*****Bud’s POV*****

Now that I have two guards in place and they know who is allowed in, I can check on that annoying tickling sensation running through one of the upper back corners of my territory. I had noticed it right when I claimed the area, but since I was occupied with other things at the time and it wasn’t doing anything other than sitting there tickling, I left it alone.

Now that I can finally take a closer look at it I realize that it is an underground stream running through the mountain.

Ooh! I wonder… Do I still have that ability? If I do it’s probably not on my status screen because it isn’t something from this world. Too bad I can’t do anything with it yet as I currently have 2 mana, and actually hitting 0 mana seems like a bad idea. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to wait for Broohn to get back here before I can start working on that project.

Now, what do I do since I’m almost out of mana? I guess I’ll go check in on my kobolds and see what they are talking about.

“… to think that we serve a master who cares so much for us that he sees us as real people despite holding our lives in his jaws,” said Porthos.

“Truth. It is so much better than serving an uncaring, faceless entity or a ravaging beast,” replied Artemis, the second kobold I had summoned. “Of all the dungeons we could have ended up serving, I am glad we ended up serving one who cares.”

You’re welcome! I said cheerfully to both of them, causing them to attempt to jump out of their skins. Sorry to listen in on your conversation like that. My normal methods of being polite in this kind of situation aren’t working yet.

“Master!” they said in unison, bowing in the general direction of my core.

Also, for future reference, you guys don’t have to bow to me all of the time. In fact, if you’re in the middle of something for which bowing to me will get in the way, I would prefer it if you acknowledged me verbally and continue your task. Less room for accidents that way.

“Of course Master!” they chorused before turning back to the door.

Then I paused. Something that one of them had said reminded me of something I built while I was learning the human’s file systems, but I couldn’t remember what exactly. I know it was an old piece of non-magical human tech, and therefore more predictable than if it had been made by those who originally built me, but that doesn’t tell me very much. I think there might have been something about it being used by fire people, and that it was hydraulically powered. Hmm.

Oh well, it will come to me eventually. Now I guess I’m just waiting for people to come back with things that I can eat for more mana.

Then a familiar wave of magic swept across the forest, claiming it in Broohn’s name, shortly followed by a much subtler wave that added his wife’s name to that claim. The only reason I was able to notice her claim at all is because I was expecting it. Not to mention I know her and her magic, which made it much easier.

Huzzah! Broohn’s on his feet again, and so is Zona!

Seriously impairing status effects removed from contracted monsters! Contracted Monster Connections restored! You now have 1.5 / 2 contracted monsters!

Warning: Maintaining a half-way completed Monster Contract for extended periods will cause serious negative side effects. Recommend either finishing or removing the contract before time runs out.

Well, that’s not ominous at all!

Wait, why is the system only now warning me about half-completed contracts now? This is the first time I’ve had a completed contract since I woke up.

Seriously impairing status effects prevented the half-contract from forming properly, so it didn’t have enough of a connection to begin causing damage.

That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation!

You’re welcome!

Time remaining before negative side effects: 7:59:59.

Well then. I hope Zona gets over here soon as I doubt either of us want to find out what these negative side effects are the hard way.

“Hey Bud, I’m home!” yelled Tracey as she flew in the entrance.

Hey Tracey! How did your plant hunt go?

“Great! I was able to get most of the colored flowers that you wanted, as well as some of the insects, but the ants and bees were a bit too large for comfort. I also found some more medicinal plants that grow especially well in dungeons.”

Excellent! Now that Broohn and his wife Zona are back on their feet I can just ask them for the ants and bees.

“So the wave of magic was them claiming the forest?” she asked as she emptied all of the plants out of her smart wrist bag onto the floor.

Yup. For now, they only have about half of it, but they will probably have the rest before the month is out. I responded as I absorbed the small mound of plants for a total of 253 mana.

“Master, there is a brown human stumbling this way,” interrupted Artemis. “There is something odd going on with this human.”

Oh? What do you mean by odd?

“Master, if I was tripping over things that much I would be flat on my face. This human seems to be bouncing off of the plants and trees along their path to remain upright.”

Huh. Let me take a look real quick. I said as I shifted my perspective so I was looking out the mouth of the tunnel.

Where exactly did you see this human? I don’t – Oh! That’s Zona in her human form. I said as Zona stumbled the last few meters through the forest and into my dungeon wearing a green and brown shipsuit. Quickly! Catch her before she faceplants!

The kobolds obeyed instantly, each of them draping one of her arms over their shoulders.

“What do you want us to do with her Master? She is a lot heavier than she looks,” asked Porthos.

For now, just lay her down around the corner in the first room so she is out of sight from the door. That should be safe enough until Broohn gets back here.

“What’s wrong with her?” asked Tracey. “Beyond the severely stubbed toes, I mean."

Since she wasn’t actually a part of my crew, I have no idea what sort of medical conditions she might have.

“Did you have any other dryads in your crew? If you did, maybe you could look at their medical records to figure out what is going on with Zona,” Tracey suggested.

Yes, I did have some other dryads, and no that won’t help. I’ll explain in a moment after I call Broohn. Switching mental gears slightly I called Broohn via our contract-link. {Hey Broohn! Get your scaly carcass over here! Zona’s passed out on the floor in my dungeon!}

{“I know what’s wrong with her. Just keep her temperature below 65.5 degrees C and make sure her skin stays a bit moist. I’ll be there in 30-45 minutes with some medicine for her.”}

{Can’t you move a lot faster than that, especially now that you’ve claimed this section of the forest?} I asked.

{“Moving isn’t the problem. I have to finish cooking some Krakenmari while politely helping some adventurers due to a flash of foresight. Now leave me alone! I have to explain how to use the things I’m giving them!”} Broohn said before he severed the connection.

Good news! Broohn knows what is going on with her and told us to keep Zona cool and moist until he gets back here with some medicine. Since she’s in my dungeon, that shouldn’t be a problem. I said as I set a subroutine to maintaining the temperature and humidity around her.

“Well that’s good to hear!” replied Tracey. “Now, about that explanation.”

Right. Simply put, I had several dryads in my crew, but they all had different things as their primary race, so any medical conditions specific to being a dryad were either nullified or modified beyond recognition.

“Master, are you saying that dryad is her Primary race?” asked Artemis.

I think so? At the very least she identifies herself as a dryad, but that might just be a matter of convenience. I know of several people who identify as one of their secondary races because their primary race is something that nobody has ever heard of.

“Huh. Changing topics here, I see you made two kobolds while I was gone,” said Tracey.

Yup! Speaking of kobolds, I forgot to introduce them to you. Tracey, this is Porthos, and the other one is Artemis. Kobolds, this is Tracey, my Dungeon Fairy.

“Greetings kobolds,” Tracey said politely. “I’m sorry that I pretty much ignored you two earlier. I was distracted by delivering the things that Bud asked me to acquire.”

“Greetings Mistress Fairy,” the kobolds chorused.

“Don’t worry about it,” continued Porthos. “It’s not every day one gets to serve a Master who cares enough about his creations to yell at the World System and convince it to let it give us names.”

“You did what!?” Tracey yelled as she rounded on me. “Are you insane!?! That’s–”

SMACK!

“Never, ever, call an AI insane to their face unless you have reason to believe that they actually are,” said Zona who had woken up just enough to smack Tracey with a vine growing out of her arm before rolling over and going back to sleep.

“Ow! You little–” Tracey cut herself off, clearly furious at having been smacked across the room.

“How dare she attack the Mistress!” yelled the kobolds as they started to charge across the room.

STOP I said in my best emotionless computer voice.

All three of them froze in shock from the unexpectedness of the change in my voice.

I apologize for scaring you like that, but Zona is right. I said in my normal voice. Calling me insane unless you have concrete evidence that I am going insane is a bad idea. For my kind, insanity is a very real and very dangerous possibility. If you must call me something similar but you aren’t accusing me of malfunctioning mentally, please call me crazy. Calling me insane implies that my continued existence is a threat to the entire world.

“I’m sorry Bud, I didn’t know,” Tracey apologized.

You’re fine, I should have seen this coming sooner or later.

“I also apologize Master,” Said Porthos. “The knowledge packet I received when you created me warned me about that in great detail. I should have remembered what it said and corrected Tracey myself rather than attack Zona.”

“What he said Master,” said Artemis as they both prostrated themselves in front of my core.

Don’t worry about it you two. I told the kobolds. You’re not even a day old yet. It takes time to process that sort of information. Oh, and Tracey?

“Yes, Bud?”

Make sure you ask Broohn for a more detailed explanation somewhere outside of my dungeon. Once I get used to this new form I shouldn’t have a problem with hearing people talk about this, but for the next week or two that might not be a good idea.

“You can count on me Bud,” Tracey replied.

“Now, on a completely different note, what was going on with Zona? I thought she was out cold, then she smacks me across the room.”

She sleepwalks and sleeptalks. The odd thing is she sometimes manages to be at least halfway lucid. On rare occasions like today she actually makes it all the way to lucid, but not for very long. Isn’t that right Zona? I called to her somewhat loudly.

“Your mother was a hamster-wheel and my father was a brick, but I am ok with that now,” she replied, while Tracey just looked confused.

Don't worry about it too much, her sleep activities are Broohn's problem.

"Ok, if you say so."

Moving right along then. I should probably explain what happened while you were gone.

Spoiler: Dungeon Map