It is a most useful thing for many that the system created a source of currency that could sake both hunger and thirst upon consumption in appropriate quantities. This fact alone has saved many from starvation, though it also created issues for enforcing the law as some wealth stolen could literally disappear.

- Introduction to "A Short History of Wealth by Kamilla

Waiting is often boring. Some people can entertain themselves while waiting, but that is the entertainment that is fun, not the waiting. Waiting for a dungeon to have enough mana to fill up the idea Violet and I created is still surprisingly boring. I get that I am watching an actual small world be built, but it was like watching paint dry. Maybe it was a gorgeous painting, but the paint itself was dull. Patience is a virtue for a reason I guess.

The amount of mana needed to create rock was small, but we were a young dungeon who couldn’t pull a lot of mana through the void and we had decided upon an absolutely massive dungeon design. So while there was progress happening it was spread out over a massive area and visually it was very boring. There were not a lot of options on what to do while waiting as there was nothing actually physically here but the rocks being formed.

I had enjoyed seeing the start as the first parts of rock appeared seemingly from thin air. It got boring as there was more and more rock for the rest to grow from and it was less visibly apparent.

Alright, let’s get back to the system. Sorry for cutting you off Violet, even after I had just asked. I wanted us to watch the actual start of our dungeon, and we did that. Now I will let you explain in peace.

Alright, I’ll do my best. So, outside of welcoming beings when the gods find civilizations in need of saving, the System only appears when someone decides their path in life. I don’t know if that is fully accurate, what I know is mostly things relevant to dungeons, but I think there is also something about actually being willing to put in the effort. The time can vary for how long is needed to get access, for a dungeon we are somewhat lucky that we are forced to decide and so gain access early in our lives. Others have to put in a lot more effort and thought. It is why many only gain access to the system right before they become adults and choose their path in life. The introduction to the system and magic does tend to jumpstart the process though, so at the beginning there tend to be a decent amount of young people with access to the system.

I thought about what Violet had said. I am glad we agreed upon having a fairly safe dungeon, I could understand violence to an extent, but I drew the line at kids. I might even fudge things a bit later on to keep them safe. Well, till then I had a lot to learn.

I took a break to watch outside the dungeon, through the bubble portal, for a bit. Seeing the animals around that might eventually be part of the dungeon. I saw some birds, and a few rodents. I didn’t recognize them all. I guess that is to be expected with animals from other planets. I didn’t see any large predators, but I did see some turtles, frogs, and even a pair of otters in the water below us. The otters chirping made me see them slide down a nearby embankment and see the water slide.

Could be fun to include a water feature in the dungeon. We had gotten off the topic of food and water. Making a crazy water feature could be entertaining as well as provide drinking water. I got to thinking about how to combine water with gravity without making it a drowning hazard and went off on a tangent in my head. Water spout elevators, floating mist as visual impairment, floating water as an actual trap, a water trap piloted by a fish inside the water!

Violet brought me back to reality before I figured out how to incorporate the Loch Ness monster. She showed me how to change my view to outside the dungeon construct so that I could see other dungeon cores again if I so chose. I couldn’t see what many were building due to the distance. The closer ones I could vaguely see the size they had built. None were close to my size, for better or worse.

While watching the lights from the dungeon cores Violet pointed out a series of dungeons that had all started growing brighter at around the same time and told me that those were probably all dungeon cores without dungeon chosen. They had finished creating the first floor and were now gaining and releasing mana instead of only using it. I couldn’t see across the distance to see their designs but Violet assured me that for the first floor at least when you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all.

They will all have about 5 rooms and a couple pitfall traps. After the first floor they start having more variances due to outside interference. Maybe one will get no creatures and resort to putting mana into creating an elemental while another will get an ambush predator, they will still most likely be straightforward caves, but will be designed to best use their creatures as they’ve seen them. Maybe another will get an odd amount of success with traps and prioritize those. It depends on their first creature.

I turned to her and focused more intently on what she would say next.

I assume that you’re about to ask about how to get a creature?

She’s getting smart. I nodded.

Creatures that are killed within a dungeon are then able to be summoned within it. Plants that have even a little life can be absorbed and recreated as well if left inside the dungeon. Minerals, after enough enter and are absorbed, can also be created. The rock I am currently using was created by combining all the dust particles, this is the most common rock in the area.

Currently as we have few deadly traps there is a good chance that our first area will be utilizing elementals. Though with our size we may get a decent enough density to attract some creatures and maybe some will get unlucky.

It might be rough not having monsters on the first floor, but I considered it a decent trade off. Besides, a rock elemental would make our boss room work without changing the design.

The dungeon was nearing completion of the first floor. One of the many topics that came up while waiting for the blueprint to gain ground (ba-dum-tss) was the entrance hall, which was decidedly a misnomer.

The entrance hall is simply the entrance to the dungeon. It can similarly be in any shape or form but is often made into a hall of some sort to awe adventurers and welcome travelers and provide a brief respite before they go in. Others have it outside the dungeon portal, but it is then harder to alter at a later date. For us I would advise we focus on providing shelter, I believe that was your wish. Violet explained.

I nodded, Food, shelter, and water to be precise.

She went on as if I hadn’t spoken. While technically we can provide for those who come in, it seems less than helpful, at least in the entrance. Even excluding that a dungeon’s purpose is to transfer mana into the new world, We would be crippling the races for a decent chance at survival. People will not be the only beings growing stronger and coming here. Though the sentient races are the ones intended to gain from this, other beings often join the party. Even measly goblins or gellies can prove deadly.

If they only rely on us for food and water they won’t be able to survive elsewhere. Even the shelters would be good to have as small and uncomfortable. Good for a night's rest but not somewhere you would want to live. Food can be earned from the surrounding forest or from the dungeon. Water is right below us in the river and can be incorporated in the next floors. Shelters should be built on their own outside of the dungeon.

If they utilize the dungeon too much they will only be able to survive in the entrance hall. Besides, there will be others around them to help those in need. Looking at all the other cores I can say the total amount of people is in the billions, if we only get one percent of an equal distribution, we will still have thousands of people. If we made the most efficient use of space in the entrance hall we would still might not hold that one percent if everyone is hugging each other.

I hadn’t thought of the sheer number of people there would be. I didn’t want to admit it, but I think she was right. Though if she were wrong I am not sure I would be smart enough to prove that either. She hadn’t lied yet and had some inborn knowledge about the situation, I would trust her.

I can’t really argue with what you said. I think we can still help make things easier though would like to provide some food and water as you’d mentioned later. I can sorta get what you mean about us crippling their chance of survival. I hadn’t really put a lot of thought into it, but give me a bit and I’ll try and get back to you. For now, let's design the entrance hall. You said small spaces for sleeping, that sounds fine. Lets try and throw our own spin on this as well though.

Let’s have the beds float as our land does. Little pods hovering around in a sphere, maybe a giant sphere in the center for people to walk on from the entrance portal. Uh, Violet how would they get into the entrance hall from the outside? How would they get to the first floor from either?

Violet created a visual guide as we spoke. We can simply make a similar bubble portal on the center island of yours and for the dungeon level we can create a similar entrance for them to walk through. Does that sound like a good idea Jack?

I like it, but are there other options? Maybe something a bit more exciting? Something less obvious or predictable than walking through a portal hopefully.

Well, she offered another option, we could have a group be transported to somewhere random in the first level. The first level is rather small and thus easily mapped out, so it wouldn't be too inconvenient.

That sounds like a bit much for the first floor. Besides, we already made this floor with a long pathway-like design. If people end up traveling for hours for nothing it would be the wrong sort of adventure. Let’s save that for the second or third floor where we will open the floor up more so they at least have a clue of where they are going. For the entrance hall lets have a hole in the center island with the portal in that hole. They can walk into the hole from any direction and they will end up that way when entering the first floor. The portal to the outside world can stay as is.

Violet decided that was reasonable.

Hey Violet, is this going to set us back for our second floor or getting monsters?

Not for getting monsters, she reassured, as noted we simply need a creature to die and the creatures don’t need to come through the entrance hall. It will put us back for the second floor, but our first floor seems enough for now depending on what creatures we get. The size of our first floor is larger than an ordinary dungeon core’s first and second floor combined by a large margin.

The size alone will let us be ahead by a margin in regards to the amount mana released. While the amount of floors we have will be fewer, as I doubt our other floors will follow a normal method, we will still be on track. It will also allow us to support more monsters on the first floor. We are slow to get there, but for our level we will be head and shoulders above others.

I’m glad my imagination didn’t screw us over. Or at least not in a major way. Violet was growing so fast that I wasn’t sure she wasn’t just finding a silver lining to the situation.

I did get to play with my status screen a bit, I even had Violet help prepare me to make the monsters when that was finally an option.

Name Jack Species Dungeon Chosen Floors 0 Dungeon Avatar Default form Mana Channeling Above Average Health Pristine Abilities Dungeon creature analysis (Innate), Limited creation (Innate)

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