From our little cave, we can see the opposing cliff wall. That particular wall seems to have crumbled somewhat a long time ago. A lot of the material is now what makes up the bottom of this canyon. The canyon floor is more or less a grass plain. It is however quite uneven, with plenty of rocks jutting out. In front of our cave there’s a flat area about 3 or 4 people wide. There are natural paths, both to the ground and to the top of the cliff, in the rock about that wide too. The cliff face probably broke along some ancient sedimentary layer to form these paths.

I kick a pebble off the edge of the flat. One and two and three and four and f. Hm. So… assuming gravity all works the same about 100 meters then? And upwards is about… 3 times that I guess. Either way it’s quite a hike. I’m more or less in shape and the cats seems to have headed down first. I suppose I’ll have to hike up. At least it’ll be much easier coming down with anything I pick up.

It took a lot less time than I expected. I even picked up a few interesting looking rock samples on my way up. I tried to break them down but it seems like I can’t do so outside my territory.

From the top, it was clear that the bottom of the canyon had been much kinder to life. The top on the other hand, had little left for it. It appears there used to be some sort of forest here, but all that’s left now is the charred remains. The only real notable feature within walking distance was that of a river bend, passing near the edge of this canyon before veering off to who knows where. A village was visible a ways off, at the bottom of the canyon. I shouldn’t have to worry about them hunting cats, but hopefully the rabbits stay safe. It should be Saeri’s village, given that it’s the only one I can see. I’ve got plans for them too, but now’s not the time. Business first, fun second.

I also tried to focus in on my dungeon from up here. It was there, in the back of my mind. Like some appendage I had long forgotten about. I could sense what was going on inside as if I was there watching every corner. This is good. I could also absorb a few of the things my animals brought back. Plants, mostly. An odd rodent or two. One small bird. A small snake. A few worms and insects. Basic, but this is good enough for now.

While all I managed to bring back is some water for Saeri and a few freshwater plants, I wouldn’t say this is a loss. No, rather this little trip has been very very helpful.

By the time I got back down it was the afternoon. I completely forgot to fix Saeri lunch, but luckily there was leftovers of the rabbit from yesterday. Having absorbed all the stuff the cats and rabbits brought in, my mana is back up to 50. Stepping into my dungeon territory, I also leveled up. I guess it’s from the cats killing animals?

Name Eita Race Dungeon Level 2 Mana Pool 52 Mana Regen 6/Hour Dungeon Points 10

Hm. Turns out I can kinda modify this menu to show whatever I want. I don't know that I'd like living just based on some numbers though. I'll try not to use this too much.

[Saeri] Welcome back!

[Eita] I’m back. Been doing alright? Sorry I forgot to get you lunch.

[Saeri] I’ve been fine. There was plenty of rabbit meat left over. Nobody besides the cats and rabbits came by either.

[Eita] Good. Well I found a river basically right above us. It’s pretty big too. So we’ll have a source of water from now on. I also have a pretty good plan. So, can you get dinner ready? The cats brought back some bird so let’s have that for dinner.

[Saeri] Sounds good, will we be roasting it again?

[Eita] Ah. That’s right. Let’s up our living standards a little.

I focus on one of the cave walls. This time, instead of cutting away a whole 40 meters, I purposely create some areas of rock that would not get absorbed. Pots, pans, utensils, chairs, tables. Things of that nature. It did cost me a little more mana then before, but that’s fine. This is necessary after all.

[Eita] Here you go. Utensils and a pot and pan. Since I can absorb the river water and make some clean water, maybe a soup tonight?

[Saeri] Ok, but don’t use up too much mana on this. I mean, you don’t even need to eat anymore right?

[Eita] Well, that’s true. This body doesn’t seem to need to eat or sleep. But I can, and it’s comforting. So don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t put us in danger over some simple pleasures.

I also summon up some bird meat. It sort of looked like a chicken, but much more agile and capable of flying. I also summon what seem to be herbs and root vegetables the rabbits brought in. Dead animals tend to be a lot cheaper than summoning a live one and mundane plants are cheap anyways. Ah, I say mundane because apparently there was a magical herb mixed in there and it would cost me a good 10 mana to summon a patch.

I look at my stats again.

Mana Pool 34 Mana Regen 6/Hour Dungeon Points 10

Well, it’s good enough. In an hour I’ll have enough to expand my territory another 140 meters. I also gained another 10 dungeon points. I guess it’s 10 per level for now? I browse through the dungeon history and find what I’m looking for. A dungeon operated door. It looks like the dungeon itself has to open and close it. It’s secure, but also can’t be the only way to reach the dungeon core. It’s only 5 DP so I buy it. It would be ridiculous if Saeri had to go through the same dangerous path everyone else had to after all. There was also an indestructible terrain item in the dungeon shop. Oddly enough it was only 1 DP. Well, at least it’s cheap. And we wouldn’t want the walls collapsing like the cliff across the canyon.

....

What? It’s literally just compressing the atmospheric mana and making like a shell? I mean it's a geometric shell that overlaps with where the actual material is but still. Shit. No wonder it was so cheap. I could have figured that out.

I kept muttering about what a waste of points that was, but proceed to protect all the walls in the dungeon anyways.

I spot another option that I’ll need to buy when I get more DP. Dungeon Lighting and Dungeon Temperature. I’m ok since the dungeon is part of myself, but Saeri will start having a hard time walking if we make the dungeon any deeper. Well, hopefully this can be dealt with soon.

Now then. 40 mana. I spend it all expanding the dungeon territory and rooms. It will take a little while, but with another 5 days or so, we should make it.