Since there were no drawbacks, Gem selected Fabrication and accepted it as his Tin Capstone. A new set of selectable upgrades populated, and the tabs at the top that had said TIN CAPSTONE 1 and so on were gone. Only BASICS and FABRICATION remained.

A message appeared over the window.

You’ve selected Tin Capstone: Fabrication!

New menu unlocked: Catalog New crafting recipes unlocked New Feature unlocked: Increased Production

Please spend all remaining upgrade points so tier upgrade can begin.

Gem looked at his new Feature, excited to see what it would bring him.

Increased Production: all crafting times and mana costs have been reduced by half for items you’ve already created or absorbed.

His new menu was interesting as well. The Catalog menu was basically a second version of his Upgrade menu; a giant list, but this time of weapons, armor, and furniture that Gem could create. Each item had an associated mana cost to unlock it, but the numbers seemed to be lower than he expected. It was cheaper to select something out of the catalog than it was to create it in his Forge.

Chesu had an explanation: “these are only available to be used as loot in your dungeon. The idea is that you would buy something from the catalog and then it unlocks so you can keep duplicating it as you would any item you’ve absorbed.”

“Uh.” Chesu paused, blinking. “N-nothing.” He looked uncertain.

It wasn’t like Gem needed any more arms and armor for his single Servitor, but it was interesting to know that was an option. Perhaps he could just absorb the first of anything he bought out of the catalog, just so he had access to it as a weapon he could make for his mobs.

Gem said when he noticed Chesu looked nervous.

“I know, kid.” Chesu rubbed a hand across his face, as if he were tired. His eyes looked a little haggard, even though he’d just woke from his nap.

“No, but I figure I’ll go back and get some more after you start building your second floor. Give you a chance to surprise me, too.”

Gem felt a swell of pride at the level of trust the wisp extended with that simple statement. He’d done a good job the first time.

The BASICS tab was a jumbled mess of things. In his Fabrication menu, the upgrade selection ran from the top of the window down, with branches spilling left and right as necessary. This menu ran horizontal, so the first selection was to the left side of the window, and any branching selections were to the right. Some of the entries had tons of branching options, while others had just a few.

Even with the filter for Tin selected, there was still a bar that moved the window up and down, with lots of options.

Gem thought with a mental sigh.

“A Dungeon Core can do so much, kid. Your focus could be any number of things. But you’re in a unique position. Remember I mentioned that Sleyn allows you to function without Upgrades? Some worlds don’t have that. You need to take things to survive, which means you can’t specialize.”

“Ah, but see, that’s why I’m here. I can answer questions and help you decide on what your build should be!”

Chesu grinned. “Another Ruxium adjustment. I thought you gathered that by now; I have a menu that lets me see what options you have available, so that I can better help. Some wisps have to have their cores read the options, or worse, share vision.” The wisp shuddered. “Such a weird interaction. I don’t know why you’d want to get more intimate with your wisp, instead of less.”

Gem sent the wisp an image of a shrugging core.

“Well, it’s gross. And awkward. Flirting between a core and a wisp should be forbidden.”

Since he didn’t have anything to say to that, Gem went back to examining the list. He asked Chesu some pointed questions, trying to get the wisp to help him decide where to spend his points.

The BASICS category had a few themes. There were upgrades available for almost everything on his character sheet, including Command Points, Mana, and Entity Containment, although that one had a big message and wouldn’t even let Gem examine what the basic upgrade would be for that branch. He also had a few options that were generic for a Dungeon Core, including one that would let him talk to other cores, and one that would let him improve the integrity of his walls. Chesu was quick to point out that that branch was useless to Gem, due to the nature of blocks on Sleyn. If he’d been spawned underground, that would be different because he’d be using Sleyn’s blocks to protect himself instead of his own.

There were a few options that gave Gem pause. Things that seemed really useful.

The Pylon branch started with Improved Pylons, which would let him store a spell within a Pylon. He didn’t have any spells yet, but there was also a branch for Basic Dungeon Spellcasting that seemed interesting.

He also had a branch for being able to generate different blocks, and the branch was huge. There were tons of options that Gem couldn’t examine that branched off the basic one for dirt. Even if none of the other options were good, Gem could absolutely see benefit in having a way to create Dirt Blocks, instead of having to track them down.

The last thing that caught his eye was a branch for Mob Hearts. The first upgrade, Improved Heart Creation, added a 25% chance to cause a mutation, and mobs had extra health regeneration when his dungeon was empty. His Boss Mobs would also be stronger, since they got an additional ability. The base value of his loot increased as well, although Gem didn’t quite understand how that one worked.

After Gem had reviewed his options, he and Chesu went through and started mentally marking off the abilities Gem absolutely wouldn’t need. Core Speech, giving him the ability to talk to other Dungeon Cores, was out. There were no other Dungeon Cores on Sleyn, and Ruxium apparently had no interest or ability to make more appear now. Perhaps he would miss it after things on the surface settled, but he could follow up with it then. It did him no good now.

Likewise, Improved Walls offered no benefit here. His blocks were indestructible, and so it would be a complete waste of points.

Improved Pylons, when combined with Basic Dungeon Spellcasting, was an interesting idea, but Gem didn’t see how it would be useful in his fight with the Ostrum. Unless he planned to daisy chain Pylons from his Core Room to Ruxium’s, it would be a short-term thing. Something he could use inside his walls, and not anywhere else.

That wasn’t to say it didn’t have uses.

Basic Dungeon Spellcasting: Unlocks limited spellcasting abilities. Spells Granted: Possession, Lesser Heal, and Drain Life. Must be cast from a Pylon as the point of origin. Cost: 1 Upgrade Point.

“Possession is one of those spells,” Chesu explained upon prompting. “You either love it or you hate it. It allows you to take control of one of your mobs. Anything with a Mob Heart, so Bosses and Servitors count, but Servitors really don’t like it.”

Gem flashed a frowning core to the wisp.

“Some cores will create new mobs for themselves. Something that either isn’t a mob they’re using in their dungeon, or that is altered in some way to be unique. Keeps the dungeon mobs where they need to be, but allows you to run around otherwise.”

“Bingo bango, kid.”

Gem looked at the rest of the spells.

“There’s much more under that tree, and a lot of it is useful. But… I’m sure you know the major downside.”

“Yep. Needs to come from your Pylon, and needs to be within your Area of Influence. No sending homing missiles down at the Ostrum.”

Gem thought while sending the wisp a grin.

Improved Pylons still had other uses, however. Chesu explained that there were mana-regeneration upgrades locked behind it, which put it farther up his list.

He was also incredibly interested in Improved Heart Creation. The first upgrade, Improved Heart Creation, was nice. But Chesu explained that the other upgrades would allow him to assign an element to a Mob Heart.

“Yeah, elemental-aligned Mob Hearts can get expensive. Big increase in power, however, so it’s always a good idea. Some Dungeon Cores will use them exclusively for Bosses and Servitors.”

Gem could see the wisdom there. Making a Servitor or Boss stronger was always a good idea. Especially the Servitors, since they didn’t cost any Command Points anyway. But Bosses cost more Command Points by default, and then Elemental Affinity had made it seem like elemental-aligned Hearts would be more, still.

After hemming and hawing for way longer than he wanted to, Gem spent his eight upgrade points.

Improved Heart Creation: allows the creation of Improved Hearts. Mobs created with Improved Hearts have a 25% increased mutation chance and have 200% improved health regeneration when the dungeon is empty. Bosses created with Improved Hearts gain one extra ability. Improved Hearts provide +50% loot value. Cost: 1 Upgrade Point. Elemental Heart: allows the creation of a Mob Heart with a single element selected at the time of choosing this upgrade. Mobs created with an elemental-aligned Heart gain abilities associated with that element. Can be taken multiple times; each time, a new element may be selected. Cost: 1 Upgrade Point. Prerequisite: Improved Heart Creation.

As Gem selected Elemental Heart, a small window popped up in front of his Upgrade list.

Please select an element from the following list:

Earth Wind Fire Water Light Dark Wood Hallow Corruption

On instinct, Gem almost selected Wood, as it seemed fitting for a Forest Dungeon. But he hesitated, just long enough to realize what he was being offered.

he thought. Had he lungs, the words would have been breathless. A whisper said quiet in fear of the World Core reversing the decision.

“Yep. Mobs you create with that will have Hallow or Corruption abilities, too. Can be very powerful.”

Chesu made a face like he’d bit into something sour. “I could go into all the differences between a theme and an element and waste both of our time, or you could just trust me that this is different. And very, very strong.”

He wasn’t happy with the dodge, but Gem withdrew the curiosity nonetheless.

“Both have their uses. Hallow will give you beings that are more ethereal. Your Cicadossum, for example, will gain an iridescent carapace and wings. Flight won’t be possible for long, but it’ll be enough to scare the pants off an adventurer. Wood, however, would turn the carapace to bark, and they’d get vine-like tentacles.”

“Then pick Hallow! Who cares what’s on theme, kid!” His voice took on a bit of frustrated anger. “This is your dungeon. You do whatever the hell you want. If you want to be a Hallow dungeon so bad, we can find you some Hallow blocks and you can do this whole blended elements thing on your second floor. Have your Boss be some Hallow-Hearted creation of wonder, and then your third floor can be all Hallow.” Chesu paused. “What I mean to say, kid, is that it’s all just a matter of appearances. Everything is as strong as everything else; it’s all what you do with it.”

Gem sent him a nodding core.

With that, he selected Hallow from the list and moved on.

Improved Pylons: your Pylons can store and cast a single spell, once per group. Cost: 1 Upgrade Point. Gathering Power: each Pylon that has extra Command Points available will generate one point of mana regeneration. Mob Command Points will be spread evenly between all Pylons on a floor, allowing for better regeneration capabilities. Cost: 2 Upgrade Points. Prerequisite: Improved Pylons. One Block: a single block will spawn in your Core Room after selecting this upgrade. This block can only be interacted with by the Dungeon Core. Once per day, the One Block can be destroyed and it will give the Dungeon Core a random block type, item, or series or items, chosen from a randomized list. Cost: 1 Upgrade Point. Better Blocks: your One Block will provide better loot, specifically not including anything you can create yourself. Cost: 1 Upgrade Point. Prerequisite: One Block. Block Generator: allows the creation of a generator for a block of your choice. You do not need to be able to create this block as you will gain it through selecting this upgrade. Can be taken multiple times; each time, a new block may be selected. Cost: 1 Upgrade Point.

As Gem selected Block Generator, a small window popped up in front of his Upgrade list.

Please select an element from the following list:

The list was pages long. Gem saw things he didn’t even know existed, like metals, flesh, or even clouds. But he was able to filter it using the interface options, and he selected Hallow blocks as his filter.

A new list popped up, this one considerably shorter. But there were still too many choices. Gem realized he could spend every point he had access to for the rest of time and still never have enough points for every block. Even just within the Hallow category.

He selected Hallow-infused Stone and the menu vanished.

New Block Unlocked: Hallow-infused Stone New Generator Unlocked: Hallow-infused Stone

Congratulations on Copper 1!

A multitude of unlocks flew past Gem’s vision, but he temporarily dismissed the notification.

“Oh, thank the stars,” Chesu said with a wave of his hand. He yawned, a long, drawn-out yawn that he didn’t even bother covering his mouth for. “I’m going back to sleep. See you in two days.”

Guess I should get to work, then, Gem thought to himself.