Spending an absurd amount of time awake straight to expand the dungeon to circle the entire volcano while actually letting my imagination take the better of me as I did things like lava waterfalls and such to give a much cooler appearance to the dungeon where the flow connected, i completely circled all the mountain.

That said, it wasn’t without danger, I learned the hard way when the volcano suddenly began to erupt.

I had to run away into another dungeon while exploring the slowly changing dungeon after calling the guardian into my book while I watched the changes from the volcano dungeon’s view.

The magma rose quickly but as planned, it was drastically delayed when the lava reached the largest opening to the top of the three source rooms.

The half filled rooms, something i worked hard to achieve, had lava spill down from above increasing the pressure and flow with the weight added which caused a lot of problems for the rooms to pump out but the job was achieved since there were more flow corridors on the upper half as well. The volcano erupted inside as all the gas burst while only half way out only releasing the ear shattering roar with the gas but not the balls of molten rocks flying.

“This is an improvement for sure.” I nodded but as i looked at the dungeon i noticed the energy network was going haywire for a while as a strong energy was coming from deep in the bowels of the volcano.

“Damn, the Earth fire even affects the dungeon network.” I scowled.

The side effect was that the network was backed up with fire mana again. The spirits in the dungeon quickly began to move. Wind wisps pulled out the connections releasing a dense concentration of chaotic mana that needed to be processed and put back into the dungeon and flow.

The heat of the dungeon also rose up very high and pockets of lava on the walls began to melt again.

“This is going to be a pain each time it erupts.” I said cursing how the thing was but at least this dungeon didn’t collapse when the volcano erupted. “At least the side effect isn’t as bad.” I muttered and had a large group of wisps come to the dungeon core room.

After a while it all cooled down again but the amount of fire mana in the network was worrisome.

“I need to figure out a way to prevent this build up.” I said and appeared in the dungeon core room and sat down while looking at the entire dungeon. I couldn’t remain here forever i needed to deal with the problem at its core and prepare the dungeon to handle the pressure on it’s own.

It was when the smell of sulfur, strong enough to surpass the scarf and I smelled it.

“That smell… right! Air ways! Maybe there could be a way to use it somehow.” I exclaimed but frowned again.

“Dungeon, how do i make airways?” I asked.

“So you finally asked.” It scoffed at me. “You need to make energy ways with specific purpose to pump air in and out.” he said.

“I was afraid of that.” I said but nonetheless, i open the book and after a long time I finally figured out how to create a new network line. I wasn’t sure how it worked so i just connect it to the wall, and pull it all the way along the network to outside the dungeon.

“It feels… inefficient.” I muttered but before I could say anything a wind wisp reached that entry point.

You have developed an energy way with purpose to make air vents. Entering dungeon view, please prepare a natural wonder.

My vision went black and slowly i saw the dungeon from above.

“What is this?” I said worried and looked around but then looked down and noticed that glowing network which had begun to flow the toxic air out from that one point. The inefficiency of transport was very obvious.

I didn’t know how to make it work at all which irritated me a lot. My view drew closer and while I was watching. A wind wisp went to the wall at another point. Amazingly the loose vent network was pulled to the lava flow section it had entered along with the filled central network.

Suddenly all that sections stored up fire mana burst into the vent and like finding an escape valve that fire mana burst out to the vent shooting out of the dungeon.

“Wha!?” I exclaimed.

When I saw that, my mind went blank as a mysterious kind of feeling fell over me and I saw from the vision of the wisp how it drew the two networks together at that point and how a section of nearly 10 meters vented into that spot.

When i saw that, my mind formed an idea and tested it as soon as it appeared making a new vent network appear connected only to one starting point but at a point five meters away, it connects to a lava vent and pulls the fire mana filled network into that point. An air wisp flew in as quickly as the system was formed and the vent worked.

As soon as it confirmed my mind shook like an earthquake as the faux dungeon core began to shine releasing a totally new system of network from the core connecting every 10 meters to every lava flow point. It wasn’t just one or two but many connected to all the walls and the main network also connected forming a stable venting network along the stone corridors.

But when i finished and the wisps began to vent all the fire mana, I suddenly realized that releasing the fire mana instead of pumping it back into the lava was a very good method to weaken the volcano.

The thought caused the vents to branch out even more into the lava flow channels into the source rooms before returning to the volcanic corridors and pumping the intense mana but it was raw mana with fire, death, wind and earth mana mixed.

Both fire and wind wisps quickly flew into the network and began to break them to break all that releasing fire, wind and death mana out while earth mana was actually released into an exit valve under the lakes and began to produce rocks.

There were sections that ended up transported earth mana to the place slimes died.

Still the system wasn’t totally stable and I figured out that it was because it was only outward flow and not inward.

The faux core trembled again and began to connect to different locations to all corridors and rooms before spread out to outside of the walls which pulled in fresh air and released it into the dungeon. When that happened, the network suddenly seemed to become firm as if a final missing piece was achieved.

The scene around me vanished and I found myself opening my eyes just to feel a cool breeze flowing into the heated room.

I looked around for the source but like all dungeons, there was no visible vent but a magical vent formed in the walls.

Looking in the book, I saw that, amazingly, pillars and stones grew out in the many lake rooms and the salamanders happily began to sleep on these stones in safety while some held magma slugs.

Fire wisps also would go to these every so often. They weren’t just in the magma and formed on the shores as well and were slowly growing rich in earth mana and might eventually become mineral outcrops of some kind.

Salamanders that were once in the corridors retreated to only the rooms with lava while magma slugs also did the same and even went further beyond into the flow channels and source rooms.

“Well damn, did i make my dungeon worse for my monsters?” I muttered.

Congratulations! You have produced the natural wonder ‘Volcano’s Vents’.

By living in an active volcano, you are always in danger of your dungeon collapsing or melting due to the intense eruptions filling the network. By building a specific network that will vent the toxic air and heat of the dungeon before it is released into the dungeon, you drastically improve the survivability of the living beings in the dungeon as well as resolving, in a small part, a major problem of the intense energy of the volcano that cause it to erupt.

This will cause the explosiveness of the volcano to decrease by a small amount while making it require a little more time to erupt while securing the safety of the dungeon in the process.

Congratulations! For making your first natural wonder, the spirits of wind have acknowledged you as a friend for making a place of extremely horrible wind and air into a livable place. You will now be able to gather more spirits in the Book of Dungeon maker and make spirit gems.

Seeing the messages, i could only blink but felt immense relief that the gamble to control the dungeon wasn’t some random fools dream. As long as the dungeon expands more, more lava will be able to be funneled out and the energy from the volcano will be used for other things besides letting it erupt. Now that i knew that it wasn’t smart to return the fire mana to the lava, not completely at least, i knew the basic direction to take.

“Guardian.” I turn to the huge puppet. “You will be the dungeon boss to protect this dungeon. Do everything you can at all costs to keep the faux core from being destroyed.” I said.

“As you wish master.” He kneeled before me before walking to the center of the room and planting his roots into the volcanic rock.

“Now I need to get out of here.” I mutter and go to the entrance were slimes had occupied the place already. I summon a puppet horse and mount it to be able to run away as fast as possible.

I rush out of the dungeon and see the devastation of the land, the lava flows I created had already formed rivers of lava, not something I particularly liked but could do nothing about.

Unlike when I arrived, the volcano wasn’t spewing out magma boulders but the ground was destroyed and the lava more spread than before. Furthermore, there was dangers such as fires and lava flow i needed to be careful of.

“This volcano will totally be a pain in the ass until it fully goes dormant under my control.” I cursed as i finally free myself from the range of the volcano and head to the nearest teleportation platform and took out a exp crystal to charge it as quickly as possible and teleport to the castle.

A guard was waiting there almost dozing off when I appeared with a shine.

“Dungeon maker!” he exclaimed.

“I am back with some success. Where is the queen?” I asked.

“I shall lead you to her.” He bowed.

“How is the war effort?” I asked.

Under the helmet with the front partially revealing his face, a smile could be seen. “We have successfully pushed back the demons.”

Like that he lead me to the queen while giving me a basic run of the events.

***

While this was happening, in the Book of the Dungeon Maker the dungeon was just waiting on the wall while half of its body was stuck to the book acting as the entrance.

His dungeon had expanded only one room and one corridor and housed slimes.

“I have gathered enough mana, it is time for true expansion.” he thought.

Dungeon Shop

Rooms

Corridors

Spell circles

Monster/Plant Spawn

Trap/Special

Seeing the dungeon shop, the primary expansion method of natural dungeons, he opened both rooms and corridors.

His view left the dungeon core in what was called Dungeon view. It was actually the same mysterious view method that Ace underwent when he was making his dungeon vents in the volcano but for dungeon’s it is a natural view change which lets them explore their dungeons from behind the walls.

The size of the dungeon was pitifully small. Besides the dungeon core room and entrance room, it had only added on corridor and room to his dungeon to give room to birth slimes that were his first naturally born creature.

A few strange lines formed at the ‘edge’ of each section that the dungeon could freely manipulate in this view as it was a sort of mental image in its current state. Within his field of view he had a number of DP or dungeon points which actually represented how much mana he had gathered and could spend for expansion.

He began by separating the dungeon core room and began to add corridors that forked starting from the second room.

He was in a ‘safe’ situation so he actually did not care for extremely quick growth unlike the unfortunate others of his race.

Dungeon Shop

Rooms

Cave Room

Water Source Room

These were the two options he had at this time but dungeons were different from dungeon makers. Makers had to have a clear blueprint of a room with little modifiable possibility besides where the entrances entered but dungeons had utmost control of their rooms and could mold it to their desires.

That is to say, while Ace had a cavernous lake room, the dungeon only had a cave room but he could build and modify the size and proportion at will, add columns and more to everything and make certain details that could aid it’s monsters such as adding spires on the roof that could fall, or not.

Planning for a stable environment, he grabs the source room option and makes a size ranging more or less about the size of a small pond with 10 meters in diameter. He makes a sort of big room and modifies it to have a small lake and makes a single spring channel that pulls water from the room below and one to return the water after reaching his desired water level height.

The source was placed under the room and would feed only that lake. The energy network he added focused on cleaning and recycling water to refill the lost water that will remain in the lake and keep it fresh, perfect for consumption.

Even without saying it, his dungeon already had air vents, to him it wasn’t a natural wonder but a basic necessity for a stable dungeon.

After that was done he allowed the room to sit there as he connected the needed networking.

That done he focused on the other corridor and kept expanding it and branched it several times slowly making a maze that usually ended with rooms, some with moss and others with water and moss.

It was all he had to work with at this point but the last room he made just an empty room before closing the room and corridors and connected his dungeon core room to the last unused corridor.

He then opened the ‘Trap/Special’ tab.

Dungeon Shop

Traps

Pitfall

Rock Drop

Special

Treasure Chest

The pitifully few options were a clear indicator of a young dungeon but the thing the dungeon wanted was the special. Treasure chests were very unique items for a dungeon.

They attracted adventurers and humanoid monsters.

Adventurers loved the items inside while humanoid monsters were attracted to it because of their special abilities to make many items of the same kind that is put inside without much work from them.

Treasure chests of a dungeon works specifically by sacrificing a base item to which the chest models off and by absorbing mana, it will slowly make more of the same items over a period of time. Only coins are ‘perfect’ because the system of dungeons produce them as a basic item.

Also, treasure chests aren’t completely perfect. Besides coins that the chests instinctively produce by starting with the lowest value coin and merging coins when there are enough to make a higher value coin, they produce items of lower quality then the one sacrificed.

Of course, the chest stays like that as long as dungeon maker or dungeon leaves it like that but to fix this problem either of them would have to spend hours guiding mana to make a perfect construction of the original item so that the treasure chest learns how to properly make it.

As for the ‘learn’ part, yes, dungeon treasure chests have a certain system of learning that allows them to identify an item over a living creature. Further they can also produce herbs based off of the model but unlike items, herbs cannot be improved and can only be made with the quality they come out as.

The dungeon pulls out two and places them in the empty room happily and goes to the spell circles. Dungeons use the dungeon shop to produce magic circles like a dungeon maker does. The difference is that using the system they can make a perfect circle with specific effects but like every tab, there are almost no options.

Dungeon Shop

Spell Circles

Random Insect spawner

Random Rodent Spawner

Random small predator spawner

Not all dungeons live in a place ‘safe’ enough to draw in the bottom of the barrel ecosystem creatures. These special magic circles, after being hooked up to the energy network of the dungeon, will slowly gather mana and summon creatures randomly to populate their dungeons.

The natural dungeon mana will entwine into their biology and after a short while, will become minions of the dungeon and slowly adapt to the new environment.

Since he had nothing to feed anything else besides insects, he placed several insect spawners and only one rodent spawner, since insects needed very little mana.

“This is a good closed environment for now. Now i need to produce even more mana to expand more but now that i expanded the network, the efficiency should be better.” he said smiling inwardly to himself.

Like all dungeons, he fell into a waiting phase to gather more mana.