inventory.

His grid was much smaller than Gem’s, but a four-by-four inventory would still hold the required gear. Gem checked on the Tannery and found the armor was almost done, so they waited for that before Shriek went out into the world.

While they waited, Chesu gave the Plantling sword fighting lessons.

They equated to, mostly, “stick the other person with the pointy end and don’t touch the pointy end yourself,” but it was more instruction than Gem could give.

It was interesting to watch the Plantling interact with the world. Shriek had been such a simple-minded creature before, but he was still the leader of his Plantling crew. Was this willingness to go out in the world a product of his own desires to advance, or was this the influence of the mix of personality traits Gem had embedded in that sliver of core?

When the armor was finished, Chesu showed the Plantling how to equip it from his inventory without actually needing to put it on. That seemed to be an important distinction, one Gem couldn’t relate to. Shriek was also able to equip and unequip his sword the same way; he didn’t need to draw it from his inventory each time he needed it.

“I believe I’m all set, then. Let’s hope this will be sufficient.”

Gem sent them both an image of a grinning core.

As soon as Gem pulled one of the lava-filled Mob Hearts from his inventory, Chesu made an excited squealing sound and clapped his hands together sharply. “Yes! Love it, kid!”

“What is it?” Shriek said, eyeing the Mob Heart with a healthy amount of distrust.

Gem placed the Mob Heart on the ground.

“Kid, your ingenuity never ceases to amaze me.”

“Absolutely. As your Servitor, Shriek can control certain aspects of your dungeon just the same as you can. He’ll be able to command the Heart to shatter even if he’s outside of your Area of Influence.”

Shriek approached the Mob Heart warily, picked it up off the ground and hefted it into the air. The Mob Heart, despite being almost half the size of the Plantling, moved as if it weighed nothing. “Huh.”

After a moment, the Heart vanished as the Plantling shoved it into his miniature inventory, and then reappeared as he took it out.

“I like this,” Shriek said with a fierce nod. He looked expectantly at the space Gem had produced the Heart from. “I would like to experiment with throwing this before I go. Does it mend itself, or do we have a way to produce more?”

Gem sent the wisp an image of a grimacing core.

“I understand.” Shriek tucked the trapped Mob Heart into his inventory. “My experiments are not necessary. It seems lightweight, and as long as I’m not trying to pitch it across a vast distance, it should be fine.”

Chesu steepled his hands in front of his face. “I really hope this works. We need more adventurers in your halls because you need more mana and then you need an entire army of Plantlings throwing lava bombs down on adventuers.”

Gem sent him a picture of a frowning crystal.

The wisp looked hurt. “Yeah, but the ones who are left will be the best of the best! It’s a test!”

Chesu made a happy sound, and so Gem turned his attention to Shriek.

It turned out the Servitor had better manipulation of its limbs and could get down the block-tall makeshift steps now, but it still took an extraordinary amount of time. To save everyone time, and with his permission, Gem unsummoned Shriek and resummoned him in the Boss Room.

Before exiting, the Plantling explored a little, poking his head into the available rooms and crevices, walking the Plantling Tunnels, and greeting each stationed Mob in turn. When he was content with what he’d seen, he exited out the front of Gem’s dungeon and strode towards the bridge where he vanished into seemingly nothing.

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Chesu said as he stretched his arms over his head. “You just need to put Pylons out there.”

The wisp snickered and waved a hand through the air. “I mean, sure, if you just have one tree there by itself. But you’re a Forest Dungeon. You could have trees all along the sides of your bridge. Make it super fancy. And then no one’s going to notice Pylons along the way.”

Gem could almost see the walkway in his mind. A tree-lined path would actually look quite nice, depending on the work he put into it.

He checked his stock of Dirt Blocks. It was very low. He’d used most of them to expand his tree farm, and so his inventory was way too empty to make a continuous path from his dungeon to the main island.

Chesu made an uncertain noise and ran his hands through his hair. “Oof. Geeze, kid. I’m really not sure. Dungeons don’t usually build outside of their dungeon like that. Some planets don’t even allow you.”

“Different and bullshit.” The wisp grinned at his own joke. “But yeah. Pylons usually fill the space in between your walls, and the details are a little handwave-y. But straight in a line? Outside of your walls? Not exactly sure how it would work. But it could work.”

“Great. While you do that, um… Do you think Shriek would mind if I stole his bed for a little while? I’m exhausted.”

Gem looked the wisp over. His wings were drooping and the lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes were deeper. He seemed to also have large circles of shadows under his eyes, although that could have been the terrible lighting in the upper floor of Gem’s dungeon.

Yet another thing he wanted to work on.

The wisp practically teleported to the Plantling’s house. Gem made a mental note to create a little room for Chesu as well.

Didn’t even know he needed to sleep. Gem wanted to send an image of a frowning core to someone, but there wasn’t anyone. He was all alone.

Time to get to work, then.