The next day became a blur of experience gains and material farming. Part of that was due to Gem utilizing splitting his consciousness, a feat he was getting more comfortable with by the hour.

One version of Gem was dedicated to the new generator, leading the Plantlings in their grind for more materials. Another was in charge of scouring for new islands, with or without Chesu’s help. Gem couldn’t make the wisp help him, and finding new materials was just a pastime at this point.

The last Gem was in charge of the buildings, especially with Fabrication being active. Gem wanted to have lots and lots of different types of weapons available. Not just for his army, but for the soldiers he trained day in and out in his dungeon.

On the dawn of the second day, Gem realized he had an almost incomprehensible amount of Cobblestone and swapped one of the old generators out for the new. The Plantling he put in charge—Bellow—seemed excited by the change in routine.

“Why bother?” Chesu said half-heartedly as he watched a group of adventurers take on a pack of Dolves on the second floor.

The creatures were fast and dangerous in large packs. Not many adventurers made it past the maze yet; in fact, Gem had to tell the Dolves to let groups go if they got back to the safe area near the stairs.

Gem waited until Chesu paid attention to Bellow.

“You’re imagining—” Chesu stopped and looked at the other Plantlings. “Oh. Wait. You’re right. They’re all droopy.” The wisp shrugged. “I guess it makes sense, right, kid? If you were stuck in one place doing the same thing over and over you’d get bored too.”

Gem wanted to comment about being trapped in his core, but he knew it wasn’t the same thing. He had infinite possibilities available to him… just not the ones that involved being ambulatory.

Before Chesu could answer, Gem received the notice and experience point dump for an adventurer's death. He immediately sent the wisp a picture of a grimacing core.

“Yep. Going great down there, kid.” Chesu laughed, a barking cackle. “You know, if we didn’t have to save the world, this would be a great time. The setup you’ve got here is amazing, and I very much wish we weren’t on a deadline.”

Gem checked the deadline in question.

WARNING: World Core destruction in 24 days 13 hours 53 minutes 42 seconds

Gem thought while sending a frowning image.

The group who lost a member to the Dolves was in the safe room. After a few moments of deliberation, they exited the floor through the stairs and did what Chesu called a “walk of shame” through the first floor.

As soon as they were far enough away, Gem closed the doors to the second floor and started resetting it.

“You should really wait to do that until they’ve left your dungeon entirely,” Chesu said with a yawn. “What if they come back?”

Chesu leaned forward, grinning. “Oh, that would be hilarious! Imagine retreating after losing a party member just to have to face Magi again.”

Gem ignored him, instead focusing on the entrance to his second floor.

The moment of silence must have been longer than he thought, because Chesu finally spoke up. “I can never tell if I should be worried or excited when you get all quiet like that.”

The wisp paused. “That’s not a half-bad idea, kid. Just need to make sure it can’t be abused…” He shook his head. “But you’ll need to wait until adventurers aren’t around to make it.”

In theory, Chesu was right. But Gem had an idea of how to make things happen faster.

Gem was grateful for his expanded Pylon network. It made creating the necessary components to his exit system much cleaner.

At the last moment, Gem decided to add an exit path for his first floor as well. The sooner adventurers were gone, the faster he could reset the floor. It meant he’d be able to get people inside and through with less downtime.

The system was a simple two-wide walkway that extended out over the left side past his dungeon. Stairwells connected them to one another, but doors that could not be opened from the outside blocked people from returning.

At Chesu’s insistence, Gem created a sort of airlock situation for the doors; they didn’t just lead to the outside directly as there was an interior door as well. Gem was sure to decorate these little rooms in the themes of his floors. Just because they were an escape hatch didn’t mean they needed to be utilitarian.

Lastly, Gem connected the two-wide pathway to the main bridge. He did so with mostly more Stone blocks and stairs, but he also included a trap door system with a pulley on the exiting side that would close the trap doors and allow safe passage.

By creating the exit system externally, and so far from the adventurers gathered at his door, Gem was able to finish it while groups were still actively running his dungeon.

All that was required was a quick shut down and reopen so he could reconfigure his floor alerting system.

He waited to do that until there were fewer adventuring groups waiting. He knew they would try to leave, and that wasn’t his intent.

The swap created a moment of confusion, but once it was done, the murmurs of excitement grew bold. People that had turned to leave suddenly returned and pressed themselves as close to the door as possible.

Gem didn’t open up yet, however.

Gem looked at his entrance with a stern eye.

Chesu snorted with laughter. “Kid, the only thing you can trust adventurers to do is suck and die.” His laughter dried up quickly. “But… Well, the idea is sound. Implementation is the issue.” The wisp tapped a finger to his chin. “Just letting them go wherever they want is a fine choice. Simple. Some might go running headfirst into danger, but you have to trust that they weren’t going to survive against the Ostrum anyway.”

“But,” Chesu said, drawing the word out, “there is an easier way.”

After some back and forth—and a bit of workshopping, as well as creative problem solving—Gem implemented their idea. In theory, it was simple. Almost too simple. He connected a long, thin hallway up to the first room on his second floor, and added a stairwell to lead to the entrance room. He added a heavy door with a lock that could only be opened in the presence of a specific item.

“You’ll add the opening mechanism to Magi’s drops,” Chesu said. “Make sure it’s always there, but also that it isn’t something like a coin or a key. Either can be duplicated with enough ingenuity… and if there’s one thing Sleyn’s adventurers have, it’s ingenuity. And determination. And a really grim outlook on life.” The wisp grimaced and then laughed. “Guess that’s what can be expected when your world is dying.”

Gem didn’t want something so blasé anyway.

His idea took a bit of finagling, but Magi didn’t seem concerned, even when Gem removed part of the Boss Mob’s outer shell.

Sliver of Magiphis’s Carapace

It’s still warm, like cookies from the oven. You get the feeling this is important.

When Gem presented his ‘key’ to Chesu, the wisp winced. “A little morbid. And by a little I mean a lot. But… not a bad idea. Can’t be replicated. No use for it otherwise. You could add a property to it if you want. Like… once its removed from the dungeon it starts to decay? Give them 24 hours to come back?”

“What about people who run your dungeon over and over and amass lots of slivers?”

Gem sent the wisp an image of a shrugging core.

“Should make it so it can’t be traded, then.”

Gem’s mental voice took on a softer token when Chesu winced.

The wisp sighed. “I hate that you’re right, kid. My… training. Instincts. The… experience I’ve amassed helping cores over the years. It all screams at me that you’re doing it wrong. Giving them too many breaks. Taking it too easy on them. But we don’t have time to do it any other way. This isn’t a normal situation, and so normal solutions to normal problems aren’t going to cut it.”

Gem sent the wisp a picture of a grin as he thought it.

“Worry about that if it happens,” Chesu said with a wave of his hand. “Now, let’s open those doors and get these adventurers leveling!”