Though the system appears logical some of the logic is less than clear, though scholars of course have theories. The system drags peoples together, sets a singular language, and combines different species together. Then, upon introducing magic, lets them all split back apart into an even more diverse group and leaves record of only that.

Professor Rarne of the Academia for Continued Evolution

Well, I turned to Violet, it is technically a predator.

Well, it’s our first creature. Would you care to do the honors of making it our first monster?

Oh, sure.

Even though she had shown me how to do the basics of dungeon work, I doubt that I would be as fast as her even with a century of practice. Currently I still had to be at the dungeon core to summon anything, so basically I still had training wheels.

I searched for the pattern of the bat and pulled the mana shape out. The animal folder was extremely empty, so it was fairly simple. I added flecks of magnetic metal on the fur of the bat so it gleaned a bit. Upon recalling Violet wanting more danger in the dungeon I added some metal to strengthen the bats teeth as well as adding some on the front edge of the wings with which the bat could slice at a person.

I had Violet make sure my design was sound and the metal would help stabilize the bat while flying in the tunnels instead of simply weighing it down. She removed the metal from the teeth, as it wouldn’t be much use for the tiny critter, but left the fur and wings as I’d made them. Upon her approval I pulled more mana from the core into the blueprint and our first monster was formed.

I was so proud of my little bat. It had some trouble with all the boulders that were currently whirling about the core but managed to not get hit. I pushed it off to a further spot in the tunnels where the darkness would aid it. After a short discussion with Violet we made 3 more for company, one more female and two males. Enough that the bat would have company but few enough that it wouldn’t be a waste if the system showed them as useless when we finally got the system. Also we needed to see how well they would be able to fly and attack with the unusual conditions.

Metallic Dungeon Bat: A bat that has better stability while in it’s dungeon. It’s sharp wings give it a modicum of self defense against larger animals.

We went back to the entrance and our turtle friend who hadn’t moved a muscle during all of this. We had a few bugs enter while we were working on the bats and they were small enough that they quickly filled up on mana and went back out. A few actually went deeper and Violet and I agreed to use this chance to actually see how the bats would work. It wasn’t adventurers but it was something, barely.

They didn’t use the wing blades at all, to my great disappointment, but did seem to enjoy the meal. They seemed rather uncomfortable as there wasn’t actually a ceiling for them to hang from, just floor in every direction. We redirected the flow of mana for a minute, from creating the entrance, and created a little rock a few meters back from the entrance but hanging in the center for the bats to hang from.

They seemed content there and we tasked them with eating any bugs that got to that point. I also had them try to slice the flying bugs with their wings before eating them. Partially because I was hoping they’d do well and partially because that and watching a turtle loaf around was my main source of entertainment till we got a new creature. The bugs didn’t count, I didn’t want bugs as the second monster. Giant bugs was another thing I think would drive several people away, maybe more than a dangerous dungeon.

Since getting the bats to target bugs I’d learned from Violet that they only needed mana to survive, bugs just made them not absorb the mana till they were hungry again. They didn’t even need to breathe, it likewise just made their upkeep smaller. A smaller upkeep meant more mana spreading outside according to Violet. The amount saved was currently infinitesimal, but a penny saved is a penny earned.

We now let the bats do as they please, except when some new bug arrived. Violet was fine having no bugs at the beginning, but insisted on at least getting a sample of each bug in case we had a different idea later.

After several hours of new creatures being just/ slightly too far to be attracted we finally got something besides bugs. A toad had followed the steady stream of bugs and been beguiled by the dungeon entrance.

Violet and I sat amused atop the rock the bats were roosting on, when they weren’t catching bugs. We now had a third source of active entertainment, if the turtle could be called active.

Hey Violet, I said, let’s wait and see what he does. We still have another day or so before the entrance is ready for. We can always sic the bats on him later.

I shall permit it. She acquiesced.

Somehow the turtle was automatically allowed to loaf around in peace.

Even as a dungeon fairy I can appreciate some added entertainment. I can only watch so much earth appearing before I also want a change.

Tell you what, I bet you naming rights to the turtle that the toad goes deeper inside the dungeon.

No deal! That is practically guaranteed, he just needs to move a step forward and you win. I’ll wager naming rights that he will go past this rock before the entrance hall is completed. Neither of us are allowed to interfere.

Alright, but the bats, or other animals, can interfere as long as we don’t influence them either way.

Agreed.

We had moved from turtle racing to “extreme” toad racing. Next was bound to be something like snail golf. Even with a wager it wasn’t too exciting, but it was a marked improvement over simply watching the turtle sit there.

As day turned to night we had a few more bats come inside. The natural bats were noticeably less adept at flying inside our dungeon as compared to our dungeon bats. Only two more had managed to nosedive into the ground, and both of them were just groggy. I guess our first bat must’ve been a klutz or unlucky, possibly both. To be fair, it was daytime when she came into the dungeon. I wasn’t sure if it was Violet’s meddling with the dungeon bats or simply the fact they were dungeon bats, but they were definitely better fliers now.

Both natural and dungeon bats didn’t seem aggressive, but the natural bats didn’t feel quite comfortable enough to latch onto the stone by the entrance we had made for our dungeon bats. They simply crawled around on the floor, occasionally leaping up after a flying critter. The dungeon bats for their part weren’t predators enough to attack the natural bats. Violet assured me we could make them more aggressive but neither of us felt it needed at the moment.

The sun finally went below the horizon after a gorgeous sunset; it had gone almost straight between the edges of the riverbed, simply spectacular. The toad had moved another 2 meters and was almost halfway to the bat’s roosting stone. The entrance hall wasn’t even halfway done, if he kept up this pace my win was in the bag.

I started to gloat. What do you think about Todd, seems right and polite to give an homage towards our toad friend for helping me win. Starts with the same “T” for the turtle, but is closer in spelling to our toad friend.

I guess it inevitable that having no influence but me has made your naming sense stagnate at the same level it was upon naming me. I think the name Thomas or Terrence seems much more appropriate and noble for such a turtle.

Ouch, maybe I had influenced her too much with sass and sarcasm? Bah, it made a fun conversation partner. You do realize that he sits there doing nothing.

He does it so majestically though.

I snorted, If you say so.

Within a minute after I mocked her while gloating about the toads progress a creature came inside the dungeon. It looked like a fox but closer in size to a golden retriever, and closer to that coloring as well. It came inside the dungeon, snacked on the toad and a few bats that were on the same ground and left. My eyebrows rose as my heart sunk. While beautiful, that fox thing had cost me my naming rights!

You can now spawn “Common Toad”

Violet cackled at my situation and she spoke in an overly theatrical tone, Oh wonderful creature, both myself and Terrence thank you for avoiding that ghastly name. Todd, how dreadful would that have been.

I glared as Violet kept giggling in triumph.

Oh come on Jack, don’t be a sore loser. Hey, I’ll tell you what. You can create a monster format for the toad, maybe you’ll get inspiration for the boss monster form there. You could name the boss Todd the toad!

Violet cracked back up at the final statement. My fake glare broke as well upon hearing her say that. I broke into a laugh and we both broke into fits of giggling over the course of the next few minutes.

Farewell Todd the toad, you will be missed. C’mon Violet, lets go make the best of this situation while the cruel reality dawns on the turtle who had a chance for greatness but is now named Terrence.

Violet ignored my obviously amazing insult and teleported us both to the core, though I could see her lips twitch as she tried to keep us focused on the task at hand.

So, what do you think we should do for the toad? We could make it blend in with the surroundings and seem like just another rock in the ground. Maybe increase its size and sturdiness so that it can launch itself at people or give it a bigger mouth to swallow the unwary.

We don’t have to make every creature a danger. Some can just be there for amusement, little critters, I feel like it would go along with your thought. Make this dungeon an adventure dungeon, a place to explore and be in awe. That sunset this evening, that was beautiful.

Sometimes Violet surprised me, she seemed like a person and not a dungeon fairy.

I like the idea, Violet. A place people will come to enjoy the experience and not feel the need to fight everything they see. Not sure that we’ll start with the Todds but we can prepare. I like the idea of us being a place that young adventurers will hear of us and shout “I’m going on an adventure.” Not a dungeon of death but a dungeon of wonder. Thanks Violet.

As for your original question. Let’s at least design one or two versions like you described. We can decide to place them or not depending on how soon the entrance hall is done and on when the people start arriving on the planet.

We stuck mostly with her ideas, though I did contribute some modifications. The toad that launched itself actually had it’s spine strengthened and skull having bony protrusions to improve it’s launch attack. The large-mouthed toad we sank into the floor a bit and made it a living trap. The tongue made it so that even if the adventurer was on the other side of the tunnel the toad could still function as a trap, pulling them into the mouth. We debated letting the tongue work as extra propulsion on the toad that was to be a projectile, but it seemed over the top.

Both variants of the toad would be somewhat hidden, but not exceptionally so. If we ended up using this on the first level we agreed to make the toads croak a decent amount so that it wouldn’t be deadly and make lots of adventurers croak.

When I told Violet that pun she ended up glaring at me harder than I had glared at her over the naming of Terrence. Totally worth it. Other than the loss of naming rights, the second sad thing was realizing neither of us had thought to analyze our visitor.

Trap Toad: A camouflaged toad that likes to lurk in the ground and swallow passerbys. While it has no teeth, it’s saliva is very dense and can prevent a person from moving easily. Battering Toad: An ambush predator that launches it’s body at prey. It is able to survive the impact due to its body structure but the strength and mass can prove to be fatal to the unwary.

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