“Finally!” I rush to lower the ground under a bleeding red fox. It managed to kill seven of my arrowheads before my monsters finally succeeded in bringing it down. Fighting like a beast twice its size it was just about to escape when Sally pounced on its back and held him down long enough for Miki to catch up and pin him to the ground in a collective effort.

Once down in the second floor, it was killed as quickly and painlessly as I could manage, adding him to my bestiary. The second addition of the day, with the first being a cool looking porcupine, “One I found climbing a tree of all places…”

I quickly create two foxes for the cost of eighty mana each, twenty more than what a porcupine costs. I then order the foxes and two porcupines not to attack each other while they roam the second floor and return to waiting.

Animals reproduce and grow quickly inside my dungeon but it still takes time. Monsters increase their numbers much faster than the regular animals and in my opinion it’s because of their affinity to mana. However, creating even a simple monster variant of the cheaper porcupine costs a whopping 500mp. Not so bad as once I have a few they can grow in number by themselves but the initial expenditure is too high for my tastes right now.

“Right now I rather level up a few more times.”

Before capturing the porcupine my level rose to seven, increasing my mana pool to 2500 but not rewarding me with any skills. It will take me another day to regenerate enough to fill my mana pool and level up to eight but that’s what I’m waiting for right now. The wait is much more bearable now that my dungeon has grown and even has a second floor.

Entertainment is everywhere with all the creatures I can follow and share my senses with, the most interesting one of them all right now is, surprisingly, the small squirrel that got added to my dungeon by accident. His interest to me is not only how adorable it is, but in that he turned out to be more than just a simple squirrel, “No, the little bugger can fly!” Or more specifically glide pretty well, but still, sharing his senses as he zips from one tree to the next is a rush I can’t get enough off.

Already, I have plans on how to turn him into an aerial threat not to be taken lightly. The result will most likely lack the flying capabilities of a real bird, but it should more than makeup for it with its ability to maneuver through the dense forest I intend to make the second floor into. “Plus, I still didn’t manage to get my hands on any birds…”

That will change once the monster versions of my porcupines join the hunting group outside my dungeon but for now I postpone thinking about any of that as I’m enjoying the sensation of mock flying while I wait for my mana pool to fill up.

_________________________________

“We’re out of meat, dear.”

“Blasphemy!” exaggerates Mr.Locklear in response to his wife's claim, “No such thing can happen under my roof,” he proclaims and jokingly slams his nearly empty beer bottle on the wooden table.

“Than you must tell me where it is you live, dear. Because I just came from the kitchen and the fridge is empty,” she answers her husband calmly and passes him another beer, “So I’ll need you to get your butt down into the cellar and bring out some of your older catches,” she orders her man with a peck on his balding head.

“Ahha, I knew there’s meat here after all,” he stands up proudly, “Jonathan!” he gives a shout to Jason's father, “Any preferences?”

“What’s your freshest?”

“Venison it is,” he empties his bottle and grabs the new one his wife put on the table for him. “Care to give me a hand, Jason? He was a big one. Spent three days tracking him down,” he says, already moving away from the patio and towards the cellars entrance. Jason dropped his burger and rushed after the jolly man.

He was anxious to come to the barbeque, not knowing what to expect once everyone met. Jason didn’t think Mr.Locklear would cause him trouble on purpose, but being his father's good friend and a father to two daughters himself, the dungeon might become off-limits under the excuse of keeping Jason safe.

He relaxed somewhat when nothing happened immediately and the smell of cooked meat reached his nostrils. By the time he was busy devouring his second burger he had completely forgotten about the whole situation and was having a good time chatting with Hanna and his brother.

So when he was called to help he jumped up without thinking. It was only when they rounded the corner of the house and everyone's marry voices were cut off that he realized what has happened. He was alone with the cause of his worries. Which made his nervousness return full force, making him miss a step and trip forward barely catching himself in time.

“Careful there Jason. Can’t be tripping on flat ground. Do that on a hunt and you’ll scare all the animals away, or worse, you might fall into a field of mushrooms.”

Jason froze, staring at Mr.Locklear's’ back with the urge to run away and bury himself somewhere no one can find.

“Relax will ya,” he says, taking another mouthful of beer, “That place is your catch, so to speak, and I have no intention of bothering you on your hunt.” He stops before the cellar door and chugs down the rest of the bottle before opening the heavy doors and stepping in. “However, that place is quite something,” he says while Jason follows him into the cold, dark room, “I always considered myself a hunter, but now I’m officially a [Hunter]. Class came with skills to boot. Ahh there it is,” he holds the lid of one of the many fridges open and begins to remove large pieces of meat and placing them in Jason's hands. “As such, with the excuse of keeping you safe but mainly because I’m interested, I ask that you don’t go there without me. Is that okay with you Jason?” he asks with a tone that makes it clear that he is genuine.

“Do you promise not to tell anyone else?” Jason asks, staggering slightly under the weight of the meat.

“You have my word.”

“I also told Ben he can come.”

“Ben as in Benjamin? Tyron's son?”

“Yeah.”

“I see. Well, it's your hunt so you can do whatever you want. But if you’re bringing in people would you consider having Hanna come along?”

“Of course she can.” Jason would never admit it but he had a small crush on Hannah. Even though she was a few years older than him.

“Glad to hear that,” the large man smiles as he grabs a large box with ease, “Let's hurry back before Joseline gets angry at me, shall we? We can talk about our hunt later.”

_________________

Congratulations!

You have reached level eight.

Next level up at 5000 mana.

+15 dungeon points

Two more animals were hunted down and added to my dungeon, a Snowshoe hare and an adorable ermine.

Both cost forty mana to create even though the ermine is about half the size of the hare. I’m starting to think that predators cost more mana to create, “Which is something I might be able to take advantage of.” Monsters made from herbivores should cost less than their carnivorous counterparts, yet both can be similarly dangerous.

The hare is a wonderful addition to my growing forest ecosystem while the ermine I currently let roam the first floor. “Later I’ll add it to the second floor but for now, with all the bugs and mice inhabiting it, they will have more food on the first floor while the hare acts as food for the foxes of the second floor.”

I also created another monster for the first floor. A mix between a mushroom and an earthworm that will hopefully present a fun challenge for the boy when he comes back. “If he comes back…” With each passing day I’m more and more concerned that he will never show up again. I mean I hope he will. No, I know he will. He’s a young boy and I represent adventure but I still can’t help but have doubts. “I wish he’d come back already,” I sigh and look for something to do to occupy my mind.

There’s only one more thing left in my current plans for the first floor. Most likely there will be changes to it in the future but once I’m done with the last addition I’ll start focusing on the second floor, “And maybe even start planning the third.” I have a few ideas floating around on what to do with it but I see no reason to settle on one, at least not until I get visitors to my second floor and see their reaction to it.

Though for that to happen I first need to figure out how I connect the two floors. A staircase is the simplest method but I already have one at the entrance to the dungeon and I don’t want to repeat myself so early. “Biggest problem is how do I make something that is both easy to go down and up with? People need a way to leave the dungeon from the second floor after all.” An elevator would be cool but a little impractical as it would mean having to traverse the first floor again to leave. “Not a problem currently, as there aren’t many visitors but once there’s more they’ll start blocking each other.” No, I need a way for them to exit the dungeon directly from the second floor and this means making another exit. And if I’m making another exit anyways than I can separate the way down and the way up.

“Yes!” an idea hits me and I’m excited to start working on it. So I check my mana, pick a good spot and hollow out a tube through the earth. A tube that starts at the end of the first floor, the place where the currently empty boss room is located, and opens up thirty meters down into a small room adjacent to the second floor. The small room will act as a safe space where people can rest up before deciding if they want to attempt the second floor or leave the dungeon.

The tube will act as a slip n’ slide. “Who doesn’t like slip n’ slides?” I think giddily as I imagine the joyful screams of people going down in it.

“For an exit, I can use the elevator idea.” A small hollowed-out space, big enough to fit a few adults at the same time, one that I can move up and down with ease. It will cost some mana to operate but as a temporary solution, it will work. The people leaving the dungeon will be brought up in a different location than the tree and this way there won’t be any clogging up the lines. “Because I just know that one day everyone will want to come here and then there’ll be lines of visitors waiting for adventure.”

My last order of business is to make an elaborate doorway that separates the safe room from the second floor. I also add some mushrooms on the ceiling for light and benches made of earth on the surrounding wall. In the middle of the small five by three-room, a garden. Made thanks to a cheap perk called {Randomizer} to the [Splicer] skill. It gives me the option to choose the materials I want and randomly splice them together. The results are nothing too impressive but a few extra bizarre mushrooms, a bunch of weird flowers and a few deliberate changes and the outcome is quite eye catching. To finish the small garden I concentrate some mana around the plot of land and gasp as they explode in size and number. “Eventually it’ll be great if I could make the flowers have some healing effects or be edible.”

I alter a few fireflies, making them bigger and able to glow in various colors and set them flying around the room and feeding on the flowers.

The room is transformed from a bare waiting room into a small wonderland that I feel people would love to relax in.

“I’d love to add a source for freshwater and something for people to eat but not now.” Now I go into the dungeon shop and buy a simple animal. It’s quite big but doesn’t cost a lot. “Probably because it's made almost entirely out of water.” Water which I replace with air using the [Splicer] skill.

While the skill keeps amazing me with how easy and intuitive it is the initial result is not what I wanted, so I get back into the interface and keep experimenting. The result gets thinner and lighter, with less tentacles to weigh it down, yet the damn thing refuses to do what I envisioned it too.

I give it a few more tries before deciding not to waste any more mana on experimenting. Instead, my mana is channeled through my connection with the tree next to my entrance. More and more mana flows through the roots and in return they seem to grow and twist as they try to suck more and more of the mana.

In my mind I hold an image of beacon, signaling the world that I am here. That I am friendly. That I am magical, and most importantly that everyone is welcome.

The tree responds slowly, taking its time as if contemplating on my meaning. Eventually it starts to change, growing not in height as I expected it too but in width. Leaves open up and new buds appear, multiplying in number until they are so dense it becomes impossible to see between them.

Once it is almost three-meter in diameter it slows down its growth and a different change happens. Its bark starts to move, shaping itself to form an opening on one side. The opening stretches and contorts until it becomes wide enough for a person to enter through.

As I pour more of my mana into our shared connection nothing happens. More and more mana leaves me, taking with it my meaning and hope for what the tree might one day represent but nothing else changes. Until with the last few points, the tree shakes and several small fruit pop out on its branches. They look not much bigger than a walnut and clearly unripe but I’m out of mana so they’ll have to mature at a normal rate until next time.

Right now I need to wait for some mana to regenerate so I can make use of the new entrance.