I had covered the dirt with grass and created a few more things like worms and other underground bugs that the two Ents had brought back from their excursion. I also created one more Ent bringing the total number of Ents up to 5. I sent them two of the ents out again to forage for more supplies while I contemplated more on the layout of my dungeon.

“Wait a minute,” I said “I need trees to make a forest and I currently can’t make trees,”

I sighed as I wondered why I hadn’t thought of that sooner, it could have even sped up the creation of the forest. I looked at my mana stores and decided to send two more of my ents to cut down the nearest tree, but first

“Create 2 basic stone axes,” I said.

Two stone axes appeared on the floor, they were crude but they would do.

“Two of you take theses axes and chop down the nearest tree and drag it back here,” I commanded the Ents

Like machines the Ents obeyed, picking up the axes and leaving the dungeon. I was now low on mana, all I could do was wait for the arrival of the ents along with their goods I just sat there for a while not doing anything. It had been a while and I yawned, probably should take a nap, and just as I was about to enter the crystal. I Heart a resounding thud that echoed throughout my dungeon. I looked to the entrance to see the two ents dragging an enormous tree into the dungeon, it actually ended up getting stuck halfway through but this was fine as I could absorb it as long as it was at least partly in the dungeon, so I focused on the tree and watched it liquefy into the glowing blue liquid I was used to before it evaporated. then my mana levels skyrocketed, I gained 15 mana from that tree

Oak tree has been discovered, you may now create oak trees

Wait a minute, if I gained 15 mana from this tree then how much will it cost for me, the dungeon thought.

“Oak tree info,” I shouted quickly

name: oak tree mana cost: 12 description:

A classic oak tree that will grow to about 25-30m tall and require soil that is 3 feet deep like most trees

“Create oak tree,” I said, focusing on a spot near the entrance to the forest room as I dubbed it.

I felt the mana drain from me as an oak tree appeared in the spot I had pointed to.

“Do I have to shout every time I want to create something?” asked the dungeon

Negative, you can do it mentally, it was you that just started shouting out your commands

I sighed, I probably sounded like an idiot too I suspected. then the other two ents returned, one was carrying the basket filled with animal corpses, the other was carrying a large bush that appeared to have berries on it. the ents dropped the items on the ground and I quickly absorbed them.

Rabbits have been discovered, you may now create rabbits

Squirrels have been discovered, you may now create squirrels

Forest sparrows have been discovered, you may now create forest sparrows

Common Skunks have been discovered, you may now create common skunks

Juppa berry bush has been discovered, you may now create a juppa berry bush

I mentally called upon the juppa berry bushes data.

name: juppa berry bush mana cost: 6 description: Produces juppa berries which are sweet and commonly used in baked goods and alcohol. the bush itself is rather unremarkable and produces a faint sweet scent.

I then hastily created a bush, placing it about a metre in front of me to see what the bush was. It was just how I expected it, bland and regular. I began contemplating the effectiveness of having a brewery, I quickly tossed the idea aside however as the idea seemed juvenile and silly. Things were beginning to get boring in I’s dungeon as I realised I couldn’t really do much until I had completely transformed this entire room into an actual forest which would take a while due to how expensive trees were compared to my current mana capacity. This would be a simple but tedious task, it would involve spending all my mana spare from one mana point and then rest until my mana was filled up and then just repeat this process. I repeated this process for a week which got about me about a quarter of the way. This process reminded me of when I had to constantly copy out assets for some of my games. It was night outside the dungeon and I had just exhausted my mana supplies. I had just entered my crystal wIn a sudden ringing noise sounded in my head followed by a notification from the UI.

Enemies have entered your dungeon, mana costs have now been doubled and passive mana regeneration has been disabled

“WHAT THE HELL, this can’t be happening to me,” I cried out

I sent a mental command to all my Ents to come to me quickly in order to guard me. My domain was fell quite as the ents protecting me stood motionless, awaiting the oncoming attack. then grey streaks charged towards them and slammed into their makeshift battle line. the attackers turned out to be a pack of large grey wolves, it consisted of about 8-10 members. the battle that ensued was chaotic, a whirlwind of claws, jaws and wooden fists, blood and splintered wood littered the floor. So far the wolves had lost 4 of its members and the ents force had lost 1. I was getting worried, then another ent fell. Now I began to panic, at t my rate my forces will be wiped out and I meself might even die although I didn’t fully understand how. I looked at the mangled corpses that laid on the ground and then an idea popped into my head. I began trying to absorb the wolf corpses, I felt the objects resist my efforts so I began trying harder, the task was mentally strenuous. the battle raged on as I tried as hard as I could to absorb the wolf corpses, only two of the ents remained and I was completely outmatched. finally, the corpses wolf corpses liquified d the disappeared, I sighed with relief as the mana flooded in. I gained 16 mana from the two wolves that I absorbed.

Grey wolves have been discovered, you may now create grey wolves

I ignored the notification. I was now down to my final Ent, the wolves began slamming their bodies into my crystal core, each strike felt like my heart was going to burst and the pain was immense.

I condensed all the mana within me into a tight ball, it took all of my focus to stop the ball exploding inside of me. I continued to compress the mana until it was no bigger than a grape. the mental strain was far more intense than the pain being caused by the wolves. I then forced the compressed mana outside of my body and launched it into the centre of the wolves pack. With my mind no longer holding the mana in place, the ball exploded. there was a flash of blue light and then the area was decimated by a powerful blast of force, trees were wrenched from the ground, wolves and ents alike were torn apart, even the earth itself had been ripped to shreds. Once the dust settled I looked around to see utter carnage. I looked at the fallen ents with genuine sadness. I absorbed the dead as well as the debris to replenish my mana reserves. the intake of mana caused me a great amount of pain. I turned to look at my crystal, it was covered in cracks and the pulses were few and far between. I used all the mana I had to fix my broken core, the cracks disappeared and my core appeared to glow a little brighter than before. I finally gave in to the immense fatigue I was feeling and fell into a deep slumber.

When I woke up I exited the crystal, looked around and then sighed at the thought of having to rebuild. I took another look around and noticed something curious. the ravaged body of one of the ents remained, I tried to absorb it but I couldn't. then I realised, the ent was still alive. I poured some mana into the ent until I had Healed fully. I smiled at this ent who had survived so much. Since I had used a lot of mana to heal the ent, I used the remaining mana to repair the ground and replant the grass and some of the wildflowers. After this, I went back into my core to regenerate.

the next day I created 4 more ents and sent one out to forage for materials. I then looked at the data on the wolves

name: grey wolves mana cost 8 description: Grey wolves are a basic type of wolf that predominantly hunts wIn visibility is low, such as heavy rain, night time, fog and snowstorm.

I considered creating some of the wolves but decided against it. I had much more to consider than just messing around, I had to grow stronger or I would die.

“System,” the dungeon shouted, referring to the UI that had been supplying me with notification, “how do I make my monsters stronger?”

To upgrade a monster you must evolve them

“And how do I do that,” the I questioned further

there are many methods but looking at their individual info and checking for available evolutionary paths is the most common method

“How do I view their individual info,” the dungeon asked

Just focus on a monster and will its info to appear.

I looked at the ent stood next to me, the one who lived.

I looked at the ent and willed its info to appear

name: N/A species: Ent level: 1 description: a sentient being made from wood. most ents are usually on the dumber end of the less intelligent end of the spectrum but there are exceptions possible evolutions: agile ent, ent brute, ent hero (special evolution)

“What does it mean by special evolution,” I asked the dungeon.

It means that specific ent has met special requirements that mean I have an extra evolutionary option

I tried to bring up the information on each evolution

evolution name: agile ent mana cost: 7 special requirements none description faster and more flexible than regular ents evolution name: ent brute mana cost: 7 special requirements: none description: stronger and bulkier than regular ents evolution name: ent hero mana cost: 9 special requirements:

needs to have survived a situation in which it should have died

description: this ent is much stronger, faster and durable than regular ents and gets a minor boost when it is in danger

I read all the descriptions, I quickly went with the final option due to it being superior to the others although a bit more expensive. Just in time, the ent arrived pushing a large pile of materials into my dungeon, the new things I unlocked weren't anything interesting but the amount of mana I gained brought me back up to full I willed my ent to evolve, Forcing 9 mana into the ent’s body, I watched as the branches that formed its body tighten and grow thicker. My eyes changed from the calming green to a fiery orange.

“With this new evolution, I shall give you a name,” I considered what to call it, it had to be something simple and easy to remember.

“Your new name shall be Grix” I announce with pride in my voice

Do you wish to name this monster, you will need to spend at least 9 mana to do so?

I accepted although I questioned why an act so simple as giving my minion a name would cost mana. I looked at my ent, it appeared stronger now than before, I smiled at Grix and admiring my handy work. With all that out of the way, I began once again sending ents out of the dungeon, believing I was protected enough. I continued to grow and cultivate my forest, due to the explosion destroying many of my trees, it took much longer than expected. After four more weeks of what seemed like an endless cycle of planting trees and sleeping, the forest was completed.