《The Dangerously Cute Dungeon Book 2+》


 1.71 Little Owls

    The new day had brought Violet another 13 MP and 2 DP from her kodama. It wasn¡¯t entirely surprising that her kodama wasn¡¯t finding anything new to forage in recent days. The kodama was a very small creature who couldn¡¯t travel very far very quickly. Besides, if it was supposed to snow any day now, then it was likely that there weren¡¯t very many plants left to harvest. Perhaps things would be easier in the spring?


    Violet had just bought another two lollipops before going to rest. Surprisingly a new group of two visited the dungeon at that time. One of the energy signatures was weaker than the other, so it was easy to tell that it wasn¡¯t the two who usually visited the dungeon. This new group of two also didn¡¯t leave her wildflower meadow room. That made Violet wonder if Gregory and Henry were visiting the dungeon again, but she didn¡¯t bother to go and check. The last thing she wanted was to risk scaring away any new people who might be uncomfortable around her.


    Perhaps, with time, the locals and the various adventurers who visited her dungeon would become more comfortable with her. It would certainly make it difficult for Violet to pretend to be a dungeon merchant if people weren¡¯t comfortable around her. Although, perhaps she was overthinking things. It wasn¡¯t like every adventurer who had entered her dungeon had immediately guessed that she was the Dungeon Master. If she could use that to her advantage, perhaps she could try to use the time it took for them to figure it out to convince them she wasn¡¯t a threat.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the duo to leave her dungeon. Violet checked her system logs and noted she only got 2 DP from their tribute. Well, that was to be expected to an extent as well. If one adventurer thought something was good enough to be a tribute, it was likely that others would as well. Besides, Violet wasn¡¯t even sure if most adventurers were aware of what value the tributes held for dungeons or if they just did it out of tradition. They certainly had no real way of being able to tell which tributes Violet had already received, if they even cared about that at all.


    Oh well, that was a big part of the reason Violet wanted to try this whole dungeon merchant thing out in the first place. She planned to charge the same cost in tributes as she had spent in mana to create the [Items]. If she had to spend 5 MP to create a wild violet and honey lollipop, then she wanted to receive a minimum of 5 DP for it. Of course, it would be even better if she could get a new [Item] or [Base Resource] instead.


    Perhaps many adventurers would get confused by her prices. They could just as easily trade her five random leaves from the outside world as they could five lesser healing potions since they would hold the same value for Violet. However, it couldn¡¯t be helped that what was worth a certain amount outside of the dungeon held a different amount of value inside the dungeon. However, perhaps Violet could use that to her advantage. Maybe she should try to charge double the value of the [Items] in her dungeon. Getting ten leaves for a lollipop still seemed utterly absurd, but she would hardly complain about getting an entire 10 DP for the item.


    Besides, even if people could purchase [Items] for a bargain, they still had to find Violet first. She also had no intention of spending all of her mana on merchandise since she still needed some to build the dungeon. As for the rest, why should Violet begrudge anyone the chance to make a profit? They could make their profit and Violet could make hers. It just sounded like a win-win to her.


    With her mana full again, Violet decided it was time to build another room. 32 MP was spent on building a 16-Units by 16-Units square room to the right of the wildflower meadow room. The hallway had already been built the day before, so it was easy enough to slot the room in right next to it. Violet planned to turn this new room into another puzzle room. It was likely that she wouldn¡¯t need to build very many more rooms. Heck, maybe this was the last one she needed.


    Violet decided to pull up the [Missions] menu.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Missions:


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Origin:


    </td>


    <td>


    Status:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    <td>


    Reward:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Place first [Trap]


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete a boss room


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete half of the first floor


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete the first floor


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SystemThis novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock the second floor


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock [Critters] from five different phyla.


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock ten [Critters]


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Earn the favor of a patron god or goddess


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock new schematic (altar)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It would seem that Violet had forgotten to check her [Missions] system menu for a while now. She not only had the [Mission] for filling in half of the floor taken care of, but she also had the one for building a boss room to collect the reward on.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to collect the reward for the boss room quest.¡±


    Violet stated.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to receive the reward now?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet selected the [Yes] option and was met with the next prompt.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Please select one of the following phylum options to be randomly awarded a [Critter] from:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Cnidaria


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mollusca


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chordata - Aves


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    How lucky! She hadn¡¯t chosen any of these options yet. That would make it easier to complete one of her other quests. After some thought, Violet selected the [Chordata - Aves] option.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Randomizing options...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    New [Critter] option unlocked!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Mana Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Little Owl


    </td>


    <td>


    5 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Behaves the same as a normal little owl. Mediocre combat skills, excellent flying skills, nocturnal. Is safe to consume.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet frowned. Why did her system always feel the need to tell her when things were edible? She wasn¡¯t going to be eating an owl, a frog, or any of her other [Critters]! She could barely even imagine adventurers wanting to eat an owl. So, it was just a really strange thing to always have included in the description.


    On another note, Violet had never heard of an owl called a little owl. Was it meant to be a descriptor or was that the name of the species? Well, all of the other [Critters] were named whatever they would have been in her world. The bees weren¡¯t called fuzzy bees, they were called bumblebees. The jade tree frog wasn¡¯t named "tiny green frog" either, so she had to assume that "little owl" was the proper name for the owl as well.


    Violet didn¡¯t have anywhere to assign the owls right now, so she¡¯d have to wait to see what they looked like. Instead, she went to claim her other quest reward.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to collect the reward for completing half of the first floor.¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to receive the reward now?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet selected [Yes] once more.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Please select one of the following phylum options to be randomly awarded a [Critter] from:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chordata - Mammalia


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chordata - Reptilia


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Echinodermata


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet still wasn¡¯t sure what most of the phyla options even meant. All of these options were ones she hadn¡¯t selected either. Violet wasn¡¯t sure what her next floor theme would end up being. She kind of hoped it would be something forest-themed, though. With the plants David had brought her and the owl, it would be a pretty good theme to have next. Since she didn¡¯t know what would fall under [Echinodermata], Violet decided to go with the safer [Chordata - Mammalia] option.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Randomizing options...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    New [Critter] option unlocked!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Mana Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Fennec Fox


    </td>


    <td>


    5 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Behaves the same as a normal fennec fox. Mediocre combat skills, average burrowing skills, nocturnal. Is safe to consume.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    What were the odds of that? Both of the new [Critters] she had unlocked were nocturnal and have mediocre combat skills. Violet supposed that meant the creatures would make for better defense than her jade tree frogs, koi fish, and bumblebees who were said to have poor combat skills. It wasn¡¯t clear if [Monsters] and [Critters] were compared on the same scale, so she wasn¡¯t sure if they¡¯d be stronger than her basic slimes or not.


    Feeling satisfied with her new [Critters], Violet decided to spend the rest of her free mana. Candy apples were too sticky to keep in a leather satchel, so Violet decided to purchase some lavender meringues instead. Where the lollipops were only 5 MP and could create a single lollipop, the lavender meringues were 15 MP to create five cookies.


    The price still seemed a bit high to Violet since the meringues were much smaller than something like a chocolate chip cookie or a doughnut might be, but it wasn¡¯t like they were any smaller than their modern-day versions. That was just one of the problems with luxury [Items] like this, Violet supposed. Hopefully, the adventurers would still be happy to exchange their tributes for them.


    Well, Violet already had the perfect customers in mind for trading the lavender meringues to. Tobias¡¯s party would likely have just as much trouble as David was having with the flower hunt challenge. So, she might be able to convince them to purchase the lavender meringues from her since they were meant to be the reward for that challenge. She¡¯d just have to wait for the perfect time to bring it up.

 2.1 A New Adventure Begins

    Not too long ago, Violet had been tragically murdered alongside her beloved husband. After her tragic death, she was reincarnated into a new world, one filled with magic and [Monsters]. Without meaning to, she became bonded to a dungeon core and became the owner of her very own dungeon in the process. Without meaning to, she unwittingly inflicted a handicap on herself, causing herself to become forever stuck with the theme of a cute dungeon.


    However, Violet didn''t give up and, instead, chose to turn what might otherwise be a weakness into a selling point. Slimes were cute and weak, but that made them perfect for those who would normally be too weak to conquer a dungeon to practice their skill sets. When she ends up contracted into making a first floor without [Traps], she turns it into an opportunity to make it appropriate for young children, locals, and beginner adventurers alike.


    Even when a follower of the god of death plots against her, constantly sending the undead into her dungeon, she doesn''t give up. She picked up her sword and personally fought off every last enemy sent her way. Eventually, things even came to a head as the necromancer behind it all came to destroy her dungeon in a fit of anger. The battle ended up being a struggle as Violet was overwhelmed by the number of enemies combined with her lingering traumas. However, in the end, she still managed to overcome even that.


    Now, all of Violet''s efforts had paid off as she had unlocked the second floor of the dungeon and received plenty of useful upgrades alongside it. Before getting started building, though, she wanted to review all of the tributes she had received thanks to defeating the recent intruders. human remains, blood, a black mage''s robe, cotton shirts, cotton pants, leather boots, leather belts, a leather satchel, iron swords, a wooden magic staff, a mana cost reduction enchantment, empty potion vials, corks, a waterskin, and a few other miscellaneous repeats. It all ended up amounting to 101 DP, bringing Violet''s total dungeon points to 256.


    Looking over the items, she frowned. She had thought that something like necromancy might mean the user would have to have dead bodies to resurrect. There certainly weren''t any human remains in her dungeon that could have been revived. Yet the necromancer had been using a leather satchel rather than a magic bag. Well, perhaps it was possible that the skeletons and zombies could have been made from pure magic, there were certainly plenty of empty potion vials among the loot that had been absorbed by the dungeon.


    Of course, Violet didn''t exactly know how any of the classes of this world worked either. She had no way of knowing what types of classes were available, what variations within each class existed, or anything else for that matter. She could only base things on her experience playing games and based on her observations of the people of this world. Even then, the common sense of this world didn''t necessarily match up with the things she had experienced in the video games of her old life.


    Shaking her head, she decided to move on to other things. Unfortunately, some of the mana that was earned between the battle with the undead and Theodore''s visit had gone to waste. However, there was still 100 MP to play around with and an entire second floor to work with. First, she spent 10 MP on building two 5-Units straight hallways. One went to the left of the staircase room and one went to the right. Then 40 MP was spent on building two 10-Units by 10-Units roundabout hallways to go at the end of each of the 5-Units hallways. Then another 10 MP was spent on making another two 5-Units straight hallways that connected to each of the roundabout hallways. Finally, 32 MP was spent to create a new 16-Units by 16-Units room for one side while the other side was filled with the 16-Units by 16-Units square flower hunt room that was originally on the first floor.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Theodore''s advice about moving it from the first floor to the second floor had seemed like a good suggestion to Violet. There wasn''t really a good way to make the puzzle easier without completely changing what the concept was. However, since she had made the room in loving memory of her husband, she didn''t really want to change the basic premise behind the challenge. Still, there were a few tweaks that she wanted to make to the room.


    First, Violet walked to the room, curious as to what changes may have been present now that it had changed floors. The basic design for a new room on the first floor was a wildflower meadow which meant that there would be green grass, a sparse smattering of dandelions, and a bright blue sky overhead. Even rooms like the slime parkour room had green grass and dandelions on the edges of the room where water didn''t fill the space. However, the dandelions and bright sky were no longer present in the flower hunt room.


    There was now a forest of trees with dark wooden trunks and a mix of dark purple and magenta leaves. The grass was also a much darker green with areas where it became sparse and dark soil could be seen. As the day cycle had never been officially set, the bright blue sky had also been changed to a sunset level of light with pinks, blues, and purples covering the sky. The rest of the room remained the same with the plants she had added showing up throughout the room and the stone altars in each of the four corners of the room.


    Violet wasn''t entirely sure what she had been expecting from an enchanted forest theme, but she still, somehow, felt disappointed. The thought of magical glowing mushrooms growing at the base of the trees or glowing lights floating through the forest, like fireflies or will-o''-wisps might cause, were very much missing from this forest. It just felt... incomplete. Still, it wasn''t entirely that surprising considering how the wildflower meadow theme had really just been barely met by the dungeon''s basic design. Violet had to put in the work to make the meadows really stand out and it would seem that this floor would be the same.


    Shaking her head, she decided to finish up her second floor. She moved the hallway that led straight from the stairs room to the dungeon core room and connected the new empty forest room and the flower hunt room. The dungeon core room would now be accessible only after going through one of the other rooms on the floor, instead of being able to be gotten to by just walking straight forwards.


    The last 8 MP that Violet had was spent on four bread rolls that she promptly stuffed into her magic bag. She wouldn''t always have extra mana to spend on new merchandise, but it would certainly still be nice to get some extra dungeon points. There were bound to be plenty of things she needed to research for her new floor, after all.

 2.2 Short Guest List

    While Violet hadn''t exactly been expecting her dungeon to instantly become popular with the number of visitors increasing in a matter of hours, she hadn''t expected the first day to be so slow either. Whereas there would normally be a small handful of visitors every day, even with the recent winter weather, Violet spent all day waiting only for the dungeon to remain empty. While it was good not to have any [Monsters] to fight off, she was disappointed not to have any opportunities to interact with adventurers.


    The first person that ended up showing up for the day was David and Alice. Even then, Violet got the feeling that it was only because he was under contract and was required to show up every single day. The way he was constantly glancing around and kept telling Alice not to run around made it pretty obvious that he was more on edge than usual. It was honestly pretty disappointing for Violet, even despite her knowing that David was never quite going to trust her.


    It was like he expected her dungeon to have become a lethal killing machine over the course of a single day. As if her first floor was even capable of such a thing. She couldn''t put the new [Monsters] she had unlocked on the first floor. They were only available for the second floor or higher floors. Slimes would be the most dangerous thing that could be on the first floor for the rest of the time. Well, her pixies and myconid could go to the first floor and even leave it, but that was a different matter entirely.


    Besides all that, she couldn''t exactly add [Traps] to the first floor now any more than she could before. The deal was that she couldn''t build any [Traps] on the first floor, except for directly outside her dungeon core room. A room that wasn''t even on the first floor anymore, which really just said it was impossible to install any [Traps] now. Unless David planned to bring his daughter to the second floor, which wouldn''t be very smart on his part, there was no reason for him to worry.


    Sighing, Violet picked her sword back up off of the ground where it had fallen when David knocked her over during their sparring. Turning back around, she said


    "You should really relax. Also, I''d like to talk about the current deal we have. Now that I have a second floor, I don''t really have any need for you to leave the dungeon anymore. However, I also don''t really want to do swordsmanship practice with you more than once a day. I can''t change anything on the first floor while you are on it, so you don''t have to worry about that. I also can''t assign anything more dangerous than slimes to this floor and it''s impossible to put any [Traps] on this floor now. So, you can rest easy and do whatever gathering or challenges you want after I leave each night.


    I do have a contract with another group of adventurers for the winter, though. I''ll be telling them that they no longer have to wait for you to leave before they can come in for the night. So, you may have to deal with there being multiple groups in the dungeon from now on."


    David flinched at Violet''s obviously accusatory statement. However, he played it off as he replied


    "Alright, we can do that. It will make things easier for us, anyway. It isn''t good for Alice to stand outside in the dead of winter, she might get sick. Besides, it''s a decent walk between here and the nearby town, so it isn''t like we can go home and then come back that easily either."


    David didn''t really talk much more than that for the rest of their time together. After an hour, Violet went back upstairs. Her mana was already full and she was eager to get back to building her second floor. While she did feel more motivated to train harder after the recent intruders, it wasn''t like she needed David to supervise her as she did sword swings. She just found it helpful to spar with him each day since it helped in ways that practicing alone couldn''t.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    The first thing Violet did was to go to the flower hunt challenge room. She removed the late-stage dandelions, chicory, lavender, black-eyed susans, beebalm, and butterfly weed flowers. She also removed the windy weather effect. She hadn''t set a specific weather pattern, just the windy option, before because she wanted it to blow the seeds of the late-stage dandelions around. However, she wanted to get rid of the plants that didn''t fit the forest theme as well, so there was no point in the wind anymore. Perhaps she would find a new use for the combination of windy weather and late-stage dandelions for one of the first floor rooms later on.


    Next, Violet spent 20 MP applying Alaska violets, fairy slippers, baldhip, and blue-eyed mary flowers to the room. She had taken away more than she had added to the room, but the number of plants was still high enough to make the challenge difficult. The challenge''s answers still remained the same since the chamomile, white clover flowers, daisies, and wild violets still remained in the room. Even the lavender meringues were still set as the prize option.


    While Violet had originally wanted to have something non-food related on the second floor, she had felt Theodore was also right about the prizes. Making the first floor rewards more suitable for children and the everyday person''s palate was more suitable for her goals. She''d still have to change out some of the rewards on the first floor, but it wasn''t like they''d be going to waste since she could always assign them to second floor rooms. She''d just have to make sure to leave herself room for assigning other types of rewards to this floor as well.


    The next thing on the to-do list was working on the currently empty 16-Units by 16-Units room on the second floor. 50 MP was spent on a spawner. There wasn''t enough DP to research the next spawner upgrade just yet. It would take an entire 500 DP to research it, which was going to take a short while to save up. Considering unlocking the second floor cost 1,000 DP, it would seem the spawners were considered quite valuable by the dungeon system.


    As the mana was earned at a rate of 1 MP per person per minute, it took a while for the mana to trickle in and add up to enough to continue building. However, Violet was still much happier with the way things worked now compared to the past. Before she would have to wait until adventurers left the dungeon in order to spend it. So, several hours of having visitors would end up being the same amount as a single hour since the most she could get out of it was 50 MP. Waiting on a slow trickle of incoming mana was nothing in comparison.


    Since she was limited by the 50 MP spawner, Violet decided to spend 40 MP for two al-mi''raj and 9 MP for three giant checkered rabbits for the new room. Luckily, she had wanted to use a combination of the two to catch adventurers and invading [Monsters] off guard, anyway.


    The horned rabbits were actually a bit strange looking as their colors varied from a dark black with red eyes that gave off a sinister feeling to a more pristine white with dazzling blue eyes. Meanwhile, the checkered rabbits were a larger type of rabbit than her [Monster] rabbits and they had white fur with black spots and fully black ears. They were all the same colors, but their patterns did differ slightly. This did hurt Violet''s plan to confuse the intruders by a bit, but it wasn''t like an adventurer would be able to tell the difference until the rabbit was right in front of them, anyway. So, a rustling bush or the sound of hopping could still make them antsy as they prepared for an incoming attack.


    Since David didn''t remain in the dungeon for too much longer, Violet only ended up earning enough mana to spend an additional 120 MP on twelve blackberry bushes. She planned to use a combination of bushes and rabbit holes for the rabbits so that they''d have more places to hide and her strategy would be more effective than a more plain forest might result in.


    Reviewing the new tribute message from her system, it seemed that David had left her a wool dress today. As David didn''t wear dresses, as far as Violet knew, it was likely the dress was one of Alice''s old ones. The dungeon didn''t really differentiate between the two and would just size things based on who the recipient was, which is why Violet''s new leather boots and silk stockings fit perfectly. So it wasn''t exactly going to specify if it was a child''s dress or one meant for an adult.


    Still, Violet was quite satisfied as she noted she now had another 95 DP, raising her total to 351 dungeon points. As there would be no more mana until Camellia and Avorn came for the night, she headed to the dungeon core room to relax.

 2.3 Trapped Butterflies

    Shortly after Avorn and Camellia stepped into the dungeon, Violet was met with a notification. Apparently, they had submitted Sixty five rosehips as their tribute today, which amounted to 100 DP, bringing the total up to 451 dungeon points. It would seem they had caught onto how things worked and had only collected as much as they needed to pay for their time in the dungeon.


    Violet headed down and informed them that they would no longer have to wait for David to leave to come over for the night. They would still have to pay rent, but that was a separate matter. Since she still couldn''t build on her first floor with people there and they were still enjoying having a safe space to sleep for the night, the contract was still very much so valid. Of course, Violet was getting a lot more out of it now that she could use all of the mana that she earned from their visit.


    As Violet wanted to have a total of sixteen bushes in the blackberry forest room, she spent another 40 MP for the last four bushes she needed. The room felt massive, even despite the multitude of trees. The bushes helped to make the area feel less empty and like more of a pain to navigate.


    Next, 20 MP was spent to make rabbit holes and a tunnel network for her rabbits. The holes had to be much larger than the ones she had made for her slimes in the floodplains meadow due to the rabbits being made from more solid substances as well as the giant checkered rabbits being quite large. Luckily, the rabbits hiding and popping up in a random new location in the room would be a good thing for a dungeon and wouldn''t be making any challenges more difficult since this would be a [Monster] field, not a challenge room.


    It took a while to get the tunnels just right and yet the mana still kept trickling in. Violet couldn''t help but think that it was unfortunate to have so much mana yet only be able to use it on the second floor. While her second floor certainly needed to be sorted out sooner rather than later, the first floor would also need to be renovated before adding some new rooms to it. That meant that Violet would have to more carefully plan out what she wanted to do with the first floor and conserve some mana so that she could carry out said plans. Meanwhile, the second floor would likely be empty, for the time being, and could be freely experimented with. Even if she decided she didn''t like something and ended up wasting mana as she redid things again and again, it wouldn''t be an issue at all.


    After a short break, Violet spent 10 MP on two new 5-Units hallways that led to the left and right of the two roundabout hallways on the floor. Then 64 MP was spent on two new 16-Units by 16-Units square rooms. This brought the second floor''s total rooms up to four, excluding the dungeon core room and stairs room. This rate of building seemed almost insane compared to how things had gone with the first floor. Violet wasn''t even sure she could come up with ideas for what to put in all of the rooms fast enough to keep up with the amount of mana she now had access to.


    Perhaps this was what Theodore meant about not being afraid to let mana go to waste. Even if she could change the location of rooms and what was in the rooms, short of changing the theme of a room after setting the room''s theme via the system, it still seemed like too much to be rushing things when she had all the time in the world to take her time and build her dungeon how she wanted. Well, maybe it would be a good idea to slow things down some, later on, but right now she did need to increase the defense of the dungeon. That required her to build more [Monster] field rooms and [Traps], lots of [Traps].


    To start with, Violet decided to turn the left-most room into another [Monster] field room. It would, mostly, be the same as the blackberry forest room, but this time it would be a raspberry forest. First, she installed a 50 MP spawner in the room. Then she spent 40 MP on two al-mi''raj and 9 MP on three giant checkered rabbits. Then, over time, she slowly added sixteen raspberry bushes for 160 MP. Finally, another 20 MP was spent on another network of rabbit holes. The two rooms were then, nearly, identical, save for the types of fruit bushes used in the room.


    Starting to worry she''d run out of mana, Violet decided it was finally time to start working on [Traps]. She pulled up her [Traps] menu to start with, taking note of what new [Traps] were available.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Available Traps:


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Mana Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Tripwire


    </td>


    <td>


    10 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Can be used with other [Trap] types. Trips enemies.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Butterfly Wall Trap


    </td>


    <td>


    10 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Releases a horde of butterflies when enemies walk past it causing confusion and disorientation.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    (Weak) Rolling Boulder


    </td>


    <td>


    25 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    A small boulder that is launched in a straight path from a wall when triggered. Easily crumbles and can be easily dodged due to slow momentum.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Briar Patch


    </td>


    <td>


    25 MPSupport creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    </td>


    <td>


    A bush with thorns that is itchy and painful, but does minimal damage.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlockable Traps


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet was happy she had two new [Traps] that were automatically unlocked. The briar patches were likely to work well in her forests, especially when placed near the bushes she already had. The rolling boulder, on the other hand, she wasn''t quite sure how to use just yet. They didn''t really fit the forest theme and would likely stick out like a sore thumb if they were placed into a wall that was otherwise meant to look like a sky. Next, she decided to pull up the [Unlockable Traps] option.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlockable Trap Options:


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Mana Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock Cost:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Tar Floor Trap


    </td>


    <td>


    25 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    50 DP


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    (Weak) Flip Trap


    </td>


    <td>


    25 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    50 DP


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    (Weak) Push Wall Trap


    </td>


    <td>


    25 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    50 DP


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Pitfall (1-Unit Drop)


    </td>


    <td>


    25 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    50 DP


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Small Wooden Barricade


    </td>


    <td>


    25 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    50 DP


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Large Wooden Barricade


    </td>


    <td>


    50 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    100 DP


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Deep Pitfall (3-Units Drop)


    </td>


    <td>


    50 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    100 DP


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Slide Floor Trap


    </td>


    <td>


    75 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    150 DP


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    (Weak) Giant Flip Trap


    </td>


    <td>


    125 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    250 DP


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    (Weak) Giant Push Wall Trap


    </td>


    <td>


    125 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    250 DP


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The only new [Trap] under this list was the deep pitfall option. Without something like stakes at the bottom of it, there was still only so much damage that a pitfall could do, even if it was a 3-Units drop. It was certainly enough to break your spine or the bones in a few limbs, but it wasn¡¯t guaranteed to kill someone. It was still possible that a few healing potions or a healer could get someone back into decent shape, allowing them to escape the dungeon and get more significant treatment.


    Violet wasn''t exactly eager to have people dying in her dungeon, but many [Monsters] could be just as intelligent or even stronger than an adventurer might be. So, it was necessary to have the [Traps] be capable of taking care of any threats that might come into the dungeon, even if that meant it became dangerous to both [Monsters] and people alike. It just wasn''t worth risking her own safety to protect others entirely from danger, especially when adventurers knew that dungeons were dangerous and still chose to enter them.


    The first [Traps] she decided to put in were briar bushes, which she spent nearly 400 MP on to purchase sixteen of them. These were split between the blackberry and raspberry forests and spread out to make traversing the room more difficult. The worst the briar bushes could really do is result in someone bleeding a bit and then feeling a bit of pain and a lot of itchiness if they were to fall into them or something along those lines. They were still rather ineffective [Traps], but dungeons were supposed to get progressively more difficult and dangerous, so it wasn''t exactly a big deal.


    Violet was surprised that she still had mana pouring in. She didn''t exactly have a way to tell time, normally, and the dungeon core tended to cause the passage of time to blur even more than normal. So, she was delighted as she watched her mana continue to amass, she had never expected an overnight stay to give her so much mana!


    Deciding it would be good to have some sort of warning for the adventurers entering her dungeon, she decided to spend 40 MP on four butterfly wall [Traps]. These were placed in pairs along the two hallways that branched off from the staircase room. They weren''t very big [Traps] as they were barely bigger than a computer monitor might be. They had a small door that could be raised and would release a horde of butterflies that would then spread out in the space directly in front of them, blinding anyone who passed by. It was almost entirely harmless by itself, but it would work great as a warning system. She didn''t exactly want any children or locals to wander up to her second floor expecting things to be just as safe as the first floor was.


    Next, 64 MP was spent on four wooden signs that were placed after the butterfly [Traps] with a warning on them. They read


    "Warning! Starting on this floor, the dungeon is no longer safe for non-adventurers and the unprepared!"


    Now, no one could blame her if they lost their lives in her dungeon. She had done what she could to warn them and they may as well have been consenting by choosing to continue onwards, ignoring her warnings. Of course, Violet didn''t really think much about the lack of light in the hallway, which would make reading such a sign difficult, but, at least, an attempt had been made.


    While she would have preferred to save her dungeon points up for a new spawner, she decided it was necessary to invest in some better [Traps] as well. 100 DP was spent on unlocking the deep pitfall [Trap], leaving her with only 351 remaining dungeon points. Then another 60 MP was spent on six more butterfly [Traps] and 100 MP was spent on two deep pitfalls [Traps]. These were placed in the hallway directly leading up to the dungeon core room.


    Violet figured it would be a good combination for catching intruders off guard, making it more likely they would end up falling into the pitfall [Trap]. While she was fine with the other rooms having less dangerous [Traps], all bets were off if people were going to insist on trying to go into the dungeon core room. That was a space for her and only her.


    Feeling quite satisfied, she decided to go take a nap. Any other mana she earned that night could go towards renovating the first floor in the morning.

 2.4 Major Renovations

    When Violet awoke, she was surprised to see she had a full 100 points of mana. While part of it had been from her daily regen of 25 MP, the rest had been from Camellia and Avorn''s stay the previous night. It really did feel like she had lucked out by getting them to agree to stay in her dungeon for the cold season. Even if it was a mutually beneficial agreement, Violet was still starting to feel guilty. Maybe she could see about arranging some sort of gift for them?


    Regardless, there was no time to waste! While the dungeon was still empty, Violet wanted to get started on renovating the first floor. While she often liked to see the changes in person, the amount of moving rooms around that she was about to do was going to be too much to be standing around on the first floor, so she chose to remain comfortably in the dungeon core room. Well, the stone floor wasn''t exactly comfortable, but it was empty of [Monsters] and [Critters] that might otherwise startle her while she was in the construction view.


    To start with, Violet had to move as many rooms and hallways as she could to the back side of the dungeon to make more space to move rooms into place near the entrance. She had to be careful to ensure there was still a path from the entrance to the stairs up to the second floor, but the rest of the rooms had no issues at all with being disconnected. Once she was done with that, she finally got started with arranging things the way she wanted them.


    To start with, she moved the azalea hedge maze boss room to the front left corner of the dungeon. Setting that aside, she moved 10-Units of hallway to make an L-turn hallway off of the safety zone in front of the entrance of the dungeon. This was made to face the direction of the boss room. Next, she spent 32 MP to create a brand new 16-Units by 16-Units square room that she planned to, eventually, turn into a tribute room. She still wasn''t sure what she wanted to do for the design of the room, but she knew that having the room right off of the entrance was ideal if she wanted adventurers to actually leave their tributes there.


    Next, she moved 5-Units of hallway into place behind the new tribute room before spending another 32 MP to create another new 16-Units by 16-Units square room. This one would be for the altar room she needed to build for the goddess of love and beauty. She definitely wanted to complete the [Mission] related to it so that she could reduce the cost of evolving cute [Monsters]. Since she was hard-locked into that theme anyway, she may as well get some benefits from it.


    Another 5-Units of hallway went behind the new altar room and then the garden meadow room was moved into place after that. The room wasn''t really needed for rest so close to the entrance, necessarily, but it would work as a great hub for the first floor. Since it already had a four-way path inside the room, it only made sense to have four different entrances connected to it. Besides that, the plan was to have it connect to the boss room on the left side, so it would work as a great sign for the adventurers that they were coming up on the boss room so that they might be more cautious about continuing forward. At least, that was how Violet saw things, but the reality was likely to be different, especially considering the rather common discrepancies between Violet''s view of the dungeon and how much the adventurers often struggled with things.


    15-Units of straight hallway was added behind the boss room before adding a 10-Units by 10-Units roundabout. A 25-Units straight hallway was then placed to the left of the garden meadow room. However, Violet found herself in a pickle. She needed 3-Units of straight hallway to finish connecting the roundabout to the garden meadow, but she only had sections of hallway in multiples of 5. As it turned out, even if she already had the hallways, she couldn''t move them in smaller increments without having that size of hallway researched first. Violet sighed as she spent 6 DP to research a 3-Units long hallway and finished the connection.


    While Violet wanted to move the staircase room next to the boss room, she decided to leave it for last so that she wouldn''t have to deal with the annoying sound of the dungeon system screaming at her that things would no longer be following the rules. Still, she rearranged the dungeon maze so that it would be able to lead people out to the right where the stairs to the second floor would later be.


    The reason Violet wanted to move the boss room so close to the entrance was because she got the feeling that it would become annoying both for herself and adventurers to have to traverse an entire floor''s worth of rooms just to move on to the next floor. Besides, the basic slimes weren''t really a match for anyone who wanted to harm the dungeon. It was better to just skip straight to the boss room and see whether they could be defeated on the first floor right away. That would save Violet a good bit of anxiety in the long run while also making traversing the dungeon easier.


    Moving on, 5-Units of straight hallway were placed to the right of the entrance hallway. Then the koi pond was put in followed by another 5-Units of hallway to the right. Next was the wildflower meadow room, 10-Units of straight hallway, and then the rainbow ball maze room. The next 5-Units hallway was placed leading behind that room and led to the slime jigsaw puzzle room. Then, another 10-Units leading to the left was followed by the hay meadow room.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    This created a pattern of sorts. The right-most rooms were all puzzles and they had [Monster] fields to the left of them. Meanwhile, the koi pond was safe for even locals to relax in and so was placed closest to the entrance. Violet hoped this would encourage people to come to the dungeon to fish, whereas they might otherwise avoid it due to it being too dangerous. Meanwhile, the rest of the right side would be filled with challenge rooms and [Monster] fields that were appropriate for both children and beginner adventurers alike.


    Now that the first floor could be purely dedicated to Violet''s goals without having to compromise for safety''s sake, she planned to make the most of it. She''d have to wait a while to have enough mana and the opportunity to build new rooms for everyone to enjoy, but she was still excited about all of the possibilities. Rearranging the dungeon to prioritize the needs of those she wanted to draw to her dungeon was only one part of that, but she still took pride in her efforts.


    However, that could only be one part of it. She still needed to sort out what to do about the slime parkour and floodplains meadow rooms. Since the slime parkour room needed to have an entrance on each side of it, due to the way the room was laid out, she decided to remove a section of hallway to the left of the garden meadow. Placing it in the middle between the roundabout hallway and the garden meadow, it left 5-Units of straight hallway on either side. This arrangement didn''t seem too bad to Violet since it was likely that it would discourage those who were unprepared to continue forward, decreasing the odds they''d end up dying in the boss room or on the second floor.


    As for the floodplains meadow, Violet decided to put in a 9-Units L-turn hallway to the left of the roundabout before placing the room behind the boss room. It might be inconvenient for the adventurers to have to repeatedly cross the river, but it wasn''t like it was necessary to have a second entrance to the room. However, to make things easier for the adventurers, Violet did make sure to put the side with the pen for the slimes on the side with the entrance.


    The slime parkour room and floodplains meadow were also a bit too difficult for the first floor. Too many people struggled for too long with the capture-the-slime challenge and the rainy weather in the slime parkour room made the platforms slippery while the midnight time of day made it difficult to see anything. Changing the floodplains meadow room was easy enough as all Violet had to do was remove the rabbit holes and network of tunnels. However, the slime parkour room would have to wait until she had enough free DP to spare.


    That took care of most of the changes on the first floor. Violet couldn''t help but note that without all the excess hallways and everything being spread out, it felt like there was a lot more free space on the first floor. It was even hard to say if it would still count as being half completed anymore, but, thankfully, it wasn''t like the [Mission] rewards would be taken away once they were granted. That did suggest that she could just spam rooms on a floor to more quickly unlock the next floor, but she didn''t really want to do that. The goal was to build a proper dungeon, not to just unlock floors in the fastest time possible.


    Violet''s next goal for that morning was to redo the second floor and rearrange the location of the stairs. The only problem was that changing it on one floor would cause the room to be moved on the other floor as well, which could cause issues with the system, so it would have to be done carefully.


    First, she would have to move the rooms and hallways around. Taking inspiration from the first floor, Violet moved the flower hunt room to the front right corner, placing a 5-Units straight hallway to the left and behind the room. Then the blackberry forest was placed to the left of the flower hunt room while the raspberry forest was placed behind it. Next, another 5-Units hallway was placed to the left of the raspberry forest followed by the empty forest room. She planned to, eventually, put a challenge in the empty forest room, so that would create a checkered sort of pattern with [Monster] field and challenge rooms.


    Even with moving most of the excess straight hallways from the first floor up to the second floor, though, Violet didn''t have enough hallways to connect everything the way she wanted. She ended up having to use a 96-Units L-turn hallway to connect the staircase room and the dungeon core room. Even then, she had to spend 25 MP of the 36 MP she had remaining. It was a shame to cut out the rooms she had built, but it would cost significantly more mana to create enough hallways to connect everything properly and she had to abide by the rules of keeping the dungeon core room connected to the entrance.


    5-Units of hallway had been saved for the first floor so that the staircase room down there could be connected to the boss room. While it had, temporarily, created an awkward situation on the second floor, Violet still felt like the long-term advantages made it worthwhile. Besides, it was likely that the second floor wouldn''t look so awkward by tomorrow morning since she''d have plenty of mana to build with once Avorn and Camellia came back for another night of camping in the dungeon.


    As she didn''t have anything better to use it for, the last 11 MP she had was put toward one 5-Units and two 3-Units hallways for a total of 11-Units of straight hallway that she put to the left of the blackberry forest room. At least, that would make it easier to connect the staircase room to the blackberry forest before cutting off the connection to the dungeon core room in favor of connecting it to the empty forest room instead. If intruders had to go through the challenge and [Monster] field rooms before they could get to the dungeon core room, that would be far more ideal. Even with the butterfly [Traps] and deep pitfalls in the dungeon core room hallway, Violet just couldn''t feel at ease with such a weakness in her dungeon.

 2.5 Dream Sequence: Sweet Memories

    Violet lay peacefully in the empty forest room of the second floor. She had decided to take a break and get some sleep. It was hard work to build a dungeon, always having to take so many different factors into account. Sinking into a blissful dream where she could relive the memories she had with her beloved husband, Lee, was the best reward after working so hard.


    "Come on, love, we have to get in line."


    Violet laughed as she replied


    "Sorry, you know how much I love the arcade! I just can''t help but get excited every time we come here."


    Lee rolled his eyes playfully at her, but said nothing. This particular arcade had a regular promotional deal where you could get 120 game tokens for $20, but you had to go through the prize counter employee rather than the token machines. Normally, you would only get 4 tokens for every $1 you spent, but they both preferred to have a good couple of hours of fun, so the more tokens the better.


    Violet smiled happily as she watched Lee give the employee a $20 bill, excited to watch as the tokens poured out of the special token machine they had behind them. This one must have been set up specifically to dispense the amount for the promotion, unlike the other ones. Once they received their tokens, Lee grabbed a separate cup and Violet helped to count out exactly 60 tokens for each of them.


    "So, what game do you want to play first?"


    Violet grinned mischievously, her eyes crinkling at the edges as she pointed to the back of the arcades. Lee raised his eyebrows in mock surprise as he asked


    "You want to play the new hunting game?"


    Violet shook her head, pouting as she said


    "No! I want to play breeze puck!"


    Lee chuckled, enjoying his wife''s cute reaction as he replied


    "Of course! How could I possibly forget, your favorite has always been breeze puck."


    Lee poked her nose playfully for emphasis as he said the last half of his sentence. Violet scrunched her nose up in discomfort. However, her expression smoothed out once more as she begged


    "Come on, please? Pretty please!"


    Lee chuckled as he replied


    "Alright, I''ll play a few games of it with you, but then you have to play some of my favorites with me in return."


    Violet nodded, easily agreeing. She happily trotted over to the breeze puck table, holding Lee''s hand as she did so. When they got past the other machines that had been in the way, they could better see their target. As it would turn out, one of the machines was out of order while the other two were already occupied. Lee frowned, looking around before pointing to the right as he said


    "Why don''t we go play some roll-score together for a bit? We can come back when the breeze puck is less busy."


    Roll-score was Violet''s other favorite arcade game, so she happily agreed. It wasn''t like either of them could change the fact that the breeze puck tables were busy. Besides, even if Violet felt comfortable acting like herself around her husband, even if she was a bit childish at times, she was still mature enough to not throw a fit about not getting what she wanted right away.


    Neither of them were really overly competitive, but it was still fun to compete at roll-score to see who could get a higher score. So, they each put in two game tokens and took turns rolling their balls up the slope and into the scoring area. They continued their playful banter as they watched the other play. Sometimes they''d ''boo!'' a good score on the other person''s end or cheer when they made a good score of their own. Other times, they''d console the other whenever they lost a game, saying words of encouragement that they''d do better with the next game.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    It took three games of roll-score before the breeze puck tables were clear. A group of four teenage boys was hogging the other table, so it was still busy, but the other was free. So, Lee pointed it out to Violet as he asked


    "Do you still want to play breeze puck? If so, we should get a move on before someone else takes the table."


    Violet nodded, grabbing his hand before they quickly marched over to the table. The breeze puck required four tokens per game, which could quickly add up. However, Lee always covered the cost for the games he liked in exchange for her covering the cost of the breeze puck she wanted to play. This way, it was less likely that either one of them would end up having to wait for a long time while the other finished spending their tokens.


    Violet practically bounced on her feet as the game came to life and the paddles started to float across the board. Lee grabbed his right away, but she had to quickly snatch hers before it could finish getting away. The disc ended up on his side, so Violet prepared herself as he went to serve. She always played with a vigorous spirit, so the disc went flying as she smacked it away, defending her side of the table.


    Lee was a lot more calm about the game, happy whether he won or lost. That tended to mean that Violet would either end up getting the best of him due to her quick reflexes or she''d end up hitting the disc too hard and it would end up zooming back towards her side of the table without Lee having to do anything and he''d end up scoring a point. Occasionally, though, Lee would even manage to score a point due to his own efforts.


    After four games, they decided to call it on the breeze puck. Someone else was waiting on the sidelines for their turn and they simply felt too guilty keeping the game all to themselves. Besides, they had easily spent 22 game tokens between roll-score and breeze puck as it was. If Violet kept spending her tokens, she''d soon have nothing left.


    Lee tended to like playing the arcade games that involved shooting, racing, or two characters fighting against one another. These came in a variety of different themes from police or CIA-type officers gunning down aliens or mobsters to cars on a racetrack or water vehicles racing over open water. Luckily, Lee tended to skip the racing games until after they split up to have some solo game time. Violet hated racing games the most and he didn''t want to torture her with boredom when they could have a fun bonding moment playing the other games.


    As Violet actually tended to enjoy the two-player shooting games, Lee first led them over to one with a red and blue pistol holstered to the machine. He put in some tokens for them and they each took their own pistol in hand. Lee was better with accuracy as he shot the various enemies on screen, but Violet made up for her lack of skill with enthusiasm. She made sure to reload frequently and then repeatedly pulled the trigger as she attempted to take down any enemies that appeared on the screen.


    Lee continued the game twice before he ended up calling it and they moved on to something else. Violet was happy to spend time with her husband and he was glad that his wife was willing to set aside some time to do the things he enjoyed together. The next game they played was one with superheroes fighting against one another. Violet always preferred to choose a female superhero as she found them more relatable while Lee tried to change it up each time they played. While she rarely ever won at these types of games, it was still fun to experiment and find out more about the various powers the character had and it was worth it to play a game she mostly lost if it made her husband happy.


    They played that game for three rounds as well, Lee winning all of them, before they decided to part ways. Her husband was likely going to play some of the single-player games while Violet planned to try some other game types. While she didn''t like to gamble all of her tokens away, some of the ticket-dispensing games could be pretty fun. The timed light one where you had to hit the light at the right time was actually one she was pretty good at. She tried to limit gambling-type games to less than 10 tokens per visit with most of them going to this game, but she still tended to get a jackpot on several of the visits and several decent ticket payouts on every visit they made.


    The prizes at the prize counter were mostly kiddie toys and cheap candies at the lower ticket tiers. Things like sticker earrings made from plastic and meant to imitate gems, ''Chinese'' finger [Traps], and half-sphere bits of plastic that you turned inside out and then set on the ground before waiting for it to randomly pop up as it righted itself were staples of the arcade ticket counter. There were some better prizes if you could save up hundreds or even thousands of tickets. Things like BRICKO sets and even a console at several hundred thousand tickets. However, that would require saving up a significant amount of tickets before bringing them in to exchange them.


    Violet and Lee tended to come in once every month or so to play arcade games, but it wasn''t like they were spending crazy money on playing arcade games and they were hardly going to amass enough tickets to earn any top-tier items. Instead, Violet was saving up her tickets for some of the more middle-tier items. Right now, she was saving up tickets to exchange for a BRICKO set for Lee. It was based on one of his favorite science fiction series and had BRICKO people meant to look like the characters as well as a set of BRICKOs for building one of the notable spaceships from the series. Violet was hoping to surprise him with it for Christmas later that year, but that was still a ways off.

 2.6 Simmering Tension

    Alice looked warily at her father as they entered the dungeon. She was old enough to pick up on the stress of others and knew food had to be reserved as much as possible in the cold season. Yet, she still felt like it was wrong to offer Violet the remains of a moldy loaf of bread. Her father had tried to play it off as doing Gregory''s family a favor and that Violet wouldn''t care whether the bread was still good or not.


    Her father had even suggested that Gregory himself might try to eat the bread just to ensure it didn''t go to waste. While his family was certainly poorer than theirs and had to make do, that still sounded like nonsense to her. Why would anyone risk getting sick by eating food that had gone bad?


    Of course, Alice had grown up fairly privileged. Back when her mother was alive, both of her parents had made sure that they wanted for nothing. They had a decent-sized cellar in their old house that was slowly but surely filled up with pickled veggies and canned fruit soaked in sugar syrup. They even had barrels with flour and potatoes surrounded by hay. There was never any reason to worry about running out of food when winter came and her parents always seemed content and happy with their lives.


    Things had changed a bit after her mother had died and their food stores had begun to dwindle little by little, but her father had still always done his best to ensure they never had to go without. If she complained about being hungry, he would sometimes check the cellar, coming back out frowning, before disappearing for most of a day. Then he would always come home with a deer, boar, or even a couple of rabbits. Then he would spend the night salting and smoking the meat. Some of it would be traded to their neighbors for more veggies, but they would no longer have to worry about being hungry.


    This time was a bit different as Gregory''s family often only had one meal a day and it was almost always a pot of soup that they would all share for dinner. The young children would, occasionally, be allowed to have some extra bread midday to tide them over, including Alice herself, but that was all. Whenever Alice went to tell her father that she was hungry, he would frown, but he no longer tried to do anything about it. He would just tell her "Just hang in there for now. I''ll figure something out soon." However, Alice had yet to see anything happen and she was starting to wonder when "soon" was.


    Her father and the Dungeon Master were now sparring together in the wildflower meadow room. Alice had been a bit curious after seeing the dungeon had changed since the last time they had visited. However, her father had refused to let her go exploring, telling her "It isn¡¯t safe." and his stress and bad mood had seemed to intensify after they entered the dungeon.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Alice had already grown bored of watching her father sparring with Violet. Since they came here every night and did the same thing again and again, it was no longer interesting. However, she could still tell that her father was being much rougher than he normally was with the sparring. Considering how gentle he was with Henry and how he always told her that these things took time, she felt like that was wrong. She wasn''t going to say anything, though, because she knew her father didn''t like it whenever she interacted with the nice dungeon lady.


    Instead, Alice focused on picking plantain leaves, dandelion greens, and oyster mushrooms that were scattered throughout the room. While she knew her dad preferred more valuable plants that he could sell, she figured that everyone else would appreciate some fresh, edible plants much more. The plantain leaves and dandelion greens were both good sauteed, in soup, or even in a salad. The latter was less likely since they didn''t have any other ingredients to put in the salad, but Edith was good at cooking, so Alice was sure she would still enjoy the dishes that could be made.


    Meanwhile, the oyster mushrooms could be quite versatile since they could go in just about anything. They could be breaded and fried, sauteed with garlic and onions, added to stir frys or soups, etc. Considering how sparing they always had to be with meat in their soups, it seemed like the mushrooms might even be a nice way to help make up for that. Edith had told her, the first time they brought some oyster mushrooms back, that they could easily be used as a meat substitute as they had a nice chewy texture similar to meat. Alice didn''t really know much about all of that, but she was still happy to help.


    What Alice didn''t realize was that her father didn''t actually care that much about what she chose to gather. He was too focused on dealing with the Dungeon Master and he preferred not to mistreat his only daughter. If she gathered edible plants, they would be brought back to Gregory''s family to cook with. If she gathered medicinal plants, they would be sold to the local alchemist. Flowers would be sold to any merchant willing to buy them. It really made no difference to him, so she was free to do as she pleased.


    Violet grumbled as she left for the second floor. David seemed to be in an even worse mood today than he had been the previous day. She could only assume he was upset about the dungeon layout changing, even despite all of her reassurances that everything was just as safe as it had always been, if not more so. He had even dismissed her suggestion to come back during the daytime without his daughter to check out the dungeon for himself. Well, she couldn''t force the issues, but she also couldn''t shake her feelings of frustration.


    David had also asked about buying things again, but she had to tell him no again. She didn''t plan on focusing on such things until the next day. In fact, she now had so much mana to build with that she was starting to think it would be ideal to spend the mana earned in the daytime on new merchandise. Maybe she would even take up a hobby of enjoying tea and sweets like she had once had suggested to her. While she didn''t need to eat, that certainly wouldn''t stop her from enjoying the act of eating.

 2.7 Overlapping Visits

    Despite his reservations, Violet could very easily tell that David was still remaining in the dungeon to complete the challenges. He was moving much slower than he usually did, forcing Alice to remain a short distance behind him as he tentatively explored things before declaring them safe enough for his daughter to continue. Violet just rolled her eyes, deciding to concentrate on building instead of monitoring his ridiculous behavior.


    First, she erased 1-Unit of hallway from the 11-Units long straight hallway to the left of the blackberry forest. Then she moved 5-Units of hallway to the left of the empty room just behind it, effectively cutting the remaining hallway in half. Next, she spent 64 MP on two 16-Units by 16-Units square rooms. She then placed these to the left of each of the 5-Units hallways she now had.


    While it was important to also fix the issue with the hallway that led from the stairs to the first floor directly to the dungeon core room, this was actually part of that. There was no point in having only long hallways spanning across the second floor. It was much better to cover 16-Units of distance with actual rooms than with hallways, even if they were a bit more expensive. Still, she definitely did need to finish fixing the initial problem.


    To do that, Violet first removed the middle section of the hallways that connected the staircase room and dungeon core room. She split them into two 10-Units long hallways and moved them to connect to the new empty square rooms. This made it so that the staircase room''s hallway connected to the front-most empty room while the hallway leading to the dungeon core room''s hallway now connected to the back-most empty room. Another 1-Unit of hallway did have to be erased in the process, but Violet felt much better about things now.


    While there were now three empty square rooms that she would definitely need to turn into something useful, the layout was much better now. Adventurers would have to venture through six rooms, one after another, before they could reach the dungeon core room. It was doubtful that the two [Monster] field rooms and the flower hunt room, which still had slimes in it, would be very effective at deterring anyone from continuing forward. However, that would be fixed with enough time. After all, now she could take things much slower and focus on customizing the rooms one at a time instead of rushing to build everything all at once.


    Violet suddenly noticed two new energy signatures appear in the dungeon, so she pulled up the [Guest List]. As it turned out, it was just Avorn and Camellia who had easily accepted her words that they no longer had to wait for David and Alice to leave for the night before they could enter the dungeon. It was a little bit ironic that those two were willing to trust her at her word, even with how terrified Avorn seemed to be of her.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    This was actually the first time she had had two different parties in the dungeon at the same time. Well, that was if you didn''t count that one time with the leftover skeleton that David walked in on. Violet certainly didn''t count that as it just felt different having two adventuring parties in the dungeon at the same time. If things went well, this would hardly be a rare occurrence in the future, but, today, this was something worth celebrating.


    It wasn''t long after they entered that Violet got the notification in regards to their nightly tribute. This time, there were 105 dungeon points, which had come from pine, fir, and spruce needles. The three had apparently been added to both the [Base Resources] and [Items] menus, resulting in them being worth 35 DP each. It was interesting to see the two of them slowly learning the ins and outs of their agreement, even if it was a bit disappointing not to receive extra DP like she had last time.


    Avorn and Camellia were absolutely fascinated by the changes to the dungeon''s first floor. They hadn''t been expecting it to change so drastically and overnight at that! As they explored the dungeon, they noticed that there were now two new empty rooms to one side of the entrance. However, they quickly stopped exploring that side after they ran into the slime parkour room. Neither really wanted to get their clothes wet tonight and they were worried that this was a sign that more difficult challenges were likely on the other side of this one.


    This idea was only reaffirmed as they explored the other side of the dungeon. The koi pond room they loved so much was the first thing they saw on that side and then they saw the rest of the rooms they were so familiar with one after another. They did end up running into another party and ended up having to politely apologize before giving them some space. Well, it wasn''t quite as simple as that.


    While Avorn tended to be a bit cowardly in front of Violet, he was hardly that way all of the time. So, when he was met with a bristly adventurer with a bad attitude who seemed to be protecting a young girl, he couldn''t help but want to act in defense of his wife. It was only because Camellia dragged him away, apologizing profusely, that they even left it at that. While he could have argued that he could protect them, Avorn was smart enough to know that wouldn''t actually help anything, so he dropped it.


    They''d, unfortunately, have to see the two again when they went to exit the dungeon as there seemed to be only one path forward on this side. It was also rather doubtful that they''d go around to a path they didn''t know about, if there even was one. Surely that would mean crossing the slime parkour room, which didn''t seem ideal for such a young child, especially when they would then be going outside into the harsh winter weather before making the trek back to the nearby town.

 2.8 Pixie Puzzles

    The first room Violet decided to work on was the back left-most room on the second floor. Since she planned to make every other room a [Monster] field, this one was going to follow the same pattern as the blackberry forest and raspberry forest room. The only difference was that this room would have blueberry bushes instead, making it a blueberry forest room.


    First, she spent 50 MP on a spawner for the room. She still didn''t have enough to unlock a new spawner, so this was the best she could do, for now. She could only comfort herself that mana was easier to come by now, so it wouldn''t be a big deal to replace them later on. 40 MP was used to summon two al-mi''raj and 9 MP was used on another three checkered rabbits. As she actually liked the mix of different types of rabbits in these rooms, Violet figured it would be nice to just double the population of both types of rabbits once she got better spawners. That would mean four al-mi''raj and six checkered rabbits for each of the rooms.


    As this was the last of the fruit bushes she had available, Violet wasn''t really sure what sort of [Monster] fields she would make next. She figured it could be fun to try some fruit trees, mixing them in with the enchanted forest trees, but that was only if she could replace the trees that were already in the forest. It would be far too crowded in the rooms otherwise.


    The next step in the plan required 160 MP for sixteen blueberry bushes, 20 MP for a network of rabbit holes, and 200 MP for eight briar patches. This took quite a while, even with there temporarily being four adventurers in the dungeon. Eventually, David and Alice left for the night, which, of course, slowed down the process even more. While Violet didn''t mind waiting on mana to accumulate, most of the time, she still tended to prefer her rest.


    It was very satisfying to watch her ideas come to life and it was fun to imagine how adventurers might interact with her dungeon. However, it was still a bit boring to wait around, only creating the occasional bush or [Trap]. Violet wished she had some pixies to talk with while she waited. It would be so nice to make friends with them and she was sure the time would pass by even faster with them around. Of course, the dungeon tended to skew her sense of time as it was, but it was different to be sitting around doing nothing versus actively watching the mana increase so she could build the next part of her plan.


    Tomorrow, Violet definitely wanted to sell some [Items] so she could make some quick dungeon points. The current rate of accumulation was too slow and she was growing tired of waiting. However, it would be a waste to leave the last two rooms on the floor empty in the meantime. Those were meant for puzzles and would likely require quite a bit of DP to complete, but it wasn''t like she couldn''t get started on them now. She would just have to sparingly research new [Items] so that she didn''t make things harder on herself.


    The first room she worked on was the front left-most room, which was the one just in front of the new blueberry forest room. As the plan was to make most of the puzzles themed around pixies on this floor with suitable rewards for the challenges, it took her a bit to think about what she wanted to do.


    Fairies were considered the group that faeries, elves, goblins, and pixies fell into. Kind of like how there were phyla, families, etc. for animals. A lot of the lore and stories told in her old world were also contradicting or confusing. Fairies could be called by any number of variations including fae, fay, fair folk, faerie, etc. They also were often depicted as large beings, the size of a human, and may not even have wings. There could be multiple factions such as the Seelie court and the Unseelie court with the Unseelie court being composed of mischievous and cruel fae with darker natures.


    Pixies were largely considered innocent, but mischievous beings. Their description on her [Monsters] menu seemed to confirm this was true even in this world. Since they were described as small in stature as well, it was likely they were also the flying type that was barely as big as a human''s hand. However, much of the rest of the information was unclear. Did they sleep in flowers? Did they enjoy living in small fairy houses made from wood and other materials? Were they at home in a swamp, desert, forest, or a flower meadow? It was hard to know just off of what little information she had at the moment.


    Still, it wasn''t like Violet had to match the puzzles entirely to the version of pixies that existed in this world. She could just as easily draw her own conclusions and fill in the rest with her own imaginative ideas. That was certainly what she would be doing today, at least.


    The rainbow ball maze, among other things, had seen a number of different dyes being researched and added to the [Base Resource] list. There were also quite a number of domestic flower types thanks to Tobias''s group leaving her bouquets of flowers. So, Violet decided to use this to her advantage. She spent 50 DP on researching orange roses, yellow roses, green roses, blue roses, and purple roses. This brought her total down to 410 DP, which was still pretty close to the 500 she needed for the next spawner upgrade.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    There were already red roses in the [Items] list, so this meant that she now had all of the colors of the rainbow. Well, she was technically skipping indigo, but she had also skipped that with the rainbow ball maze challenge. Still, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple were close enough that it could still be considered all of the colors of the rainbow. The red roses cost 2 MP for every 100 Square Units, so 5 MP had to be spent to apply them to the room. Meanwhile, the dyed roses cost 5 MP for every 100 Square Units, so 63 MP had to be spent to apply the other five colors of roses to the room.


    Roses grew as bushes, so there was now a rainbow of bushes spread throughout the room, often clustered together. Roses don''t naturally come in all of the colors of the rainbow, but these ones looked quite "natural" as the dye didn''t come away when one touched the flowers and they didn''t have any of the acrid smell a dye might give off. They just smelled the same as the normal red roses did. The last thing Violet did in this room was to spend 10 MP to purchase two round stone altars that were placed at each of the two entrances. These were the same ones used in the nearby flower hunt room, but that just meant she didn''t have to spend any additional dungeon points to research them.


    The plan was to set the challenge so that the roses had to be picked in the order of the rainbow system and then the bouquet would have to be placed on one of the altars in order to unlock the doors to the room. However, that would require locking the doors, which required the challenge to be set first. That would require far too much DP to be spent, so it would have to wait until later. The other thing was that Violet wanted to set the wild violet and honey lollipops from the slime parkour challenge to this room before replacing the reward to that challenge with something more suitable.


    While the flower hunt challenge had signs put up, they weren''t put up in this new challenge room. It didn''t actually matter which altar the bouquet of flowers was placed on, there were only two because adventurers could come from either direction. The system should also inform them of the rules of the challenge, so it would be pointless to bother with wooden signs.


    Moving on, Violet started working on the last empty room on the floor. This one was located between the raspberry forest and blueberry forest rooms. For this challenge, she decided she wanted to do a twist on the hopscotch game she had played as a young child.


    20 MP was spent on a stone brick pathway, much like the one from the first floor garden meadow room. However, this one had pieces missing in order to resemble a hopscotch path better. The adventurers would have to jump from stone to stone, never touching the grass in order to complete the challenge. However, things couldn''t simply be left at that.


    The path was made to diverge shortly after the entrance and then to reconverge just before the next entrance, creating a circular path of sorts. Then four solid areas were created with one at each of the convergence areas and one in the middle of each of the separate paths. At each of the areas, Violet planned to put a sign with instructions the adventurers would have to follow before continuing.


    The first sign read


    "Go left if you have a magic class, go right if you have any other class."


    The second sign read


    "Spin in a circle and then cast your weakest magic spell on the tree closest to you before moving forward."


    The third sign read


    "Roar and stomp in place then attack the tree closest to you before moving forward."


    Then, the fourth, and final, sign read


    "Thank me for the fun adventure before moving on."


    All of these signs had to be doubled so that the adventurers could complete the challenge regardless of which entrance they started at. For the eight signs, Violet had to spend 59 MP twice over for a total of 118 MP.


    Violet giggled to herself as she imagined adventurers playing the game. They would likely look silly and some of them might even end up frustrated and try to refuse to play. However, since she also planned to lock the doors in this room, they would have no choice. As pixies have a mischievous nature, Violet figures that this sort of challenge would capture that quite well.


    In fact, the plan was to have pixies live in both the rose-filled challenge room and this challenge room. It was just that they cost 50 MP to summon one of them and one of their contract requirements was that they live among their own kind. That meant that she would have to wait until she unlocked the new spawner before she could even attempt it. Even then, she hoped they wouldn''t be too lonely since they could, technically, move from room to room and spend time with the others in the dungeon. It would just be difficult, due to their size, for them to open the doors by themselves. That was something that Theodore had to remind her of in regards to her kodama, much to her embarrassment.


    The hopscotch challenge room would likely end up having the chamomile shortbread from the rainbow ball maze challenge reassigned to it. That would take care of removing the last of the flower-themed sweets from the first floor. However, Violet still wasn''t sure what sorts of rewards to assign to the rooms on the first floor. She already had candy apples and iced carrot bread, but she didn''t have anything like chocolate to use for challenge rewards. That would take some time to think over.


    For now, Violet decided it would be best to go rest for the rest of the night. It didn''t matter if the rest of her incoming mana went to waste, she had all of eternity to earn more, after all.

 2.9 The Temple

    In the morning, when Violet awoke from her slumber, she found that she once more had 100 MP waiting for her. Of course, she would have had plenty of mana to use the night before had she wanted to spend it. That just wasn''t where her focus was right now. Violet wanted to modify the first floor this morning and then spend the day trying to sell her goods instead.


    However, the only room she had enough mana to take care of was the altar room to the goddess of love and beauty. She had received a blueprint for it after contracting with her first and, from what Theodore told her, the only patron deity she''d get to choose. While she could have just as easily managed things from the second floor, Violet decided to head down to the first to see the altar room in person.


    It cost the entire 100 MP she had on her person to build the altar room, which really just seemed overpriced when compared to just about anything else that she had ever built. The only things that came close were the puzzles she had built, which had cost 50 MP and 100 DP to research and immediately implement the ideas in one fell swoop. That, of course, had only happened twice with the slime-themed jigsaw being the first and the rainbow ball maze being the second. However, they had also taken up the entire room and made it easy to set up the challenges she wanted without having to imagine all of the moving pieces and build them one by one.


    When she got down to the first floor, Violet immediately spent her 100 MP so that the room could be modified and then finished making her way over to the altar room. This process proved to be much more difficult now that she had to go through the hedge maze and cross the slime parkour room to do so. However, Violet just bore with it, even attempting to cross the dark and stormy room before inevitably falling into the water and having to swim the rest of the way across.


    If she was going to regularly interact with those visiting the dungeon, it was best that she get proficient at crossing her own dungeon. Adding a shortcut just meant that it would be easier for others to make it to the second floor as well. While it was possible to set up other rooms in the left side of the dungeon behind the area where the hedge maze was, that would have to be more of a long-term goal. The invading [Monsters] were still likely to take the shortest and most direct path to the dungeon core should they be left to their own devices, so it wasn''t exactly a big deal so long as she made the other path longer and more out of the way.


    The attack from the recent god of death fanatic had seen some undead [Monsters] taking the long way around, but their master had been present and had made them go that way. That was a special case that would, hopefully, not be happening again. However, it was obvious that even undead raised by a necromancer would take the shortest path, honing in on the dungeon core, when they were alone in the dungeon. So, it wasn''t like they were that much different in the end.


    Violet was annoyed by how wet her clothes were, but continued forward to the altar room, quickly arriving after she had exited the slime parkour room. When she pushed open the door and looked inside, she was speechless. The floors and walls were made from a pristine white stone that had entirely replaced the usual meadow theme of the first floor. Along the floor there was also a golden rug that made a T-shaped path leading from one entrance to the other and then up to the main centerpiece of the room, the altar. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Meanwhile, the walls were paneled with intricate designs sticking out ever so slightly on most of the panels while the others held candelabras with candles that were burning bright. There was no wax dripping from these candles, nor was there an explanation for why they were even lit. Violet couldn''t make a light source for her dungeon because she didn''t have fire magic in her [Base Resources], nor did she have anything else that could easily be used to start a fire. For that matter, she hadn''t exactly researched any of the [Items] in this room, nor were they added to her [Items] list now that they had been built. It was all quite strange and Violet couldn''t help but look up at the ceiling in thought.


    Of course, the ceiling was just as blindingly white as the rest of the room. It had a sloped appearance to it with a square box outlining everything on a few of the layers. Then, the very middle, which was still quite a large space, had an intricately engraved pattern around the outside that surrounded a large ceiling window made of glass so perfectly made that it seemed like it had to have come from modern times. The sun and the blue sky that was common in her meadows shined through this window, making the temple even more illuminated than just the candles might have allowed for.


    This was all so strange and far more than Violet had been bargaining for. Looking back didn''t help matters any as she was met with the face of the goddess she had signed a contract with. Well, it was more so that a large altar with steps and a flat platform made of the same white stone as the rest of the room led up to a giant marble statue of the goddess with a chest at her feet meant for offerings. The goddess was wearing a beautiful dress that was draped perfectly across her figure with long hair cascading down to her waist and every detail of her face had been carefully and painstakingly created. She was holding a bouquet of flowers in her arms with one arm cradling them while the other rested at her side. She even had a crown of flowers on her head to tie the whole look together.


    Violet wasn''t sure how accurate the details on the statue were, but she had no reason to doubt that this must be what the goddess truly looked like. The statue told the story of a beautiful and fair maiden who loved beautiful things. She could easily have a line of suitors at her beck and call yet she didn''t seem arrogant. If anything, the statue gave off a sense of love and compassion for all who came across it.


    Violet was beginning to feel overwhelmed, far too overwhelmed for her own good. In her previous world, there was no definitive proof of any sort of deity truly existing. She hadn''t been sure what to believe whether there was a correct religion to follow or not and she certainly didn''t like getting caught up in religious propaganda. Yet, in this world, it was very clear that not just one deity, but multiple deities actually existed and had a real effect on the people of this world.


    Just building this altar to the goddess of love and beauty alone meant that Violet would receive a blessing from her chosen deity to reduce the cost of evolving her [Monsters] by 25%. She didn''t even have to go through and redeem the reward either, she could feel the energy flow through her and the rest of the dungeon as it took effect. Violet shook her head, she felt so overwhelmed that even the dungeon''s calming effects weren''t enough to keep her anxieties at bay. Soon enough, the dungeon core became more aggressive, this time forcing her into a lethargic state so that she would lay down to rest for a while. Finally, Violet gave in.

 2.10 Dream Sequence: Culinary Delights

    Violet had always enjoyed trying food from a variety of different cultures. New Year''s Day celebrations often featured either a rack of ribs or bratwurst with german sauerkraut. Meanwhile, St. Patrick''s Day celebrations would mean corned beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions being served for dinner with potato pancakes with eggs for breakfast. Of course, her culinary exploits were hardly reserved just for the holidays.


    Lee and she often spent their free time looking up new restaurants around the city to try on their date nights. They had a favorite Japanese bento box and sushi style restaurant nearby that was one of their top favorites. They had two primary categories for the bento box: teriyaki and fried. You would get to choose a meat option, which ranged from fried fish to teriyaki sukiyaki-style steak and shrimp to a vegetarian tofu option. Then you have to choose a side, which could be onion soup made with a clarified broth before adding fried onions and thinly sliced mushrooms, sushi, or even wontons. A free side salad was also always automatically included alongside steamed edamame beans.


    Violet wasn''t really into sushi and her husband disliked the seaweed and raw fish elements of sushi, but he still enjoyed a few varieties at the restaurant. There was a cooked eel one that tasted extremely fishy to Violet with an eel sauce on top. There was also a golden coast roll with avocado, crab stick, and some sort of spicy sauce. Violet couldn''t really remember the other options all that well since she usually didn''t ask her husband about what they were since she didn''t like them all that well.


    There were also other restaurants near where they lived since they lived in a city. However, that was a story for another time. The reason Violet was thinking about the Japanese restaurant now was that this was their first time trying out a new Asian market they had found that just so happened to be within five miles of their house. As for why it was called an Asian market when it didn''t have food [Items] from India or many other countries in Asia, Violet wasn''t sure.


    Lee carried the basket for Violet as she happily stared at all the various foods in the store. Despite this particular Asian market being a small mom-and-pop one, there was quite a bit of variety to choose from. Near the door, they had dried nuts and shelf-stable produce to the left side alongside a see-through freezer and a refrigerator full of various types of ice cream.


    Violet couldn''t help but get excited as she looked at the ones with a fish-shaped waffle-like exterior. It came in a lot of different flavors including brown sugar boba, matcha and chocolate, and chocolate with a chocolate sauce layer. There were also popsicles and push-pop ones, but these were the ones that Violet wanted to try the most. Chuckling, Lee suggested


    "Why don''t we wait to get ice cream for last? We don''t want it to melt before we even get to checkout."


    Violet frowned a bit, but knew he was right so she nodded her agreement. They were likely to spend quite a while here and the ice cream would taste better if it was still frozen properly. Turning around, she saw that the right side had a refrigerated produce section. The portion closest to the door had jellies, mochi, and various drinks. However, most of these didn''t really hold her interest. Violet enjoyed milk teas and would often get them at the bento restaurant with juice pearls that was filled with fruit juice, but she wasn''t really a fan of the tapioca kind of boba pearls. The yogurt-flavored drinks also seemed a bit strange so she was a bit hesitant to try it.


    Well, Violet had grown up a picky eater in the first place. It wasn''t until she became an adult that she realized that much of the problem had stemmed from the fact that her parents were not only bad cooks, but also had vastly different tastes in food than she did. At Chinese restaurants, they would often get things like lo mein noodles whereas Violet preferred fried rice, karaage, stir fries, fried wontons, etc. Why all of the restaurants her parents brought her to seemed to have bland, brown-looking American Chinese food that always featured lo mein in all the pictures, she''d never know, but it certainly hadn''t helped things.


    This was also the case for other cuisines as well and it had led her to think that she disliked most types of cuisines. She didn''t like the one "authentic" Italian restaurant her parents had brought her to as their pastas included everything but the kitchen sink in them. However, she did like a number of pasta-based dishes, pizza, garlic bread, etc. She had even enjoyed an upscale Italian restaurant her and her friends had enjoyed after winning a graphic design state competition in high school. The idea of dipping bread in balsamic vinegar and olive oil was a novel one she had never experienced before yet it was so good!


    As such, Violet still tended to be a bit hesitant to try things too far out of her comfort zone. At least, that was the case at first. As she tried cooking dishes at home, tried more new foods within a cuisine and found things she liked, etc. she started to get more adventurous and willing to try more new things. A lot of the times the things she didn''t think she would like, she''d end up not liking, but there were a few times she had been surprised. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    In fact, that was a large part of the reason they were here today. The goal was to pick up a few snacks she wanted to try, for Lee to pick a few things he wanted to try that she might not otherwise pick, and then for them to pick up some things to cook for dinner together. Violet always loved having a variety of foods. So, she couldn''t help but ask to try a bite of Lee''s food whenever he ordered something different from her. Lee never seemed to mind and even enjoyed sharing their food with one another. He even felt proud to watch his wife branch out and try new things over time.


    The next area they came to was full of frozen things as well as a rack for discounted produce. There were pints of matcha and ube ice cream as well as tons of frozen meats. Some things sounded particularly strange to Violet like shrimp or fish meatballs while other things she felt curious about like the huge variety of sprouts and kimchi they had at the end of the frozen aisle. She had never tried radish sprouts before and hadn''t really given much thought to what other kinds of sprouts there might be outside of bean sprouts. Deciding to try making some homemade ramen she said


    "I''ll be right back!"


    She had just remembered there were some neat-looking beech mushrooms in the produce aisle, which would be a good addition alongside the radish sprouts for the ramen. The end cap as they turned had discounted snacks and shelf-stable goods. Things like moon cakes and jellies, which they bought some of. Violet didn''t like the texture of puddings and jellos, but Lee did. So, she was much more interested in the marshmallow and chocolate layered treats.


    Next, they came across a huge aisle full of instant ramens and dried varieties of noodles from ramen to udon. There was also a meat freezer with some rather unusual options like chicken feet and cow calves. While she knew that these were not as strange in Asian countries, they certainly weren''t something one could find in your typical American grocery store. There was one thing that stood out, though, that Violet couldn''t help but point out


    "Ooh! Look, honey, they have pork belly! That would be really good in some ramen alongside these mushrooms and radish sprouts."


    Lee nodded before joking


    "Here I thought you were trying to make a salad or something. Do you want to make some homemade broth or try one of these imported ramens with it? There seems to be a lot of different flavors here."


    Violet made a sour expression before straightening her expression back out and replying


    "I''d like to try making some from scratch, but we can get some instant ones to try as well. Most of them look pretty cheap, even if they are a bit more than the kind in the other grocery stores."


    Violet had made homemade ramen before, she just hadn''t used the proper ingredients for it. She stole the noodles from some instant ramen, discarding the seasoning packet before making a homemade broth. It was basically just bouillon or stock cooked with vinegar, soy sauce, a bit of sugar, and some seasonings to make a well-balanced broth. There were, of course, a variety of different ramen styles and toppings that one could use, but she wasn''t trying to make anything fancy, just something quick and easy. Shredded carrots, thinly sliced cabbage, radish, eggs, and some seasoned steak rounded things out quite nicely.


    Of course, it wasn''t uncommon to also have a side with one''s ramen, even in places like Japan. So, they checked out the next freezer section, which was much smaller this time, that held many different premade items. There were scallion pancakes, brown sugar pancakes, a variety of dumplings, shumai, etc. It was hard to just pick a few items, but Violet restricted herself to just a small handful of options. They were hardly hurting for money since they both had quite successful careers, but their freezers hardly had the space for too many new things to be stuffed into.


    Violet loved a good sale, so she tended to stock up on vegetables and meat, which she broke down before vacuum-sealing it, and placing them in their downstairs deep freezer. The freezer that was part of their refrigerator was reserved for quick and easy meal options like the dumplings or snacks like ice cream, but it wasn''t really that big. A few loaves of bread and two tubs of ice cream would fill up the majority of the freezer space since it was so small. However, it worked well for their needs and it prevented Violet from going too crazy about hoarding food.


    They spent a few minutes perusing the cooking equipment aisle, even picking up a nice set of stainless steel chopsticks, and then moved onto the spices aisle. There were some nice bottles of pre-made dipping sauces and Japanese mayonnaise, but they didn''t really need any of that right now. Some soy sauce, vinegar, minced garlic, pepper flakes, and a sprinkle of sugar would work well enough for a quick homemade dipping sauce for their wontons and the other [Items] would be more suitable at the beginning of the month when they did their actual grocery shopping. This was just meant to be a fun date night that they would round out by cooking dinner at home together and then watching some anime.


    Of course, no trip to the Asian market would be complete without snacks. This time Violet really splurged. She had a long black crate where she kept her snacks in the pantry, and it was nearly empty, so she could afford to stock up on everything she was interested in. Fancy fruit flavored gummies, puchao, grapefruit earl gray cookies, pepsticks, traditional korean cookies, mixed rice crackers, wasabi rice crackers, and more went into the cart. Then, of course, there was the ice cream which they had saved for last. There was no way Violet could forget the ice cream.

 Contest Submissions & Voting

    ¡°Jessamine¡¯s Dungeon Adventure¡±


    Written by Lillene the author of ¡°After the End: Serenity¡± and ¡°Broken Lands¡±, which you can find on RoyalRoad.


    *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


    There were plants everywhere. Jessamine stared at one plant, then another.


    Was this what a dungeon was supposed to be like? It didn¡¯t match the stories, but it had to be a dungeon. It was nothing like the outside. It was cold outside, cold and dangerous. She wasn¡¯t prepared for a blizzard.


    This wasn¡¯t the slightly warmer cave she was searching for, but it would have to do.


    Jessamine ducked outside for long enough to get her donkey and bring him into the warm interior. It wasn¡¯t safe, but anything was safer than outside.


    Jessamine searched around the entrance first; if there was anything dangerous, she needed to know. Grass, clover, some very useful herbs, flowers ¡­ a bee! She¡¯d have to be careful, but that bee might be the best news she¡¯d ever seen. A bee meant a beehive, and beehives held treasure, both honey and bees¡¯ wax. Better yet, this was a dungeon beehive; that meant it would return after it was taken.


    At least, that was what the stories said. Jessamine had never been in a dungeon before.


    She couldn¡¯t get any wax or honey today. She didn¡¯t have the gear for it, and dungeon creatures were supposed to be more dangerous than normal ones. She didn¡¯t want to be stung. Getting a beekeeper out here should be possible if she went to the right place; there was a town less than a day¡¯s travel away.


    Maybe she¡¯d be better off reporting the dungeon instead? Jessamine wasn¡¯t sure. They were valuable, weren¡¯t they? That might be worth even more than finding a beekeeper if no one else had reported the dungeon. It was worth finding out. If it wasn¡¯t worth anything, it wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    Who did you report a dungeon to, anyway? Who would actually pay to know? Should she go to Staiven? He would pay for almost any information, but he usually didn¡¯t pay well.


    Eh. There would be time to deal with that once she was out of here. She had better things to deal with.


    Jessamine followed the honey bee as it buzzed along the top of the flowers, then rose a bit. Her eyes widened as she finally saw the bees¡¯ home. It was a fancily carved stacked set of wooden boxes with holes surrounded by bees. It had to be a beehive, but what beehive was set into a tree? It almost looked like it was the tree, but that didn¡¯t make sense. Surely it just surrounded a hollow in the tree?


    If this were anything but a dungeon, Jessamine would say there was definitely a beekeeper. If there was a beekeeper in a dungeon, she didn¡¯t want to meet them.


    She turned and cautiously made her way down the short hall and poked her head back outside the dungeon. The wind stole her breath and she shivered as snow found its way right down her shirt. She definitely couldn¡¯t leave.


    ¡°Camp first,¡± she muttered. ¡°The bees haven¡¯t bothered me yet.¡±


    The donkey didn¡¯t share Jessamine¡¯s reservations; it was already eating the dungeon¡¯s plant life. The bees weren¡¯t bothering it either, so it must be good enough.


    A day later, the blizzard winds no longer howled in front of the dungeon entrance, but only because it was blocked with snow. Jessamine knew what that meant: she¡¯d be stuck inside for days if she was lucky. If she wasn¡¯t lucky, it could be weeks. It wouldn¡¯t be longer than that; it was still too early in the winter. It was really too early for a storm this large, but that was how she was caught in the first place.


    At least there was water. All she had to do was grab a bowl, scoop up some snow, and let it melt and she¡¯d have water. Several of the greens inside were edible, too; she couldn¡¯t really cook with what she had, but she could soak some greens and get enough to eat for a few days without reducing the supplies she needed to make it back to town.


    Jessamine made her way back inside and stripped off her top before it could get soaked by the melting snow. She shook it out, then heard an odd thump not too far away. Her head rose and followed the noise.


    A rabbit sat in the clover and stared up at her.


    ¡°Where did you come from?¡± Jessamine frowned at the rabbit. ¡°I know you haven¡¯t been here, I¡¯d have seen you.¡±


    The rabbit hopped away, startled by her voice.


    Jessamine followed slowly. This was a dangerous place and she had to be careful, but she could only be so scared of a place with bees and rabbits. Rabbits were skittish and didn¡¯t stay visible in places that were too dangerous, but this one seemed remarkably calm.


    The rabbit led her down a short stone walkway to another open field. This one seemed filled with grasses and shrubs rather than clover. The shrubs seemed familiar, so Jessamine leaned down and sniffed a broken leaf. ¡°Tea! But tea doesn¡¯t grow here-¡±


    Jessamine had to harvest some tea leaves. No one was going to believe there was tea here if she didn¡¯t bring proof. It was too bad that she didn¡¯t know how to turn it into proper tea, but at least it would be something.


    She tried to stay aware of her surroundings, but by the third trip back to her camp with tea leaves she was trying to dry out without using a fire, she was hurrying and not watching where she put her feet. Her left foot went straight into a hole she hadn¡¯t seen and she felt a sharp pain as she tripped.


    Jessamine curled up on the ground in pain, then forced herself to examine her foot. Nothing seemed to be broken, but her ankle was definitely twisted. She dragged herself back to her camp on her butt, pushing with her arms and her good right foot, then wrapped her left ankle.


    It was a day later before her ankle felt enough better for her to take the corridor outside for water. Another day passed before she really felt comfortable walking on it. It still hurt a bit, but she¡¯d walked on worse and she didn¡¯t have a choice. She needed to move.


    The snow outside was melting. It would be gone soon enough; it was already low enough that she could travel if she had to, but another day would be better.


    Jessamine couldn¡¯t wait any longer. If she was going to make it through any more of the dungeon, it had to be now. She¡¯d found bees and wild greens and tea; what else could be here?


    Two steps into the room with the tea, Jessamine found the reason the rabbit had moved to the bees¡¯ room: three red foxes stood in the tall grass. They didn¡¯t seem to have noticed Jessamine.


    She couldn¡¯t see an exit, but there had to be one. That meant it was probably along the wall to her left, since that was the direction she couldn¡¯t see. Jessamine nodded to herself and set out. She was sure to stay well away from the foxes; they weren¡¯t usually dangerous, but ¡°usually¡± was a bad way to judge things and the fact that this was a dungeon made it worse, even if she hadn¡¯t found anything worse than a mole hole so far. As long as the foxes didn¡¯t bother her, she wouldn¡¯t bother them.


    Most of her attention was on her feet. She definitely didn¡¯t want to twist her ankle again, or worse, break an ankle. That could absolutely happen on poor ground, and this seemed to be poor ground. She didn¡¯t see any moles, but the small holes everywhere were the right size. There were far too many of them and they seemed worse than she was used to, which made the trip across the field nerve-wracking, but at least she was able to stay relatively close to one of the stone walls. It helped keep her from getting lost in the near-maze of bushes.


    The other exit was exactly where she guessed. When she saw it, she knew why it wasn¡¯t visible from across the room: it would lose its impact. The short stone corridor opened up into an impressive wild grotto filled with colorful plants. A waterfall in the distance meant the path was covered in water; it led to a pool right at the entrance to the room.


    Jessamine paused and looked around. She didn¡¯t recognize most of the plants. Did that mean they were valuable or were they just pretty?


    ¡°Just pretty is worth something,¡± she told herself. As she spoke, she could have sworn some of the plants moved. She paused, concerned.


    A moment later, something dropped from the ceiling. A giant spider!


    Jessamine would later deny it, but she shrieked, tripped backwards, and landed on her butt. She stared upwards at the spider ¡­ plant ¡­ thing.


    When she got a better look at it, it looked like a skull supported by vines with a set of eight large spiderlike limbs. ¡°What are you?¡±


    The skull chattered at her. The clicking was followed by a high-pitched, scratchy voice. ¡°I¡¯m the dungeon master, girl, and you shouldn¡¯t be here. Run back to your donkey and leave as soon as you can.¡±


    Jessamine flipped onto her knees and hurried away. Strangely enough, her sore ankle didn¡¯t bother her at all as she ran from that thing. She had just enough presence of mind to make her way safely across the meadow full of holes and avoid the bees on the clover near her camp. She quickly packed up everything she had and loaded it onto her donkey.


    A few inches of snow or not, she¡¯d clearly outstayed her welcome.


    She had her tea leaves and she¡¯d outlasted the blizzard. Maybe she¡¯d even get something for finding a dungeon when she reached town.


    *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


    Author¡¯s Note: Anyone who reads what I write knows I love to write notes at the end, so you¡¯re getting one :-)


    This is the sort of thing I¡¯d normally reveal later, but since there won¡¯t be a later for this story - no, the skull with vines and spider legs isn¡¯t the dungeon master. It¡¯s a puppet. It definitely did its job of scaring Jessamine away without the dungeon master having to show up in person!


    As for who or what the dungeon master actually is ¡­ well, there might be some clues in the dungeon¡¯s setup.


    ~Lillene


    The Green Mile Dungeon


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    <hr>


    Untitled


    Written by Lunar_Silkie the author of ¡°Love Isn¡¯t Rainbows¡± and ¡°Shadow Hunters¡±, which you can find on Wattpad.


    *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


    There is a dungeon out in the middle of the Bermuda called the Sirens Abyss, the dungeon master''s name is Grace. It¡¯s hard to even get to it because of all the fog that leads sailors astray. The dungeon is mostly sea with drowned sailors, krakens, and even mermaids. No one has even made it close to the core(except the dungeon representative of course). The Sirens Abyss became so powerful because the endless sea around counts to getting points. The dungeon rewards include rare plants, legendary fish, and objects thought lost to time. No one truly knows how old this dungeon is for most records don¡¯t even get the chance to be known. Now let¡¯s get into how this dungeon came to be and the story of its infamy.


    (Grace pov)


    It¡¯s the middle of summer when I died. It wasn¡¯t even a cool death, it was freaking stupid. I got killed by a water gun, A WATER GUN! How does that work you ask well I¡¯ll tell ya. It was dropped on me from a high rise diving board. Now I¡¯m just floating here choking to death because that stupid water gun hit my throat. No one even notices someone choking. Dude Society¡­


    I just wanted to have a nice calming swim.


    Noting preference to swimming (water)


    Why am I hungry now? I¡¯m never gonna eat again, I¡¯m never gonna have fries again.


    Generating Gluttony


    Is this voice calling me fat?


    No


    I can no longer keep on¡­. How is no one noticing¡­


    I knew I wasn¡¯t important¡­Hopefully someone leaves flowers at my grave for me¡­


    Generating anti-depressants


    Noting preference to nature


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-Chapter One¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-


    Our lead slowly awakens to the smell of the sea and sand under their fingertips. How is she alive, she questions while opening her eyes just to get sand blown into her eyes.


    Desperately trying to wipe the sand out she hears a goggle and a damp cloth being placed into her hand. Not thinking about it she uses the cloth as intended, sand. She slowly turns her head to see someone smiling at her, freaking out as she pulls sand from her pockets flinging it at them. The wind decides to throw the sand back which makes this mystery person laugh.


    They finally introduce themselves to her as Cressida or Cress for short. Grace slowly realizes Cressida has scales that shine beautifully around her cheeks trailing down her neck and her eyes are a beautiful seafoam green. Cressida tells her she is her assigned dungeon representative and how she was chosen because of the location of this so-called dungeon I now ¡°govern¡±. The entrance is located in a cave under the sea which leads to this little island.


    After a while Cressida left after giving her contributions, a rainbow fish, one of her scales, and a few seashells. The fish and Cressida''s scale reminds Grace of that one children¡¯s book for some reason; the seashells are just pretty. Grace soon started building up her dungeon by first making a little pagoda on the island that contains her dungeon core. After doing that brick by brick Grace made a spawner that made water slimes and a scary looking crab that goes and grabs things for her to absorb.


    Grace then realizes she hasn¡¯t made any type of trap yet and soon she begins. Seeing she didn¡¯t have much mp she decides to add these trees she has in her arsenal supposedly one is sleep inducing for the people who will be coming here and the other can grow vines and roots which will subdue her victims. Grace notes another tree for later, it sounds interesting because it is somehow poisonous.


    Slowly mp started coming in out of nowhere which Grace decides to investigate. Turns out the trees have been working together by making the people who are on the boats asleep then vines started covering the boat and all. It is surprisingly pretty, the vines sprouting red flowers that completely cover the ships. No one would think the flowers could be caused by blood.


    As she got more and more mp Grace expanded by adding squids with barbed tentacles, selkies, and much much more. The world soon knows of the Sirens Abyss, the dungeon is now called because of how birds with the heads of beautiful women lure them in with their enchanting hymns. Soon the sailors and adventurers that were on the boats that have been submerged over time became zombies while the passengers just stay there decomposing, becoming nutrients for the many schools of fish down below.


    A few hundred years have passed since then and Grace has gotten bored quite a few times. Once she learnt how to combine creatures and objects alike she started scaring people. She made the lochness monster of this world as well as many cryptids of the sea. The plants she made were beautiful so she added them as rewards for defeating the drowns in the lower levels. Most of the time Grace made absolutely terrifying creatures but every now and then she would make adorable creatures for example sea lions literally lions with fish tails. Her all time favorite creation is the sea cats she made, specifically one that looks like her old cat from her world.


    Another few hundred years has passed and now she¡¯s been collecting things like books, rocks, and paints. Her paintings have been hung up on walls around the world. Her paintings are rewards in the middle levels of her dungeon which is hard to get to. The books she received from her alter have been modified by her so they don¡¯t get soaked. She has books that are hundreds of years old and more. She stopped counting after two hundred.


    Adventurers are able to get undeniable wealth if they are able to obtain one of those books which are only rewards on her third floor. Now the rocks, she just loves them and the prettier the better your luck is.


    Everyone far and wide knows of the Sirens Abyss and its many wonders. People still try to beat it even if they die in the process. The chance for unimaginable wealth is slim but it still keeps people coming to try their luck for a new life.


    *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


    (This link goes to pintrest where a ''video'' of a Minecraft world map of the dungeon is available.)


    https://pin.it/1SbadoFbq</a>


    <hr>


    The Dungeon Completionists


    Written by Colin Dyke.


    *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


    Clide was watching amused at the group of new adventurers searched high and low in the 4th room of the 1st floor. It was empty but they hadn¡¯t asked about that at the Adventurers Guild. The new party decided to carry on and went into the next room, and when they saw the 5 goblins in there, they were even more confused. That said, 5 goblins were still not enough as this group was reasonably strong. With these 5 goblins completed they then went back and searched the previous room again to find the 4 goblins that should be in the room if the pattern made sense.


    While he was watching using the remote view skill, he saw another party come through the room, barging past the party that was still searching for the missing goblins. Clide¡¯s eyes narrowed, it was them, the Dungeon Completionists. The party was a classic fighter, rogue, cleric, and mage composition. According to George, his dungeon diplomat, they went around boasting that they had reached the dungeon core of every dungeon on every level, and as soon as they heard that a dungeon had a new floor they went and defeated that floor.


    Now that in itself was complete understandable, and Clide was happy with people challenging the dungeon and completing it. What he hated was the taunting and mocking dance that they had performed in the core room after reaching it. The fact that they had tied him up while they performed the mocking dance was even worse.


    Clide was prepared for them this time. He quickly switched the hallways that connected to the second floor boss room to be the other one changing the route through the maze. He then switched to watching them.


    The Dungeon Completionists had no trouble dealing with goblins. Ulnak the fire mage didn¡¯t even need to shoot any spells, the combined talents of Gaston the Swordsman, and Macavity the Scout sliced through the goblins like they weren¡¯t there. They reached the stairs and started along the path to the core, while the dart traps worked reasonably well, Gaston blocked those that came at them and Macavity disarmed the ones that came from behind before they could fire. Macavity also disarmed the pit traps very easily. Even though he had brought the upgrade that turned their hidden covers into stone floor like the rest of the dungeon it wasn¡¯t enough.


    The real fun started when they reached the old entrances to the boss chamber and found that there was just a wall there.


    ¡°What?¡±


    said Elaina the healer,


    ¡°The adventurers guild said that the route to the boss was simple. Just go left at each junction unless there is a pit trap just before the junction.¡±


    Well, that was the route about 15 minutes ago, Clide smirked to himself.


    ¡°So the Adventurers Guild is stupid.¡±


    said Gaston


    ¡°We are going to have to do this ourselves. So let¡¯s go back and check the paths that we didn¡¯t try.¡±


    After finding a few dead-ends they found themselves at a new junction. They took a right then a left and found themselves back at the stairs.


    ¡°How is this possible?¡±


    asked Gaston,


    ¡°There is no way we should be back at the stairs this quickly!¡±


    ¡°Probably some moving walls that Macavity couldn¡¯t spot¡±


    Ulnak replied.


    ¡°Hey, I can spot any moving wall that the dungeon places. There is no way it was a moving wall trap.¡±


    Macavity was indignant. He had a reputation to uphold.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back and we will just have to try a different way. I will point out any moving walls that we come across.¡±


    Clide smirked. The newly installed teleport trap had worked. 1,000 DP was a lot but it had been worth it to confuse their spatial mapping sense. The completionists turned back and quickly found themselves in unfamiliar territory as the trap had not recharged so didn¡¯t trigger.


    Eventually, they found their way to the boss room, a stone golem awaited them there. This proved to be a problem for the completionists. Ulnak¡¯s fire spells did little damage to the golem, and Macavity¡¯s daggers just scratched the surface. Gaston¡¯s sword did some damage, but it wasn¡¯t much, and the fight went on for ages. Elaina was even drinking mana potions just to keep up with the damage that the golem was dealing back to Gaston, despite his heavy armor. Eventually, they were victorious, and the golem was defeated.


    The Completionists headed up the stairs to the 3rd floor. They opened the door to the 1st room on the floor and immediately spotted the bats. Ulnak sent a fireball at them wiping out most of the bats and Gaston moved forward to finish the rest off. Macavity said


    ¡°WAIT!¡±


    and pulled Gaston back.


    ¡°There is a trap just ahead of us.¡±


    Macavity carefully moved forward and opened the pit trap in the centre of the room. As he did so, this caused another trap to trigger, which meant that rocks fell onto Elaina and Ulnak, who were waiting in the back. While Elaina could heal the damage, the rocks were too heavy for Elaina or Ulnak to lift off themselves. As Gaston and Macavity turned back to unbury Elaina and Ulnak, the doors of the room opened and minotaurs entered from both sides. The minotaurs were armed with crossbows and Clide had called them forward so that they could deal with the Completionists as a group.


    Gaston had no choice but to try and defend the group. There was a lot of crossbow bolts coming his way, and while he could block some with his shield, some with his amour, and deflect a few with his sword, some of the bolts got through.


    ¡°This is annoying. How much longer before we can fight them?¡±


    ¡°We need your strength¡±


    Macavity replied.


    ¡°They are too heavy for us to move.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t hit the Minotaurs from this position¡±


    added Ulnak.


    Gaston sighed.


    ¡°If I move to help you then we will all get hit by these bolts. Elaina, how¡¯s your mana holding out?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting low and will be out soon. This constant damage is getting to us.¡±


    Elaina replied.


    ¡°Ok dungeon, you win this time, but we will be back, and next time we will be ready for you. Macavity take us out.¡±


    Yelled Gaston while retreating into arms reach of Macavity.


    Macavity grabbed hold of Gaston and Ulnak, Ulnak grabbed Elaina, and then Macavity used his signature skill


    ¡°Mass Teleport¡±


    causing them all to vanish. The rocks fell down proving that they had really left the dungeon and not turned invisible.


    Clide was relieved. His plan had worked, and he drove them away. They would probably be back but he could reasonably assume that something similar would work again. He sent the Minotaurs back to their rooms and relaxed. For now the threat was gone and he could go back to watching the new adventurers search the fourth room for the goblins that weren¡¯t there. Though as it turned out, the adventurers had already left the dungeon while he was occupied by the Completionists.


    *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


    <hr>

 2.11 Concerned Parent

    David set the rock he had picked up on the way to the dungeon, down on the ground inside the new tribute room. As to why Violet had gone to the trouble to make a tribute room without doing anything to officially designate it as such was beyond him. However, he wasn''t so sure that he understood much about the rather frustrating Dungeon Master he was in charge of teaching swordsmanship.


    She had said repeatedly that she wanted to play at being a merchant yet she always seemed to dismiss the possibility of selling anything to him. It was always "Maybe tomorrow", "Not today", or "I don''t have enough in stock for it to be worth your while." After a while, David had simply given up on asking, but he was still waiting for her to bring up the idea again herself. He had already gone out of his way to stuff a magic bag full of [Items] to trade away to her and he brought it along every single day in the hopes that she would be interested. Yet, she never was.


    That didn''t stop him from feeling sour about the whole thing, though. He was beginning to worry about how he would provide for his daughter. He had been hoping to get by making trades with Violet for useful [Items] like food and medicine throughout the winter, ensuring no one had to go hungry, but that was clearly off the table now.


    The next best option he had was to complete challenges in the dungeon and collect edible plants from the first floor. His daughter had already been hard at work doing so over the last few days. At first, she had only added a few small [Items] to the basket, but she had become more bold as of yesterday. It made David feel guilty that she felt she had to shoulder the burden of providing food for them like that.


    Well, it wasn''t like this was an entirely new phenomenon. Alice had been asking about why the meals were getting smaller, why there was only soup and so little bread, etc. since a short while before the snow first fell. Gregory''s family was not well off by any standards, but they were used to living this way. They knew how to make the most of what food they did have and none of them ever complained about it.


    It was a little embarrassing the few times that Alice''s complaints and questions had been overheard. However, it was less so because of the dirty looks that David received and more so because he knew he was helpless to do anything about it. They were fortunate he had been able to catch a wild animal a short while back and it would likely last them a few more weeks. However, that was nothing compared to the life that Alice had been able to enjoy back when her mother was still alive.


    David was desperate to return things back to the way they used to be, even though he was already past his prime. There was no way that he was going to be able to return to a life of adventuring and take on the very real and dangerous threats that a proper dungeon would provide. That was a good way for him to leave his daughter an orphan and ensure that her life would be a difficult one.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    David had hoped that Violet''s dungeon would be promising and it had seemed that way, up until recently. However, after the dungeon had undergone its recent transformation, he couldn''t help but feel uneasy. Most adventurers knew better than to even enter a dungeon too soon after it developed a new floor. Many dungeons would leave the lower floors alone, but some of them could end up changing so much that it was like night and day. David hadn''t been expecting Violet to be the sort to change things so drastically, but he had clearly been wrong.


    Who knew just how much more he was wrong about? Violet kept trying to talk to his daughter, even despite his warnings. Perhaps she was trying to harm his daughter somehow? Maybe she wanted to twist her mind and turn her against him? Violet had seemed innocent enough and like there was very little harm that she could cause, but maybe all of that was just a ruse. David wasn''t sure, but he couldn''t help but feel on edge.


    This, of course, bled through into his sparring sessions with Violet. He couldn''t help but flinch and react more aggressively every time she got near him. David just wanted to create some distance between them. Yet, here he was stuck training her every single day. Maybe he should try begging Theodore for some leniency when the next spring arrives. While David knew he was supposed to train Violet for a minimum of a year, he wasn''t sure he could handle the constant stress that it brought.


    David still wanted to build a nice home for Alice to finish growing up in. He still wanted to send her off to a reputable magic academy and help her grow up to be a strong adventurer. However, if he couldn''t even depend on Violet to follow through on her own words, such as playing a dungeon merchant, how could he trust anything else about this dungeon either?


    "Alright, well, that''s time. I''m going to go now."


    Violet dismissed herself quickly and David watched her carefully as she left. Once more, it would seem she was failing to follow through on her promise to sell him anything. It would seem he would have to depend on Alice to forage things while he tried to complete some challenges.


    Luckily, the new arrangement of the dungeon seemed to make that easier, for the most part. All of the more difficult challenges were no longer in the way and David and Alice could safely go from room to room gathering as they wished. Of course, now they had to share the space with others.


    The strange elf man and his half-giant companion always seemed to give David plenty of space, which was how he preferred it. During his time as an adventurer, he had met plenty of different types, not all of which were the friendly type. It was always best to avoid others in the dungeon, especially if you weren''t on equal footing and able to properly defend yourself. If you wanted to meet new people, it was better to do so in the local tavern or adventurers'' guild where there was more of a guarantee of safety for everyone involved. The local guards and other adventurers never tended to like it when others caused problems, after all. However, someone dying in a dungeon was less likely to be questioned, or even investigated, so you were always better off playing it safe.

 2.12 Harsh Winter Weather

    Avorn and Camellia pulled a bag full of pinecones and pine nuts out of their backpack after entering the dungeon. Then they quickly submitted the contents before tucking the now empty bag back away again. Satisfied that they had paid their dues, they merrily went on their way.


    As they knew they were no longer the only ones in the dungeon, they put off setting up camp. The last thing they needed was for someone to make off with what precious few belongings they did have. Instead, they went to the koi pond room that was just off to one side from the entrance.


    "Which one of us had the fishing bait again?"


    Camellia asked. Avorn pointed to the bag she was already shuffling through as he replied


    "I''m carrying the firewood, so it should be in your bag. Did you manage to get it stuck at the bottom of your bag again?"


    It took a few more minutes before Camellia found what she was looking for. She then held out the bag for Avorn to take. He tended to be very particular about how the worms were handled due to not wanting to prolong their suffering. As a farmer turned adventurer, she didn''t exactly have the luxury to act delicate and avoid such things as worms, guts, and dirt. So, it wasn''t so much that she was unwilling to put the bait on her own fishing pole as it was purely out of respect for her husband''s ideals.


    While she was waiting, Camellia mused


    "Firewood has been getting expensive lately. It might be better to try and ration it more."


    Avorn sighed before replying


    "The cold weather seems to be especially hard this year, I don''t imagine things will get much better than this. There has been an increase in the number of people moving to the area, but not enough of the locals remained to ensure that firewood was adequately prepared. Well, that and most people likely aren''t going to think about rationing the firewood until it''s too late."


    Camellia shook her head as she commented


    "It''s a shame we can''t just cut some of the firewood in this dungeon and bring it back. I''m sure we could borrow a wheelbarrow and an axe from someone, but it''ll likely take too long for it to dry, right?"


    Avorn handed Camellia back her pole and they cast their hooks into the water before he continued the conversation.


    "Firewood usually needs to be dried for several months to be seasoned properly. Otherwise, it is hard to light the wood and keep it lit. It might be possible if we got someone to agree to buying it off of us now and they kept it in a room with a lit fire to speed up the drying process, but it''s definitely not a very realistic solution. Besides, we don''t officially live here, so it isn''t exactly our responsibility, nor is it an effective way to earn an income.


    We may just have to go without a fire after some time. It means we won''t be able to cook fish anymore, but we should be able to get by with the forageable plants in the dungeon and the surrounding area. It''s also not exactly cold here, so we won''t freeze to death."


    Violet found it a bit funny as she walked into the room at just the right time to overhear the tail end of their conversation. This was the second time now she had gone to see if they''d be interested in buying goods from her and ended up overhearing a problem they had that just so happened to be a good business opportunity for her.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    She was originally going to leave to go upstairs for a short while to build before attempting to sell things to Avorn and Camellia. However, she had only just taken inventory of what she still had in stock when they had entered the dungeon. So she put off the building for later and made the trek back downstairs in the hopes of making a sale. It was hardly like she was expecting her luck to be this good!


    "I could probably help you out with that."


    Even Camellia couldn''t help but jump in surprise as she heard Violet''s voice echo across the room. She was starting to feel more comfortable around Violet the more she interacted with her, so she comfortably questioned


    "Help us with what exactly?"


    Violet smiled as she replied


    "Well, with your firewood problem, of course! I imagine you''d need some magic bags to carry it around with, though, as it would likely be quite heavy. However, otherwise, I can create perfectly dried firewood that''s ready to go just so I can sell it to you. The only thing is that I would expect fair compensation for the resources I expend to do so."


    Avorn pulled Camellia aside before whispering to her


    "I''m not sure we can afford that! We can''t just upset her by turning her down now, though, right?"


    Camellia smiled as she patted her husband''s shoulder reassuringly and said


    "Relax, just let me handle this."


    Then she turned back to Violet who was still waiting for their response. Camellia took a calming breathe before asking


    "How many points would we need for something like that? I know the quest menu says we have to provide one hundred points of value for our rent each day. I''m assuming that is similar to how you said the dungeon functions before. I can''t agree to anything until I know if we can deliver on our end of things first."


    Violet was actually a bit surprised by Camellia''s astute observation. She didn''t exactly think of the woman as unintelligent, but it was still a surprise to see she had put things together so well when most everyone else seemed to struggle with the concept so much. She took a moment to do some mental math of her own before answering.


    The magic bags would cost her 50 MP each, which would usually be doubled and she''d charge 100 DP for them. However, the bags were very clearly worth a lot and Violet hardly wanted to ruin the economy by selling them for such a cheap price, even to people she liked a good bit. So, she''d have to double the price and charge a total of 400 DP for the two of them. Then there was the matter of the firewood. Violet wasn''t sure how much the firewood would cost her, nor how heavy the firewood would be. So, she decided to ask


    "How much does firewood normally weigh?"


    Camellia looked confused for a moment before hesitantly answering


    "I think it''d be safe to say about three pieces weigh close to 5 Units."


    Violet nodded. That would mean sixty pieces should be able to be carried in two magic bags with a weight limit of 50 Units each. There''s no way that the firewood would cost more than a few mana for a single piece for firewood. Even if she was generous on her end, it was only bound to cost 5 MP per piece, at the most. That would add another 300 MP for a total of 600 DP in cost. So, about 1,000 DP would have to be charged for it all. It was a bit steep, but it was still likely to end up in their favor.


    "I''m willing to accept 1,000 points for everything. Two magic bags with a 50 Units limit and sixty pieces of firewood, which should take up the entirety of the weight between the two bags. I can also sell you more firewood later on, so long as you give me notice ahead of time."


    Avorn and Camellia deliberated between themselves for a short while before agreeing. While a thousand small [Items] weren''t worth nearly as much as even one magic bag, it was still a lot of work to commit to, especially when they considered they''d also have to collect enough to pay for their nightly stay in the dungeon. If it took them ten days to collect the payment, they''d end up needing 2,000 points since they''d also need to pay rent in that time. In which case, it was better to pay the amount off sooner rather than later. As such, they promised to come up with the payment in just a few days'' time.

 2.13 Pixie Pals

    Since Violet hadn''t managed to sell anything to Avorn and Camellia this time around, she reluctantly decided to try and see if David would be up for it. The promise of income later in the week was nice and all, but it just wouldn''t be that helpful in the meantime. However, that didn''t exactly mean that Violet was all that happy to interact with the overly standoffish David either.


    As it turned out, David was just wrapping things up and fixing to head out by the time she reached him. With a huff, he narrowed his eyes and questioned


    "What do you want now? I thought we were done for the day. I need to get my daughter home soon, it''s a bit late for her to still be awake."


    Violet gritted her teeth as she answered


    "I just wanted to see if you''d be interested in buying anything today. However, if it bothers you that much, I''ll just leave."


    David sounded surprisingly gentle when he replied


    "No, wait. What do you have available?"


    Violet felt exhausted as she turned back around and answered


    "I''ve got some potions and then some food items. I don''t have much else right now, but that might change later on."


    David looked thoughtful as he replied


    "Alright, well, I''ll buy whatever food [Items] you have."


    Violet narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she replied


    "I don''t have a ton, but it still won''t be cheap. Are you sure you can afford it?"


    David grunted in response before beginning to pull [Items] out of his magic bag. Back when he had thought they would be trading sooner rather than later, he had begun to collect [Items] he thought Violet might have some interest in. However, even back then it had been close to the beginning of the cold season and it wasn''t like magic bags could extend the shelf life of goods. So, most of what he had was a mixture of different clothing [Items] and decorative buttons he had bought in the next city over in the hopes Violet would be interested.


    Violet began to pull out her own [Items] as she pointed to items, negotiating on a fair price for her goods. She hadn''t created much in terms of new merchandise over the last few days, but she still had twelve tins of black tea, five glass jars of honey, five glass jars of apple jam, two loaves of iced carrot bread, four bread rolls, two wild violet & honey lollipops, fifteen lavender meringue cookies, and twenty chamomile shortbread cookies. The whole lot had cost her an entire 293 MP to create it all, which was, admittedly, not as big of a deal now as it used to be, but that still meant she was expecting a minimum of 586 DP as a return on her investment.


    David wasn''t entirely happy with how much he ended up having to trade away for the goods he wanted. While he had gotten a really good deal previously by only having to bring a few flowers, fruits, and mushrooms in exchange for several sweets, he had to trade away much more expensive goods this time. That was primarily due to a fundamental misunderstanding on his part as to how things were valued in the dungeon, but that was hardly something that Violet was going to explain to him now that their relationship had gotten as bad as it had.


    Violet ended up obtaining: a red velvet dress, a brown leather tunic, a white wool cap, gray linen pants, a blue silk nightgown, some hemp rope, a fox fur scarf, black, white, and blue fabric buttons, clear, red, green, and blue glass buttons, horsehair, flower-shaped, and square patterned ceramic buttons, engraved iron, engraved gold, and engraved silver metal buttons, iron snap buttons, and a lot of wooden buttons. The [Items] couldn''t be absorbed until after the dungeon was cleared of occupants, but it would end up being worth an entire 635 DP, which was really not a bad haul.


    David felt like grumbling as he left the dungeon, so there wasn''t any further discussion on future purchases. Still, it wasn''t like he felt entirely put out, he was just disappointed due to not feeling like he was getting as good of a deal as he had the last time. It would be too difficult to travel through the snow to reach the next city over, but merchants still traveled through the area on rare occasions, even during the winter time. So, David could only hope to trade some of the excess sweets, tea, and honey for money and [Items] for future trades with Violet.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    It wasn''t like David wasn''t going to share any of the goods he had obtained today, though. A single tin of black tea, a jar of honey, all of the apple jam, and the bread rolls would be brought back to be shared with Gregory''s family. It would be a nice luxury for everyone to enjoy and the jam was bound to make the rare loaves of bread that Edith baked taste that much better. The food wasn''t much in the long run and wouldn''t be very filling, unfortunately, but that couldn''t really be helped.


    Selling the sweets would amount to a larger amount of money that could be used to purchase firewood and food that would last far longer than the sweets themselves would. Besides, since it seemed Violet wasn''t entirely adverse to selling him things, it would also be good to stock back up on [Items] to trade with her. Perhaps, next time he could even try to buy more useful things like the bread rolls. The winter season was a long one and it was still just the beginning of the season, after all.


    Of course, Violet wasn''t aware of any of this. She was just happy that she had plenty of [Items] to absorb the next morning. Besides that, she actually had the 500 DP she needed to research the next spawner thanks to Avorn and Camellia''s rent being added to her points total right away.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to research 100 MP limit [Monster] spawners? Requires 500 DP.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet excitedly selected the [Yes] option. She then spent the rest of the night investing her mana on new spawners for her second floor rooms. It took 600 MP to replace the old 50 MP limit spawners with the new ones. That took quite a while to save up enough for and ended up taking up most of her night. However, it was hardly all of the mana she earned in a night. So, 120 MP was spent on six al-mi''raj and an additional 27 MP was spent on nine giant checkered rabbits. These were split between the blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry forest [Monster] field rooms, effectively doubling their population. There would now be four horned rabbits and six giant rabbits in each of the rooms, making them feel much less empty.


    While it may have been worthwhile to consider adding a better variety of [Monsters] and [Critters] to the room to make the rooms seem more lively, Violet preferred to prioritize practicality in this case. More [Monsters] meant that she could more easily defend her dungeon and adventurers would get more use out of the rooms. Environmental considerations could always be considered more carefully in other types of rooms anyway.


    The most exciting part of the night''s activities, however, was the fact that Violet could finally summon her very first pixies for the dungeon! It took an entire 200 MP to summon just four pixies with two placed in the hopscotch challenge room and two placed in the rainbow of roses challenge room. Violet smiled excitedly as she watched her new [Monsters] flutter around playfully, clearly happy to be a part of the dungeon.


    "Um... hello! It''s nice to meet you all. I''m Violet, the Dungeon Master."


    She nervously greeted them. The pixies all stopped and turned towards her voice, clearly seeming surprised by her presence. However, they were all super friendly as they greeted


    "Hi! I''m so excited to meet you! I''m Jasmine!"


    "I''m Daisy! Your dungeon is so pretty!"


    One of the other fairies hid behind the third one to speak up, so the last two were introduced by the only boy fairy to be summoned.


    "I apologize, my wife Lily is very shy around people she doesn''t know very well. I''m Cedar, by the way."


    Violet blinked in surprise, a bit taken aback by her new residents. However, she soon recovered before reassuring


    "That''s alright. I''ll just quickly move your assigned rooms around so you two can share the same room. Are roses alright with you? The only other option I have is one with a hopscotch challenge. Those rooms will lock at times, which I do apologize for, but I just couldn''t quite spare the spawner space in one of the other room types."


    Daisy zoomed by excitedly before dancing with Jasmine as she excitedly exclaimed


    "Can you believe it? We are actually being given our own rooms to inhabit and we even get to be assigned to a spawner as well!"


    Cedar seemed to share that sentiment as he cooly replied


    "That''s fine, thank you for your consideration. By the way, are there any particular tasks you expect us to complete? I''m afraid our size doesn''t make us very effective at combat, but we''re still happy to help lead any enemies into [Traps] for you."


    Violet shook her head as she answered


    "That won''t be necessary. Right now it is cold and snowy outside, but I''d like it if you all could go forage outside the dungeon when the spring comes. I realize that might be difficult due to your small size, so don''t overwork yourself. Your safety is more important to me than how much progress you make.


    Anyway, I''ll give you all some time to settle in. I''m going to rest for a while, but feel free to find me if you all need anything."

 2.14 Just Desserts

    The next morning, Violet went down to the first floor. Since the dungeon had absorbed her tributes, she now had 646 dungeon points, which left plenty to play around with. As she planned to change some of the first floor rewards to be assigned to the second floor, it only made sense to start by assigning a new reward to the first floor rooms to replace the old ones.


    Violet had to spend a while thinking about what sorts of new rewards to offer that would be suitable for the first floor. Since she wanted them to be suitable for all ages and not a niche flavor choice, it would usually seem pretty simple. However, Violet struggled with coming up with ideas more than she thought she would purely because she didn''t have any chocolate to use. So many candies and desserts used cocoa powder or chocolate for flavoring that it took a while for her to move past that fact and think of alternatives.


    The first thing Violet decided to research was walnut butter.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 20 DP to research walnut butter using the [Base Resources] walnuts and salt?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet selected the [Yes] option and immediately proceeded to the next step in her research process.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 20 DP to research engraved wooden boxes using the [Base Resources] wood and iron?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 10 DP to research brown candy liners using the [Base Resources] brown paper and beeswax?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    One after another, Violet selected the [Yes] option before finalizing her research for the candies.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 30 DP to research walnut fudge using the [Base Resources] walnut butter, butter, milk, vanilla, and sugar?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 50 DP to research a box of walnut fudge using the [Items] walnut fudge, engraved wooden box, and brown candy liners?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    While she could have just researched the walnut fudge with the packaging, Violet much preferred to have the flexibility that having both recipes researched unlocked brought with it. Of course, an additional 50 DP had to be used to set the box of walnut fudge as the new reward for the slime parkour room as well. So, this easily brought her total dungeon points down to 466, but it felt well worth the investment.


    "Please set the weather in the slime parkour room to be always overcast and sunset weather."Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    This request ended up costing another 75 DP to accomplish, but it was a much-needed adjustment. With the much better reward and the change from the stormy midnight setting to a sunset overcast one, the challenge would be much more reasonable for the first floor. The wooden platforms would no longer be slippery and it would be easier to make out the aqua slimes after they jumped out of the water. However, the platforms would still be the same distance apart and the challenge would certainly still be a difficult one, which is where having a more worthwhile reward came into play.


    Feeling satisfied, Violet moved on to the rainbow ball maze room where she also needed to replace the reward. The challenge seemed to be of a reasonable enough difficulty for the first floor since both David and Tobias''s party had already successfully completed it, from what she had heard. It was just that the chamomile shortbread cookies would be better suited to the second floor than one meant for children and beginner adventurers.


    This time around, Violet was inspired to make a version of a dessert she often saw at Chinese buffets in her old world.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 10 DP to research sugared pecans using the [Base Resources] pecans, sugar, and salt?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 4 DP to research brown paper cones using the [Base Resource] brown paper?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 16 DP to research packaged sugared pecans using the [Items] sugared pecans and brown paper cones?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    After selecting [Yes] on everything and then spending another 16 DP to set the reward for the rainbow ball maze challenge, Violet was now down to 420 DP. The package of sugared nuts were significantly cheaper to purchase at only 8 MP each compared to the box of walnut fudge, which cost an entire 25 MP each. So, this challenge was definitely not receiving quite as nice of a reward, but Violet still felt that everyone was likely to enjoy the new addition.


    With everything taken care of, Violet headed back up to the second floor. While she had a lot fewer dungeon points to play around with now, she still wanted to finish setting up her two new challenge rooms on the second floor. So, first she headed to the rainbow of roses room where Cedar was quick to greet


    "Hello, Violet! What can we do for you?"


    Shaking her head, she replied


    "I''m just here to work on this room. I''ll be setting the room to lock when adventurers enter, but the challenge is fairly easy so you shouldn''t end up locked in here for very long. Don''t worry, if it takes too long I''ll make sure to come and sort things out by the time night comes around that same day."


    With the [Guest List] skill, it was easy to keep track of who was where, so it wasn''t like she wouldn''t know if someone was stuck in a particular room for an extended period of time. Cedar waved off her concerns, seemingly unbothered, so Violet just went on her merry way.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to set the theme for this room? This will cost 150 DP. You will no longer be able to change the room''s theme and all [Items] added to it in the future must match the set theme, but upgrades will be unlocked for the room.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Is the current theme correct?


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Theme: Rainbow of Roses Challenge


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was a steep price, but the door couldn''t be locked without setting the room''s theme first. However, Violet would require 600 DP if she wanted to both set the themes and lock the doors of both this room and the hopscotch challenge room, so that would have to wait for the other room. With the additional 10 DP required to set the wild violet and honey lollipops as the challenge reward in this room, Violet was already down to 110 DP.


    So, she just finished up by setting the challenge in the hopscotch room with chamomile shortbread cookies for a reward. That took 30 DP, further reducing her total down to 80 DP. Violet hoped she would be able to finish this room as well, soon enough, but she knew she would just have to wait and see. For now, it was time for a long overdue nap.

 2.15 Dream Sequence: Nostalgic Video Games

    Violet was dreaming again, but this time it wasn''t of her time with her husband. Instead, this time she was a bit younger.


    It was finally summer break, no more annoying exams and preparing for college! Violet always worked hard enough during the school year to apply for scholarships, so summertime was a time strictly for relaxing. Well, she did still have a job down at the local breakfast cafe to worry about, but she was otherwise free to relax and play her favorite video game: La Cleric: Strategies.


    The game had been a bit obscure, even when it was more popular. However, now that people had already moved on from the PlayConsole 2, it was even more unknown than it had been before. However, Violet had bittersweet memories of it and she had always wanted to beat the game.


    She had originally been given the game by her uncle as a tenth birthday present and she had tried to beat it the next summer. However, things hadn''t gone as planned and she only barely managed to scratch the surface of what the game had to offer. According to her grandmother, her grandfather had ended up playing the game while she was back home with her parents. Since the game had been left at their house, it wasn''t exactly a big deal, but it had inspired her to try playing it again as both a way to enjoy an old favorite and to feel connected to her now-deceased grandfather.


    Violet had even prepared for today with quite a bit of effort. She had taken some of the money she had earned from working and gone out and bought some grape soda, her favorite regional potato chips that her grandfather had always enjoyed, and some store-brand sugar cookies. As she tended to be an honor student who never caused trouble, her parents never complained about her playing video games either, so she''d have the whole day all to herself.


    Completing the old video gamey feel, Violet even had an older box TV model. It still had color, but the screen wasn''t that big and she had to pile a bunch of blankets and pillows on the floor to lean back against just so she could be closer to the screen. Then her snacks were set up nearby on a short cooler so they''d still be within arms reach, but she''d be less liable to spill her soda on the floor. Her mother might have been lenient about having food in her room, but she''d hardly hear the end of it if she spilled it everywhere.


    As the game''s intro screen booted up, Violet was met with the familiar sight of a large medieval-style castle town followed by church-like stained glass windows that depicted a story. This story was one very similar to the ones told in the light novels Violet also tended to enjoy, especially later on when she grew into an adult. Some dark and evil entity would descend down into the masses and wreak havoc and destruction, but there was always a hero or heroine who would represent the gods or goddess of that world that was destined to save the day.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    After the intro screen finished playing out, Violet was prompted to select her save, so she did so. By this point, she had actually already invested more than a hundred hours into the game and had easily gotten past the halfway point. Still, she had quite a bit of fondness for the characters and even had a small crush on the male protagonist of the story, Rook.


    The initial party was made up of the heroine of the series, Alouette, the protagonist, Chanter, and Chanter''s younger brother, Chiro. The trio had met in a church where Alouette had played the role of Chanter and Chiro''s teacher. La Cleric was actually the name of the demon-hunting group for the holy church and they were responsible for going out and fighting [Monsters] and demons whether it be in dungeon-like environments or out in the wilds.


    They, eventually, end up meeting Rook who is considered to be a freelance demon hunter, at the time, but later joins their group and the La Cleric organization. This happens after the main trio visit a sight that Chiro notes looks just like where his and Chanter''s parents were buried. When a strange "lady" appears and tries to sneak attack Chiro, Rook comes in shooting his gun and exposing the bad guy for what they are.


    His character had a very "hot shot" attitude and he was decked out in a trench coat, pirate-esque boots, and shades. Admittedly, his character was pretty cool, but that wasn''t enough to steal Violet''s attention right away. In fact, it wasn''t until much later in the story that she started to get excited every time his character showed up on screen and had an active part in the story.


    Most of the game was a top-down turn-based RPG and the characters weren''t nearly as detailed as they were in the cut-scenes where the story was brought to life. There were even voiceovers with each of the characters being given their own personality. It really made the game something special since the characters felt a lot more real than other games where they didn''t pay for voice actors.


    It likely helped that Rook''s attacks also just seemed cooler than some of the other characters. He was the only one with a gun in the entire lineup. Chanter used a baton that she used to beat her enemies into submission while her brother, Chiro, tended to have attacks that involved things like throwing mushrooms at the enemy. Of course, the heroine, Alouette, was very much a holy maiden-type who would call down divine judgment on the [Monsters] and demons. Which, while interesting enough, still somehow didn''t measure up to the badassery that was Rook.


    Of course, the characters themselves weren''t the only thing that Violet enjoyed about playing the game. It was also quite fun to see the different environments and discover what types of [Monsters] each would bring with it. There was even the opportunity to tame [Monsters] and use them as part of your team. You could slowly level them up and unlock new abilities for them, making it so there was always plenty of excitement to look forward to.


    Sadly, as much as Violet wanted to continue to sleep and dream, she eventually ended up waking up. While she had once had all day to spend playing video games, she no longer had such luxuries. It would seem someone had made it to the second floor and the dungeon didn''t seem to like it very much.

 2.16 Time Passes

    Another week in the dungeon passed by with very little changing. David and Camellia''s groups were still the only ones interested in visiting the dungeon each day. This started worrying Violet, but she wasn''t sure what the cause was. Could it be that her recent renovations also have put the others on edge? Otherwise, perhaps it was the wintertime weather that was the problem. It wasn''t like Violet knew how far away the nearest town was, perhaps it was too much for most people to make the trek over. Regardless, it felt unfortunate to see her dungeon become so empty.


    Thankfully, Violet wasn''t the sort of person to just give up at the first hint of difficulties. Thus, the past week was spent hard at work improving the dungeon and making preparations for the future. There wasn''t a lot of building going on, per se, as she had only really been building new things on the first floor with what little mana she could spare each morning. However, 700 MP still felt like quite a bit when compared to the 350 MP her previous mana limits would have allowed for.


    Over the course of the week, Violet also continued to receive a steady amount of incoming dungeon points from the few people who were visiting her dungeon. 700 DP had been paid to her from Avorn and Camellia as payment for letting them stay the night in the dungeon. It was all just repeats of things they had already given her, but that didn''t matter as much as the points themselves right now. Violet was certain that the snow was hardly making it easy for them to amass the points needed for their rent as it was.


    Of course, they also had to work hard to gather an additional 1,000 points worth of goods as well. Violet hadn''t completed her trade with them quite yet, but she had been told the previous night that they would be submitting their payment soon. As such, Violet had already completed her research for the dried firewood and planned to finalize the purchases later in the night.


    It had ended up costing an entire 50 DP to research the dried firewood with the mana cost being 25 MP per 10 Units. The research costs had been a bit higher than Violet had been expecting as was the upfront mana cost. However, the overall cost for the wood was slightly lower than she had been anticipating. Violet could only suppose that the fact that some sort of time manipulation was involved in the creation of the wood and had to be at fault.


    Everything in the dungeon was created from magic, so one would assume that creating dried firewood was no different from creating any other form of wood. However, it wasn''t exactly as if Violet was the one who decided how the system worked, nor was she an expert in it to any extent. She could only grasp at straws as she tried to rationalize to herself why the system would even work the way it did.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    In addition to the dungeon points earned through Avorn and Camellia, Violet also got a small chunk of points through the tributes that David brought to the dungeon each day. However, that really hadn''t amounted to much as he had gotten quite lazy about it. The first day or two he was more generous and had even brought her a wooden training shield as well as some hair sticks. Of course, Violet had no way of knowing this, but they were all broken when they were absorbed by the dungeon. Still, the remaining days of the week had seen David bringing nothing but a few handfuls of acorns and leaves that he had likely collected from the dungeon itself due to them all being repeats. So, in the end, she had only gotten a paltry sum of 43 DP from David.


    While Violet normally wouldn''t be so judgemental about what was brought to her as a tribute, she couldn''t help but feel slighted in this case. She had been trying to be sympathetic about his circumstances during the winter season by not requesting anything specific as tribute. However, it seemed that this was only causing laziness and a lack of effort on his part. Surely there was a local landfill or something that he could scrounge up something more worthwhile to use as tribute from? Violet sighed, feeling like this was just one more reason that she wanted to cancel their agreement sooner rather than later.


    As for what she had spent her actual mana on, Violet still wanted to take her time with building, so she had mostly built empty rooms and hallways. 160 MP was spent on five new 16-Units by 16-Units square rooms, 48 MP was spent on two new 8-Units by 16-Units rectangular rooms, 25 MP was spent on five new 5-Units straight hallways, and 30 MP was spent on three new 10-Units straight hallways. These had been arranged on the first floor to follow the pattern she had already established on the right side of the floor. All she would have to do now was figure out what sort of new [Monster] fields and challenge rooms she wanted to build in them.


    Of course, that amount hardly added up to the full 700 MP she had access to across the seven days'' worth of mornings. The rest, however, had been spent on upgrading and installing new 100 MP spawners on the first floor. 400 MP allowed her to purchase four spawners, which she installed in the wildflower meadow, the hay meadow, and the two new rectangular rooms she had built.


    As she now had more room to assign slimes to the room, Violet even moved the five basic slimes that were on the second floor in the flower hunt challenge room to the wildflower meadow room. As there was previously only one bee colony, a kodama, and a single basic slime in the wildflower meadow room, this more than doubled the population of the room. It was possible this would make the room more difficult, but the slimes tended to only engage adventurers one at a time unless they were intentionally provoked into attacking in groups. Of course, if an actual intruder who meant harm to the dungeon came along, they would all attack at once, but that was unlikely to be the case with young children.


    Feeling quite satisfied with finishing up her work on the first floor, Violet headed up to the second floor. She still had much to do and it would be good to check in on her new pixies.

 2.17 Custom Merchandise

    As Violet walked through her rooms on the second floor, she was greeted by each of her new pixie friends. Cedar was the first of which as he said


    "Hello, Mistress Violet! Another slow day today, huh?"


    Violet gave a faint smile, nodding, before she replied


    "Yes, it seems that is the case."


    Jasmine tried to cheer her up as she reassured


    "Don''t worry, we can keep you company, if you''d like!"


    Daisy followed that up with her own comment of


    "Who needs those pesky adventurers anyway? Certainly not me!"


    Violet pursed her lips to keep from speaking out against such remarks. Jasmine and Daisy were very happy-go-lucky free spirits, but they also tended to have quite a bit of prejudice against adventurers. Violet wasn''t sure that Cedar or Lily were much of a fan of them either. It was just harder to tell since Cedar tended to be more careful about what he said while Lily was too shy to do more than wave hello while hiding behind her husband.


    While she tended to identify more with the people of this world, Violet wasn''t so sure that it was even her place to keep the peace between her [Monsters] and the adventurers who entered her dungeon. Most of the folks she had met were fairly decent people who just wanted to earn a living or grow stronger, but it wasn''t like everyone would always be so reasonable. When it came time for the dungeon to be defended, it would only confuse those living in the dungeon if they were forced to feel guilty about taking the lives of those living outside of the dungeon now.


    Deciding to focus on less stressful things, Violet waved goodbye to the pixies, promising to spend some time hanging out together with them a little later in the day. It was nice to spend time around the pixies since they always seemed happy to see her, but she couldn''t help but feel like there was a hint of subservience to their behavior, which also made her feel uncomfortable to some degree. Violet wasn''t quite sure whether it was worse to deal with the frightened and overly respectful adventurers or to accept that friendliness from those who were forced to do as she told them to. None of it really felt like genuine friendship in the way that time spent with Elivyre did, regardless of how rare that seemed to be.


    As she walked to the dungeon core room, Violet noted that she hadn''t really made any progress with building anything on the second floor this week. Despite having more than sufficient mana thanks to Avorn''s and Camellia''s stays in the dungeon, she had chosen to take a week off from building anything significant. Instead, she had spent her nighttime mana earnings a little at a time before going to sleep for the night.


    This had helped her mood by a considerable amount. It was always nice to relive some of the best memories from her previous life during her rest periods. Sometimes she dreamt of her husband, sometimes she dreamt of time spent with family, friends, or coworkers, and other times she dreamt of old video games she had played. The last one seemed especially useful for sparking her imagination in a way that allowed her to consider what she wanted to build her dungeon to be in a more creative way.


    With the resources she had access to, she could really do some good for this world. It would take a lot of difficulties and a lot of time to enact change, especially while trapped inside the walls of this place, but she had plenty of time to get it right. For the time being, though, she wanted to start with something small, but that she knew would benefit the locals quite a bit. So, she had spent a good chunk of her dungeon points from the past week researching new merchandise that she could sell.


    The firewood that Camellia had requested was likely something that more than just they would need. However, just trying to sell more firewood was likely thinking too small. In the long run, the townsfolk could always chop firewood from the lower floors of the dungeon and then store it throughout the year to ensure there was plenty of firewood the next winter. So, it would be far better to focus on other options that she might even be able to sell year-round.


    It took Violet quite a bit of time to think things over. She was pretty sure she wanted to make some new food [Items] to sell since those always seemed to be popular. However, she also felt it was important to consider things like the shelf life, nutrition, and enjoyability of the foods. She already had hard tack, jerky, and raisins available on her [Item] list, but hardly anyone would choose to eat that if they had other options available.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    In the end, Violet had settled on making goods from three general categories. The first of which was soup, which had cost an entire 204 DP to research six of them. The options she had available were a bit limited due to not having the [Base Resources] available to create them. So things like cabbage soups, gumbos, or even beef stew were completely out of the question. What Violet did have was a large variety of vegetables and some game meats that could be swapped out to create a new version of the recipes she had enjoyed in her previous life.


    A tomato soup made from tomatoes, deer stock, milk, garlic, salt, pepper, a mason jar, and air magic had been the first she had researched as well as the cheapest. The deer stock had already been unlocked thanks to Tobias''s party donating it as part of a bowl of venison apple stew a while back. Since there wasn''t even chicken among the [Base Resources] list, it was much simpler to just use what was already available. As for the air magic, Violet was fairly certain that it was being used to remove all the air from the mason jars and pressure seal the jar, much in the way one would be boiling the jars when canning.


    The other soups were broccoli and cheese, Italian wedding soup, deer and gnocchi, white deer chili, and venison apple stew. The Italian wedding soup had required that she first research meatballs made from boar and deer meat as well as some ditalini pasta. Meanwhile, the deer and gnocchi was like a knock off version of chicken and gnocchi soup and required that gnocchi be researched to make it. As for the venison apple stew, Violet only had it available without a container or in a bowl. Even if she manually put the stew into a mason jar, it wouldn''t be shelf-stable, so it was far safer to do the research for it as well.


    The reason why soups seemed like a good idea in the first place was that they would be a well-rounded meal that only needed to be reheated before it could be eaten. Of course, it would also pair well with various garnishes or be delicious when eaten with some buttered bread, but it could technically be eaten as they were. Add to that fact that they were easy to make shelf-stable and quite tasty and it just made for an excellent addition to her merchandise.


    The second category of goods Violet worked on was drinks. She had been inspired by trips she used to take to Asian markets with her husband and decided to make powdered milk teas. Having some extra nutrition from the dairy, some energy from the sugar and caffeine, and some warmth from it being a hot drink just made it seem like a good option to have. Of course, it also helped a bit that the black tea she had been selling was quite popular. Even Camellia had bought some from her despite how much financial difficulty she and her husband tended to have.


    A black tea version was simple to make as it only required black tea, milk, sugar, a mason jar, and some air magic. The dungeon seemed to be able to manipulate time and what form an [Item] was quite freely when it came to doing research, so it wasn''t difficult to make everything into a powdered form. In fact, Violet was pretty sure the air magic was just to seal the jar for extra freshness, which she was hardly going to complain about. She didn''t exactly want her goods to go bad before she could sell them after all.


    The second version was a matcha tea version, which required her to research green tea using the black tea first. However, both it and the black tea ended up being the same cost for the powdered milk tea version itself. They were only 32 DP each to research or 16 MP for a 0.5 Unit jar full of the stuff. Since it would only require hot water to make, Violet was hopeful that it would prove as popular with the locals as it was with her past self.


    Finally, the last group of [Items] she researched fell into the snacks category. Some cinnamon apple chips, caramel pear chips, zucchini chips, mild salsa, and queso that were also all stored in mason jars rounded things out quite nicely. The chips were all basically dehydrated fruits and veggies and didn''t require any sort of fat since they weren''t the fried sort. They were all pre-seasoned save for the zucchini chips as well, which were meant to be enjoyed with the salsa or queso instead.


    After everything was said and done, Violet only ended up having to spend 384 DP to research everything, which left her with 439 DP now. While she could have focused more on building things for her actual dungeon with the amount of points she had earned in the last week, Violet was hopeful that this would be a better investment in the long run. Helping out the locals was likely to earn her some goodwill as well as far more DP than she had spent to research these goods in the first place.


    Of course, there were other matters to consider as well. For one, her magic bag could only hold 50 Units worth of goods at one time. Thanks to David buying everything else, she only had 18 potions left, which weighed half as much as a mason jar of goods or about 0.25 Units each. That left her with 45.5 Units for other items.


    Unfortunately, Elivyre still hadn''t visited the dungeon and so Violet still had her potions. She was half tempted to just reabsorb them and accept the loss of the mana she had invested in them. However, she didn''t want to disappoint her friend whenever she did, eventually, hopefully, show up. Violet frowned, she really did hope that her friend was doing alright.


    Violet ended up using 30 Units of space to store ten of each of the six soups, 5 Units of space for five of each type of milk tea, 5 Units for five of each of the fruit chips, 3.5 Units or space for seven jars of zucchini chips, and the last 2 Units of space were used for two of each of the chip dips. That had only cost her a total of 1,081 MP to purchase, which was less than she would generally make in a single night lately.


    However, as stressful as it was to watch her mana go to waste, it was nice to take some time to just relax. The feeling of potential for what she could build in her dungeon was almost better than the feeling of accomplishment of completing a room or floor, especially without adventurers around to enjoy her hard work.

 2.18 Odd Jobs

    David sat at a table, slowly picking pine needles from a branch alongside several others. Each one would have to be separated from all the rest and then put into a mason jar for storage. Later, he would have to remove the outer bark and put that in a separate mason jar before collecting the inner bark to set aside for something called "bark flour". Finally, the remainder of the branches would be set aside to be tied up into bundles. It was tedious work that took up several hours of his work each day, but the work wasn''t nearly as bad as some of his other jobs in the past.


    Earlier that week, David had stopped by the local tavern to try and sell some of the sweets and black tea he had gotten from Violet to the tavern owner. Sweets were better off being sold to merchants usually, but, after some digging around, he found out that there was unlikely to be anyone else coming through anytime soon. Apparently, someone had just come through last week and they wouldn''t be returning for another few weeks.


    The tavern owner had happily bought the tea, but was only able to offer half of the usual price for the sweets. As this town was still small, the amount of income that could be earned from renting out rooms, selling alcohol, and offering meals was still rather limited. The tavern owner was confident that the tea would sell well to his patrons and that some of them may even be willing to buy the sweets, but there was no way they''d fetch nearly as much as selling it to a noble family.


    David had managed to negotiate with them in order to get some basic staples like flour, butter, and eggs instead of accepting the coins for the sweets. The tea was still a fair price, though, and he still needed to be able to buy some more goods to trade to Violet, so it was sold at the offered price. It wasn''t ideal, but it would certainly help alleviate some of the concerns regarding food that they had at the moment.


    Before leaving, he had gone to check the community board for any jobs that might suit him. Usually, the adventurers'' guild or a merchants'' association would be a better place to look for odd jobs that needed doing. However, both of those were missing from a town as small as this one still was. So, it was only natural that the tavern, which saw the most people coming and going, would fulfill the role instead.


    There, David had found a listing from Avorn recruiting some people to help them process foraged goods. In exchange, they were offering to teach others how to process tree bark and acorns into a flour of sorts as well as offering 50 Units worth of dried firewood. The job was simple enough sounding and David could only surmise that the request was either recently put up or was unpopular due to not offering an actual coin reward.


    There had been quite a bit of awkwardness as David met Avorn for the "first" time. He hadn''t gotten their names when they were in the dungeon and their first impressions of each other hadn''t been the best. However, neither group was willing to let a misunderstanding stand in the way of getting what they needed. So, a contract was signed by each party and the job was accepted.


    Each afternoon Avorn and his wife would stop by Gregory''s house and drop off a large pile of branches, decaying tree trunks, etc. that they had likely collected from the nearby forest. After showing David how to differentiate the outer bark, inner bark, and the rest of the wood, the rest was left to him for processing. Gregory had seemed to feel a bit awkward about having his own family roped into the work, but he had easily accepted it once he knew it would help keep his family fed and warm for the winter.


    There weren''t just pine branches to process, but those seemed to be the ones that Avorn was most interested in. He even insisted on them keeping a count of how many of everything there were. That tended to result in one of them having to dump out a full jar and count out the contents before recording how much there was and putting it all back in again. That was, unfortunately, left to David himself as he had the best education among the older individuals in their household.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    There was public education available for all children from the spring through the fall. It only cost a small fee that was affordable even for commoners, but that didn''t mean that everyone could afford to send their children off to school. Those who did farm work often needed help managing things from day to day more than they cared about whether their children could read, write, and count. So, children often only ended up getting the most basic education before being forced to drop out of school for good when they came of age.


    Really, David felt that Henry was a rather fortunate soul. His father was giving him the chance to learn swordsmanship and attempt to build a better life for himself instead of forcing a life of farming on him. Most commoners couldn''t afford to get their children appraised and didn''t want to risk their children dying in a dungeon, so they just forced them to manage their expectations from a rather young age. It was an unfortunate fact of life, but it was sad nonetheless.


    Noble knights tended to be strong adventurers, so it was unlikely that Henry could get an official title without being one of the lucky ones to earn a class. However, David was sure that he''d still be capable of becoming a local guard with slightly better pay than your average farmer, even if he never awakened any abilities.


    David shook his head, he was letting his mind wander again. A rather unsurprising fact considering he had nothing better to do while he worked. Still, it would be time to pack up and get ready to go to the dungeon soon. Apparently, this would be the last time they''d be expected to do this work. So, David needed to bring along everything when he went to the dungeon today so that he could hand it over to Avorn and his wife when he saw them.


    He was going to keep all but a small sample of each of the barks. Apparently, Avorn would be stopping by as soon as the next day to fulfill his end of the bargain. They''d be bringing them a large pouch of acorns as well as the dried firewood. Then they would teach everyone in their house how to turn the acorns and barks into flour. The children seemed quite excited about the idea, even Alice, so David was happy that Avorn had been so agreeable about teaching everyone instead of just him.


    While they had a few large bags of flour from his deal with the tavern owner, David was sure that it would be good to have alternate options. Alice had even already started excitedly collecting acorns whenever they went to the dungeon. Well, even he could admit that some nice homemade bread to dip in their nightly supper of soup would be quite nice.


    "Come on Alice, it''s time to go!"


    David said. Alice rushed out of the bedroom she had been staying in with Luna in tow. The wolf cub was getting larger by the day and was easily already half his daughter''s height. Soon enough the wolf was likely to be full grown, even if it would still be a bit immature.


    "Daddy, I''m cold! Are we almost there yet?"


    David just pursed his lips, shaking his head in disbelief as he reassured her


    "We''ll be there soon enough, just hang in there a little longer."


    The trek to the dungeon was a bit long and Alice frequently complained about how cold it was. She was at an awkward age where she was both rather mature in her thinking and a bit emotional due to her immaturity. David didn''t mind the occasional emotional outburst or complaining, but he also couldn''t help but feel like he wasn''t the most suited for comforting a small child. It was really a shame his wife had passed away so soon as he knew she would have known just what to do in such situations.


    Eventually, they made it to the dungeon. David made sure to head to the room meant for tributes first. It was still empty, but he still wanted to respect Violet''s wishes as best he could. Then he pulled out a burnt bread roll and set it down carefully on the ground. He wasn''t so sure that Violet was going to consume such a thing herself, so he hoped that it didn''t matter what state it was in. Most of the rolls in this batch had been fine, but this one had been a little too exposed to the hearth and ended up a bit burnt. Rather than forcing anyone to eat it, he had hidden it away in his pocket until it came time to go to the dungeon.


    Despite David''s attempts to respect Violet''s wishes, she still couldn''t quite see how hard he was trying lately. All she knew is that David was just as watchful as ever and that she had once again gotten a single DP for his tribute.

 2.19 Learning To Trust

    Camellia was quite happy as she walked through the entrance to Thornkeep Sanctuary. It was an interesting name for a dungeon, but she wasn''t exactly one to judge. She was certain she wouldn''t know where to begin if asked to name a dungeon. Besides, the name somehow felt fitting given how the dungeon functioned. The first floor was fairly safe and almost felt like a home away from home after so many days camping in it. Yet, she could never quite escape the uneasy feeling that the dungeon brought, as if something dangerous was waiting to ambush her at any moment.


    "Are you excited, love? We''re supposed to get our very own magic bags today! One for each of us even!"


    Avorn asked in a rather chipper tone. Camellia smiled down at her husband as she answered


    "Of course! It honestly feels just as good as discovering a rare and hidden treasure. I''m glad we got someone to help us process everything into individual parts as well. I was a bit worried we would have to cut down on our leveling up at night just to make time to do it ourselves."


    Avorn nodded in understanding. It was certainly true that they wouldn''t have had any other time to do so. The tavern owner wouldn''t have been happy if they did it at one of their tables, even if they did buy some ale to drink while they worked.


    During the daytime, Avorn often went around trying to forage things in the forest, but that could hardly be done for very long with how cold it was. So, they had to find other things to do to keep them preoccupied until they could return to the dungeon. Selling some of the loot they had earned from the dungeon could oftentimes be drawn out for a while so they could remain in the warmth of the stores in town. However, they always inevitably ended up at the tavern where they could stay for a few hours so long as they kept buying new pints of ale or splurged on the occasional meal.


    Luckily, now they would be able to afford such an expense more easily. They had hardly been planning on buying magic bags as they were much too expensive, but they were going to need proper backpacks so they could invest in better camping gear. Now they had magic bags, so they''d be able to fit everything they needed in them and also have plenty of room leftover to carry away more loot from the dungeon. That, in turn, would also make it easier to earn a larger sum of money in a shorter period of time so that they could buy new armor and weapons more quickly.


    After coming to the koi pond room, the two looked around uncertainly. Avorn was the first to speak, though, as he asked


    "David should be here by now, right? Where do you think he''d be?"


    Camellia wasn''t entirely certain, but she still answered


    "I know he usually seems to wander around a bit. Maybe he likes to complete the dungeon challenges?"


    Avorn nodded before noting


    "You know, we haven''t actually tried any of those out for ourselves yet. Do you think maybe we should set aside some time to try one or two of them?"


    "Since we come here every night, it almost seems like a waste not to."


    Camellia answered. The conversation was left at that as the two started to wander around the dungeon.


    It was a bit surprising for the two to see just how much had changed in the dungeon. There were now six basic slimes in the wildflower meadow where there had only been one before. Avorn almost felt bad for the kodama who seemed to be in a much more crowded space now, but he was hardly going to say anything to Violet about it. Still, he hoped that the situation would be sorted out soon.


    They passed by a few puzzle rooms while they were walking around. Their systems notified them of what all the challenges entailed as they passed by, which made it easier to decide which of them would be better for them to attempt. The rainbow ball maze and jigsaw challenges both seemed to be good options. While they were unfamiliar to them, the concept seemed simple enough, if a bit time-consuming. Still, it would hardly be a big deal if they had to take their time to figure out the mechanics behind the puzzles.


    By the time they found David, he had just finished up his training with Violet and was heading elsewhere to work on some challenges. Camellia smiled as she spotted Alice who was carrying a basket full of various plants. David still felt a bit uneasy about letting someone he knew so little about talk to his daughter, but he decided to keep things amicable. It wouldn''t do to pick fights where it wasn''t necessary.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Here, I''ll get out the [Items] you asked for. I''m not entirely sure what you''re planning to use these for, but, if you''re hoping to trade with Violet, she doesn''t seem to be interested in that today. I already tried and got told that she needed to finish up her current project before she was willing to do anything like that."


    David wasn''t exactly blind. An adventurer who was taking the time to meticulously prepare something that wasn''t edible seemed to suggest they were trying to trade with Violet. He wasn''t exactly about to complain since the firewood and knowledge he was gaining was far more useful than mere hopes Violet would be in the mood to trade with him. However, he still felt the need to warn them that their endeavors might be fruitless.


    Avorn just smiled, thanking him for his help as he and his wife took the [Items] off his hands. They weren''t entirely sure what sort of project Violet might be working on, but they weren''t going to give up so easily. It wasn''t like they were trading for her usual merchandise, they had struck a deal with her and already informed her ahead of time that they intended to trade with her today. So, while it was always possible for her to put it off, the chances of her going through with it also seemed quite good.


    Of course, Violet didn''t know anything about their conversation or concerns. When she had mentioned being busy with something to David, she had also been merely referring to her deal with Avorn and Camellia in a rather vague manner. It was none of David''s business who else she traded with anyway, so he hardly needed to know the finer details. All that mattered was she found carrying around three magic bags, two of which were loaded to the brim with firewood, to be more of a pain than she liked. She just wanted to get rid of the extra baggage before even attempting to dig out all the bits and bobs she had in her primary bag.


    Violet waited a while before going to approach the couple. She wanted David out of the way so she could talk to them in a more private setting, which meant waiting for him to go home for the night. Still, it wasn''t too bad of a wait since she could happily spend time enjoying the new scenery on the second floor. The room filled with roses had quite a pleasant aroma and the addition of the strange trees made for quite the strange sight.


    Eventually, though, it was time for the trade. Violet tried to make her presence clearer by walking with more intentional footsteps, instead of as quietly as she usually did, as well as announcing her presence when she entered the room they were in.


    "Hello! How are you all?"


    However, this didn''t seem to help matters all that much. Adventurers were still rather wary, constantly worried about [Monsters] or other adventurers ambushing them. So, Avorn still ended up pointing his bow at her with an arrow drawn. Camellia was the first to catch on to what was happening and gestured for her husband to stand down who ended up looking quite embarrassed.


    "I apologize about that. You usually approach so quietly that we don''t even have time to worry about whether it''s a friend or foe. We didn''t mean to threaten you."


    Violet narrowed her eyes, feeling a bit uncomfortable, but after a moment she relaxed. She reminded herself that these two were trustworthy. If they had meant to harm her or her dungeon, they would have done so by now. As an extension of this wish to show more trust for the two, Violet decided not to make things difficult for them when it came time to trade the goods.


    While it was tempting to demand they leave the [Items] in the dungeon and then leave so she could tally things before giving them their stuff, it wasn''t exactly a show of good faith. Besides, if they truly respected Dungeon Masters, including herself, as much as they acted like they did, then it was unnecessary. There was no way they''d ever think of betraying her, especially not unless they planned to never return to the dungeon again, which seemed unlikely.


    It also wasn''t like she had as much to lose from this deal as they did either. She already had the magic bags unlocked and the firewood had only cost 50 DP. The mana could be easily forgotten about and it was pretty easy to eyeball if there was 50 DP worth of [Items] being given to her or not. So, she was more than likely going to make her investment costs back, if nothing else.


    "Here, they''re both full of firewood. You won''t be able to put anything else in them until you remove the firewood, but I don''t recommend removing it before you leave the dungeon. It might get absorbed once the dungeon is empty if you leave things lying around."


    That wasn''t exactly the whole truth. Anything created by the dungeon that had yet to leave the dungeon wouldn''t be absorbed without her willing it to happen. However, explaining the nuances of such things seemed unnecessary.


    Even Camellia seemed shocked that Violet had trusted them so easily. However, all she could really do was to give the [Items] they had prepared to Violet while explaining


    "We separated the various parts so they would count as a single [Item] for the points. You''ll probably have to take them out of the mason jars first, though. There should be more than 1,000 points worth here since we also included samples of various barks and such for you. We weren''t sure whether they''d count as a single point or more, so we just made sure we had enough leaves and needles to account for the 1,000 by themselves."


    Violet nodded in understanding before bidding them farewell. It wasn''t until the next morning that she saw her new total was 1,598 DP. They hadn''t been lying about providing more than enough to fit the criteria. She had been given a mixture of pine, birch, spruce, and fir bark as well as spruce needles, pine needles, fir needles, birch leaves, wood, and some mason jars. It was interesting to see that the dungeon just considered the stripped wood as the same as any other wood with only 1 DP being given for each of them. Of course, there was also some twine that the wood had been bound in, which had given her a nice bit of extra dungeon points. All in all, it felt like it was quite worth it to make such a deal with those two.

 2.20 Interlude: Big City Merchant

    Nicolas Chapman hated the winter season with a passion. The snow always made it difficult to convince anyone to transport goods from place to place. Yet the need for potions, especially in a city as large as Bramouth, would only increase. He had been fortunate enough to get a few crates of herbs from his daughter, Elivyre Nightstar, before the snow had fallen, but he was steadily running out and would need more before the season was over.


    As such, he was currently in the middle of writing a letter to his daughter to inform her of his plans to send a wagon to collect more herbs from her within the month. It always felt a bit odd having to sign the letter with a different last name from his daughter''s. However, his wife had insisted it was better for their daughter to take her last name to help her fit in. Apparently, a half-elf with a human last name, like his, was more likely to face scrutiny when visiting elven cities than those who could easily be identified as one of their own.


    Nicolas was, honestly, quite pleased with his investment in his daughter already. The plants she had sent him thus far were of excellent quality and variety. Apparently, the local dungeon even had more of an abundance of plants than either of them had hoped for. So, once she was done sending him the free crates full of plants, she would be able to supply him with a good deal on herbs in the future as well.


    As for why Nicolas had ever thought it a good idea to start an alchemy business in a place without abundant resources for such a thing, that was another matter. The dungeon in Bramouth was a well-established one with twenty whole floors, which meant that there were a great deal of adventurers who passed through the city. Combine their numbers with those of the local residents and those who had moved here to start businesses of their own and you''d end up with quite the market for potions.


    His shop front was quite large and they boasted the best potion selection in the entire city. Craftsman classes weren''t entirely rare, but they were certainly uncommon. Since he had been gifted with an alchemist class himself, he didn''t even have to worry about finding someone to work for him, much less negotiating wages. All of his staff were purely there for organizing stock and managing the shop side of things. They''d buy herbs at the current market price, always careful not to buy too much of any one thing, and then he could work his magic, turning them into potions that could be sold for a profit.


    Of course, as even his daughter knew, an alchemist class wasn''t necessary in order to be capable of brewing potions. However, the types and quality of the potions would be quite limited. That was why his business had been able to thrive all this time thanks to his rather high-level alchemist class. It was only a B-rank, but that was still better than the other alchemists in the city. Individuals over C-rank weren''t exactly willing to work for someone else, after all, and there were too many dungeon-based cities out there for all of the high-level alchemists to be in the same place.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    There was also an additional bonus for living in a city with a dungeon that tended to focus on magic crystal mines rather than plants. While he had to pay a rather high fee to have herbs shipped in from elsewhere and to pay adventurers to collect herbs from the forest a half day''s travel from the city, he could also charge rather high prices for the potions he was selling.


    The value of goods were often decided in such a way. If something was in abundance, but had very few willing people willing to buy it, the price would naturally be lower. If something was difficult to get ahold of and everyone wanted to buy it, then the price would skyrocket. As cities tended to be built around dungeons, which could create an abundance of whatever it specialized in, that meant the price of goods were often decided based on what was available in said dungeons.


    Setting his pen down, Nicolas went to fetch some candle wax and his seal. He would have to pay a small fee to have someone with the appropriate magic send this letter off right away. That would have to wait until the next morning, but it would still be guaranteed to get there far sooner than any wagons he might send. That was a good thing since he wanted to make sure his daughter had sufficient time to prepare the goods. He didn''t want to inconvenience her, after all, as he did love her quite a bit.


    He''d likely have to include some specialty potions for her as well as whatever her siblings or mother wanted to include. However, those could be sent with the wagon. Perhaps he would also include another letter for her. It would be good to have one where he could include more personal notes, unlike this one which was almost purely business. Nicolas also hoped that his daughter would send him a letter in return.


    It hadn''t been very long since Elivyre had arrived in Millstone, so he had only received one letter in the month or so that she had been gone. That one had mentioned that she had found somewhere to live, but that she''d have to open up shop early in order to afford the monthly rental costs. Once the shop was built, the upstairs would include a separate living area, so he knew that wouldn''t be an issue for more than a year, at worst.


    The more interesting bit, of course, had been just how many different plants had been available in the local dungeon. It sounded like the main issue was the lack of adventurers to collect and sell the herbs rather than any lack of abundance. She had also mentioned that she planned to take a few trips to the dungeon herself, which worried him to no end.


    While he had gone into dungeons himself in order to gain the necessary experience required to increase his level and unlock more valuable class skills, he still worried for her. She was his daughter, after all, so this was only natural. Still, Nicolas was sure that he''d support her endeavors so long as she was happy.

 2.21 The Empty Dungeon

    Another two weeks passed much as the first two had after Violet unlocked her second floor. The only ones who showed up day after day were those who had signed contracts with her. David was just as hot and cold as ever and Avorn and Camellia were quiet and caused no issues for Violet whatsoever. It wasn''t a bad life and it certainly allowed her to have more time to think out how she wanted to build her dungeon, but Violet still couldn''t help but worry about what was going on outside of the dungeon.


    Sure, she could have tried to ask David about why no one else was showing up to the dungeon, but she got the feeling that would just lead to him giving an aggravating answer that was more likely to sour her mood than actually be helpful. As for Camellia and Avorn, they hadn''t approached her to talk or trade and Violet could only assume they enjoyed having their space. She didn''t quite enjoy the unpleasantness of Avorn''s fear of her either. He had been slowly, ever so slowly improving, but giving him time to process things seemed better than exposure therapy in this case, not that Violet was much of a psychologist.


    Elivyre not showing up to the dungeon was the most disappointing thing of all. They were supposed to be friends and Violet didn''t get the impression that her friend was afraid of her. So, unless there was genuinely something wrong, why hadn''t Elivyre shown up for nearly a month now? If it were a lack of being able to carry through on her promise to trade for the potions, Violet would rather her friend just ask her for more time than avoid her completely.


    A surge went through the dungeon and she felt a sense of calmness wash over her. This was a common occurrence lately as Violet couldn''t help but worry about the state of things. When the dungeon was so empty after seeing so much success, she couldn''t help but worry that she had done something wrong, that she was at fault for the empty dungeon. It was even becoming difficult to feel up to developing the dungeon when it just felt like all her efforts were for nothing.


    Well, Violet had already slowed down her building by quite a bit. She had used some of her excess mana at night to invest in a small coin pouch to store paper, ink, and a quill as well as lots of sweets and tea to enjoy with the pixies each night. The tea still had to be brewed by leaving it out in the sun, but it was still just as tasty. The nights were peaceful and the pixies were always so eager to hear about her plans for the dungeon. Jasmine and Daisy were especially excitable as they loved to point to her various sketches and ask what things were, offering up their opinions on things quite freely.


    Lily was still as shy as ever, but she did stop hiding behind Cedar long enough to wave hello to her now. It would seem she was slowly, but surely warming up to her, which made Violet feel relieved. Lily''s behavior wasn''t aggravating like the adventurers since it was clear she was just super shy rather than being afraid of Violet. Still, it would be nice to see her come out of her shell and relax as the others do.


    Feeling the familiar feeling of someone entering the dungeon, Violet knew it was time for her nightly swordsmanship training. Violet let out a heavy sigh as a thought occurred to her. David''s tributes had been rather low-effort lately, even to the point of seeming passive-aggressive. She could easily guess what he had brought tonight was likely to be the same.


    Violet wasn''t entirely wrong either. David felt frustrated by how infrequently Violet wanted to trade with him. After the initial long wait for her to be willing to trade with him, she had ended up limiting him to only having the opportunity to trade with her once a week. Considering this was throwing off his plans to feed his family delicious food during the cold season and get rich in the long-term, he couldn''t help but feel frustrated.


    Of course, there were other factors at play as well. There was a distinct lack of merchants coming through the town to trade with and the only one he could depend on buying the goods from him right now was the local tavern owner. The new alchemist would purchase any plants that he brought her, but there weren''t many options for selling luxury food items. That also meant that it was difficult to get anything worthwhile for trading to Violet as well, much less bringing new and interesting [Items] for tributes on a daily basis.


    Despite all of this, Violet really wasn''t doing too bad. She had received 1,400 DP in rent payments and 14 DP from David from his daily tributes. Then there was the matter of the dungeon points she had earned from their weekly trades. Last week, David had bought all of the soups she had as well as the mason jars full of powdered milk tea. The [Items] had a value of 2,240 DP, but she had ended up earning far more than that.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    As she took her stance and prepared to begin their nightly duel, Violet continued to think things over. It was no longer worth her time to practice sword swings and form while with David. Besides which, it felt a lot more vindicating to be able to channel her frustration towards him by going at him with all she had, even if she knew she was still a bit far off from being able to overpower him. It wasn''t like he was a weak adventurer, after all, he had reached a pretty decent level even before he had ''retired'' in order to start his own family. Violet wasn''t sure that was such a bad thing, though, since that meant she never had to hold back.


    After they finished with their hour of training, Violet would go ahead and handle this week''s trading session with David. Last week he had brought oak leaves, oak bark, apple tree leaves, apple tree bark, and mason jars. She had been impressed by the number of leaves that could be stored in one magic bag, but that was mostly just because she wasn''t aware of just how light they were, even in mass quantities. Apparently, 1,492 leaves only takes up a single Unit of space.


    David had chosen to bring these [Items] as a bit of a gamble based on his interaction with Avorn and Camellia. He had to assume their trade had been successful after he had noticed they were carrying new bags the next time they met. So, he went into the dungeon and chopped down an oak and an apple tree and then dragged them out of the dungeon and back home. A normal man might have struggled to do such a thing, especially without help, but this was easy enough for David, it was just a shame how much of a mess it left in the process.


    The dungeon repaired itself when he left, but he had to go back through the forest and local town area and clean up after himself as best he could. Gregory had offered to help him or to send one of his younger sons, but David had turned them down, assuring them he could handle it by himself.


    Since the apple tree and oak bark wasn''t one of the ones Avorn had mentioned as being possible to turn into bark flour, he had just packaged it up into mason jars to trade away to Violet. The sticks and wood itself had been bundled or chopped into firewood and stored in Gregory''s family''s barn so that it could, hopefully, dry out before the end of the winter season. They were fine, for now, thanks to the 50 Units of firewood they had received from Avorn, but it was unlikely that amount would last them the entire season.


    Violet had accepted the [Items] David offered her easily enough, but she was entirely too unwilling to sit there and count out the leaves required to pay for the rest of the cost. Instead, she told David to do it while threatening that she would never trade with him again if there was even one leaf missing. This had resulted in David just giving her all of the leaves he had brought with him, which had made Violet quite happy thanks to the profit she made. However, it worsened David''s impression of her. Even though he was happy his gamble had paid off, he didn''t like the threat to his livelihood.


    In the end, Violet had ended up making an entire 7,496 DP from the trade. While she had dumped the bark out of the mason jars before they were absorbed by the dungeon, she had only received 10 DP for each, which was mostly due to them being added as new [Items]. The apple tree leaves were also new, but she only got 10 DP for the first one and then the rest were worth 1 DP each. Despite David having a magic bag, he hadn''t exactly filled it to the brim with things for trading, some of the space had to be used for his other equipment. So, while she had made off like a bandit, it wasn''t as over the top as it could have been.


    Violet enjoyed the extra dungeon points since it meant that she could invest in her dungeon more. However, she wasn''t so greedy as to take advantage of anyone, even David, so she informed him the next day that the same purchase only required just under 2,250 leaves, in case he wanted to make the same purchase again in the future. David was appreciative of her help, even if it did still sound like a pain to count all the leaves out.


    He didn''t even have to chop down any more dungeon trees for a while. Since one oak tree could easily have 225 Units of leaves or 373,134 leaves, he could likely afford to pay for the same purchase every week for the rest of the winter season and then some.


    As David wasn''t aware of just how much under 2,250 leaves it would cost, he just brought that exact amount for this week''s trade. There wasn''t much point in changing his order either since nothing had changed for him and Violet hadn''t added any new [Items] to her stock. The soups were good options for feeding everyone at their household while the teas could be sold to the tavern owner for a bit less than he''d like, but a decent price nonetheless.


    Once Violet parted from David''s side to head back upstairs she thought about how she really wished Elivyre was here once more. It would be good to ask her about any merchants who might be interested in signing a contract with her. Either that or some sort of charity organization that could ensure the goods made it into more hands and could help more people.


    Violet didn''t really like the idea of selling goods too often to normal adventurers or even most merchants. She didn''t want people to treat her the way David clearly was trying to. Neither she nor her dungeon were there purely for adventurers to get rich or otherwise take advantage of them. Violet wanted to help people, but her merchant hobby was otherwise just a means to an end.

 2.22 Candy Shop

    It was once more tea time with the pixies. They gathered around excitedly as Violet set everything up. First, she had to summon a few mason jars then she added some black milk tea powder, put the lid back on and then shook it up well before placing it in an especially sunny spot. That was harder to do on the second floor due to the tree coverage, but still not impossible. Then she summoned a few strips of cloth to spread out as a blanket before creating several varieties of sweets.


    Jasmine and Daisy squealed in delight before flying around excitedly, clearly happy about the feast laid out before them. Violet had some concerns about feeding them a diet of sugar, but she also wasn''t really sure what to feed them that would be appropriate. From what little she had been told, they were used to drinking dew off of tree leaves after it rained and foraging for berries, nuts, and mushrooms. She had included a few of those as well, but the pixies weren''t overly eager to eat those when there were cookies and iced carrot bread to munch on.


    Oh well, Violet wasn''t exactly their parent, they could sort it out for themselves. She had work to do. Removing the coin pouch from her belt, she loosened the strings and pulled out her inkwell, a goose feather quill pen, and the most recent drawing she had made of the dungeon. Quite a bit of progress had been made over the last week, even if it was just on the first floor.


    For one thing, the first floor tribute room was finally being properly utilized. She had ended up deciding on an old-fashioned candy store theme for it. While she had initially been throwing around the idea of making it something nature-themed to fit the meadow theme of the first floor, she had struggled with thinking up something that felt fitting for it. In the end, she ended up coming to the conclusion that it didn''t have to fit the floor''s theme. She would only ever have one official tribute room, after all.


    She had decided to decorate the room with shelves to line the walls, tables in front of those, and baskets to fill the tables. Then she would use large barrels lined up in rows to fill the middle of the room. While it would have more of an appropriate vibe for a candy store if there were colorful candies to fill the various storage containers in the room, that wasn''t quite how things had ended up. Instead, the idea was for the tributes from adventurers to be placed in the barrels and baskets. It was a bit of overkill to have so much storage space for everything, but Violet figured it would likely be needed in the long run.


    Tributes couldn''t be absorbed unless the dungeon was completely free of non-dungeon entities. When there were more floors in the dungeon, it was likely that there would be times when adventurers would camp out in the dungeon as they spent weeks traversing the many floors trying to climb as high as they could. That could result in the tributes piling up and then anything less than this might seem underprepared instead of fitting as it would right now.


    A lot of research had to be done in order to furnish the room. 10 DP was spent on researching the shelving and then 70 MP was spent on fourteen shelves. The same costs applied to the tables that were placed in front of the shelves. Then 2 DP had to be spent to research straw from grass before another 4 DP could be spent on researching the woven straw baskets themselves. Since each table could hold ten baskets and there were fourteen tables, 280 MP had to be spent on the baskets. Still, that was hardly the most costly [Item] used in the room.


    The wooden barrels cost 20 DP to research, but 640 MP was needed to create 64 of them. They were lined up in rows next to one another just like the ones that would hold loose individually wrapped candies in a candy store. The barrels would be doing most of the work when it came to storage, though, so it was fine that nearly an entire week''s worth of morning mana had to be spent on them.


    Since the room would otherwise be too open with green grass and a blue sky, Violet also had to spend some DP on researching an extra large canopy and mana on putting it and some stone brick path in. The canopy was the most expensive dungeon points-wise at 50 DP, but it only cost 25 MP for one large enough to cover the entire area of the room. With the addition of a 10 MP square of stone brick pathway, it was almost as good as an indoor-style room, but it was still a bit awkward. Still, there wasn''t anything more that Violet could do about that.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Of course, just putting a bunch of storage in a room and connecting it directly to the hallway outside the entrance was hardly enough to make it clear that the room was meant to be for tributes. So, 90 MP was spent on wooden signs to place throughout the room and just outside it. They each read


    "Please leave your tribute here before continuing your adventure."


    That wrapped things up on the mana front, but Violet was hardly going to leave things at that. In order to call it officially complete, she had to spend another 235 DP to set the room theme and to make it always midday and sunny with the temperature and humidity reflecting the weather. While most of this wouldn''t be visible through the canopy, it did make it so that the room was lit up to some extent, making the contents visible even without a magic light or torch.


    Thanks to David making an extra trip to the dungeon in the daytime, Violet had nearly 1,500 MP to spend over the last week instead of a mere 1,400 mana points. Well, she had more than enough mana at night time, but that was the amount she had available to spend during the day time when there weren''t adventurers preventing her from improving the first floor. So, that meant that, after she spent nearly a week and a half in the tribute room, she was able to work on other rooms as well.


    One of the minor things Violet had gone out of her way to work on was the koi pond room. It was pretty good as it was, but she wanted to add in the lily pads and lotus flowers she had received from Theodore a while back. Why she had put it off so long was a bit complicated. She likely could have scraped together the 8 MP to apply them to the room long ago, but every time she had the mana to do so she had conveniently forgotten about it, until now anyway. Still, they were certainly a nice addition as they made the pond more colorful.


    From there, Violet had prioritized building new [Monster] fields. The two empty 8-Units by 16-Units rectangular rooms had already had 100 MP spawners installed in them, so this was a rather cheap matter to take care of.


    The first room she had created she decided to name the dandelion meadow. Since she had removed the late-stage dandelions from the flower hunt challenge room, this was where she decided to recreate the effect. 40 MP on basic slimes and then moving one of the basic slimes from the wildflower meadow, reducing their numbers to five, easily filled her quota for the room. Well, she could have placed ten basic slimes, but she didn''t want to overdo things and cause the adventurers to be overwhelmed. Besides, she could always put some [Critters] in to add to the ambiance later on.


    6 MP was all the dandelions and late-stage dandelions cost her. Then 285 DP set the room''s theme, made it midnight with summertime weather patterns, slightly windy, and made the temperature and humidity reflect the weather. It was super simple, but Violet still found it quite lovely as it made the effect of the dandelion seeds floating on the wind that much easier to appreciate.


    The second [Monster] field room was named the misty meadow and was a bit more complex, but still fairly simple compared to some of her other projects. Instead of basic slimes, Violet splurged an entire 50 MP and 125 DP to make five new chameleon slimes for the room. The only other room that she had utilized them in thus far was the hay meadow, but she felt their unique camouflaging skills would work well in this room as well.


    As she wanted a nice pop of color, Violet spent 12 MP to apply long grass, allium roseum, butterfly weed, and chicory flowers. This created a nice mix of green, pink, orange, and bluish-purple from the grass and flowers. Most rooms with multiple flowers were more like a rainbow of colors, but this was more of an intentional combination that Violet felt paired well together.


    In order to complete the room properly 200 DP had to be spent to research foggy weather effects. The price was a lot higher than it really should have been, but Violet could only assume that was because she only had water as a [Base Resource] and not water magic to base the weather effect on. After spending 150 DP to set the room theme, 50 DP to set the time of day to dusk, 25 DP to set the weather to always sunny, and 10 DP to make the temperature and humidity reflect the weather, it had only cost 50 DP to make it very foggy. That meant she had to spend four times as much just to research the weather effect as the highest setting for fog instead of a more normal amount like when she researched the windy weather effect. Still, it felt worth it since it gave the room a unique effect she hadn''t used before.

 2.23 Old Fashioned Candy

    "What do you think, love? Do you think they''ll like it?"


    "Huh?"


    Cedar asked, causing Violet to blush before dismissing his question.


    "Oh, nothing, just talking to myself!"


    Cedar looked at Violet with a bit of skepticism. This wasn''t the first time he had heard her talking to someone who wasn''t there. Yet she always seemed unwilling to clarify when asked. She just turned beet red and then tried to play it off as if it was nothing of importance.


    Violet looked down at her drawings with an expression of concentration. She had been hoping to get more challenge rooms done on the first floor this week, but there simply hadn''t been enough mana to do everything she wanted. Still, she really hoped the children, like Alice and Henry, would like the new puzzles and rewards she had implemented.


    Since she had decided to go with a candy store theme for her tribute room, she ended up designing five challenge rooms with old-fashioned candies for their rewards. The only problem was that she had only had 199 MP left to spend for the week by the time she started working on them, so she had only gotten around to making three of them. Still, she was rather looking forward to implementing the other two sometime in the next few days.


    The first room she had designed was a 3D slime-themed jigsaw puzzle. It was a bit of a recycled idea considering she already had a slime-themed jigsaw puzzle, but it still seemed like a fun idea. When she had first designed the other one, she had even caught some of them trying to stack the puzzle pieces that were meant to lay flat, as if it was a 3D puzzle instead. Now she would actually have one, which she was sure would result in just as much chaos and confusion as the first one had.


    Of course, she couldn''t just simply make it a 3D version of the first one, it was necessary to improve upon the first design! So, she had used blue dye on the wooden pieces so that the finished result could look like an emperor basic slime when complete. Although it would have been pretty neat to do an emperor rock slime, Violet worried that the grays and browns would end up looking too similar to the first design, so that idea had been quickly scrapped for a basic slime instead.


    As for the reward in the room, this one had been based on the peanut butter "kisses" that used to be very rarely given out at Halloween when she was a kid. Some of the older folks enjoyed them and wanted to share their love of the candy by sharing them with the new generation. Apparently, many of the parents disapproved of it, though, as the wrappers tended to be harder to check for signs of tampering and the candies were often handmade. However, after Violet had expressed interest in the candy, her mother had brought her out to buy some from a specialty store nearby and she had fallen in love with the soft, chewy, and sweet candy.


    Of course, there weren''t actually any peanuts among the [Base Resources] cataloged in her system. That much hadn''t changed at all since she had made the walnut fudge. However, it also seemed a bit boring to just do a walnut candy again, so Violet opted for making pecan "kisses" instead. It ended up costing 20 DP to research the pecan butter, 10 DP each to research black and orange wax paper for candy wrappers, and then 30 DP to research the pecan "kisses" themselves. Of course, as per usual, it also cost the same amount as it did to research the [Item] initially in order to set it as the reward for the challenge.


    Still, even after the 50 MP and 100 DP to research and implement the 3D puzzle, the total costs for setting everything up were only 50 MP and 170 DP, which really wasn''t that bad. Well, that was if she didn''t consider the cost of building the rooms and connecting hallways, but, well, those were old costs anyway.


    The next challenge she had set up was also a slime-themed puzzle, which really was starting to make her dungeon challenges on the first floor seem a bit repetitive. However, Violet didn''t particularly care that much about how original everything was. She just wanted a variety of puzzles that could be completed safely by children and beginner adventurers alike while also maintaining a slime theme throughout most of the puzzles. Well, not every challenge had to involve slimes, some could just be inspired by children''s games she had enjoyed while growing up, but it was still nice to make a good chunk of them slime-themed.


    Of course, in order to space things out a bit, Violet alternated which of the challenge rooms had which puzzles. While she built all of the slime-themed ones first, she skipped one of the new 16-Units by 16-Units square rooms to leave space for other puzzles before making the next one. Since there was only one connecting hallway to lead from the koi pond to the last challenge room space, that meant one would have to slowly progress through the challenge rooms with a [Monster] field in between each. So, ideally one would do the slime-themed jigsaw puzzle, the hay meadow, a different challenge, and then the 3D slime-themed jigsaw puzzle. Then there would be the new dandelion meadow [Monster] field before another type of challenge room before the third slime-themed puzzle came into play.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The third one ended up being a sliding image puzzle type. It was another flat puzzle, but the pieces couldn''t be picked up and moved around. Instead one had to push the images around to unscramble them and make the final image. This one Violet had also made a colored version with green grass in the background and the same blue basic slime design as the 3D slime-themed jigsaw puzzle.


    That one had cost her 50 MP and 180 DP to set up, which was a little bit more than the other puzzle, even despite taking fewer research steps to complete. There were really only two things to research. The initial puzzle, which had cost 50 MP and 100 DP and then the reward. This time Violet went with a rainbow lollipop reward, which sounded simple enough until one got into the finer details of what all was required to research it. In fact, it had cost four times the amount that the wild violet & honey lollipops had.


    See, Violet wanted each color layer on the lollipop to have its own flavor. She had gone with raspberry, orange, blueberry, and blackberry for the red, orange, blue, and purple colors, but the rest had just been honey-flavored. She didn''t want to ruin the lollipops by involving too many different flavors, but she felt the combination of those five worked well enough. Still, it had resulted in a total research cost of 40 DP, which had then been doubled so she could set the challenge reward as well.


    The other three challenges Violet had in mind for building were a bit more complicated as she had to build them from individual pieces. So, she only ended up creating a pick-up sticks challenge, which was placed between the dandelion meadow and sliding slime puzzle rooms. Luckily, the sticks themselves were pretty cheap to research at a mere 6 DP, which was likely due to the simplicity of their design since they were just dyed wood. However, Violet remembered that pick-up sticks games always involve a minimum of thirty sticks to ensure there were enough for, at least, two players. So, she had to spend 90 MP just to create the minimum number of sticks needed.


    It was quite interesting to see the giant sticks piled on top of one another in the middle of the room, especially with the rainbow of colors they came in. Of course, normally a game of pick-up sticks would also involve a stick for the player to wedge under the others. They''d have to remove one without any of the other sticks being jostled in the process. If they failed, it would be the other players turn. Once all of the sticks were safely collected, whoever had the most would end up winning the game.


    For this version of the game, the objective was a bit different, though. Instead of being a competitive game, the challenge could be done single-player. Violet planned to make it so there was no minimum for the number of sticks that had to be picked up either with even just one being removed equalling a win. Since players would have to carefully remove a stick with their bare hands, despite the sticks being taller than them, it would already make for quite a difficult challenge.


    While one might have concerns about how feasible it was for a child to even attempt the challenge, Violet had made sure to address this when she was building the game. The sticks were super lightweight to the extent that they could easily be snapped in half, even by a non-adventurer. So, while it would likely be difficult logistics-wise due to the size of the sticks, it was technically something that could be completed by anyone.


    As for the prize for the challenge, Violet had to research white wax paper before combining it with eggs, sugar, vanilla, water, red dye, orange dye, yellow dye, green dye, blue dye, and purple dye to make candy buttons. There wasn''t any flavoring to these and they reminded Violet of mini meringues to some extent, but they were still very much so a classic candy.


    Violet hadn''t exactly made candy buttons before, so this was her first time even really thinking about the ingredients they were made with. Instead, it was thanks to her enhanced memory from bonding with the dungeon that even allowed her to recall ingredient lists she had maybe glanced at once in her lifetime that allowed her to recreate such things. Really, this was far beyond just having a photographic memory as Violet didn''t even have to have gotten a proper look at something before. She just had to think about the information she wanted to recall and flashes of memory would appear before the information she wanted slowly filtered into her mind.


    It had been a bit difficult to get used to everything in the dungeon when she had first arrived. However, as the days went by, it became much easier. In fact, the dungeon system no longer caused her migraines when it needed to search her memory for information. It just had a notification appear and then quickly implemented whatever she was asked for. Perhaps, one day even that would no longer be necessary. Regardless of how strange it all was, it really didn''t seem worthwhile to spend too much time dwelling on it.


    There were much better things to think about like how she wanted to go about creating her next two challenge rooms. She would have to wait until she had the mana for them, but she already had plans to make a giant Jenga game and a wooden lock puzzle challenge. Since she still had 11,126 DP from her trades with David and everything else, even after all of her expenditures, she was pretty free to work on things as she liked. All she had to do was wait for the mana to come in so she could get to work.


    The second floor could likely use some work as well, maybe some more [Traps] and more difficult challenges, but Violet just didn''t feel as motivated to work on it. Who was even going to see the second floor when no one was even coming to look at the first floor? Maybe if she tried harder to make her first floor new and exciting again she would eventually have enough people interested in her dungeon to make it feel worthwhile to work on things again...

 2.24 Return To The Dungeon

    It had officially been a month since Tobias''s party had last been to the dungeon, but they were all excited to get back into the swing of things. It had been difficult to wait things out, but the wait was finally over! They had been disappointed to see the dungeon had unlocked a new floor since tradition called for everyone to give the Dungeon Master an entire month''s worth of space to build afterward. Part of this was for their safety, but the other part was due to respect for the Dungeon Master.


    It wasn''t uncommon for a new Dungeon Master to want to completely overhaul the dungeon''s layout and change things up when they unlocked a new floor. Many didn''t, but plenty of others did and that tended to become a safety hazard. Those who were used to the dungeon''s old layout could be caught by surprise and end up getting themselves killed. Other times the Dungeon Masters would purposely make their dungeons more dangerous to discourage adventurers from visiting because they wanted space to work. Regardless of the reason, Tobias wasn''t about to let his team get hurt by neglecting the traditions.


    "Now remember, we have to be extra cautious this time around. I know Violet seems friendly, but that doesn''t mean that she won''t put up [Traps] and whatever else to protect her dungeon. We''ll likely have to remap everything and re-complete all of the challenges to ensure that we have everything done properly. However, we aren''t going to step a single foot onto the second floor. We need to get this done quickly so we can wrap things up before the winter ends and we can take a new job in the spring. Alright?"


    Tobias looked each of his team members in the eyes to get their nods of confirmation. Thodin didn''t have much to say, so kept it simple with a grunt and a nod. Mirabella reassured her brother by saying


    "I''ve already got some fresh paper and ink ready to take notes. I''ve kept the notes in case the guild wants them, though. It might be good to establish a pattern of behavior so they can better classify what sort of dungeon it is."


    Tobias nodded, replying


    "Good thinking. I''m sure that''ll make it easier when I have to write up the official report on everything."


    Turning to Matthias, he asked


    "Can you cooperate a bit more with the challenges this time? The sooner we can complete them, the sooner we can all take a break. I know you said your mother has slightly recovered during your visit, but I''m sure you''re still anxious to be there with them."


    Matthias glowered at Tobias, he didn''t like the death flags he was putting up, especially just before they were about to enter a dungeon. Still, they had all been respectful about him taking time off to visit his family, so he tried to muster up some positivity for their sake.


    "I''m not going to do that parkour challenge, but I''ll help with whatever else I can."


    Tobias nodded, reassuring him


    "That''s fine. The others and I have been practicing with the makeshift course we set up, so we''ll likely have better luck with it than you would."


    Matthias felt like that came across as an insult, but he knew Tobias didn''t mean anything by it, so he just let it be. With everything confirmed, the group headed into the dungeon.


    Instantly they could tell that things had indeed changed since they were last here. There was no longer a path in front of them, instead two paths branched out to either side of them. As one of the paths had a sign stating there was a tribute room ahead, they decided to go that way first.


    The hallways were still dark, so they had to use a magic light each time they traveled through one. Otherwise, they likely wouldn''t have even been able to see the sign in the first place. Upon entering the tribute room, the group was a bit surprised to see it was more like a small storage room. It was crowded with shelving and barrels and there was light just barely coming through the thin cloth covering that served as a roof.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "Well, this certainly isn''t what I was expecting."


    Tobias noted. Mirabella laughed as she interjected


    "I suppose it certainly doesn''t fit the otherwise whimsical nature of the dungeon. By the way, did you notice the dungeon has a name now? Apparently, it''s called "Thornkeep Sanctuary". Perhaps Violet is trying to change things up from how it used to be? Such a carefree and peaceful dungeon wasn''t likely to last long, but it''s still a shame."


    Matthias was easily swayed by his party member''s words and felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. It wouldn''t be good for the dungeon to have switched strategies so quickly like that., people could get hurt. Well, his party would likely be fine, they knew better than to let down their guard and they had Mirabella to scout out any [Traps]. However, it was still problematic since the dungeon already had a reputation for being one of the more beginner-friendly dungeons.


    Tobias hummed in thought before replying


    "Well, it might be a little too early to tell. This is only one room, after all. Let''s go ahead and leave our tribute here, as it says, and then we can move on."


    Despite his hopeful comment, he still planned to take his time moving forward so that he could watch out for any problems that might arise. Luckily, since the dungeon had a second floor, they could now afford to spend several hours in the dungeon without any issues. Well, Violet might still be working on the first floor, but they''d certainly clear out before the sunset.


    They dropped a silver coin into a barrel before moving on to the next room. They had been wanting to buy something decent for a tribute this time around to celebrate Violet''s recent success, but they had been out of luck. The merchants seemed to be having some difficulties, so there hadn''t been very many, if any, coming through the area over the last month. Then, to top it all off, the tavern owner and grocers started raising prices as well as setting limits to how much they would sell people. It would seem the town''s supply lines were cut off and this was going to be a rather harsh winter.


    The next room they came across was the new altar room. Religion in this world was a very personal affair with most adventurers choosing only a small handful of deities they were willing to pray to. Those who were devoted only to a single deity tended to be either part of a holy church or part of a cult for one of the darker gods. Neither of those things were really ideal for the average citizen, though, especially since all of the gods with temples in dungeons were very much so real.


    Mirabella was curious and went up the stairs of the altar to take a closer look at the statue of the goddess displayed on it. Reading a small placard at its feet, she read off


    "The goddess of love and beauty. Huh, that''s an interesting one. I''m not sure I''ve heard of her before. Have any of you?"


    Thodin stroked his beard in thought before slowly replying


    "No, I haven''t. Do you think it''s a new one?"


    Well, there were no ''new'' gods or goddesses per se, but any deity who hadn''t been showcased in a dungeon before could certainly be considered new to them. Tobias felt a little unsure of himself as he said


    "I think most dungeons end up with deities that relate to the nature of the dungeon themselves. For example, a dungeon filled with the dead might have an altar to the god of death. If that''s actually the case, then perhaps this dungeon is the only one that has qualified to represent this particular goddess up until now."


    Mirabella felt that made sense, so she nodded before declaring


    "Alright, well, I think I''m going to pay my respects. It isn¡¯t every day that you discover a new deity and I could probably use some help from a goddess of love."


    Tobias looked away awkwardly. His sister had been talking about how she wanted to meet a strong, handsome adventurer to settle down with one day ever since they were kids. However, as her elder brother, it was a bit embarrassing to constantly have his sister''s lack of a love life brought up around him. While he was sure their mother would much rather he thought similarly so someone would be able to pass down their family name, he just wasn''t ready for that quite yet.


    Thodin''s laughter made him grimace and he quickly hurried the others out of the room to give his sister some privacy. She could meet up with them at the entrance to the next room when she was ready. Until then, they would just have to wait.

 2.25 Dream Sequence: Graphic Design Dreams

    Violet used to dream of becoming a cook when she was little. She would even make elaborate ''salads'' from weeds in her backyard. Some wild onion grass, the yellow petals from a dandelion, and even the seeds off of a plantain leaf plant would be thrown together to add some visual appeal. Then her salad would be plated on a plate she drew up with chalk with sticks she shaped into utensils using stones or the sidewalk to smooth them.


    Of course, this was more so when Violet was really young and barely even in elementary school. Eventually, her dreams grew bigger and she learned more about cooking. She started helping her grandmother in the kitchen while she would cook breakfasts and her grandfather when he would grill burgers and steaks on the grill. Violet even had to reshape her dreams to be bigger than she had thought of before as one of her least favorite uncles teased her that being a line cook wasn''t going to pay very well nor be very impressive. Thus, she started saying she wanted to be an executive chef instead.


    It wasn''t until Violet was in middle school that she even discovered that there were other potential career options she might want to pursue. That was about the age when her love for video games also began to take on new meaning. It was no longer just playing superhero fighting games on the PlayCube with dad because she wanted to spend time with him. It started with wanting to play and beat Zinia games by herself and rushing to complete her homework so that her mom would grant her permission to play for a few hours before dinner time.


    Of course, video games themselves weren''t the trigger for Violet to become interested in graphic design, instead it was just one minor part of her journey. What really put the career option on her radar was a trip to a career technical school during her first year in middle school. During this trip, she was taken around to get a short introduction to all of the different programs they offered and she even got a few trinkets and pamphlets to take home from the experience.


    There was a welding group, which handed out little Halloween-themed metal souvenirs, the culinary group, which showed off the work it took to make the lunch they ended up making that day, and then there was the graphic design class. There Violet got to watch as they made drawings of anime characters with a digital art program and a mockup advertisement that could easily be put into a magazine. The instructor never mentioned how the same skills could be applied as part of the video game-making process, instead Violet didn''t really learn much about that until her college years.


    Still, Violet had become fascinated with the concept of making art on a digital canvas. Her grandfather had always encouraged her to try her hand at drawing, but she always found it messy and frustrating whenever a line came out wrong. With digital art, though, one could easily erase their mistake and then draw a new line, ensuring that the final result was that much better.


    So, when it came time for the second tour of the career technical school, during her first year of high school, she easily made her choices for which two programs she wanted to tour. This time she could choose what she wanted to learn more about, so she chose culinary arts for the first option and graphic design for the second. Despite her fascination for the subject, she was, unfortunately, still conflicted about which choice to make at that point in time.


    This was what Violet found herself dreaming about today. She walked behind several others who had also chosen to learn more about the culinary arts aspect of things. Apparently, they would be switching to their second choice after they ate lunch. Unlike the previous time she had been here, they were going to be looking at both the 11th-grade and 12th-grade classrooms for the culinary arts material.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    If she decided to attend the school, she would have to buy the uniform and pay for the class fees associated with whichever class she wanted to attend. Then she would have a small handful of classes to continue the normal educational side of things with the special classes occurring during the mid-day portion. The culinary arts 11th-grade course work would apparently see her studying book work before going to the cafeteria to prepare lunches, which everyone else who attended the school would be eating that day. The menu would be decided by the teacher and they would have to strictly follow recipes. Each week they would switch tasks so that they could learn everything there was about running a kitchen from cooking to serving to dish washing and food safety.


    The 12th-grade work for culinary arts was similar, but then they would be in charge of running a restaurant that would be open to the public. Others who attended the school could go there during their lunch period and order from a menu then would be waited on by the students, much like one would at a normal restaurant. However, parents and random people off the street could also enter the restaurant, which made it a very serious and stressful-sounding affair. There would be more freedom to choose which dishes you wanted to cook within the station you were assigned to for the week, but it was still fairly similar to the 11th-grade cafeteria''s setup. One week you would be serving, taking orders, delivering drinks and food, and carrying away the dirty plates. The next you might be on the bread station, salad station, dessert station, or even working on dishes. You didn''t really get a choice on which you worked at, but you still had to deliver quality work.


    To make matters worse, apparently there were certifications you had to earn and a minimum number of job hours you had to log before the end of the year with a restaurant-type job. You would be responsible for obtaining your own employment, ensuring you get the paperwork signed off on by your employer, and everything else related to it. While Violet had ended up getting a job at a restaurant during her time at the career technical school anyway, this had not been the ideal situation for her at the time she was doing the tour. Instead, it all just added up to a sense of overwhelm and made it easier to choose just about anything else.


    The lunch this time around had been rather mediocre, even compared to the usual slop the lunch ladies served at her normal school. Violet wasn''t sure she remembered the food being quite so bad when she was younger. Maybe this year''s students were just worse at cooking or perhaps it was just that she was less picky about her food when she was younger. It wasn''t exactly as if her own parents were talented in that department, after all.


    The graphic design class was very much the same as it had been the last time she had toured the place, but this time she had more time to ask the instructor questions about everything. Apparently, the dress code was much more relaxed for this class. A somewhat ugly T-shirt with the program''s information on it, jeans, and a flannel zip-up with the class''s logo branded on it. Well, it still sounded better than the rather complex multi-layered outfit the culinary class required.


    The instructor was also good about reassuring her that they would teach them everything from scratch so that they didn''t have to have any prior knowledge or skill about the subject. Violet had taken a computer class where they designed websites in her 9th-grade year of high school as an elective and had been playing around on her own at home for the last few years, so she wasn''t exactly clueless, but it was still good to know she wasn''t expected to be super talented or risk majorly messing everything up right off the bat like with the culinary class.


    When Violet later looked at the fees associated with the two classes, the graphic design one had actually been slightly cheaper as well. Having a less complicated uniform that didn''t have to be special ordered certainly helped a good bit with that. For the most part she just needed to cover the costs associated with some special computer programs they''d need both in class and at home for any homework. So, just like that things were set in motion for Violet who would later end up working as a graphic designer for some indie video game studios just before she died and was reincarnated into another world.

 2.26 Saving The Best For Last

    Ironically, Tobias''s party wasn''t aware that they had gone in the direction with the hardest challenges first. As the first two rooms had neither [Monsters] nor challenges to complete, there was no need to use the garden meadow room for rest. Thus, they skipped leaving a tribute in the well and continued on to the next room.


    Unfortunately for Matthias, the only path forward went through the slime parkour room. He debated returning to the garden meadow room, but decided that would be a foolish choice. The last thing he wanted was to be separated from the rest of his party in a dungeon that had recently had major renovations. Besides, if their group came across the boss room, they would need his corrosive acid and Thodin and Tobias would have to work in tandem to take down the boss. Since Mirabella had to go everywhere in the dungeon to map the first floor, that meant there would definitely be no way anyone could remain behind.


    Tobias grimaced at Matthias, knowing that he wouldn''t be able to make things easier for his fellow party members. He had said that Matthias wouldn''t have to do the slime parkour challenge, but he couldn''t do anything to change their current circumstances.


    Stretching, Tobias prepared to jump across to the first platform. As he did so, he noted that the room''s environment made things much easier this time around. It was like they had been playing on hard mode previously and now things were a breeze. There was no longer pitch darkness nor slipperiness from the constant rain pelting down on them.


    As the first aqua slime jumped out of the water towards him, he easily struck out at it with his fist. Thanks to his ability to harden his body to be as strong as metal and just how weak slimes tend to be, in general, the slime easily dissolved as its core was destroyed. Assuming there were still just five of them in this room, that meant they would only have to worry about another four aqua slimes.


    Tobias easily crossed the room, effortlessly jumping from platform to platform until he finally reached the end. He had already managed to complete this challenge once before and he had been practicing for the last month or so on their makeshift obstacle course at their rental property. All of that combined with the new, easier difficulty level made it easy enough for him to complete the challenge in one go.


    Mirabella was a lower level and rank than her brother with no real skills to contribute to her ability to complete physical challenges. However, her long legs, thanks to being a half-giant, made it easy enough to follow along. She almost ended up falling over due to a stray slime, only for Thodin to save her at the last moment, falling into the water in the process. However, in the end, she made it to the other side.


    After swimming over, Thodding pulled himself out of the water. Then, guffawing, he noted


    "I likely wouldn''t have been able to make it over anyway. I just don''t think I''m built for jumping such great distances."


    Mirabella smiled down at the dwarf, grateful for his kind words. She did feel a bit bad about him falling into the water like that, but she supposed it couldn''t be helped. Luckily, they had stuffed his armor into her magic bag, which she had made extra space for, so he wasn''t wearing it when he fell into the water. Leaving it on the other side wasn''t ideal and they had known it was likely they would have to complete this challenge again sometime this week. Luckily, now that they had, she would be able to repack her bag when they returned home tonight.


    Matthias was not prepared at all for such a challenge. He was nervous about the first leap and then ended up tripping over his long robe, falling into the water right away. He looked much like a wet cat, none too happy about his circumstances, by the time he reached the other side. With all of their party members now finished with the challenge, Mirabella and Tobias accepted the reward for the challenge.


    Mirabella was quite surprised as she received the hefty box. There were some pretty engravings on the outside with flowers and butterflies alongside some intricate lines that covered much of the top of the box. Opening it, she was even more pleasantly surprised to find it filled with some sort of sweet-smelling food that seemed quite dense. It gave off a strong smell of walnuts and sugar and there were more than a dozen of them set into square compartments with brown wax paper to cushion them.


    "This is quite nice! Since we both got one, we should be able to keep one for ourselves, right, brother?"


    Tobias nodded his head in response to his sister''s question. He was still deep in thought as he contemplated just how much had changed about the challenge and just what it would mean for the dungeon they had grown fond of. With the challenge being easier and the reward being this good, it was likely to become popular with adventurers come spring time. However, he did worry a bit about whether everything had been adjusted like this. It wouldn''t be a good thing if Violet let her guard down too much and ended up falling to invading [Monsters].If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Right now, she would likely be safe. Most of the wild [Monsters] tended to ''hibernate'' over the winter season, just like people do. The snow and ice made travel difficult for all and that would provide an extra layer of protection, for the time being, for this dungeon. However, the dungeon was now more vulnerable than it previously had been.


    The classes at the adventurers'' guild and the few books he had read on the subject didn''t explain much. However, it would seem that stronger [Monsters] would feel a draw to higher-level dungeons. Essentially, it was possible that stronger [Monsters] than goblins and wild animals would come for the dungeon core, eventually, because they would be drawn to the stronger energy signatures it would give off. It was likely to be a gradual increase in threat levels being drawn to the dungeon, much like the ranks of adventurers interested in the dungeon would slowly increase. However, that didn''t stop Tobias from worrying.


    After Thodin and Mirabella finished re-equipping their armor, Tobias nodded to his group before saying


    "Alright, if we are all ready to go, we should continue. I don''t know how far this path will lead, but I''d like to get, at least, a few challenges taken care of today."


    The boxes of walnut fudge were placed into Mirabella''s magic bag. It would be more difficult to fit everything into her bag by the end of the day, but she hadn''t packed more than a single quill pen, inkwell, and a few scraps of paper, so there should be plenty of room for the rest. Her supplies were quite light for a 50 Units limit magic bag, after all. While there were better magic bags out there, this was the best she could afford, so she had gotten used to packing light.


    The next area they came to was the one and only roundabout hallway Violet still had in the dungeon. It had two branching paths with one very clearly leading to the boss room while the other led to a more normal room. The group could easily tell the boss room from the others as such rooms always had larger, fancier doors than the other rooms in a dungeon tended to have. It was one of the ways the dungeon helped to make things fair for adventurers. If they were going to be locked into the room and forced to defeat a tough opponent, then it was only fair for there to be some way to know what they were getting into beforehand, not that complete beginners would know what they were doing.


    Of course, Tobias''s party was fairly high level, save for Mirabella, so they could easily tell which room was the boss room. They ended up choosing to enter the floodplains meadow room next instead. The group groaned as they realized they would once more be completing a rather difficult challenge. Eventually, they found out that this room had undergone a difficulty adjustment as well, but that didn''t change their initial feelings on the matter.


    Now that the rabbit holes were gone from the room, the five basic slimes had limited places they could hide. Mere bushes did nothing to stop the party from hunting them down and stuffing them into the sacks they had obtained just for this challenge. It still took a while as the annoying things were slippery, but they, eventually, ended up rounding them all up.


    With four of them there, they easily covered more ground. They stuffed the slimes into their bags one at a time and then handed them off to Thodin to look over. There was no way they were going to try and stuff two slimes into the same bag since that would increase the odds of both getting away, so they had to use a new bag each time. Once they were all rounded up, they were unceremoniously dumped into the fenced-in area.


    This time around, all four of them got a notification that they could now claim the reward for this challenge. This time, they got a brown paper cone full of sugared pecans. Thodin laughed loudly as he jested


    "At this rate, we''re all bound to end up as heavy as my father."


    Tobias snorted in response to the joke. It wasn''t quite funny enough to elicit a proper laugh from him, but he could certainly understand the sentiment. Violet certainly seemed to enjoy assigning sweets as rewards, especially on this first floor. It wasn''t a terrible plan, but it was certainly likely to affect the economy in interesting ways. The sweets were consumable, so there would always be demand for more of them. However, with their rarity being decreased, it was likely that it would stop being so prohibitively expensive to the point where only the nobility could afford to enjoy it.


    Before heading to the tavern to celebrate their victories, their group decided to make one last stop. They already knew they could defeat the emperor rock slime, so they decided to go ahead and do so. It would allow them to check and see if anything lay on the other side or if they should head the other direction the next day.


    Despite how much weaker Mirabella was than the rest of their group, Tobias encouraged her to play a more active role this time around so that she could earn some extra experience. She hated using acid on her blade as she worried it would dull it, but she went ahead and did so, knowing it was likely she''d have to get it fixed the next time she was in a city with a blacksmith. Otherwise, the fights went much the same as the first time they had done it.


    Thodin and Mirabella hacked away at the rock slime''s exterior with their acid-covered blades. Meanwhile, Tobias fought with his fist, breaking off chunks of its exterior to make it easier for them to get in more effective blows. Once enough of the acid made it to the slime''s insides, it started to crack before exploding, throwing its rocky armor in all directions.


    This time around, they were better prepared for it, though. Matthias hung back near the entrance where he wasn''t likely to come to harm from any of the stray rock projectiles, Mirabella used her shield to block her party members from the final explosion, and no one managed to sustain any significant injuries.


    It was a relief to find out that the other side of the boss room only led to a staircase up to the second floor. That also brought Tobias some relief on behalf of Violet. Having to go through such a tough boss [Monster] would definitely keep invaders from making it to the second floor as easily, much less the dungeon core room.

 2.27 Challenge Montage

    It took Tobias''s party just over a week to complete all of the challenges on the right side of the dungeon. Most of the challenges were able to be attempted until they were successfully completed, which saved them from having to make too many additional trips to the dungeon. However, in general, they tried to make it through a minimum of three new rooms per day before leaving for the tavern.


    Thodin was a heavy drinker while Mirabella didn''t like to drink at all. As for Tobias, he''d have one or two pints of ale, but he had to hold himself back most of the time to ensure he was sober enough to jot down notes regarding their progress in the dungeon. The guild had been disappointed by how long they were taking to complete the job for a brand new dungeon, but had been more understanding after learning about how quickly it had unlocked a second floor. It couldn''t be helped, after all, if they had to take an entire month''s break in the middle of their exploring. Still, they were quite confident they could knock the rest of the challenges out in just a week or two, even before they returned to the dungeon on the second day.


    The right side ended up being much more tame than the left. The first room hadn''t even been a challenge or a [Monster] field. Instead, it was just a pretty pond room that Mirabella had been quite captivated with. Tobias couldn''t blame his sister, it really was quite pretty. However, they only had time to capture a few specimens before they had to be on their way. Tobias was quite sure that the guild would be happy to know that there were edible fish and frogs in such a safe room right off the entrance. It was likely to be quite helpful to the locals and adventurers alike.


    The next room was the wildflower meadow, which was originally the first room one would enter when visiting the dungeon. How the times had changed! Now, there was no longer any sign of a kodama being in the room, according to Mirabella. While they now knew the [Monster] was harmless, it was still a bit off-putting to have it disappear like that. It just brought up the question of where it had gone and what it was doing. However, they wouldn''t find that information out until much later.


    As Mirabella needed the experience the most, she was left to her own devices as she defeated the five basic slimes in the room. Tobias lit a torch to put the bees in the beehive to sleep then got to work harvesting the honey. Meanwhile, Thodin helped out by collecting some of the plants in the room to serve as samples to send to the guild. Matthias didn''t tend to collect any plants he didn''t have a personal interest in. However, the sorts of plants he needed for his poisons didn''t tend to be the sort Violet kept in her dungeon, so that wouldn''t be happening today.


    Finally, before wrapping things up for the second day, they completed the rainbow ball sliding maze challenge. That one hadn''t changed much, but it did have a new reward of sugared pecans, which came in a brown wax paper cone. Since they had completed it once before, it was simple enough to organize everyone to push the dyed wooden balls into the correct order on the platform and they completed the challenge in no time at all.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The next day, they returned to complete another set of challenges. Luckily none of the ones they had completed the day before involved locked rooms, so they could easily just walk through the ones they had previously finished and move on to the new ones. Well, they only ended up coming across one puzzle that was new to them, but they hadn''t completed these puzzles during this run-through.


    First up was the wooden slime jigsaw puzzle. Despite the name of the puzzle being displayed through their system prompts, it was still hard to make out the actual image when they were doing the puzzle. The slightly different shades of brown on the wooden puzzle pieces were not nearly enough to make completing the puzzle easy. Still, it did help that they now knew the general idea of how to complete the puzzle. It just took them a while to complete the challenge was all.


    Getting four whole loaves of iced carrot bread made the time spent completing the puzzle well worth it, though. They would have to send another on off to the adventurer''s guild, even despite doing so once before, but that still left three loaves to eat over the next week or so. Unfortunately, having the dungeon reset meant the researchers with the guild would want to ensure none of the ingredients and such had changed with any of the rewards. It still felt a bit frustrating to give up so much of their rewards, though, even if they were being well paid for their efforts.


    The hay meadow was the next up, which wasn''t anything new either. Mirabella didn''t end up being the only one fighting, though, as the whole party found the chameleon slimes a bit annoying. Even if they weren''t trying to engage them in battle, the [Monsters] seemed to enjoy playful jumping out at you, which often ended up with them accidentally being killed as they lashed out to protect themselves. Well, they weren''t really in danger, but jump scares being reacted to by violence was a common occurrence for those who had the power to defend themselves, such as themselves.


    Finally, they came across one of the newest additions to the dungeon: a giant Jenga tower of wooden blocks. This challenge seemed to require them to remove three blocks or more without toppling the tower and only one attempt was allowed per day. In order to increase their odds of finishing the challenge in one day, they decided to only have one of them enter the room at a time while the others waited in the hallway. When the tower, inevitably, ended up falling over, they would exit the room and share their findings with the group.


    They didn''t end up completing that one on the first day they attempted it. However, much like the slime parkour could be practiced at home, something similar could likely be set up for them to practice with when not in the dungeon. They wouldn''t have time to do such a thing, but it would certainly be the strategy they planned to recommend to the guild once they wrote the report for it.

 2.28 Finishing The Job

    The next day, Tobias''s party returned to the dungeon once more. Before doing anything else, they attempted the giant Jenga tower once more. It didn''t end up going to plan this time either, but they were definitely making progress. They were hopeful that they would be able to complete it before the week was out.


    The next room ended up being another new challenge room. This time it ended up being a 3D slime-themed jigsaw puzzle using dyed wood. However, if they thought the traditional jigsaw puzzle was confusing, this one was worse.


    They had to start by unlearning everything they had learned previously. The pieces were no longer flat and so they had to be put together differently. 3D wasn''t really a concept they had heard of before, but it was still simple enough to see they would be creating something more statue-like in nature rather than a flat image.


    Unfortunately, the dyed wooden blocks did not make things easier for them. The shades of blue were too similar to one another, so only the eyes stood out as being significantly different. The pieces also curved and interlocked in strange ways that just made the whole process that much more frustrating for them. Luckily, this puzzle was one that could be attempted until it was completed. However, by the time they finished the challenge, they ended up needing to take a break.


    They got something called "pecan kisses" from completing the puzzle, but that wasn''t really going to do much for their mental or physical exhaustion. The puzzle didn''t exactly require acrobatics, nor did it require brute force, but they had still been standing on their feet for several hours.


    Since there wasn''t an easy way to start a fire in the dungeon to heat anything up, Tobias just put together a salad of sorts from the plants they had gathered along their trip through the dungeon. Some watercress and plantain leaves for the greens, some thinly sliced oyster mushrooms and cattails, etc. and they had something edible. Maybe it wasn''t the best tasting or composition for their meal, but it wasn''t the worst either. Technically, they had some hard tack, jerky, and dried fruit in their bags as well, but that was better to save for emergencies. They wouldn''t be able to stock up as easily once they left the dungeon if they ate their emergency rations now. Besides, it all washed down just fine with some water from their waterskins and the sweet taste of the candies they had just earned made it a tolerable enough meal.


    Getting back to work, they moved on to the next room. The dandelion meadow was a new type of [Monster] field they hadn''t seen before, but it was still relatively easy to defeat the basic slimes in the room. The strange seeds blowing in the wind were a bit distracting. Even if Mirabella did insist they were pretty, Tobias just couldn''t find himself agreeing with the sentiment. It was rather annoying to have them constantly getting stuck to his clothes and occasionally trying to fly into his eyes. The fact that such a minor amount of wind could cause this much floating debris was likely due to the sheer number of dandelions in the room, which Tobias really couldn''t see the point of.


    Unfortunately for Tobias''s party, they didn''t have much luck in the next room. Much as they had struggled with the giant Jenga tower, the giant pick-up sticks were also frustrating. They required one to collect the sticks without disturbing the rest, but they would only get one attempt per day. The minimum of three sticks being collected was the same as the other challenge they were struggling with as well. It would seem these two challenges would become their biggest obstacle to overcome before they could return home to their families.


    The next day, they attempted the challenges once more and, this time, one of them managed to be successful with the pick-up sticks. They had ended up being rewarded less than they had hoped, though, as they only received a single paper full of something called "candy buttons". It was a strange candy with lots of different colors, but they wouldn''t be getting the opportunity to try them since they had to send these ones off to the guild.


    The next three rooms were all new to them as well. A slime-themed sliding image puzzle was the first new one they came across that day. The repetitiveness of the slime-themed puzzles was interesting, but, honestly, Tobias could tell his party members were just getting tired of having to complete so many different puzzles. He could only hope they would finish with their job at this dungeon soon.


    Since the sliding puzzle could be attempted endlessly, they ended up completing it the same day, but they struggled with it even more than the jigsaw puzzles. The concept was simple enough and they could grasp what the image was much easier than the other slime-themed challenges. However, trying to unscramble the puzzle without getting the pieces they had already sorted out rescrambled was more difficult than he''d like to admit.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Thankfully, they all got the reward this time around since they all participated in the challenge at the same time. A giant rainbow lollipop wasn''t that easy to split evenly between their group, but it was still nice that they would get a chance to enjoy the reward. Having to complete a challenge only to not even get to keep the fruit of their efforts was the worst.


    Where they had found the chameleon slimes in the hay meadow annoying, the ones in the next room were twice as bad. Having so much fog to obscure their vision on top of having enemies, even weak ones, jump out at you from nowhere was as frustrating as could be. They ended up quickly giving up on the concept of Mirabella killing any of the slimes, just trying to make it through the room as quickly and as safely as they could.


    There, they came across the last room the dungeon had to offer on the first floor. It was another challenge room, which had... two kodamas? This was the only challenge room on the first floor that had any [Monsters] in it. There used to be the flower hunt challenge, which seems to have been removed or moved elsewhere in the dungeon. That one had basic slimes in it, but none of the others had ever had anything in them.


    Now knowing that the kodamas were peaceful creatures, Tobias tried to ignore them. That was a bit difficult when he couldn''t help but study their movements as they ran past. Initially, he hadn''t even noticed their presence, but he certainly did after Mirabella pointed them out. Now their creepy faces and the strange rattling noise they made were almost distracting.


    "Looks like this is the last one we need to figure out. It looks like the system prompt is calling this one a wooden lock puzzle. I''ve never heard of anything like that before, but, I''m assuming, it''s this strange contraption?"


    The puzzle sat on a round stone altar in the middle of the room. It was quite small and would very clearly only be able to be worked on by one of them at a time. That didn''t sound very ideal at all. They''d likely be stuck here until late at night...


    They ended up deciding to just return on a different day. They didn''t want to be stuck in the dungeon too late in the day and risk upsetting Violet. She seemed fairly reasonable, but it still just seemed plain rude. So, they arrived early the next day and promptly attempted the Jenga puzzle. Managing to just barely complete it, they were rewarded with eight pieces of saltwater taffy, all in a different flavor. Unfortunately, that meant they also wouldn''t be able to enjoy any of these ones either as Tobias just knew the guild researchers would want one of each.


    Still, the joy of their victory carried them through as they went to work on the lock puzzle. Just as they had feared, it took them quite a while of passing the puzzle off to someone else, to attempt to get the next piece free, before they could complete it. Luckily, that ended up counting as all of them completing the puzzle and they were all rewarded with sixteen slime-themed gummies each. That helped their team morale by quite a bit. They could just send four of them off to the researchers and keep fifteen for each of them.


    As they went to leave the dungeon, enjoying their recent reward, Mirabella noted


    "It''s a shame we''ll have to leave the area soon. I kind of like it here."


    Tobias nodded in response as he replied


    "I know, Violet seems a lot nicer than the other Dungeon Masters. I wish we could stay longer, but you know we''ll likely have to take a new job once springtime comes."


    Thodin guffawed as he noted


    "I doubt anyone at the guild will believe that, though! A reasonable Dungeon Master with a dungeon as nice as this one? It''s almost too good to be true!"


    Matthias glowered at the stout man. He didn''t like having death flags dropped like that. Now he was going to worry they wouldn''t even make it out of the dungeon alive, which would be a real shame since he really needed to make it back to his family.


    Tobias sighed, turning back to look at the dungeon one last time before they left. They were standing outside the dungeon now and it already felt like it was too soon. Cautiously he asked


    "Well, we can probably stop by one last time to thank Violet before we leave. She was rather cooperative with us and it might be good to show our appreciation. We''ll hopefully end up with future jobs involving mapping her dungeon at some point, so we should leave a good impression."


    Even Matthias could agree with that sentiment. It was why he had gone as far as buying a fancy engraved steel scabbard and personally gifted it to Violet before he left to visit his family. Seeing his party members were perfectly healthy when he returned made it seem like a worthwhile investment. Finally, they left for the tavern, Tobias none too eager to get started on the extensive report he would soon have to turn into the guild.

 2.29 Goodbye For Now

    Violet had been sleeping when Tobias''s party first came through her dungeon. However, she had immediately felt the effects of their return to the dungeon. Every day that they came through, she would have additional mana to spend on upgrading her first floor as well as a few extra dungeon points to save up.


    It was rather reassuring to see them return to the dungeon as she had been genuinely worried that she had scared everyone away. Having to wait until spring arrived for new adventurers to show up was bad enough without having to worry that those who were already patrons of her dungeon were avoiding her. Violet''s worry about causing them to disappear was so bad that she couldn''t seem to bring herself to approach them quite yet.


    However, today would be different! Violet had psyched herself up and now she was ready to try talking to them again. She wasn''t sure what she had done to scare them away in the first place, if it was even her fault at all, but she was going to do her best to be extra friendly and accommodating this time around!


    Since Tobias''s party wasn''t really sure where Violet would be, they took their time walking from the entrance through the left side of the dungeon. By the time she ended up reaching them, they were still just hanging out inside of the tribute room. Clearing her throat, their attention snapped over to her right away. This group must have been less skittish than Avorn''s as they didn''t even bother brandishing their weapons against her.


    "Uhm... hello! It''s been a while since we''ve talked. I hope I''m not bothering you?"


    While Mirabella had always had a feeling that Violet was less of a threat than most Dungeon Masters, their party had done some talking during their time away from the dungeon and they were now convinced they shouldn''t act so warily towards Violet. Acting hostile towards her was more likely to cause harm than good and it wasn''t like they had ever met a human Dungeon Master before this anyhow. So, Mirabella was quite excited as she greeted Violet warmly.


    "It''s great to see you again! You''re definitely not bothering us at all! We were actually looking for you."


    Violet blinked her eyes in surprise as she hesitantly asked


    "Oh, you were?"


    Thodin laughed in a warm and friendly way before smacking his hand across Violet''s back in the customary way he might among his own people. Violet flinched in pain, finding it rather unpleasant, but saying nothing, as she listened to him speak.


    "Of course. We couldn''t exactly leave without showing you our thanks!"


    Now Violet felt even more confused and a bit frightened herself. This sudden change in attitude and being treated in such a friendly manner was more than a bit disorienting. Tobias took pity on her and explained


    "Yes, well, unfortunately we have finished our job here. We have to return to Elesfield, a small city near here, and turn in our reports to the adventurer''s guild there. Then we will likely return to our families until the winter season ends and we are assigned a new job.


    Still, you''ve been quite cooperative and friendly during our time in your dungeon. We really appreciate how easy you''ve made our job. So, we wanted to give you one last gift before we depart."


    They had actually just gotten confirmation that they would have a ride out of here as early as the next morning. Apparently, a merchant wagon had been sent over to collect herbs from a local alchemist shop and would be heading out towards Bramouth the very next morning. Since it would be passing through Elesfield on the way, they had agreed to act as extra security in return for hitching a ride.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Violet felt a little disappointed as she replied


    "Oh... I was kind of hoping you all would stick around for a while longer. You were gone for so long and now you''re leaving for good..."


    Mirabella frowned, hearing the sadness in Violet''s voice. Giving her a hug, she reassured her


    "Well, we didn''t really want to stay away for so long. There are restrictions about entering a dungeon for the first month after it unlocks a new floor. While we''re sure you wouldn''t purposely harm us, we have to follow protocols. Besides, we will likely end up getting another job mapping your dungeon in a year or so. Might be longer, though, hard to know."


    Violet felt like her head was reeling. So it wasn''t that she had done something wrong, necessarily, it was just, once again, something she didn''t know about this world and how it functioned. That still didn''t explain why Elivyre had yet to visit the dungeon again. Surely her friend would want to visit now that sufficient time had passed...


    Pulling out a scrap of paper from her bag, Mirabella explained


    "I don''t know how useful you''ll find this, but I drew up an extra copy of the current map of your dungeon. I figured it might be a nice keepsake for you, if nothing else. If you want, I can draw you up another one the next time we visit? It might be a nice way for you to track the progress you''ve made over the years."


    Violet''s heart warmed at the kind gesture. Looking the map over, it was clearly hand-drawn, but a lot of time and care had been taken to ensure the lines were straight and as much information as possible was included. Despite the fact that a map like this was unlikely to provide any useful resources for her, Violet was still more grateful for the thoughtfulness of the gift than words could sufficiently describe.


    "Thank you so much! I''ll definitely cherish it. I''m actually not that great at drawing maps myself, so it will be nice to have a proper one to look at."


    Violet laughed awkwardly as she confessed the last part. Mirabella smiled in reassurance as she said


    "Well, map-making is a skill like any other. I''m sure you can improve with time. I''m glad you like it, though."


    Tobias rubbed the back of his neck as he admitted


    "The rest of us also wanted to get you something, but it''s been a bit difficult. There still haven''t been very many merchants coming through. The local alchemist''s shop had some basic potions and herbs, but it''s mostly just things we''ve given you before or have already seen in the dungeon. I''m guessing she is having a hard time getting new herbs due to the snow. I''m sure it''s likely all she can handle just trying to keep health potions in stock right now with a whole town depending on her to keep them healthy."


    Violet nodded in understanding as she reassured them.


    "That''s alright. Despite how much storage space there is in my tribute room, I don''t actually have such high expectations. I know things must be rough on everyone right now."


    Thodin laughed in amusement before noting


    "It''s actually not bad. I wish more Dungeon Masters thought like you. It''s really a shame it''s so dark in the hallways, though, it makes it hard to find this place."


    Violet frowned in concern. She had put up a sign, but she tended to forget that everything looked dark for others. As she was bonded to the dungeon, she barely noticed light levels. It was just one of the many perks, she supposed. Still, she was apologetic as she said


    "I''m sorry about that. I haven''t really gotten the tributes needed to create any form of light. I think I''d need a fire or light magic crystal, a lit torch, or a magic lantern. I''m not entirely sure, but that''s my best guess anyway."


    Tobias''s eyes widened at the information. He now had the perfect idea for what they could give her as a tribute. Sighing, he unclipped his own magic lantern from his gear. It would be a bit expensive to replace, but he''d still rather make the sacrifice than to expect one of the others to.


    "Here, you can have mine."


    The others had been just a touch slower and almost seemed disappointed when they couldn''t offer their own. Well, Matthias was a bit relieved. He was only going to offer his because he was still a bit afraid of Violet and wanted to remain on her good side. As far as he was concerned, she may as well have been demanding they give her one of their magic lanterns with that statement. However, Tobias gave it in good faith and, when Violet tried to turn him down out of concern, he reassured her it was fine.


    Soon enough, they were on their way, leaving Violet once more by herself.

 Contest Announcement

    Since everyone had so much fun with the last contest, I thought it would be fun to do another. However, this one will be a bit simpler in order to allow more people to participate and will include both the TDCD and TID audiences. Since the contest is simpler this time around, the deadline will be shorter and the rewards won''t be as generous.


    Rewards:


    1st Place:


    <ul>


    <li>PDF copy of volume one of TDCD</li>


    <li>PDF copy of volume one of TID</li>


    <li>PDF copy of book one of TDCD Diary</li>


    <li>Copy of the TDCD 2024 Calender</li>


    <li>15 TDCD-themed digital coloring pages</li>


    <li>Shout-Out for story of your choice</li>


    </ul>


    2nd Place:


    <ul>


    <li>PDF copy of volume one of TDCD</li>


    <li>PDF copy of volume one of TID</li>


    <li>Shout-Out for story of your choice</li>


    </ul>


    3rd Place


    <ul>


    <li>PDF copy of either volume one of TDCD or TID</li>


    <li>Copy of the TDCD 2024 Calender</li>


    <li>15 TDCD-themed digital coloring pages</li>


    <li>Shout-Out for story of your choice</li>


    </ul>


    Bonus (Random Number Generator)


    <ul>


    <li>Copy of the TDCD 2024 Calender</li>


    <li>15 TDCD-themed digital coloring pages</li>


    <li>Shout-Out for story of your choice</li>


    </ul>


    Contest Entry:


    To enter the contest all you have to do is to comment below with ideas for skills you''d like to see either Violet of TDCD or Veronica of TID to potentially unlock in the future. You should include a name for the skill and a brief description, but try to keep it on theme for the story. The winners will be decided based on vote here where the other readers will decide which ones sound the coolest, most creative, etc. I will have the right to alter and use the skills later in the story as I please, but there is no guarantee a skill will be used, regardless of whether it wins in this contest or not. As per usual, skills will still be part of a Patreon vote with each new floor, so even if I like it, the Patreon subscribers also have to vote for it. So, mostly just think about this as a fun thing to participate in and don''t take it too seriously.


    Deadline:


    The deadline for submissions is October 30, 2024 or 3 Weeks from now. I will be compiling all of the submissions to post them as a single ''chapter'' within this book and then holding a vote where the readers can choose whose entry they like the best. The voting portion will only be available for a single week and will end on November 6, 2024 with prizes being sent out ASAP after that. I plan to leave the contest entries up indefinitely for all to enjoy, even after the contest ends.


    Info:


    I figure it would be good to include the skills currently available for Patreon subscribers to vote on as well as a brief summary for each story in case not everyone reads both.


    The Dangerously Cute Dungeon:


    Has a cinnamon roll MC with a focus on cute dungeon monster, skills, and floor themes. Rather than going on the offensive, Violet tends to try to make friends with the adventurers, but she will kill if provoked into doing so.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Recall


    </td>


    <td>


    Instantly teleport from anywhere in the dungeon to the dungeon core room. Can be used even on floors where non-dungeon entities are present.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Guest List


    </td>


    <td>


    Displays a list of non-dungeon entities currently in the dungeon alongside their classification, classes, rank, and location.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Gluttony


    </td>


    <td>


    Any non-living, non-dungeon [Items] left in a designated tribute room will be absorbed immediately rather than after the dungeon has been cleared of non-dungeon entities.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Achievements Masterlist


    </td>


    <td>


    Allows the Dungeon Master to set challenges that aren''t tied to a specific room with rewards to entice non-dungeon entities with. Will appear as a hidden feature that can only be discovered after completing the relevant tasks.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Magic Mail


    </td>


    <td>


    Allows for sending pieces of writing and small packages in exchange for an equivalent exchange of mana so long as the basic identifying information is available.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Pop-up Shop


    </td>


    <td>


    Items in a designated sales space can be sold to non-dungeon entities via a system prompt. Includes an inbuilt option to prevent theft, but can only be set up in a single enclosed room.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Inventory


    </td>


    <td>


    A system-provided space for the dungeon master to store [Items] in where they will not be lost when the dungeon resets. The space grows alongside the dungeon.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Save Point


    </td>


    <td>


    Allows the dungeon master to build a room with a teleportation circle on every floor that allows dungeon entities and non-dungeon entities to quickly travel between floors. Non-dungeon entities must defeat the designated boss [Monster] on a floor before they can unlock access to travel for that floor.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The Innkeeper''s Dungeon:


    Has an MC that once dreamed of inheriting her parent''s bed & breakfast and is considered to have anger issues and a desire for independence, but ends up becoming much more bloodthirsty and violent while having a more ''money'' attitude towards business after being pushed too far. Maybe one day she''ll learn to love and trust again... All of her skills have to be related to the inn & tavern.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Masterkey


    </td>


    <td>


    Allows for better lock controls on inn & tavern doors including designating rooms as a larger variety of room types with more strict controls on who can access the space. Does not affect rooms outside of the tavern & inn side of the dungeon.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Staff Elevator


    </td>


    <td>


    Automatically builds a magic elevator with a teleportation circle on every floor that allows inn staff and supplies to quickly move between floors.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Housekeeping


    </td>


    <td>


    Allows the Dungeon Master to auto-clean and straighten a room at a cost of 10 MP per use. Includes restocking supplies that were previously stocked in the room when the room was first designated as an inn room.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Guest Profiling


    </td>


    <td>


    Displays a list of non-dungeon entities currently in the dungeon alongside their classification, classes, rank, location, temperament, and hospitality preferences.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Tranquil Retreat


    </td>


    <td>


    This crowd-control skill turns the tavern side of the dungeon into a non-combat area with a non-stressful, relaxing environment. Non-dungeon entities who violate the non-combat rule will be banned from the premises permanently.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Surveillance


    </td>


    <td>


    Allows the dungeon master to view all areas of the dungeon as if they were looking through a window into the room. Rooms that have been rented out for private use are off-limits to maintain guests'' privacy.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Forecasting


    </td>


    <td>


    System prompts will be delivered to the dungeon master at set intervals displaying relevant information about events outside of the dungeon so that they can plan ahead for the resulting effect on the tavern''s traffic.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Logistics


    </td>


    <td>


    Adds a new menu to the [Status Menu] screen that can be used to monitor supply levels, manage staff, and change prices remotely.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Gift Shop


    </td>


    <td>


    Items in a designated sales space can be sold to non-dungeon entities via a system prompt. Includes an inbuilt option to prevent theft, but can only be set up in a single enclosed room per floor.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Credit


    </td>


    <td>


    Allows non-dungeon entities to submit tributes in exchange for points that can be used at any time in the future. If they perish before the points are used, the remainder is automatically transferred to the dungeon master.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Magic Advertisements


    </td>


    <td>


    Allows for sending pieces of writing and small packages in exchange for an equivalent exchange of mana. However, the location will be random unless the required basic identifying information is available.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Sorry about the spoilers for anyone who didn''t want them. If it helps, some of these aren''t even used in the later volumes and the order they are listed in aren''t necessarily the order they show up in the story, so you still don''t know which ones they''ll unlock and when. These are just some of the ones I''ve already come up with for the Patreon subscribers to vote on and I really think they''ll be useful for helping you to come up with your own for the contest.


    I''ll be posting this same notification on all sites I post on for both TDCD and TID, so you only need to read this notice once, not in every book of mine you follow.

 2.30 (Dream Sequence) Goblins’ Nightmare

    Violet was once more dreaming. It was her day off from work, a weekend, and she was getting ready to spend the day playing video games with her husband, Lee. They had already gone to the grocery store earlier in the day and picked up some snacks to last them most of the weekend. They were both fortunate enough to have jobs where their two days off a week coincided to be on the weekend.


    For Lee, he had a job as a floor supervisor at a package management warehouse. Almost every employee who worked there would get Saturdays and Sundays off. The shifts varied with some people working super late at night to super early in the day, others working closer to a nine to five, and then there was night shift that worked late in the afternoon to late at night. That was the shift that Lee used to work, but now he only had to work eight hours a day because he had been recently promoted to a salaried position.


    Where he used to be a normal worker who had to move heavy packages, loading them on and off or trucks, using heavy machinery, etc. he had worked hard to become certified in all of the things he could. He volunteered to be part of workplace teams, like one for safety, and easily became well known by all of his superiors. When his lead gave up, quit, and went to work for a different company because he kept getting turned down for promotions to the supervisor position, her husband had applied for his position.


    That hadn''t gone as planned. His job was very much about trying to keep their diversity numbers up, not an overall bad thing, but they went about it very poorly. They promoted a less qualified man who had zero experience with that company, much less the account and snubbed her husband. Later, the new lead ended up causing so much havoc that he got fired and her husband got the promotion.


    Getting his newest promotion had been just as difficult. Too many people who worked under and above him didn''t like him for whatever reason. One lady who worked under him kept reporting him to HR for nonsense with the case being dismissed every time as the other employees working under him would back him up. Then, the lady ended up being put on an ignore list since she was clearly trying to cause drama.


    Still, the guy who was in charge of deciding on promotions decided to pass her husband up for the supervisor position for a woman from a different shift. At least, she had more of a clue how the company worked, but she was under-prepared for the position and didn''t want to work the night shift as it made it difficult to spend time with her family. She ended up quitting to get out of the position. Then the customer for the account her husband managed and the building manager put pressure on the guy in charge of promotion decisions and her husband ended up getting the position. It was a hard journey, but she was still proud of her husband.


    As for Violet herself, her workplace was a lot less dramatic. She didn''t have a position of any real importance and she got along with her coworkers fairly well. She, unfortunately, had to work a different shift than her husband during the week, but she had been fortunate enough to be hired on with the weekends off, as she had wanted. So, she couldn''t complain too much, she actually really liked having the weekends off to spend time with her husband and they were well enough off financially that they could both afford to pursue whatever hobbies they wanted.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    For Violet, she had played "Goblins Must Perish!", the original, in high school. It was a game her father had introduced her to and she had become almost obsessed with mastering every level. She spent her own money to buy the DLC for it and rushed through her homework so she could spend hours trying to get a better score on the levels she had already played dozens of times.


    So, when "Goblins Must Perish! 3" finally stopped having an exclusivity contract and was released to PC, her husband agreed that they would both get it and play it together. The first had been single-player, but the second, which she never played, and the third both had multiplayer capabilities.


    Her husband was new to the game, but they both loved playing games together. They had played most every decent multiplayer game together by this point. Survival games like ARQ or Kronin were definitely favorites, but they had also played more peaceful games like Starview Vale as well.


    Violet was excited as the game loaded up. Most of the [Traps] were familiar as they had stayed the same since the first game, but there were also new ones. Of course, most of the [Traps] were locked until she completed the levels required to unlock them. However, the spike wall and floor [Traps] were always unlocked towards the beginning and they were classics.


    As Lee didn''t want to take away from his wife''s fun, he let her decide how to set up the [Traps], content to just shoot the enemies once the round was started. Violet smiled as she confidently set up kill zones to do the most damage, ensuring the goblins would die en masse, just as her father had taught her back in high school.


    The first few rounds were easy. Lee quickly learned how to play the game, protecting the portal to ensure that no stray goblins made it past the [Trap] and snuck through the portal, costing them a win. Violet continued to set up [Traps], making sure more and more goblins would die as they came through each round.


    After a few rounds, the two took a break. It was good to stretch, take a bathroom break, and get some more snacks between rounds. Since both were used to playing games for an entire day straight, neither really needed an extensive break. Besides, it already genuinely felt like spending time with one another. Their PCs were set up in the same room and they played without headphones on so that they could still talk to one another as they played.


    It wasn''t until late that night that they called it a day. They would likely spend another hour or so watching TV in bed before going to sleep. It was good to wind down and spend some time cuddling together before going to sleep. Still, Violet was quite eager to wake up and continue the fun the next morning.

 2.31 Rehomed Kodama

    Violet sat amongst her pixies, watching them amusedly as they happily flitted around. Lily sat on the ground, leaning up against a purple rose. Cedar grabbed a large chamomile shortbread cookie and struggled to carry it over to her. The cookie fell roughly to the ground, a few small pieces breaking off. Lily and Cedar didn''t seem to mind, though, as they sat beside one another, happily munching away.


    Lily was still very much so shy and quiet, but she seemed to be warming up to the group. She no longer hid from them, but sat on the sidelines, happy to observe. Meanwhile, Jasmine and Daisy were just as enthusiastic as ever.


    "Jasmine! You have to try this, it''s so good!"


    Daisy exclaimed. Jasmine was a little more subdued than Daisy, but still smiled happily as she accepted the small piece of caramel pear chip. As they ate, they continued to talk amongst themselves, sometimes even bringing Violet into the conversation.


    "What''s that?"


    Jasmine asked as she landed on Violet''s shoulder. Offering a reassuring smile, she explained


    "It''s a map of the first floor of the dungeon. I was actually gifted it by one of the adventurer groups who recently visited."


    Jasmine wrinkled her nose in disgust as she asked


    "Why''d you keep it? Surely you could make a better map than this."


    Violet sighed, not quite enjoying her pixies'' dislike of adventurers. The map was plenty accurate and it was a thoughtful gift. Besides, Violet most certainly couldn''t make something better than this map. At least, she couldn''t right now.


    "Maybe one day that might be true, but it certainly isn''t right now. I''ll likely have to practice for a few years before I can make something of this quality. So, for now, I think this will be a better reference than what I have been using."


    Jasmine looked unimpressed as she flew off to play with Daisy. Glad that she hadn''t pushed the issue, Violet focused back on the map. All of her rooms were labeled with the same titles her system labeled them with. There were even some markings that represented the various resources and [Monsters] found in each room.


    Thanks to Tobias''s party, Violet had even managed to finish filling in all of the empty rooms on her first floor. They were all present on the map too, which was really quite fortunate. Violet continued to admire the map as she thought back on the work she had accomplished this past week.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The giant Jenga game had taken her a total of 270 MP and 190 DP to complete. Luckily, with their visit to the dungeon and the leftover mana from Avorn and Camellia staying the night, she could easily expend 200 MP a day. That ensured she could make progress on her rooms fast enough to stay ahead of their exploration. Of course, part of that was the fact that they had been stopping to complete each of the challenges and only went so far before calling it a day. Luckily, they always cleared out before David showed up for the day, even if it had been a close call a few times.


    The Jenga game required fifty four pieces that were layered on top of one another to create a rather tall tower. Despite being referred to as "giant" the total height ended up coming just short of the normal ceiling height. Violet was glad she didn''t need to do any terrain manipulation for the room. That still meant that it was taller than most adventurers, though. Luckily, they would only have to remove the pieces without toppling the tower, not stack the removed pieces back on top of the others.


    The reward ended up taking a bit of extra research to complete than most of the others. She had to get access to cornstarch by first researching cornmeal to get corn and then researching corn to get cornstarch. That was then used alongside sugar, honey, salt, butter, cornstarch, strawberry, red dye, orange, orange dye, yellow dye, pear, green dye, blueberry, blue dye, grape, purple dye, blackberry, black dye, peppermint, white dye, and white wax paper to make eight different flavors of saltwater taffy.


    There was red for strawberry, orange for orange, yellow for honey, green for pear, blue for blueberry, purple for grape, black for blackberry, and white for peppermint. The flavors were a bit different from what they would likely be in her world, but she doubted it really mattered that much. She had to use what fruits and herbs she had access to and she just wanted to have a nice variety of flavors to keep things interesting. Whether they were the usual black licorice, cotton candy, etc. she had seen in such saltwater taffy mixes in her old world didn''t really matter that much. It wasn''t like the adventurers would know what they were missing out on anyway.


    The final challenge had been a wooden lock puzzle. That room had cost slightly less at only 190 MP and 114 DP. However, that was primarily because the puzzle itself was cheap to construct and didn''t require her to create and arrange the individual pieces. The wooden lock puzzle was just interlocking pieces of wood that had to be removed in a certain order in order to separate all of the pieces. It was small and placed on a simple round stone altar, something she had gotten quite a bit of use out of.


    In fact, the thing that had cost her the most resources was the fact that she had wanted to make a nice environment. Violet knew she had been neglecting her kodama for quite some time and she wanted to make it up to them. However, she no longer wanted to have them taking up spawner space in a [Monster] field room, so she decided to move it to one of her new challenge rooms. Four oak trees, a new 100 MP spawner, and even a second kodama was added to the room. Violet hoped the creatures would be happier with more of their kind around.


    As the kodamas only cost 30 MP each to summon, it was likely she could have had three of them in the same room. However, Violet didn''t particularly want to use all of the space in the spawner on [Monsters]. If she ever unlocked insects and other small [Critters], it would be nice to have some room to add them. Besides, since kodama were guardian spirits that cared for their environment, she was sure they would enjoy having the [Critters] around. Maybe she could add some other kodama to the first room some other time, but, for now, she thought this would be enough.

 2.32 Fruity Forest

    Violet knew she couldn''t possibly draw as nice of a map as Mirabella had, but she still felt like it couldn''t hurt to practice. Since her second floor wasn''t included in the map she had received, she decided to practice her map drawing skills in an attempt to create a similar rendition for the second floor.


    Over the last week, Violet had continued to make slow progress. However, she had also made quite a bit of progress on her second floor. She likely could have met the requirements for completing half of the second floor by now, if she wanted to. However, she didn''t want to rush through things too much. Completing it by the end of the winter season would be good enough.


    Violet had started by spending 256 MP on eight new 16-Units by 16-Units square rooms. In addition, 40 MP had to be spent on eight 5-Units straight hallways to connect the rooms. In order to ensure the dungeon core room connected to the last available room, Violet had to move the previous hallway that connected the room to the blueberry forest to make it connect to one of her new rooms instead. Additionally, instead of continuing the normal pattern of three rooms in a row before moving on to the next, she had to make the last two rooms be aligned in a column instead. That allowed her to connect all of her new rooms and hallways so that the adventurers would have to traverse every single one of her rooms before reaching the dungeon core room, gaining her plenty of time to defend her dungeon from threats.


    Of the eight new rooms she had created, she decided to leave four of them empty. These rooms would have to be turned into challenge rooms later on, but Violet wanted more time to contemplate what exactly to build in them. Instead, she chose to focus on turning the other four rooms into [Monster] fields.


    Previously, Violet had used fruit bushes as the difference between the [Monster] field rooms. Since the rooms were all forest-themed, as that is the floor''s overall theme, she was pretty limited on options, anyway. This time she decided to do something similar, but also different. The rooms still all contained eight briar patches for [Traps], six giant checkered rabbits, and four al-mi''raj. However, Violet decided to replace half of the ''enchanted'' trees with fruit trees.


    Researching pear trees, orange trees, and peach trees had cost her an entire 60 DP, but that felt like a drop in the bucket compared to her reserves. Since she already had apple trees unlocked, it was easy enough to make that the fourth [Monster] field theme. Just like usual, the [Monster] fields alternated with the [Monster] field rooms, creating a checkered sort of pattern. That would help to keep things interesting as well as ensure she could lock each of the challenge rooms until they were completed, slowing the progression through the rooms considerably.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Between all of the upgrades she had been making on the first floor and second floor, over the week, she had managed to just barely spend a couple hundred dungeon points. Considering she had gotten 700 DP from Avorn and Camellia''s rent as well as tributes from Tobias''s party and David, she was now sitting comfortably at 11,610 DP. She was also supposed to complete her weekly trade with David tonight, which would easily give her another 2,250 DP, bringing her total up to 13,860 dungeon points. That was of great comfort to Violet as it would make it much easier to unlock her next floor since she would hardly be struggling to scrape together the points for it.


    Although, Violet was starting to question how dungeons could ever struggle to make it to Twenty five floors if it was this easy to earn additional mana and dungeon points. The only thing stopping her from burning through all of the points she earned each day was a desire to take things slow and do things properly. It felt good to build each room with its own theme, imagining just how adventurers might interact with them. Rushing through things would also leave her bored in a few years, she was starting to wonder if it might be good to take some time off to relax.


    Theodore had told her to consider taking up a hobby a few times during his previous visits. David had also mentioned that she might enjoy drinking tea and eating sweets, as she was now. Having a proper home to do that would likely make practicing hobbies and relaxing easier, but Violet still wasn''t sure how to go about that. Was a forest even the place to attempt to build a home? She wasn''t sure, but it definitely didn''t seem like it would be a good thing to constantly have to traverse to the lower floors from whatever the current highest floor was. Although, it might also be bad to leave the dungeon core vulnerable and to be too far away to protect it.


    Violet couldn''t help but wish that Theodore was around to ask about these things. It would be nice to hear more about how other Dungeon Masters did things. However, it had been just over a month and he had yet to visit her. Maybe she had just gotten used to how often he visited in the beginning, but it seemed strange to have him away for so long. Then again, maybe she was thinking about things wrong. If Dungeon Masters can live, potentially, forever, then visiting often could very well take on a different meaning, especially since Dungeon Diplomats also had long lifespans.


    Before Violet could get too carried away with her own thoughts, she decided to call it a night. The pixies seemed sad to have her leave so soon, but still enthusiastically wished her well. She was glad they didn''t seem to find her sleeping all the time strange. Perhaps they didn''t know enough about Dungeon Masters to know that it wasn''t necessary. Either way, she was more than a little relieved as she laid her head down and began to drift off to sleep. It was so nice not to have to deal with the burden of her own thoughts all of the time.

 2.33 Potion Trade

    The next day, Violet was surprised when someone showed up fairly early in the day. When she checked her [Guest List], she saw Elivyre had, finally, returned to the dungeon. Feeling excited, Violet raced through the rooms on the second floor and first floor until she finally reached her friend''s side. Of course, this took a while, so Elivyre had already moved quite deep into the dungeon.


    Elivyre had started off at the entrance of the dungeon and slowly walked through each of the rooms, one by one, as her raven, Diva, flew overhead. She was happy to see that Violet now had a tribute room, which she had noticed right away thanks to the magic lanterns hanging on the wall of the hallway. The first hallway was the only one with such lights, but it still helped quite a bit.


    The tribute room felt much like a very empty store or an oversized storage room of some sort. However, Elivyre still found the decorations quite interesting. The way the sun shone through the cloth material overhead and the grass peeked through the stone brick pathway was interesting. It was more than a little obvious that the room had still been a meadow room before Violet had filled it with items.


    Leaving behind her tribute, some dill and ''greek'' oregano, Elivyre moved onwards. Of course, Elivyre didn''t know that Violet''s system would refer to the oregano by such terms. Instead, she knew it by a different name that was unique to the world she lived in. Normally, though, she would just refer to it as the bitter variety of oregano. Neither herb was particularly fancy, but it was something she hadn''t brought for Violet quite yet and she wanted to ensure her friend had something nice to celebrate her recent achievement.


    Next, Elivyre went through the threshold to the next room where she found the altar to the goddess of love and beauty. She couldn''t help but comment


    "I always knew Violet was something special, but this is certainly something else. Don''t you think so, Diva?"


    The bird made a cawing sound in reply, but otherwise seemed quite bored with the room. Unsurprising considering there was nothing of interest for a raven such as itself. The room was quite unique as it was the only room she had seen on this floor that seemed like she was truly indoors. Even the stone hallways were more like she was walking through a strange, carved-out section of a cave.


    By the time Violet found Elivyre, she had already managed to make it to the garden meadow room where she chose to stop for a while to collect herbs. While the herbs were definitely needed, she also wanted to stop and wait for Violet, knowing very well that she usually showed up not long after she entered the dungeon.


    Violet panted as she sat down on the floor near Elivyre. She just waited patiently for the poor girl to catch her breath. Then, when Violet said


    "It''s been a while since I''ve seen you. I was starting to worry."


    She chuckled before explaining


    "I''m sorry for making you worry so much. Originally, I was planning on popping in as soon as I could. I doubt you or your [Monsters] would harm me, but the town leader has been so antsy about everything. He likely never expected to have to deal with a dungeon showing up. It''s been difficult to earn his trust, so I was trying to observe the usual one-month waiting period for when a dungeon upgrades.


    Unfortunately, my father sent me a letter not long ago letting me know that he planned to send a wagon out to collect more herbs from me. I''ve been pretty low on both herbs and potions myself because a minor illness has been passing through the area and this winter has been especially harsh. The sheer lack of firewood, food, and other supplies had been really rough on everyone.


    I ended up putting in a job request for the adventurers asking them to collect more of certain herbs so I could purchase them. Then I had to spend some time packaging them up for transport as well as renewing my own stock. A lot of healing potions, antidotes, and cold-resistance potions get used this time of year, unfortunately. Your dungeon has a lot of useful ingredients, but certainly not all of the ones I need. Luckily, my father sent me the others I needed, among other things."


    Violet frowned, this was hardly the first time she had heard about the locals having a hard time with things lately. Still, she decided to start with the more immediate issue before considering anything else.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "I still have those potions we talked about. I''d be more than happy to sell you what I have."


    Elivyre smiled knowingly as she reassured her


    "Don''t worry, that was one of the things I asked my father to help me with. He sent me a few varieties of specialty potions in the lesser and normal varieties. I also had him help me gather any bad potions and herbs from his shop and those of his friends to send me. I figured you would likely be able to make use of them, even if they aren''t top quality. You''re going to feed them to the dungeon, right?"


    Violet wasn''t sure she would have put it that way. However, it most certainly wasn''t too far off the mark. The dungeon most certainly would be absorbing the items, so she nodded. Elivyre smiled as she dug some of the [Items] out of a bag at her side as she explained.


    "I''m pretty sure all of the herbs and potions are just the super common things. I doubt there is anything new among that. However, I remembered you said you need a lesser stamina potion, so I brought one of those for you. I also have one each of the lesser and normal quality of about half a dozen different potions."


    Violet tilted her head in curiosity, but Elivyre just let Violet gather the potions, looking them over, before explaining them one at a time.


    "That one''s an antidote. The lesser antidotes can only cure weak poisons and status effects. Meanwhile, the antidote version can cure most types of poisons and status effects. Greater antidotes are only needed for truly vile poisons and such, most of which are quite lethal.


    That one''s a fire-resistance and that one''s an acid-resistance potion."


    Elivyre said, pointing at each in turn, before continuing


    "The fire resistance helps prevent you from getting any nasty burns, but it won''t exactly prevent someone from dying to lava. I''ve not personally had any experience with using it, but I''ve heard some stories from adventurers. The acid-resistance doesn''t prevent issues with poison, but it does keep your skin from dissolving due to attacks from [Monsters] or acid-based poisons. Oftentimes, the acid-resistance has to be paired with an antidote, though."


    Violet found this information fascinating. She picked up two others Elivyre had yet to explain and said


    "What about these ones?"


    Elivyre pointed to each as she explained


    "Those ones are heat-resistance and cold-resistance potions. They are limited in what they can do, but can help you be less bothered by temperature changes in dungeons or otherwise. A hot day can still cause dehydration, but you are less likely to get heat stroke or feel unbearably comfortable if you drink a heat-resistance potion. Similarly, the cold-resistance potion won''t prevent you from getting frostbite if the temperature is too extreme. However, it is effective at preventing you from constantly shivering, thus wasting your energy, and prevents you from being as likely to get colds."


    Violet had to refrain from noting the fact that cold weather didn''t cause sickness. It just affects your immune system, making it more likely that you could get sick. It wasn''t exactly helpful to the conversation, nor did she want to have to get into the topic since she was hardly an expert.


    Since Violet wasn''t saying anything else, Elivyre pointed to the last two potions she had yet to identify and explained


    "The last two are a night vision potion and a water-breathing potion. The first one makes it easier to see further with minimal light and can temporarily affect the way one''s eyes look visually. Similarly, the water-breathing potion can cause you to grow fish gills that aid in breathing underwater for a set amount of time. The better the quality of the potion, the longer the effects last. Considering some dungeons have underwater levels or utilize the darkness to increase the danger level, the potions can be quite useful to adventurers."


    Violet was quite excited about her new potion options. She happily dug out the five lesser healing potions, three healing potions, six lesser mana potions, two mana potions, and two stamina potions she had and gave them to Elivyre. It seemed like a rather one-sided trade, no matter how she looked at it. Her potions were expensive to produce and the ones she was giving Elivyre had cost her 250 MP to make, valuing them at 500 DP. Yet she had received fifteen potions and a rather large amount of expired potions and herbs in return. Violet wasn''t sure she liked the way it felt like she was taking advantage of her friend. However, when she went to apologize, Elivyre was quick to dismiss her.


    "Don''t worry about it. This will help me too, anyway. If I end up unable to make some of these potions for myself, I''ll be able to trade with you for more of the ones I need. In fact, it might, honestly, be good to arrange for you to make some healing potions for me. I don''t know if I''ll be able to give you any more potions or herbs for them, though. We''ll have to figure out something else instead."


    This just made Violet think more. The community around her needed help and she was most certainly in a position where she could offer it. Finally making up her mind, Violet decided to speak her mind.


    "Elivyre? I was wondering if you could help me with something..."

 2.34 Charity & Changing Minds

    "I''m listening."


    Elivyre prompted. Violet smiled nervously before explaining


    "Well, I''d like to help the locals out. I''ve actually been thinking about this for a while, but I didn''t have anyone besides you to ask for help. Still, I''ve already developed several pantry-stable food options and I can make seasoned firewood now. Between that and helping you out with potions, I think I could do a lot to help everyone get through the rest of the winter."


    Elivyre looked Violet over carefully as she considered her words. While she already knew better than to compare her to other Dungeon Masters, that still left another problem. Elivyre simply didn''t know what to think about Violet because she was too unpredictable. Thus, she could only ask for clarification before further contemplating the issue.


    "How would that work exactly? What would you be expecting in return?"


    Violet sighed as she felt herself well up with a very distinct feeling of disappointment. She knew her friend likely meant well, but it still felt like a let down that they weren''t close enough for Elivyre to know better than to assume she was in it for the profit. Violet genuinely did want to help people and she wouldn''t have bothered to offer if she didn''t know that there were more than enough dungeon resources to afford it. For goodness'' sakes, she was constantly letting hundreds of points of mana go to waste every single day. Mana that could be put to use helping others.


    Of course, it would be lying to say that she didn''t want anything out of it. She wasn''t exactly a saint, but that didn''t change the fact that she had mostly good intentions. Deciding to bite the bullet, Violet explained


    "I was planning to offer a set amount of free firewood, food, and potions for the remainder of the winter season for free. I don''t plan on asking for anything more than I have to. Maybe a contract to ensure my safety is guaranteed and that the goods will be delivered to those who need it. I doubt I''ll personally know the person put in charge of the project, after all.


    At worst, I''ll admit that I would like it if I could build up some goodwill with the locals. Maybe I can convince them that I''m not out to get them and that my dungeon is safe enough for them to venture into. There''s hardly much of a point in investing so much time and resources into making a first floor devoid of [Traps] if no one is willing to check it out. I even have a koi pond, where they can fish up edible fish, alongside all manner of edible plants and such. I just wish people would give me a chance."Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Elivyre flinched as it registered just how neglected Violet likely was on a social level. She hadn''t realized that everyone was still giving her such a hard time. It wasn''t like the poor woman had done anything to deserve everyone''s mistrust either. It was just a misfortunate result of her occupation as a Dungeon Master. Feeling guilty, Elivyre frowned before apologizing.


    "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to sound like I was doubting your generosity. I''ll try to talk to the town leader today. I don''t know how cooperative he will be, but I''ll do my best. Worst case scenario, I''ll personally oversee the project and just give away the supplies from my storefront to those who I know might need it. I doubt that will be as effective as it otherwise might be, but it''s likely to be better than nothing.


    I know there was recently a party in the area that said something about mapping out the dungeon. I don''t know if you''ve met them before, but they should be reporting things to the nearest adventurer''s guild. Come springtime, I''m sure we''ll end up with a noble family being assigned to look over the area as well as some staff for the adventurer''s guild that is supposed to be being built in the first part of the year. That should ease restrictions a good bit and we won''t have to worry about the town leader telling the locals they can''t enter the dungeon until he has decided it''s safe enough and then not following through."


    Elivyre ran a hand through her hair, clearly looking frazzled. Violet felt bad for making her friend stress out so much. However, another feeling was also present as she also felt grateful her friend was willing to help. Deciding to move the conversation along, she explained


    "I''ll try to focus on health potions primarily for now. Once you figure things out, just let me know and I''ll start preparing some of the other resources for you. I don''t think I can just give out magic bags all of the time, so I''ll likely just set up some wooden crates with the materials each day. This way you shouldn''t have to worry about returning them and I don''t have to worry about negatively affecting the local economy."


    Elivyre laughed amusedly, looking like she was starting to feel better, as she replied


    "That sounds like a good enough plan. I don''t know if you should worry too much about supply and demand, though. I would have to keep more than a couple dozen magic bags and then sell them at lower than market value for a while before it would have any real long-term effects. You might be forgetting, but adventurers die in dungeons as well as have their gear break all the time. So, dungeons end up absorbing enough to keep the economy mostly stable.


    I suppose if you had too easy of a challenge on an early floor with a magic bag, it could lead to issues. However, I''m guessing you''re smart enough not to do that if you''re worrying about me exploiting the dungeon resources."


    As they had gotten back on decent terms and both were starting to feel better, the rest of Elivyre''s visit went much more smoothly. She collected herbs and the two talked, sharing the recent developments in their lives and growing closer as they bonded.

 2.35 Friends Among Trees

    Kodama one had gone so long since it had been among its own kind that its days had become listless. It wasn''t like it could complain in a way that Violet would be able to understand, though. In fact, it had become hard to even find its master in more recent times.


    Sometimes she would come down to the first floor and then it would try to follow her as quickly as its small limbs would allow it to. However, it always resulted in it losing track of its master not long after it started. Once it had even made it up to the second floor, but that was too scary and it had run quickly back down to the first floor, returning back to its favorite tree.


    However, recently, things have changed. There was now one other of its kind! In fact, quite a bit had changed as it had been reassigned to a new room that had four large trees instead of just one. It had been disappointing to leave behind its favorite tree, but kodama one wasn''t sure that it was worth it to make the trek all the way back to the other tree all of the time. Besides, that tree was quite noisy and it didn''t want to leave the other of its kind now that it had joined them in the dungeon.


    It was so wonderful to have someone to communicate with! Of course, they didn''t quite talk as much as rattle their heads at one another, otherwise letting the silence sit between the two of them. Where its master''s voice was loud and scratchy, communicating her desires as the sound vibrated the airwaves around it, its own kin was much more soothing to listen to. Some sounds were happy and some were alarmed, but it never hurt their head to hear the things they communicated.


    It had taken kodama one a while to decide which of the four trees in its new room that it wanted to claim. Luckily, the other of its kind didn''t stir up a fuss, already quite content with a different tree. That one had a small opening that hung low on the tree, creating the perfect opening for the other kodama to climb into before resting. While it could see the draw of such a thing, kodama one much preferred to relax high up the branches of its tree and the one it had chosen had nice, high-up branches that were still quite sturdy. It was sure it would be a great way to watch the non-dungeon entities from.


    Of course, there was still the matter of a lack of purpose that had yet to be addressed. Kodama one had communicated this to its new friend, but they had seemed overjoyed at the news. It wasn''t sure whether it had poorly communicated the news or if the newcomers were misguided. Leaving the dungeon was, admittedly, exhausting and uncomfortable for them, but that didn''t mean they wanted to have nothing to do.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Kodama one wished the Dungeon Master would consider its needs more carefully. Well, it couldn''t really complain as much now that it had more of its kind around and several large trees in its room. Maybe more wildlife might be nice to have around as it would feel like home, but it wasn''t sure that would fix things in the long run either. It wasn''t like anything in this dungeon really required caring for, the dungeon was too self-sufficient for that.


    Of course, Violet wasn''t aware that the kodama had complaints in the first place, much less that it was still unhappy. This wasn''t so much because she didn''t care, but rather that she hadn''t been made aware of the issue. The kodama couldn''t communicate in a way that she could understand and it wasn''t like she had a manual detailing proper care for her dungeon [Monsters].


    The pixies had opened her eyes to quite a number of things. They liked to be with others of their kind and they seemed quite comfortable being surrounded by nature. When asked about whether they had a preference in what their assigned rooms looked like, they had reassured her what they had was fine. Apparently, they had come from a lush, green forest with a variety of plants. That made it quite comfortable for them on the second floor filled with ''enchanted trees'' and a beautiful pink and purple dusk sky.


    Of course, the system had only a few short words to say about each of the [Monsters] she could summon or contract with. The kodamas said nothing about having to be with their kind and the pixies said nothing about requiring a forest environment. Both were meant to be caretakers of their environment, but Violet wasn''t really sure what that meant. So, she was stumbling around blindly trying to figure things out and could only do her best.


    When it came to the kodamas, Violet had called off their job as gatherers because the winter time was a bad time for any of them to be going out and about. However, she still had no intention of sending them out when spring arrived. The pixies were also small, but their ability to fly would give them more avenues to escape dangers as well as, hopefully, allow them to travel much further much faster. They would even have one another to keep them company!


    Similarly, the kodamas now had one another. Violet could only hope that the two would get along and that they would enjoy their new home. She would have loved to give them a forest to inhabit as well, but, well, she couldn''t turn a meadow into a forest. The tribute room had been pushing things as it was. The system wouldn''t allow her to change a room from what its overall theme was supposed to be, except in the case of the altar room she had had a blueprint for.


    Thus, kodama one would have to figure out for itself what its purpose should be. Much like all of the [Monsters] in Violet''s dungeon, they had a great deal of freedom. However, they would all have to figure out for themselves how to adjust to their new life.

 2.36 Fae Circles

    That night, Violet was feeling especially inspired. She had been boredly reminiscing on her days in the modern world where she used to have plenty of entertainment. While she could now relive her favorite memories where she played her favorite video games or watched fun movies, that didn''t mean that she wanted to spend all of her time here asleep. Still, it had reminded her of something useful to use for a challenge idea on the second floor.


    While pixies were a type of fairy and most certainly not the same as other types of fairies, that didn''t mean she couldn''t interpret the concept more broadly. Besides, she used to love reading fairy tales of all sorts when she was a young girl. One of which covered the topic of changelings, which is essentially when a baby would be replaced and the original would be taken to the world of fairies.


    Violet was pretty sure that the concept was meant to act as an explanation for things like colic in babies where they would constantly cry and scream. Having your baby be more fussy and difficult to care for than those your friends and family had raised was likely to be stressful. Since those in the history of her old world didn''t have the sort of knowledge and medical care they did in modern day, it was likely the tale had originated from that. At least, that was Violet''s theory.


    Regardless, that was hardly the only fairy shenanigans she had read about. There was also the concept of fae [Traps] and fairy circles that one could find out in the wild. The latter was specifically a circle-shaped ring of mushrooms, which could be found in forests, grassy meadows, or other natural areas. Other times the circle might be made from stones, moss, or even just unnaturally tall grass. However, traditionally it was mushrooms.


    As for fae [Traps], that was a bit more complicated. While both are considered to lead you to the world of the fae, forever dooming you to remain trapped there, or otherwise bring you harm, the fae [Trap] wasn''t necessarily circular. It could be a set of stairs that lead to nowhere, an archway made from trees that bend unnaturally, or any other number of things. While Violet wasn''t particularly superstitious, she still found the idea a fun one to play around with.


    Before she could get started on her plans, Violet had to do some experimenting. She went to the first empty room, just past the blueberry forest room, and headed to the center of it. Then she experimented with trying to remove or even just move the trees around. Violet knew that the system could be particular about the room still being considered on theme, but it also tended to give her quite a bit of freedom. After a bit of work, Violet was able to remove many of the trees from the center of the room while moving the rest of them to the outer portion of the room, creating a nice little clearing.


    Nodding, she looked around quite happy with it. She felt like she was in the middle of a dense forest that just so happened to have a small clearing in it. That was just right for what she needed, so she moved on to the next step. Normally, when Violet applied things like flowers to a room, she just added it as a blanket effect to the entire room. However, this time would be different.


    Using snowdrop flowers, pinkish-orange starflowers, and blue-eyed mary flowers, she made three large, overlapping circles in the middle of the clearing. This only ran her 6 MP since she was covering such a small area with the flowers. In fact, the circles weren''t even filled out, but formed more of a ring with no flowers inside or outside of the circle. Due to the way they were overlapping, they looked a lot like a venn-diagram, which was where the challenge was going to come in.


    Violet planned to make it so that the adventurers each had to stand in the middle of one of each of the three circles. Then they would have to place an [Item] in the overlapping part that was related to both of the people in the primary circle. In the middle, they would have to have a fourth [Item] that connected all three of them. It wasn''t until they successfully did so that the door to the room would unlock. Of course, Violet was perfectly aware that the adventurers could come to the room in smaller parties, but that could easily be fixed by instructing the two pixies she planned to assign to the room to participate.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    In fact, she kind of hoped that the adventurers would have to involve her pixies. It would be good for them to get to know more about them so that they''d be less likely to want to kill them off. It wasn''t like all of the [Monsters] in her dungeon were threats to adventurers, even if the pixies didn''t exactly like the people of this world either. Maybe that could be resolved a bit through this challenge as well. However, before she could worry about that, she would have to get some new pixies to assign to the room.


    Spending 100 MP, Violet set up a new spawner in the room. Then she went ahead and spent the 100 MP required to complete the contract and summon two new pixies to her dungeon. However, she hadn''t been expecting two rather elderly pixies to appear in her dungeon. They appeared to be a couple since the female one was clutching the male close to her with a worried expression on her face.


    Violet frowned, hoping that this wasn''t going to be a repeat of the last time something like this happened. She didn''t particularly enjoy having Lily fear her and it had taken a lot of time to earn her trust. Of course, Violet didn''t have anything against her [Monsters] being socially awkward, she just felt guilty and bad about herself when it happened. She didn''t particularly like that feeling.


    The elderly old man squeezed his companion''s hand with a reassuring smile on his face before flying closer to Violet. When he spoke it was very slow and deliberate, but also reminded Violet of her own grandfather, which made her feel homesick. Still, he was quite friendly as he introduced himself.


    "Hello, miss. Pardon our lack of manners, but time has taken its toll on us. I''m Hawthorn and this is my wife, Aster. We''re very grateful for you accepting us into your dungeon."


    Violet felt a bit more at ease, but she still couldn''t help but ask


    "I''m not bothering your wife, am I?"


    The old woman laughed amusedly before replying


    "Oh, no, dear. Rather, instead, we are more so worried that we might be a burden on you."


    Violet tilted her head in confusion as she asked


    "How could that be the case?"


    Her husband patted his wife''s hand again in reassurance before replying on their behalf.


    "Well, we are quite elderly. I don''t know how much use we could be to you. We wanted to join a dungeon so we could retire in peace without worrying about being bothered by those who stumble about in our home forest. However, we realize that might be a bit selfish of us. It''s usually the youngsters who sign up for such opportunities."


    Violet waved her hand to dismiss their worries as she reassured them.


    "I''m not bothered by your age. I will say, though, I think I''ll need to change my plans. I was initially looking for someone to help me out with the challenge in this room, but I think it would be better to come up with something more suitable for you all. Still, I hope you can relax here, for now. Since it''s still winter, there shouldn''t be many adventurers coming up to this floor and there are other pixies you can meet in the other rooms."


    Hawthorn nodded, gratefully thanking Violet.


    "Thank you, I''m sure we''ll be fine. We''re happy to help with the challenge here, but I also understand if you have something else in mind for us."

 2.37 Overdue Missions

    Violet wasn''t quite sure what she wanted to do with the elderly couple. She certainly didn''t want to expect them to fly around and deal with frustrated adventurers all of the time. It would be better if she could figure out some sort of challenge that was better suited for them where they could mostly relax. She would have to make that the next challenge room she made, though, since she needed to move them if she wanted to invite more pixies into her dungeon. Well, technically she could put a new spawner in one of the empty rooms and move them now, but putting them in an empty, boring room sounded unkind.


    Honestly, Violet was starting to wonder if she should try investing some of her dungeon points into researching fairy houses. In her old world, those were either purely decorative or were really fancy birdhouses that were kept in a garden. However, it was quite likely that she could design actual functioning houses for the pixies so long as she got a little creative and was realistic about the design.


    Either way, that was something to think about later. Violet sighed, sitting down on the steps to the dungeon core room. It was a pain to jump over all of the pitfall [Traps] to get in here, but she definitely needed some space to think. Her fairies liked to socialize quite a bit, which was usually nice, but that just wasn''t what she needed right now. Instead, she wanted a distraction. Violet pulled up her system menu and listlessly looked it over.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Dungeon Status:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Mana 100 / 100


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current DP: 14,531


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Floors: 2


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Rooms: 32


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Monsters


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Critters


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Construction


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Research


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Missions


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    She had already received the rent for the day from Avorn and Camellia as well as David''s tribute worth a measly 1 DP. That had brought her to her current total of 14,531 dungeon points. It had been a while since she had really looked over her menu, it was nice to see how high her room total had gotten between the first and second floors. While she could easily look at the mental map she had or even the physical maps she now had of the dungeon, it was hardly the same as seeing the number reflected on the [Dungeon Status] screen.


    The rest of the options she was pretty familiar with. She didn''t need to be reminded of which [Monsters] or [Critters] she had, they were already memorized. It would be good to try and work some fennec foxes and little owls into her plans somewhere, but she was still trying to figure that out. With the higher mana costs for her new [Monsters], it was difficult to devote any spawner space for them. She hardly wanted to summon them without assigning them to a spawner, it would be too sad and frustrating to have them die and not respawn.


    One thing she hadn''t checked in a while, though, was the [Missions] menu, which she decided to do now.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Missions:


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Origin:


    </td>


    <td>


    Status:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    <td>


    Reward:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete


    </td>


    <td>


    Place first [Trap]


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete the first floor


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    SystemReading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock ten [Critters] (7/10)


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete second floor boss room


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete half of the second floor


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete the second floor


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock the third floor


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Patron Goddess of Love & Beauty


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete


    </td>


    <td>


    Build a shrine to the Patron Goddess of Love & Beauty


    </td>


    <td>


    Blessing (? cost evolve cute [Monsters])


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Patron Goddess of Love & Beauty


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Pray at the shrine of the Patron Goddess of Love & Beauty


    </td>


    <td>


    Blessing (beauty is pain)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Patron Goddess of Love & Beauty


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Have ten different children level up within the dungeon (1/10)


    </td>


    <td>


    Blessing (? cost toys & sweets)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Patron Goddess of Love & Beauty


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Have ten different couples enter the dungeon (3/10)


    </td>


    <td>


    Blessing (true love never dies)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The list had gotten a lot longer since Violet had last looked it over. She now had two [Missions] completed. The first was a system quest for placing her first [Trap] while the second was for building an altar for the goddess of love & beauty. She made sure to collect that reward right away. While she hardly needed the extra dungeon points, she was still happy to take what rewards she could get. Then she accepted the reward from the system.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to receive the reward now?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Please select one of the following options to be randomly awarded a [Critter] from:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chordata - Mammalia


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chordata - Amphibia


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chordata - Other


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet decided to go with the [Chordata - Mammalia] option this time.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Randomizing options...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    New [Critter] option unlocked!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chinkara Gazelle


    </td>


    <td>


    5 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Behaves the same as a normal chinkara gazelle. Easily frightened and rarely engages in combat. Safe for consumption.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Well, it was hardly going to add to the safety of the dungeon, but that was hardly surprising. The dungeon seemed to naturally scale her options to ensure the danger to the adventurers couldn''t drastically increase. She''d likely have to unlock a few more floors before the system would be willing to give her something like a bear. Still, from how much the locals were struggling with food, Violet got the feeling that a gazelle would come in handy in the future.


    Once all of that was done, Violet more carefully went through the other options and considered which ones she could complete next. She really needed more things like insects or birds to use in her dungeon, eventually, so system quests would be good to complete. However, after determining most of them would require her to complete floors faster than she was ready to, she dismissed that notion.


    Next, Violet looked over the quests from the deity she had contracted with. It was a relief to note that the goddess wasn''t exactly asking for anything she wasn''t comfortable with. If anything, the quests were in line with her own goals. However, Violet still couldn''t help but feel like many of the quests weren''t something she could actively control. She couldn''t even convince the locals to come to the dungeon and it was unlikely new adventurers would be in the area until spring arrived.


    Still, it couldn''t hurt to give tribute to the goddess and pray to her. It was a shame that she had no information on what the blessing "beauty is pain" means, but she somehow doubted that it would be anything too bad. After all, if it caused her pain to make her dungeon look better, then it would be more of a curse than a blessing.

 2.38 Mystery Falls

    It took Violet half the night to contemplate the possibilities for what she wanted to do for the next challenge. While the [Monster] field rooms could easily be thrown together with little thought, she didn''t really like rushing through things when it came to the challenge rooms. Since she really liked locking the challenge room doors, that meant she would have to set the rooms'' themes and that would make it difficult to change things too much later on.


    She ended up leaving the dungeon core room to spend some time with her fairies and observe the newcomers while they interacted with the others. After some time, it seemed clear to Violet that they weren''t much different from the older people she knew from her world. They just wanted to relax, enjoy their "retirement", and socialize with others. Hawthorn even seemed to enjoy cracking jokes with the others and was very easy to get along with, which is how she had ended up deciding on her next challenge.


    The concept of what made a challenge room a challenge room was both very broad and very specific at the same time. She couldn''t make it so that adventurers had to give her tribute or ask them to do the impossible, but she was otherwise quite free to make up her own stipulation and get creative with it. So far she had mostly done physical puzzles that required adventurers to jump across platforms, capture slimes, or even move giant jigsaw pieces into place. However, that was just one option she could use and she most certainly didn''t have to limit herself like that.


    Before she started working on anything else, though, she wanted to ensure the room was well decorated and somewhere comfortable for Hawthorn and Aster to live. So, she spent 200 DP to research a waterfall and 100 MP to install it. It was a bit painful, figuratively, to part with her entire mana pool''s worth just for the waterfall portion, but Violet was sure the effect would be worthwhile.


    The waterfall was up against the middle of one wall of the room. Stones stuck out from the wall and naturally led down to the floor where the water crashed down into a pool where it disappeared. As she had to wait a while for her mana to refill, she was grateful that the water wasn''t spilling everywhere. Well, it wasn''t like the river on the first floor had a problem like that either, so she likely shouldn''t have worried about it.


    Luckily, Avorn and Camellia sleeping in the dungeon meant that her mana could refill in its entirety in less than an hour. So, Violet soon was back to work as she created a winding river that led from the base of the waterfall to the other side of the room. That had only cost her another 25 MP, but that was with her only making the river 5-Units deep instead of the full 10-Units limit.


    The waterfall had been quite expensive due to its scale and all of the effects to make the water act naturally, but the rest of the setup was quite cheap in comparison. Even researching a new stone brick bridge to put across the river near the end of it only cost her 20 DP and 10 MP to build it. It was still likely a bit wasteful to build the whole setup since it was hardly necessary for the challenge, but the sound of the crashing water sure was peaceful and it was definitely a lovely sight.


    Creating a fairy house took a lot more work. Violet even made sure to go through and sketch out a detailed design before going to do the research. She still wasn''t sure how much specifying changed how the system did things, but she wanted to do what she could. She wanted the houses to blend into the trees while being able to be hung from high up branches or set in between two converging branches. So, the base of the houses had to be made from wood while the roofs were meant to blend in with the foliage. Since the enchanted forest had purple trees and a deep dark brown color for the trunks, that meant the houses ended up in similar colors.


    However, not everything had to be about blending in. The houses would be replaced when the room refreshed anyway, so she felt free to take some creative liberties. She added a tiny garden with miniature stones lining it and some of the smaller varieties of flowers and foliage in it. Then there was a cobblestone pathway leading up to steps at the entrance of the house. It was multiple floors tall with balconies with wooden railings and windows with actual glass panes. She even detailed what she wanted inside the home with light crystal-based lighting features, a kitchen with a tiny wood stove made from metal, and comfortable furniture with wooden frames, cloth covers, etc.


    Since Violet knew she would be limited by which [Base Resources] she had, she knew she had to design things based on that. A wood stove could utilize fire should it ever become available and a sink could utilize water fetched with buckets from the nearby river. However, she didn''t have fire or water magic / crystals, so everything would have to be done manually. If it weren''t for her recently being gifted a magic lantern by Tobias, she likely wouldn''t even be able to add proper lights to the homes. Still, she wanted her pixies to live comfortably in her dungeon so they could be happy.


    The homes had ended up costing an entire 1,000 DP to research, which had nearly given Violet a heart-attack from worry, but she was relieved to find they would only cost 100 MP to build each of them. Perhaps the dungeon was being generous in even allowing her to get them for that cheap, but she certainly wasn''t going to complain. Normally they would cost two the amount in dungeon points to research as they did to buy them with mana. So, this was already quite good.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    It took a while for her mana to refill again, but that just meant she had more time to consider next steps. A new spawner would cost her another 100 MP and then she would need another 100 MP to sign contracts with new pixies to cover the fae circles room. Hopefully, she would get more suitable occupants this time. While she didn''t mind the elderly couple and even found them quite precious and sweet, she still had to consider what her current needs were.


    It took a while to gather the needed mana, but it all felt worth it when Violet ended up summoning two young ladies. They both curtsied to Violet and greeted her in unison.


    "Hello! I''m Iris..."


    "and I''m Orchid! It''s lovely to meet you!"


    The two were twins with dark black hair and stunning blue eyes and they were wearing matching blue dresses that resembled the flowers they were named after. The two reminded her quite a bit of Jasmine and Daisy. Maybe the four would get along?


    "Thank you. Please give me a moment as I need to finish things up here before I can show you around. I''ll need your help with a challenge in a different room, which is where I''ll be assigning you, but I have to finish this one first."


    Violet explained. Iris was enthusiastic as she replied


    "Alright!"


    The two flew off to explore, giggling amongst themselves as they did so. Violet quickly switched the assignments for her pixies around and then started working on finalizing things. 300 DP had to be spent to set the themes in both the fae circles and mystery falls room, which was what she had decided to call the newest one. Then it was time to figure out the new challenge rewards.


    However, before she did any of that, she wanted to try something new.


    "Can I assign more than one reward for the same challenge?"


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to research randomized challenge rewards for 10,000 DP?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet''s eyes got big as she took in the biggest number she had seen the system quote her yet. The fairy houses had already cost as much as unlocking her second floor had, which was still quite insane. However, this was ten as much and almost made her wonder if it was truly worth the cost. She just wanted to have some more variety and felt like it would be better to have a variety of colors for the scarves rather than having things so limited.


    Taking another glance at her dungeon point total, she felt even more nervous. She was already down to 13,011 DP, which was still a lot, but she was still starting to worry. Taking a calming breath, Violet decided to take the plunge and selected [Yes], watching her dungeon points immediately decrease to 3,011. Her heart started to beat wildly in her chest, but the dungeon soon pulsed around her and she felt herself become calm. Everything was going to be fine.


    Smiling, Violet reassured herself that she''d have plenty of opportunities to earn more dungeon points in the future. Every week David always buys 2,250 DP worth of goods from her and she was sure that she could always try to convince others to buy her goods as well. Even just Avorn and Camellia''s monthly rent meant she''d earn 700 DP in passive income each week. She would just have to wait a while to make any more big upgrades after she finished these two challenges.


    Stretching, Violet relaxed herself and began to work on the research for the prizes she was going to use in the rooms. For the fae circles challenge, she wanted to use tie-dyed silk scarves. She used to have quite the collection of them, which she had bought from an art center in the small town they often vacationed in. She ended up making three different designs. The first was black, white, and gray with traces of yellow like a stormy day. The second was blue, yellow, and orange like a beautiful sunrise. Meanwhile, the third was green, brown, and white, which reminded her of the forest. All of that ended up costing her 150 DP with the scarves being valued at 25 MP each.


    For the mystery falls room, she decided to go with flower hair clips. That one she only did two designs for. The first was a white lace flower with white goose feathers and a metal pinch-style clip. The second used a hair comb, a black flower, small glass pearls, and glass rhinestones. Despite the flower hair clips being smaller, they also cost 50 DP each to research since they utilized so many different [Base Resources] to create.


    Another 300 DP had to be used to set the challenge with its rewards in the fae circle room as well as lock the doors. Meanwhile, the mystery falls room took 250 DP to do the same. For that challenge, Violet had stipulated that the doors would only unlock when someone said the password, which would be Aster''s name. The adventurers would be encouraged to talk to Hawthorn who could be convinced to accidentally or purposely say the password, depending on the adventurer''s behavior. Of course, it was possible that the answer could spread over time, but Violet wasn''t worried about that since she could always change it later on.

 2.39 Investigation

    "Are you sure you aren''t rushing things too much?"


    Theodore questioned as he jumped across the last pitfall [Trap] just before the dungeon core room. Violet shook her head as she reassured him


    "I''ve already been trying to slow things down by quite a bit. Do you think it''s really too much?"


    Theodore could feel Violet''s anxiety hanging in the air around him. However, while he wanted to reassure her, he wasn''t sure whether that was the right choice or not. He wasn''t exactly clear on what to think in this situation. He was fairly young amongst his kind and only had a total of three dungeons that he was in charge of caring for. However, even from what he had learned from his peers, Violet''s dungeon seemed to be a rather rare case.


    There were some nefarious cults and those who tried to get away with breaking the dungeon accords in order to earn some coin, but that wasn''t exactly an everyday thing to worry about. Considering Violet had already successfully defended her dungeon from invading [Monsters] and a cultist, he was pretty confident she had already proved herself capable. Still, he couldn''t help but worry about her and he was very forthcoming with it.


    "Well, in theory, it isn''t a problem for you to build as quickly as you are. It''s just that you seem to be almost done with your second floor and it hasn''t even been half a year. Normally the winter season would slow down the dungeon progress, especially in your first year. However, even most of the older Dungeon Masters tend to end up hibernating through the season."


    Violet tilted her head to the side as she thought over his words. Theodore was now checking out her dungeon core, so he soon continued to speak as he noted.


    "Your dungeon core seems to look healthy enough, though. There doesn''t seem to be any signs of corruption remaining either. I suppose that means David has been behaving himself?"


    Violet got a sour expression on her face as she replied


    "I just don''t think we get along that well. Are you sure it isn''t possible to alter the contract without him being sold into slavery?"


    Theodore narrowed his eyes, but was prompt in his response.


    "I''m sorry to hear that. Did you have something particular in mind?"


    Violet shrugged her shoulders, sighing as she sat down on the stone steps. She took her time replying, not wanting anything to be misinterpreted should she word things poorly.


    "I don''t think David is a bad person, but I also don''t think he cares about me. That''s alright, but I don''t particularly want him to continue to be in my dungeon. At least, I don''t want to have to continue to interact with him. I''d be fine with not using any [Traps] on my first floor as I''d like that floor to serve as a safe enough place for children to learn and grow."


    Violet chuckled before continuing


    "Actually, the goddess of love and beauty even gave me some new quests. I need ten children to earn their first level in my dungeon. I''m also supposed to have ten couples visit my dungeon. The [Missions] are right up my alley and fit with my goals, so I don''t mind, but it is a bit funny.


    I think I''d just like David to no longer be allowed to approach me, talk to me, or otherwise be allowed to harm my dungeon. He can still bring his daughter here to train and I won''t hold a grudge against her. She''s really a sweet girl. I just don''t like how he wants to take advantage of my dungeon. It''s clear he wants to buy goods from me, earn rewards through the challenges, etc. in order to make a better life for him and his child. I''ve been trying to cut him some slack this season and not make requests for specific tribute, but he hasn''t even been putting in any effort. Even garbage from the locals would likely be more beneficial than random stones and twigs he finds on the way over here."


    Theodore already knew that Violet was a very genuine and kind person. However, what he hadn''t been expecting was the feeling of anger that even shook the dungeon around them as she spoke about David. In fact, he couldn''t help but feel himself becoming worked up as he found himself angry that David was taking advantage of Violet''s kindness. There was no way he could just let things end as simply as all of that. Gritting his teeth, Theodore tried to calm himself as he askedThis novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "Is there anything I should look for in a replacement? I doubt you''ve perfected swordsmanship in a mere season, so it would be good for you to keep practicing."


    That was something Violet wasn''t as sure about. Hesitantly, she said


    "Well, is it possible that you could look for a priest or priestess willing to worship the goddess in my dungeon? Elivyre said that she''s never heard of the goddess of love and beauty before. It would be even better if it was someone who could help me with things besides swordsmanship and was willing to view me as a person."


    Theodore frowned, that was definitely a difficult request. He wasn''t sure that he could find anyone with that particular skill set who was also willing to do such a thing. However, he was hardly going to give up before trying. So, he asked


    "I might be able to find a cleric or something, but is it fine if I can''t match all of your criteria? I''ll definitely try to find someone with a better personality than David, but I can''t make any guarantees outside of that."


    Violet waved her hand to dismiss his concerns as she replied


    "That''s fine. Honestly, I have the basics down, I can just keep practicing them. It isn''t like I can always be the first defense for the dungeon. That''s why I''ve been working on adding [Traps] and such to the dungeon. Most of my challenge rooms on the second floor usually lock too. Considering I lowered the difficulty of everything but the boss room on the first floor, I''m happy my second floor is as built up as it is now. It ensures intruders will have a more difficult time getting in."


    Theodore nodded in response, simply replying


    "I see."


    Violet smiled as she excitedly shared


    "Actually, I''ve recently started a new project as well. I''m planning on using the extra mana I''ve been getting from Avorn and Camellia to create food and dried firewood for the locals. Unfortunately, Elivyre informed me the local town leader was unwilling to help with that. He is, apparently, planning to leave town with his entire family after spring arrives. She did say that he agreed not to interfere with our work, but that we''ll have to talk to the new Lord after he arrives. I sure hope we get someone more cooperative."


    Theodore looked confused as he replied


    "I''ll be honest, I don''t really know who this Elivyre is. A friend of yours perhaps? However, it''s pretty unusual for Dungeon Masters to interact with the locals, much less go out of their way to help them. Is there a particular reason why you feel inclined to do that?"


    Violet smiled, once more dismissing his concerns, as she reassured him


    "Oh, it''s no big deal. I overheard Avorn and Camellia talking about firewood being more expensive and made a merchant deal with them. I ended up making quite a bit off of it. David wound up finding out about how they were paying for the goods, though, and so he''s been paying me tree leaves from the dungeon to buy food every week.


    The other day I actually had as much as 14,000 dungeon points, but I had to spend most of them on my new challenges. Well, 10,000 of them were invested in unlocking the ability to assign more than one prize to a challenge.


    Sorry, I ended up off-topic. Anyhow, between that and Elivre discussing how many health potions she''s been using, I ended up deciding to take action. I''m hoping that I can convince the locals to stop fearing my dungeon and thinking I''m all bad. Probably not going to happen anytime soon, though. The town leader had banned the leaders from entering until it was confirmed to be safe, but now he is planning to leave. Really frustrating, honestly."


    Theodore sighed, commenting


    "You still didn''t explain who Elivyre was."


    Violet looked flustered as she explained


    "Oh, sorry! She''s my friend. Apparently, she''s a half-elf and she is trying to get an alchemy shop opened here. She often comes here and collects herbs while we talk. I think I might have mentioned I made a friend once before? Sorry if I didn''t."


    Theodore wasn''t honestly sure if she had or not. While it was always concerning for merchants to get involved with Dungeon Masters, he was glad it seemed like Violet was happy. He''d still have to look into this new friend''s background, but he''d allow things to stand as they were, for now.


    That was hardly the only thing he''d have to look into either. Theodore quickly said his goodbyes to Violet, dropping off the glowing mushrooms he had promised her, before leaving. While he wanted to trust that everything was going fine, it was his job to investigate things and ensure everything was as it seemed. He already knew Violet meant no harm and he was going to be sure to sort things out with David soon, but the rest was going to take some time.

 2.40 (Interlude) The Beastly Diplomat

    Beowulf had been born much the same way that other Dungeon Diplomats were. His father had been the Dungeon Master of his own dungeon before he met his mother and fell in love. After they were married, they later decided to start a family of their own and then he was born. At least, that was the story he had been told when he was young. The truth was quite a bit darker than all of that.


    His father had originally been a powerful saber tooth tiger, but had later been teleported to a new dungeon where his body was altered and he became more human in shape, but still lacked much of the civilized behavior of the people of this world. It had taken hundreds of lonely years developing his dungeon before his father had his heart stolen away. You see, his mother was a woman of the shifter race and could freely shift between a more human appearance and that of a tiger. Well, most tigers can''t walk on two feet, but it was still more than enough to garner his father''s attention.


    In the short time that his mother''s party continued to visit the dungeon, his father tried to woo his mother with everything from raw meat to flowery weeds. However, none of that did more than confuse his mother. When his father heard it was going to be the last time their party would visit the dungeon, his father had gone into a rage, killing all of her party member''s, save for her, and then locked her up on a floor full of [Monsters] too dangerous for her to risk escaping.


    How his mother had ever been convinced to forgive his father for such a thing, Beowulf wasn''t sure. However, somehow they had ended up getting along well enough for him to spend his childhood happily. When he turned twenty years old, still practically a baby, his mother had encouraged him to go out and see the world for himself. Apparently, that was the common age among humans, dwarves, and shifters to venture out and see the world for themselves.


    He wasn''t sure of what to do or what the world was like so he was hesitant to do so. Luckily, that didn''t matter since the Dungeon Diplomat in charge of his father''s dungeon helped bring him to others of their kind. There he learned from the elders how to control his abilities and what sorts of responsibilities would be expected from him. Once he turned fifty two years old, he had become bonded with his first dungeon. However, what he hadn''t been expecting at the time was that all of the dungeons he''d end up in charge of managing would be those with beasts and [Monsters].


    Beowulf couldn''t help but reminisce about all of this as he walked through the halls of the dungeon he was currently in. It had been a few months since he had last inspected this dungeon. This one was quite well established with twenty whole floors and being hundreds of years old. Despite being quite popular with adventurers, the wolf beast that had become the Dungeon Master was not particularly fond of building things. He much preferred to rip any threats limb from limb.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    "Filthy beast! How dare-"


    Beowulf caught the tail end of the man''s words as he entered the next room. It was of now surprise to him when he found the Dungeon Master himself standing over the man with blood dripping down his face. The other party members took the opportunity to run away. However, Beowulf only looked disappointed down at the adventurer. He had been a rather beefy barbarian from the looks of it, not that it mattered much now.


    "Master Silverbane, it''s good to see you''re in good health as always!"


    A growl tore through the beast''s throat and Beowulf found himself chuckling in response. He immediately dodged to the side before turning around, clutching the best by the throat and raising him into the air. He hardly cared about the man he had killed and defending himself like this was nothing after all this time. Beowulf had learned quickly that he needed to be able to defend himself if he didn''t wish to be killed during these fights for dominance. Throwing the beast across the room, he rubbed the blood off his hands and onto his pants.


    Silverbane laughed boisterously as he enthusiastically greeted him


    "It''s been too long, old friend! Ah, but you scared away my prey... Oh well, no matter! Let me show you to the core room."


    With the display of violence out of the way, Beowulf was glad to see things were going smoothly. Some of the newer Dungeon Masters would require him to put them in their place for much longer before being willing to cooperate. Shrugging, he replied


    "I doubt they will make it out of the dungeon. Knowing you, you''ve likely got your [Monsters] hunting them down as we speak."


    "Haha! You know me too well."


    Master Silverbane finished his sentence with a slight growl. Despite the dungeon core twisting his form into a more suitable one, his animal nature was still very much present. Even talking like this was likely difficult for him, not that Beowulf would ever offer such sympathy. Beastly Dungeon Masters like Silverbane did not take kindly to his pity.


    As they walked they continued to talk about things, Silverbane slowly filling him on recent events. Admittedly, as a dungeon diplomat, dealing with the dungeon side of things was the easier part. Even all of the extra training wasn''t a big deal when compared to dealing with the politics the humans, elves, and such demanded of him. Truly, being in the dungeon was when he felt most at home.


    Sure, he used to think it a bit of a curse to always be assigned beasts, but now he felt blessed. Human Dungeon Masters tended to be weak-willed, their dungeons falling too easily, or they were too cunning, always causing trouble for his peers. With beasts, the worst he had to worry about was adventurers dying. That wasn''t even that big of a deal, though. They knew the risks when they entered the dungeon, so they could pay the price, even if it ended up being their lives.

 Contest Voting

    So, this might be a bit later than it was supposed to be. I was a bit busy last week and couldn''t keep on top of everything. Still, we are still moving forward with the voting phase now and the voting should end 11/11/24.


    In order to keep everything fair, I have reworded all of the entries to fit the wording and style I use for the skills in the actual story. I will also not be listing who submitted which skill so it is more anonymous. However, not to worry, I do have names recorded on my end for who submitted which idea.


    As a reminder, the voting is for the most creative and interesting idea, not for which skill you want to see in the story. I may rework and reuse some of the skills in the story later on, but only after a long process that includes Patreon subscribers having to vote for which skill they''d like to see used next. Some of the skills submitted wouldn''t work within the story''s confines anyhow, so I really cannot emphasize enough that you should be voting purely on what ideas so the most creative and fun, not what you want to see in the story.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    I will be doing the RNG drawing when I announce the winners of the vote. As a reminder, this is what the potential rewards are:


    Rewards:


    1st Place:


    <ul>


    <li>PDF copy of volume one of TDCD</li>


    <li>PDF copy of volume one of TID</li>


    <li>PDF copy of book one of TDCD Diary</li>


    <li>Copy of the TDCD 2024 Calender</li>


    <li>15 TDCD-themed digital coloring pages</li>


    <li>Shout-Out for story of your choice</li>


    </ul>


    2nd Place:


    <ul>


    <li>PDF copy of volume one of TDCD</li>


    <li>PDF copy of volume one of TID</li>


    <li>Shout-Out for story of your choice</li>


    </ul>


    3rd Place


    <ul>


    <li>PDF copy of either volume one of TDCD or TID</li>


    <li>Copy of the TDCD 2024 Calender</li>


    <li>15 TDCD-themed digital coloring pages</li>


    <li>Shout-Out for story of your choice</li>


    </ul>


    Bonus (Random Number Generator)


    <ul>


    <li>Copy of the TDCD 2024 Calender</li>


    <li>15 TDCD-themed digital coloring pages</li>


    <li>Shout-Out for story of your choice</li>


    </ul>

 2.41 The Perfect Tribute

    It has now been four days since Elivyre last visited. Violet wondered when her friend would next visit her. She had stopped in the very next day to give her the news regarding the town leader. However, she hadn''t been ready to set things up for their charity work just yet. Violet was fine with waiting a few days while Elivyre sorted things out. It wasn''t like it was going to hurt her if things took too long.


    Her dungeon points were already starting to go back up as well. Theodore had brought her five different types of glowing mushrooms. She had been surprised to find honey mushrooms among them, she had already obtained them from David previously, but she wasn''t aware they glowed in the dark. The others were bitter oysters, little ping-pong bats, glistening starcaps, and luminescent morels. Violet was pretty sure the last two were some sort of fantasy mushroom native to this world, but she wasn''t exactly familiar with the others either. She was hardly an expert forager or anything like that.


    It would be good to play around with the effect of the mushrooms in future rooms, but that could wait a while yet. Violet was still working on making a list of all of the changes she wanted to implement while waiting for her dungeon points to increase enough to feel worthwhile. Right now she has 2,757 DP, which isn''t bad by any means, but somehow still felt like a small sum. Perhaps her perception of it was a bit twisted after how high it had been just a week ago.


    Regardless, today Violet had much more important things to concern herself with. Ever since she had read her [Missions] and saw she had one for praying to the goddess of love and beauty, she had been trying to think of a proper tribute to give to her. She had seen the tribute chest in the altar room when she first built it and she had gotten the distinct impression that anything left in it would no longer belong to the dungeon. That meant it was likely that the tributes would genuinely be received by the goddess. It was only right that she brought something should she go to pray.


    Violet still wasn''t sure how she felt about the fact that deities were real in this world. It wasn''t like it was difficult to believe considering everything that had happened up until now. Reincarnating into a fantasy world full of [Monsters], dungeons, and adventurers certainly put things into perspective. Still, it felt strange to all of a sudden devote herself to a religion when she had never been particularly into that sort of thing in her past life. Well, she supposed, it was likely that she would have struggled even more had she been devoted to another religion, but she''d never know for sure since she hadn''t.


    When it came down to giving gifts, Violet liked to give thoughtful gifts based on who she was giving it to. However, she didn''t actually know much about the goddess who resided over her dungeon besides her titles. Love and beauty could mean a lot of things, though, especially depending on who you ask. Violet didn''t really think giving the deity things like a paper valentine or makeup really made sense, though. As a result, she ended up turning to her knowledge of flowers.


    When she made the flower hunt room on the first floor, it had been made in memory of her husband, Lee. It ended up having to be moved to the second floor and some changes had been made to it, but it was still something meaningful and personal to her. Perhaps that would make a similar tribute of flowers a decent tribute to give to the goddess.


    Of course, depending on the culture you come from, flowers have different meanings. Many books even just list all of the possibilities of what the flowers could mean. That was the way Violet had learned the meanings of the flowers as well. She didn''t subscribe to the idea of a flower only having one meaning, but that they could mean a number of things depending on the context. Thus, Violet began to go over the various flowers that could mean things like "love" or "beauty".If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Her enhanced memory made this far easier than it likely would have been in the past. She had never quite perfectly memorized all of the different meanings of the flowers, but she had a book to reference before. Now she had to rely purely on her own memory. She could only be thankful for the way her bond with the dungeon had preserved all of her memories perfectly, allowing her to recall everything in perfect focus at a moment''s notice.


    In the end, Violet ended up deciding on red roses. The flower had multiple meanings, but the three she wanted to focus on were "love", "beauty", and "devotion". It seemed like the perfect thing for someone praying at an altar, like a devoted follower, to the goddess of love and beauty. Red roses were even known for being romantic and the traditional gift given before dates or on anniversaries in her past life. Still, something felt missing.


    Anyone could bring flowers to the dungeon and leave them as tribute for the goddess. As the Dungeon Master and the first to contract with this particular deity, Violet wanted to do something more special. What made her different from the others? She had been able to build a grand altar from next to nothing. Similarly, she could create just about anything so long as she had the [Base Resources] unlocked for it. Perhaps she should research something new so that the goddess could be the first to receive such a gift from her?


    It took quite a bit of time pacing back and forth, ruminating on the subject, before Violet made her decision. Quickly spending the 20 DP and 10 MP, she created her tribute and then made the trip down to the first floor. Violet climbed the steps to the altar and then kneeled in front of the statue before opening the tribute chest. She carefully set the red rose flower crown inside before once more closing it. Smiling, she made herself comfortable before beginning to pray.


    "Dear goddess, I apologize for taking so long to show my appreciation for your help. I''m afraid I''m not used to praying like this, so I might not show you the proper respect and etiquette you deserve. I made you a crown of red roses and I hope you enjoy it.


    Perhaps you might find it odd, but my dungeon isn''t exactly very dangerous or scary right now. I kind of prefer the innocent and playful nature of things. That might change in the future, but I hope, with your guidance, that the dungeon will always remain a beautiful place that the people of this world can grow to love. I don''t want to be feared, I just want to live a happy life surrounded by friends and help as many as I can.


    I''ve asked Theodore, the Dungeon Diplomat assigned to this dungeon, to look for a priest or priestess for you. I don''t know if it''s true, but I heard this is the first time you''ve ever contracted with a dungeon before. I can''t promise to make you well-known or to ensure a lot of people worship you. However, I''m hopeful that I can do what I can to ensure you are acknowledged. I... I don''t have much power to do anything about the people outside of this dungeon. We''ll have to depend on others when it comes to that, but I''ll continue to advocate for you however I can.


    Sorry if this is so short, but I really do appreciate your help."


    Violet stood back up, feeling uncertain. However, after she exited the room and checked her [Missions] menu, she found her actions had been sufficient to earn the reward for it. Violet''s eyes went wide with surprise as she read over the information regarding the blessing.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Blessing: Beauty Is Pain


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The more beautiful the dungeon, the more painful it is for non-dungeon entities who cross the threshold into the dungeon core room.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    This was huge! Violet wasn''t certain just how much of an effect it would have and what exactly was considered "beautiful" in this context, but the ability certainly sounded OP. While it wasn''t exactly as if adventurers or invading [Monsters] would die from being in the dungeon room, it would definitely discourage them from staying in there too long. This also felt a lot like receiving approval for the decisions she had made thus far and made Violet feel like she wanted to continue to pave her own path forward, knowing the goddess approved of her choices.

 2.42 David’s Ire

    "Here."


    David said before shoving a rusty iron helmet into Violet''s hands. Violet smiled bitterly at him as she did her best to sound grateful.


    "Thank you. Where should we train today?"


    David merely grunted and shrugged at her, but soon he was walking faster as he led the way through the dungeon. Violet wasn''t quite sure, but she was more than starting to suspect that David was angry with her. Whether that had anything to do with her previous discussion with Theodore, though, she wasn''t quite sure. It wasn''t like David tended to be particularly friendly towards her lately anyway.


    The tributes changed in the last few days, though. They weren''t necessarily better, per se, but they were certainly different. Two days ago she had received an iron sword, which was broken into two pieces with several smaller pieces missing. Then, the next day, it had been a leather satchel with multiple holes in it and that had begun to rot. Today was, of course, the rusted iron helmet, which was, luckily, something new. The other [Items] had only been worth 1 DP and had left her hands feeling dirty as David had insisted on handing them directly to her instead of leaving them in the tribute room.


    This helmet, though, would be worth an entire 10 dungeon points! It still wasn''t exactly a fortune, but it was still nice to have a new [Item] schematic unlocked. Violet wasn''t exactly eager to start selling adventurer equipment on a regular basis, but she felt it was still nice to have the option available. Maybe one day she''d even consider using enchanted equipment for challenge rewards. However, she wasn''t quite sure what she could offer that other dungeons wouldn''t already have and she didn''t exactly want to offer something adventurers wouldn''t actually be excited to receive.


    Once they reached the wildflower meadow, Violet heard David tell his daughter, Alice


    "Take Luna and go kill slimes."


    Violet winced, feeling a bit bad for the young child. Ever since she had started selling David food each week, she had seemed more carefree. The plants they had been collecting had even changed from being more focused on those that were edible to flowers and herbs once more. However, Alice seemed nervous again today, which was even more of an indicator of how things were at home than David''s foul mood was.


    Violet supposed it wasn''t surprising when David seemed to be out for blood today. He kept pushing the boundaries of the agreement they had both signed. It didn''t take long for her arms to end up covered in small lacerations that slowly wept blood, covering her arms in the crimson liquid. She also ended up falling backward onto her ass and was barely given time to stand up and recover before David was bearing down on her once more.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    After nearly three months of practicing, Violet was getting much better with the sword. However, there was no way that she could learn enough to overpower David, who had years of experience and unnatural strength from his guardian class, in such a short period of time. It would have been nice if she grew stronger with each floor she unlocked like Theodore said other Dungeon Masters often could. However, clearly that wasn''t her path in life and she would have to depend on other ways to defend herself and the dungeon. It was really too bad, she would have loved to put up a decent fight against David.


    Part of Violet genuinely worried how bad things might get if David was allowed to remain in her dungeon. She wanted to be fair to him and his young daughter rather than punishing him. However, it also seemed inevitable that his passive-aggressive attitude would one day turn into something more dangerous. Perhaps he would try to find a loophole and use it to bring about the downfall of her dungeon or otherwise make her life more difficult. It was simply too dangerous to keep someone so emotionally unstable around her.


    After an hour, Violet tried to leave. However, David pretended to be oblivious as he continued to have a go at her, swinging his sword down at her face with her barely being able to block in time. Starting to panic, Violet shouted


    "Stop! I said enough!"


    The dungeon around her began to shake around her in response to her own emotional response. The recently respawned slimes began to swarm clumsily towards them in a bid to defend the dungeon and their master. David watched her with a dark look as she left the room, only looking away once the door closed behind her.


    Violet swallowed nervously, casting the occasional glance behind her as she made her way upstairs. She didn''t feel safe until she was in the dungeon core room and even then she still felt shaky. While death wasn''t the end for her and the contract would have consequences for David if he ever tried to kill her again, it was still scary.


    She hadn''t mentioned anything to David and she had to assume that Theodore was smart enough to not put her in danger unnecessarily. Yet it seemed like David knew something was going on and he wasn''t all too happy about it. Violet had a bitter taste in her mouth, she no longer wanted to pretend everything was the same. She no longer wanted to show up to their nightly sparring sessions. The only problem was that David had to show up to teach her every night, there was no avoiding it.


    It wasn''t like she had to cooperate, though. She could easily hide away in the dungeon core room and force him to come after her. However, Violet worried about what that would mean for Alice. Would she be brought home or would she be put in danger? David always seemed to be protective over his daughter, never letting her get too close to the young girl. So it seemed unlikely that he would choose the more dangerous option, but Violet didn''t like the idea of gambling on such a thing.


    This was going to be a long night...

 2.43 Homes For All

    Violet took calming breaths, trying her best to calm herself down. Having a panic attack was hardly going to help her right now and she hardly wanted the dungeon core to corrupt again. What would Theodore think of her? Letting herself get worked up over every little thing. It wasn''t like David had broken the contract or else he would have immediately suffered the consequences.


    Pacing anxiously, back and forth, Violet pulled up the details of the contract she had made with David. She read it over, again and again, but there wasn''t actually that much text to go over. This was hardly a lawyer''s contract. No, this was kept sweet and simple with very clear points and relying on the fact that Theodore could always take further action of his own accord.


    The contract prevented her from putting [Traps] anywhere but in the hallway directly in front of her dungeon core room on the first floor. Now that it was on the second floor, that meant she could no longer put [Traps] on the first floor at all. There had been a contingency for if she had [Traps] when she unlocked the next floor where the [Traps] would automatically be moved to the next floor. That hadn''t been necessary, but Violet knew that was just because she had made a rather strange choice to not use any [Traps] on the floor in the first place.


    There was also a bit about how Violet couldn''t intentionally incite a [Monster] stampede to attack David''s daughter or otherwise intentionally harm her with physical violence until she became her species''s equivalent of an adult. Since she was a human, that would mean the girl would be safe until she was eighteen, but Violet hoped it would never be necessary to harm the girl. It was interesting to note, though, that Violet had accidentally incited her [Monsters] to attack David yesterday, which hadn''t come with any consequences. Whether that was because it was accidental or because it was directed at David, though, she wasn''t sure. It certainly wasn''t something she wanted to test, though.


    All of that was detailed in only a few short sentences whereas the portions relating to David took up a larger portion of the text. If David killed her again, his system was meant to alert Theodore immediately as well as implement consequences right away. There was some jargon with code Violet didn''t understand relating to what those consequences were listed in the contract. Then there were details about how extreme the training could be. David was supposed to keep the training to reasonable levels of violence that weren''t allowed to exceed the difficult training the royal knights of the Deepvein Kingdom go through. Any intentional injuries worse than what could be healed by the weakest healing potion were off-limits.


    There were also requirements for David to show up every day to conduct training. Violet was allowed to dismiss him at any point in time and was not required to come to him. He would have to seek her out, if necessary. Then there was a bit about how David had to bring Violet tribute every day and specific tribute, up to the value that could be obtained from her dungeon from one day''s worth of gathering, upon request. The contract finished off with it being noted that Theodore could take further action and require David to sign a new contract should it become necessary with the current contract being valid for one year.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Violet still felt uneasy about things, but she needed time to think things over. She didn''t want to hide away in the dungeon core room all night, though. So, instead, she decided to try and distract herself. In particular, she decided tonight would be as good a time as any to spoil her pixies. Striding into the mystery falls room, she announced


    "I''m going to gather the others for a tea party. We''ll have it in here tonight, so please prepare yourselves!"


    Aster and Hawthorn could easily hear her voice, even over the roar of the waterfall that stood between their home and the other side of the river where Violet was. So, they immediately began to get ready. Meanwhile, Violet continued to travel through her rooms one at a time. She gathered all of the others from their rooms and led them back to the mystery falls room. Then she summoned up a huge feast of sweets and tea, making it far grander than she usually would.


    The pixies immediately began to feast, excitedly chattering amongst themselves as they did so. Violet smiled, happy to be surrounded by such overwhelming positivity. She still didn''t feel quite right, but this would have to do, for now. It took a while for her mana to fill up all the way, but she spent several hours with her pixies summoning new homes for them one by one. Once she had five of them, she announced


    "Good news! Everyone is getting a home tonight! I''ve got one for Jasmine, Daisy, Iris, Orchid, and then one for Cedar and Lily to share. I know you two are twins and like to spend your time together Iris and Orchid, but I don''t want you to feel like you can''t have your privacy. Maybe one day there will be cute boy pixies who join the dungeon that you like. Even if you can''t start families of your own the traditional way, you should still feel free to get married or whatever else you want. Forever is a long time and we should all try our best to make it worthwhile."


    The two newest additions felt quite touched as they excitedly looked over the new homes. They were all identical, the dungeon system ensuring that there weren''t even minor details that would differ, but it was still exciting nonetheless. Iris and Orchid definitely did enjoy each other''s company, but the thought of being able to continue to live their lives without being held back by their contract with the dungeon was incredible! Neither was sure they''d ever get lucky enough to meet the perfect husband in a dungeon, but it was still nice to have the option.


    Really, Miss Violet was already quite strange for a Dungeon Master. Despite the fact that none of them could do much of use, she had seen to it that they could serve just as they were. They were given puzzles and challenges to overlook and told they could help in the spring by going out to forage. There were also far more of them who had been summoned to the dungeon than they could have ever hoped. Yet, here their master was saying she would continue to bring more of them into the dungeon. If that was true, soon they''d practically have enough of them spread out across the dungeon to amount to an entire village of them.


    Violet listened as the pixies talked amongst themselves. The fact that they felt free to speak their minds, even in front of her, was heartwarming. It was nice to know that they trusted her and felt at home here. She hoped that would always continue. Their relationship still didn''t quite feel like they were equals, but it was still something she was fond of and she never wanted that to change.

 2.44 Retail Therapy

    Violet made sure to place the new pixie homes in appropriate places before retiring for the night. Most were hung high up on trees with the placement dictated by the pixies themselves. Iris and Orchid asked to be placed on the same tree, next to one another. Jasmine and Daisy were similar, but they wanted to be on separate trees. They were worried about the noise carrying too much and wanted to make it slightly harder for adventurers to find them. Cedar and Lily asked to be placed as high up as possible without their home being unstable. Lily liked her privacy, so that was hardly surprising.


    After going to sleep for the night, Violet had a comforting dream about her husband, Lee. She still awoke with tears streaming down her face, but she''d rather continue to have the dreams than forget. It was even comforting to still talk to her husband during the daytime as if he was still with her. She felt less lonely keeping his memory alive, even if it did feel bittersweet to be reminded of him.


    As Violet walked downstairs, considering what to work on for the day, she continued to be lost in her own thoughts. It was hard not to dwell on the fact that David would be returning again later in the day. Since time seemed to blur in the dungeon, the morning always seemed to slip away so quickly, easily becoming night in the blink of an eye. Without new adventurers coming through to keep things interesting, that fact was exaggerated even more than usual. No one was avoiding the dungeon anymore, but Tobias''s party left and no new adventurers would be coming through until after the winter season officially ended.


    Sighing in frustration, Violet rubbed her nose with her hand. Whenever she got too stressed, her nose started to itch like crazy. If she didn''t try to calm down soon, it might even end up turning into painful, itchy hives across the entirety of her skin. Violet had always struggled with her mental health. Despite growing up in a happy family, she still suffered from anxiety disorder, among other things. The labels hardly fixed the problems she had, though, so she didn''t think about it often, but that didn''t keep her problems from affecting her day-to-day life.


    Well, maybe some retail therapy would help? Violet used to love window shopping in her previous life. Adding things to her online cart and then never buying anything or, even better, going to antique malls with Lee and looking at everything. The actual antiques were the most fun to look at as it was fascinating to learn about what things in the past were like. However, even things like collections of buttons sorted by color or kitschy displays with cliche signs could be entertaining enough to look through.


    There was, unfortunately, nothing like that to be found in her own dungeon. Well, realistically, Violet could create whatever she wanted, but that wasn''t the point. Today, Violet wanted to spend lots of resources and really improve the dungeon. Her mana was still very much limited, though, so that was hardly going to be the way to go. Instead, Violet decided it was finally time to make some overdue changes to her rooms using her dungeon points.


    Right now, she has 3,069 DP, which still felt like a drop in the bucket compared to what she used to have. Still, considering how much she had earned in a week, it was hardly a problem to spend some of it. Deciding to start on the koi pond room, Violet slowly walked through each of the rooms, checking their settings before taking actions.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The koi pond room was nicely decorated, but the room theme hadn''t been set yet. So, 150 DP went towards setting the theme followed by 25 DP to make it always sunny, 50 DP to make it always sunrise, and 10 DP to make the temperature and humidity reflect the weather. Since the koi pond room was meant to be for peaceful fishing, it just made sense to make the time of day sunrise. Lee used to love going fishing with his friends and would always get up at four or six in the morning for it because he said it was one of the best times to go. Violet didn''t know much about that, but she liked the idea of utilizing that detail in her room''s creation.


    A small portion of the rooms already had their room theme, time, and weather settings taken care of. Others Violet chose to just set the theme, make it always sunny, always mid-day, and set the temperature and humidity to reflect the weather. That meant the rainbow ball maze, giant Jenga, 3D slime-themed jigsaw puzzle, giant pick-up sticks, and slime-themed sliding puzzle all ended up costing 235 DP each to give it fairly generic settings.


    The hay meadow room with the chameleon slimes already had most of its settings taken care of. However, Violet still went ahead and officially spent the 50 MP to make the time of day always mid-day. The other rooms, Violet went out of her way to make special additions for one reason or another.


    The wooden lock puzzle room had the kodama in it. So, Violet decided to make the room have a natural day cycle. The wildflower meadow room was also like that and she didn''t want the original kodama to feel like it missed its original room. She wanted it to feel at home in its new location so that it could just enjoy its new friend and the peace and quiet the room would offer. After all, it was unlikely as many adventurers would end up in this room as would end up in the rooms closer to the entrance.


    On the other side of the first floor, there were mostly just older rooms. The garden meadow and floodplains room both already had their room theme set, but 85 DP still had to be spent to give them the generic settings most of the rooms now had. That then only left the hedge maze boss room left to take care of. The second floor rooms would have to wait another day since Violet''s dungeon points were already getting lower than she wanted.


    Since the boss room was a unique room that she only had one of for each floor, she wanted to make it special. 50 DP went towards giving the room spring weather patterns, which matched the apple blossom trees that were dotted through the maze. 100 DP went towards a natural day cycle, which would likely make the boss fight more difficult, forcing adventurers to slow down. Maybe she could even encourage people to not do the fight unless it was daytime, ensuring she would be able to relax at night. Soon enough, she''d have a third floor, putting even more obstacles between the entrance and the dungeon core room, but she would still utilize all that she could.


    After setting the temperature and humidity to reflect the weather, Violet was left with 994 dungeon points. She had spent an entire 2,075 DP across the first floor to take care of everything. It felt nice to fix everything up and ensure the rooms were at their best, but soon enough her anxiety once more began to eat at her. Today was going to be a very long day.

 2.45 Quiet Dungeon Days

    Hawthorn happily stood on the balcony of his new home. It had been kind of Miss Violet to gift him and his wife, Aster, such a lovely home. They hadn''t, honestly, been expecting such a thing when they had been contracted to join the dungeon. They had actually expected it to take far longer to be accepted as part of a dungeon in the first place.


    Hawthorn had met others of his kind who had tried to join dungeons before and been quickly dismissed. Their contracts with dungeons ensured that they too would die with the dungeon if it should ever fall. However, so long as they weren''t around long enough to die and the dungeon still remained, the Dungeon Masters could always dismiss them. They would then be sent back to wherever they had been before the contract was made. There was always the option to re-sign up for the contract program in hopes of joining a new dungeon, but there was no guarantee one would be kept around.


    Hawthorn and Aster had never had any reason to join a dungeon before. Their particular pixie village enjoyed a rather peaceful existence and was rarely disturbed. At least, that had been the case when he was younger. [Monsters] didn''t exactly suffer from the same diseases species like Humans did when there was too much aether in the air. Their tribe used to be hidden in a mountainside forest where there was too much aether for anyone to venture through the area.


    That had all changed when he was a teenager and a new dungeon appeared a distance away. As the dungeon had grown, adding more and more floors, the aether became more bearable for the races of this world. Their pixie village had to deal with adventurers coming through the area more and more as the aether levels decreased and now their forest wasn''t a danger at all. With how old Hawthorn and Aster had become, they no longer wanted to deal with the stress.


    A dungeon was hardly meant to be the perfect sanctuary for their kind. They could quite easily die at the hands of adventurers. Still, it wasn''t exactly guaranteed that they''d die permanently either. Some Dungeon Masters did get frustrated by their kind being considered useless for combat and would only let them stay with the condition that they wouldn''t be able to respawn if they died. They''d be assigned jobs foraging outside of the dungeon, luring adventurers into [Traps], or distracting them while more dangerous [Critters] and [Monsters] ambushed them.


    That had been what they expected when they came to this dungeon. Yet, they had, somehow, found a miracle waiting for them instead. Miss Violet was a deeply troubled yet optimistic Dungeon Master. She enjoyed the company of his kind and she did all that she could to ensure they lived happy lives. They even now had this lovely home to rest in when they weren''t needed for their assigned duties.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    The younger pixies were even excited for springtime. Hawthorn was glad to see the youngsters weren''t going to shirk their duties. He did worry that might change when they discovered just how hard the work would be. It wasn''t like they could open the doors and it would be difficult to make it outside of the dungeon, even with them flying as fast as they could. Hawthorn wouldn''t be surprised if some of them ended up with a broken wing or two should they time things poorly.


    "Darling, breakfast is ready."


    Aster said, coming up to stand beside him. He wrapped his arms around her, smiling down at her.


    "Alright, let''s go."


    Hawthorn said before the two flew downstairs. At the small wooden table, there were two small flower-themed tea cups filled with fresh water from the stream. On plates, they had leftover sweets from the night before. Violet had included basic dishware and even the materials they might need to cook things. However, while they had already collected grasses and small sticks to dry, it would take a while for them to dry sufficiently. It was also difficult to carry the larger [Items] and there wasn''t much they could cook.


    Before Miss Violet went to sleep each night, she always ensured she saw to it everyone made it home safely. She''d even carry whatever sweets they wanted to keep and help with tasks like fetching water for them. She couldn''t exactly reach the top of the trees, though, so they often had to do the rest of the work. Still, at least they never had to worry about the doors keeping them from going home.


    Aster was a bit weaker than Hawthorn, so he always tried to ensure he was the one to carry the bigger [Items] back to their home. He had been one of the ones responsible for foraging goods for their tribes when they were younger. Meanwhile, she used to be a seamstress who created beautiful clothes for the entire village to enjoy, alongside a few others. Hawthorn was happy to continue to provide for the two of them and he couldn''t complain when his wife seemed happy to keep their home clean and prepare meals for them.


    Things were much quieter now than they used to be in their village, but they were also much more peaceful now too. Hawthorn did worry how that might change when adventurers started to visit this floor. His job was to talk to them as part of the challenge for the room they were in. He was supposed to entertain any questions they might have and keep them company, but Miss Violet had reassured him that he didn''t have to accept any abuse from the adventurers. While he wasn''t sure her hopes of convincing adventurers to get along with his kind would work, he was willing to play along.


    Hawthorn knew that many of his kind harbored a hatred towards adventurers. He couldn''t exactly blame them since some of them had to deal with the atrocities committed against their kind for their entire lives. Watching their families killed and their homes destroyed wasn''t exactly an easy thing for anyone. Even if most of it wasn''t intentional, it didn''t change how much harm was caused. Still, even if he could understand, he would do whatever Miss Violet asked of him. He owed that much to her after all that she had already done for them.

 2.46 Veteran Dungeon Diplomat

    "Something isn''t right here."


    Elder Kendric stated as they walked through Thornkeep Sanctuary dungeon. Theodore looked down at his senior. For the investigation he had requested from the council in the village of the dungeon diplomats, they had chosen to dispatch two people to help him. One of them was a slightly older peer of his, Beowulf, who was known for his strength while the other had been a veteran in their field of work, Elder Kendric.


    Anyone with the title of ''elder'' had to be over a thousand years old and was guaranteed to know what they were doing. Having someone like that assigned to this case was both a relief and stress-provoking at the same time. Theodore was still young and his methods were flawed, so it was no surprise that Elder Kendric felt the need to lecture him a number of times over the last week. Still, he wanted Violet to get the appropriate help that she deserved, so it was a relief to have someone experienced and knowledgeable on board.


    Still, it wasn''t like experience with other dungeons would prove entirely helpful. Violet''s dungeon was quite special and so it was impossible for anyone to truly know what to make of it. Thus, Theodore tried to reassure


    "Well, as I''ve been telling you, Violet is a bit different from most Dungeon Masters. She''s a reincarnated Human and has retained her memories of her past life. So, her dungeon reflects that."


    Elder Kendric glowered at Theodore as he reprimanded


    "Boy! Have you forgotten your training? There is no reason to question how the Dungeon Masters choose to decorate their dungeons. I better not find out you have been giving unsolicited advice either!


    The dungeon cores always choose the one they wish to bond to with the utmost care. It isn''t our place to then question what sort of dungeon they become. It is only our place to offer guidance and help when it is asked for. Perhaps, in more extreme circumstances, we can help them move on.


    However, that''s neither here nor there. I was clearly talking about the way the dungeon feels. Don''t tell me you can''t feel it too!"


    Elder Kendric''s voice still sounded quite young, despite his age. He was shorter than Theodore, but that was mostly just because they had been born to different parents. Still, the authority and annoyance that the elder spoke with still made everyone who heard him want to stop and listen. Sighing, Theodore did as Elder Kendric was asking.


    It was true that the dungeon didn''t quite feel right. It was quite similar to the day Theodore had initially formed a contract between David and Violet. There was a bit more hope and optimism in the air than there had been back then, but it was certainly true that the dungeon felt constricting. Still, Violet was often anxious or depressed, so, perhaps, he had merely gotten used to the way the dungeon felt off.


    Beowulf shifted the man he was carrying over his shoulder to the other side before asking


    "How far do we need to go to reach the dungeon core room exactly? You said this dungeon was still fairly new, but it looks to be two or three floors tall from what I saw from the outside."


    Elder Kendric said nothing about the change of topic, not even sparing Beowulf a glance. Instead, he looked to Theodore expectantly.


    "When I was here a week ago, there were only two floors. I haven''t felt any of the signs of a new floor being created, so it should still be just that much. Violet does have a habit of building a lot faster than most Dungeon Masters, though, so we should have quite a bit of ground to cover."


    Theodore said as they arrived at their first obstacle, the slime parkour room. They had already passed through the tribute room, altar room, and garden meadow room. Despite how impressed Theodore thought the other two would be by the dungeon, they had yet to even acknowledge anything. It was, honestly, kind of disappointing. Even if the achievements weren''t his own, he couldn''t help but want to show off.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Dungeon diplomats always had a connection to dungeons as well as much stricter laws and regulations than even the dungeon accords accounted for that ensured the dungeons in their care would be well taken care of. However, the connection the assigned Dungeon Diplomat had with the dungeons and their masters was even more special. Theodore couldn''t help but feel like a proud parent or even a friend to Violet, even despite how little they had interacted, thus far. He wanted to declare to everyone he talked to just how impressive Violet was, just like a doting parent, and he was also fiercely protective over her, even if his methods were a bit flawed.


    Now, Theodore had two other dungeons he was also bonded to, but it wasn''t like he felt the same type of connection with all of them. With Master Alexander, the glitch Dungeon Master, he felt more like a social worker or parole officer. There wasn''t really the same level of connection, but that worked better for Master Alexander anyhow. He wanted respect and to be left to his own devices, not a friend and confidante. So, Theodore did what was asked of him and nothing more.


    Theodore''s thoughts were interrupted as Elder Kendric scolded


    "Why do you keep referring to her without her title? Perhaps I should suggest to the council that you need to be re-educated."


    Theodore rolled his eyes, finishing the trek across the slime parkour room before he responded


    "Many of the adventurers refer to her as Mistress Violet and even the Pixies she recently made contracts with refer to her as Miss Violet. However, she had made it more than clear that it makes her feel lonely. She wants to be treated as an equal, so I call her by her name since it shows that I respect her choices."


    Beowulf seamlessly crossed the room, not struggling at all. That didn''t stop the man on his shoulder from complaining, though, not that he could be understood with his mouth covered and the restraints he was tied with restricting his ability to communicate. Elder Kendric was a bit slower, but still managed to jump across the distance to each of the platforms in turn. He barely took time to catch his breath before continuing forward while replying


    "Very well, I shall reserve my judgments until I can meet her for myself. It''s certainly unusual, even for a Human, to not enjoy the respect and other pleasantries their new roles come with. However, I suppose it''s true that a reincarnated individual keeping their original form and their memories intact is also unheard of."


    They continued forward until they reached the boss room. The boss itself wasn''t going to attack them, nor would other creatures attack them. Well, it wasn''t necessarily impossible for the more intelligent types of [Monsters] to choose to fight their instincts and try to attack them anyway. Most were smart enough not to get their Dungeon Master in trouble, even if they could resist. However, some were simply too chaotic to resist. A mere slime wasn''t exactly capable of coherent thought or communication, though, so there was hardly anything to worry about here.


    Still, the hedge maze itself presented a problem. Theodore hadn''t really gone through it often enough to memorize the route to take either. Usually Violet came down to greet him by now, so he could just follow her the rest of the way to the dungeon core room. Elder Kendric didn''t seem all that impressed by his lack of knowledge about the dungeon either.


    "You haven''t memorized the route yet? How new could this room be if the dungeon was reported to have unlocked the second floor nearly a season ago?"


    Theodore sighed as he explained


    "If you remember, the dungeon itself only appeared a few weeks before the winter season started. The boss room was built only a few days before the second floor was unlocked. I''ve only visited two or three times since it was built. Even then, Violet usually comes down to greet me before I can make it more than a few rooms past the entrance. I just follow her from that point since she knows the way."


    Elder Kendric didn''t seem all that impressed by Theodore''s answer as he demanded


    "After we''re done here, I expect you to take a few days off to explore the entirety of the dungeon. There''s no reason you shouldn''t have the route memorized."


    Beowulf chuffed, seeming far too amused. Elder Kendric turned to him as well, glaring as he asked


    "What about you? Should I see how well you have your assigned dungeons memorized as well."


    That made Beowulf''s amusement evaporate immediately as his face once more took on a rather serious look. It wasn''t part of their job to memorize the layout of the dungeon. Besides which, his lineage made it easy to tell which direction to take to make it to the dungeon core room the fastest. It wasn''t his job to do so here and the connection wasn''t as strong in a dungeon that he wasn''t bonded to. So, there was no reason he''d go exploring a dungeon unless he received a report from the adventurer''s guild about suspicious activity in the dungeon, something that hadn''t happened in a couple of decades, at least.

 2.47 Cooperative Companions

    Theodore was getting a bit tired of getting lectured. So, he pretended to check on the hostage Beowulf was carrying while Elder Kendric continued forward. When his senior became startled, he knew that his plan had worked. A butterfly wall [Trap] wasn''t exactly something that most dungeons had access to. In fact, Theodore''s theory was that there was something special about Violet''s dungeon that she had received as part of her initial request for a ''cute'' dungeon.


    Kendric looked quite upset as he looked back at Theodore.


    "Why didn''t you tell me there were [Traps] ahead? Also, is there something wrong with this dungeon you haven''t informed me about? There shouldn''t be any [Traps] triggering on us."


    Theodore rolled his eyes as he gestured at the mass of butterflies in their path.


    "This barely counts as a [Trap]. I was surprised by it the first time as well and even Violet had seemed confused since it is labeled as a [Trap] by her system. From what I could tell, it seems the dungeon views it as a hybrid with it both counting as a [Trap] and as [Critters] or a special effect. It''s like how bees don''t stop existing just because we walk past a beehive."


    Elder Kendric furrowed his brow, still feeling quite perplexed. Well, it was certainly true that the butterflies themselves weren''t exactly poisonous or anything. Still, he couldn''t help but wonder what would make a Dungeon Master want to install such a thing if it wasn''t lethal. There wasn''t even another [Trap] being used in tandem with it. Still, he hardly wanted to ask about it since it would be the opposite of what he had said earlier. It wasn''t his place to question a Dungeon Master''s decisions, regardless of how strange he thought they were.


    Luckily, he didn''t have to ask. Theodore was more than happy to brag about Violet.


    "The first floor doesn''t actually have any [Traps] and all of the [Monsters] are mostly harmless, save for the dungeon boss. I had initially been a bit worried about how well-protected the dungeon would be. That was why I had agreed to let Violet sign a contract with David to learn swordsmanship when she asked. It seemed like a good way to increase the odds of the dungeon lasting long enough to grow stronger.


    However, Violet actually doesn''t seem to be very power-hungry and she has other goals in mind. She developed her first floor to be a training ground for young children and beginner adventurers. It''s also supposed to be safe enough that the locals can come in to gather resources, assuming they take the path opposite of the way we went.


    While the emperor slime had been considered far too powerful compared to everything else, something the adventurers keep reporting to me, Violet was still worried about people who make it to this floor. So, she added the butterfly [Traps] to the hallway immediately outside the stairs between floors to act as a warning system. We tend to think of adventurers as accepting the risk of death when they enter a dungeon, but she really seems to want to give them a fair chance."


    Beowulf sneered, scoffing as he remarkedThis story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "They don''t deserve her kindness. You shouldn''t be encouraging such behavior."


    Elder Kendric said nothing, still feeling a bit conflicted about things. Soon enough they came to the first room with pixies in it. The room was full of rose bushes of a rainbow of colors as well as enchanted trees, which easily towered over them all. A pixie immediately flew up to greet them, but Theodore knew there was another one hiding somewhere in the room. Well, all of them could sense the presence of the [Monsters] in the dungeon, but Theodore had actually met the painfully shy Lily.


    "Greetings, I''m Cedar! Do you need help with..."


    Cedar trailed off as he realized Theodore was with them. Recovering from his surprise, Cedar asked


    "I wasn''t expecting you here today, Theodore! Did you need to see Miss Violet today? She doesn''t seem to be feeling too well since last night. I''m afraid she is, probably, still hiding away in the dungeon core room. I can help show you the way, if you need?"


    Theodore smiled gratefully, but still replied


    "That''s awfully kind of you. However, it would likely be better for you to stay here with your wife. I''d hate it if you were to accidentally become separated if we get too distracted. I''ll see about asking one of the others further in. Here, you can have this."


    Theodore took a small dried fruit out of his pocket and handed it to the male pixie. It was small enough that Cedar didn''t struggle too much with it and he happily took it home with him. Their group continued forward and Elder Kendric continued to observe Theodore carefully. The next challenge room didn''t actually have any pixies in it. The flower hunt room used to have slimes, but Theodore didn''t see any sign of them nor any replacements now. So, they continued to go through the rooms one after another until they arrived in the hopscotch challenge room where they met Jasmine and Daisy.


    "Theodore!"


    "We''re so happy to see you!"


    The two pixies cried out in joy. Theodore returned their enthusiastic greetings with one of his own.


    "Yes, it''s lovely to see you as well! I hear Violet has been in her room since last night. Has she been sleeping a lot this week?"


    The two looked concerned, but neither seemed sure what was wrong. So, Theodore settled for asking them to lead the way through the dungeon. The new fae circles and mystery falls challenge rooms were new even to Theodore, so he wasn''t familiar with Iris, Orchid, Aster, or Hawthorn. However, he was still friendly to them all, greeting them each in turn, but none of them quite seemed sure what was wrong with Violet. Hawthorn did have a theory, though.


    "She came back from training last night quite upset. She mentioned before that a man comes to train her in swordsmanship each day. Then she comes up to have a tea party with us while she draws maps and plans what to build next in the dungeon. She always seems troubled, but last night she seemed more upset than usual.


    Miss Violet certainly tried to hide it, but the child seems to forget that we have a connection to her. Maybe that would work with the adventurers, but we can tell when something is wrong. She made all of us homes and threw a more extravagant party than usual, but I think she was just trying to distract herself. She still seemed upset this morning when she went to work on things downstairs as well."


    Theodore nodded in understanding. It would seem David had been causing trouble again. Oh well, that was what they were here for today anyway. After getting directions from Hawthorn, he said his goodbyes, promising to do his best to remember to return the others to their rooms when they left.

 2.48 Consequences Of Your Actions

    Violet knew there were people in her dungeon. She even knew that they were nearly to her dungeon core room now. However, she just couldn''t be bothered to go and greet Theodore, especially knowing that he had brought David with him. Two others were with them. They were labeled as Dungeon Diplomats by her [Guest List] skill, but that only made her feel more anxious. She hadn''t been given any advanced warning, so she had to assume something was wrong.


    Was her dungeon core going to be destroyed today? Had Theodore felt it necessary to bring back-up to ensure she couldn''t put up a fight and prevent anything from happening? The fact that David was with them just felt like that much more of a betrayal. She thought she could trust him, that Theodore actually cared for her. Yet, if he had been swayed by David to take action against her, then that clearly wasn''t the case.


    This had, of course, led to even more confusion once their group finally made it to the dungeon core room. A rather large man, who looked just as much beast as man, set a tied-up David down on the floor rather roughly before kicking him. Where Violet had been ready to submit to the fate she thought was awaiting her, thinking she didn''t stand a chance of resisting, she now just felt confused.


    "Greetings, Madam Violet. Or would you prefer if I called you just Violet? Theodore here has told me that might be the case, but I''d prefer to get your permission before making any assumptions. I''d hate to be rude, after all. I am Kendric and this is my subordinate, Beowulf. I do apologize if our visit has caught you off guard."


    Violet couldn''t help but relax as she heard Elder Kendric speak. He spoke slowly, as if he was a wise old man, but he also had quite a bit of youthfulness to the way he spoke, which was reinforced by his rather young look. If Violet had to compare him to someone, she''d have to say he looked to be, roughly, David''s age. His hair had streaks of gray in it, but his face was still free from wrinkles. There wasn''t even a single scar or stubble to subtract from his youthfulness, making his entire persona seem at odds with itself.


    Rolling her shoulders back, she took a calming breath, trying to center herself. Then she answered


    "Yes, well, Theodore is certainly the only one willing to respect my wishes, usually. I do prefer not to be referred to with such fancy titles, but I can''t even get my own dungeon [Monsters] to skip the formalities, so it''s whatever.


    More importantly, can I ask why you''re here? I, kind of, assumed that you were here because I did something wrong."


    Elder Kendric looked at Violet with concern, only stopping for a moment to taste the air, before responding


    "Did Theodore say something to you to make you think you were in trouble? I assume you haven''t actually done anything we should know about. You certainly seem quite nervous, my dear. Shall I take a look at your dungeon core while Theodore explains things to you?"


    Violet stepped out of the man''s way, gesturing towards the dungeon core in acceptance. She felt a bit uncomfortable being surrounded by so many men, so she could only try to make herself feel more at home by keeping her focus on Theodore, the only one she was actually familiar with.


    Theodore smiled warmly at Violet, offering her a hug in greeting, before explaining


    "I do apologize for taking so long to return. It took a while to finish up the recent investigation we''ve been doing. I know I probably should have taken the time to inform you we would be visiting today, but I didn''t want to raise suspicions more than necessary."


    Violet looked warily at David as she repliedThe narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    "A bit late for that, I should think. I''m pretty sure David caught on to the fact that your investigation was related to my dungeon a few days ago."


    Theodore pursed his lips, looking a bit angry as he asked


    "Did something happen last night? Your pixies seemed a bit worried about you. Besides which, you still seem tense."


    Elder Kendric was quick to add in


    "The dungeon core seems to have undergone quite a bit of stress recently as well. It''s nothing too serious since we''re here to resolve things now, but I''d hate to see the result had we waited any longer. No recent deaths, besides your slimes, in the dungeon, though, so I guess you haven''t had many visitors to the second floor. That should change soon enough, though, I''m sure."


    Theodore looked up at his senior a bit exasperatedly. Violet wasn''t really sure what that was about. While Kendric wasn''t exactly as friendly, nor did he praise her as freely as Theodore did, he wasn''t exactly being unkind. Violet still felt a bit uncomfortable around Beowulf who looked quite scary as he towered over everyone present and didn''t seem particularly happy, but she was otherwise warming up to her visitors. Looking warily back down at David, she decided to just be honest. They were supposed to be here to help her renegotiate a contract with David anyway, right?


    "Well, it''s just that David has been rather passive-aggressive most of the winter season. I''ve tried to be as understanding as I can about things and help him out as much as I''m comfortable with. However, he hasn''t exactly been willing to reciprocate and has been anything from passive-aggressive to violent towards me. He started bringing me better tributes than just random rocks and twigs after the last time you visited. It''s mostly been random trash like rusted helmets and such, but I don''t mind that so much. As I''ve said before, I wouldn''t mind if people brought me literal trash since it would still give me resources to improve the dungeon.


    I don''t think he has really broken the contract we initially made regarding his training either. He shows up every day to train me and he hasn''t killed me or anything like that. However, he was a bit more violent than usual last night. I had to wash the blood off my arms and it took a bit to heal everything as well. Besides which, when I said I was done training, he continued to lash out at me, as if he wanted to kill me. To be honest, I was planning on hiding in here and making him come to me. I know it likely wouldn''t work to keep him away since he''d still have to follow his end of the contract, but I didn''t have any other ideas.


    I don''t exactly have very deadly [Traps] unlocked right now and I wouldn''t want to make changes to the dungeon just because of him. I want other adventurers to visit the dungeon, so it''s important to me that I gradually increase the danger level of the floors. As it is, I''m sure you''ve seen I have a deep pitfall [Traps] in the hallway. Even the [Monster] fields with the rabbits have briar patches, even if they are easy enough to avoid."


    Beowulf seemed to almost foam at the mouth and he looked so angry. Violet was sure that if he had been holding anything in his hands it would have been destroyed now. His fists were balled so tight she could see blood dripping down from the way his nails were digging into the flesh. Theodore didn''t look much better, but he seemed more so defeated, as if he had failed her. Only Elder Kendric seemed to still be calm, but he still looked at Violet with a mixture of pity and curiosity. As the only calm one in the room, Kendric stepped forward and said


    "Alright, well, we can fix the contract for you, not to worry. Now, while I''m sure Theodore was bonded to your dungeon for a reason, I would like to ask, do you want to request someone else? It''ll take some time and be a bit painful to break the connection so that someone else can be assigned to your dungeon, but it isn''t impossible."


    Violet couldn''t help but feel repulsed by the idea. She vehemently shook her head, gesturing wildly, as she replied


    "No, no, no, no, no! I like Theodore and I don''t blame him for this at all. He always considers my opinion when it comes to decisions like this and I don''t want him to suffer. Besides, I don''t exactly have very many friends and I''ve enjoyed his visits. While I''m sure someone else could also do his job, I don''t want anyone else."


    Violet flinches as she finishes speaking. She sure hoped this wasn''t one of those situations where having a good relationship was considered a problem. However, that wasn''t something she needed to worry about as Theodore was smiling at her in gratitude when she looked his way. Kendric''s response was also quite positive as he replied


    "Ah, that''s high praise. Theodore really is lucky to have been given such an opportunity. Very well, that''ll make things simpler. Right, well, shall we get started on amending the contract then?"

 2.49 Amended Contract

    "Right, so, Theodore, why don''t you remind us of the details and circumstances of the previous contract?"


    Elder Kendric asked. Theodore sighed, knowing that today wasn''t going to go well for him. Still, he had a job to do, so he was quick to reply


    "A few days after this dungeon was established, I received a summons to help with establishing a system contract between David and Violet. I immediately responded to the request assuring that I would be around the next morning. After teleporting to the dungeon, I collected David before heading to the dungeon core room, where I found Violet.


    The dungeon core had begun to corrupt and she was in a traumatized state on the ground. I immediately went to comfort her while trying to get answers in regards to what had happened. From what I could gather, after I confirmed my arrival for the next morning, David decided to begin swordsmanship training that night. However, in the process, he chose to kill Violet repeatedly. This caused strain on the dungeon core due to her emotional state being compromised beyond what the dungeon could handle.


    After a brief violent response on my part, I decided to change the terms of the contract that had initially been requested. David had been the one to suggest a contract first. He was offering to train Violet in exchange for a safe environment for his daughter on the first floor. Violet would be expected to inform him of any new [Traps] added to the first floor and he would show up occasionally to train her in swordsmanship.


    I changed the contract to favor Violet more and to offer David a second chance. He was expected to show up every day for swordsmanship training with restrictions on how severe it could be. No limit on duration and Violet would be free to turn him down on a day-to-day basis. David was informed he had to provide tribute up to the value of what could be retrieved from the dungeon, upon request. He was also obligated to do the training for a minimum of a year with renewal being considered based on how things looked after that point in time.


    In exchange, Violet was asked to not place [Traps] anywhere on the first floor, except in the hallway directly outside the dungeon core room. The [Traps] would automatically be moved when she unlocked a second floor, but she chose to just forgo any [Traps] on the first floor altogether. This was decided upon to ensure she could keep her end of the bargain more easily. She wouldn''t have to give out information on what types of [Traps] she had access to, nor where she decided to place them.


    I also agreed to secure David a job with the adventurer''s guild once they moved to the area. The guild has already agreed to it and was enthusiastic about the idea of having someone knowledgeable about the dungeon and its master. However, they won''t be able to start building until after spring, so he has been on his own, thus far. I considered this part of his punishment for his actions in the hopes that he could reflect and more severe action wouldn''t have to be taken. He was warned, though, that I could and would take further action if he wasn''t more careful in the future."


    Theodore tried to keep things simple, keeping his own feelings and thoughts out of it as much as possible. Elder Kendric nodded, looking at something in the air that the rest couldn''t see. More than likely he was looking at a copy of the current system contract, but it was also possible he could already be working on a new one. Kendric hummed in thought before turning to Violet and asking


    "You were the one who asked for intervention in the current contract, right?"


    Theodore was a bit relieved his senior didn''t say anything about his own failures in dealing with the previous contract. At least, he wasn''t saying anything about it right now. While his actions were always reported to the council for review, he still felt guilty that things had turned out as poorly as they had. Violet''s voice was quiet as she answered and Theodore easily caught her worried glance at David. The man wouldn''t be able to hurt her again, that''s what they were here for today. Still, it didn''t change the uneasy emotions that seemed to pollute the air in the dungeon.


    "Well, yes. I just felt like it would be better for both of us if we could cancel the contract sooner rather than later. I can tell David is miserable and hates having to come here. Well, he seems to want to take advantage of my dungeon, so maybe it would be more accurate to say that he doesn''t like me.


    I don''t know if Theodore told you, but I''ve been trying to be creative so that I can obtain more resources and upgrade my dungeon more quickly. I signed a contract with another group of individuals who have actually been quite good to me. They needed a place to stay during the winter season and, in return, they will pay me rent each night. It was a bigger deal having them around when I only had one floor, but it has actually been quite beneficial to me now that I have two floors. They haven''t complained about continuing to pay rent, though, so I''ve been happy to help them out further.


    One of my other hobbies I''ve been working on is playing the role of a merchant. I sold them some dried firewood and magic bags in return for a large amount of resources. I actually have been selling David canned food each week as well, but he seems to get more passive-aggressive about it instead of appreciating it. It shows in how aggressive he gets during training and with how the quality and amount of tribute continues to decrease with each passing day. I don''t want to be used as a way for him to get rich.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    So, when I first mentioned changing the contract, I just asked that he be banned from interacting with me anymore. His daughter and he could continue to visit the dungeon and I would treat them the same as normal adventurers. I don''t even care about keeping the [Traps] off the first floor since it works out with my current goals. I just don''t think our relationship with one another is very healthy."


    Kendric nodded, seeming like he was taking notes. His hands were empty, but he was likely changing the details of the contract as he listened to them talk about the various details. The next thing he asked seemed less related to the contract, but Theodore still had the feeling that Violet''s answer actually mattered.


    "Our recent investigation actually involved the town leader as well as a local alchemist. There were some others we had to ask questions as well, but I''ve heard you''re familiar with those two. Could you explain to me what made you want to start a charity project involving them?"


    Violet looked confused as she answered


    "I haven''t personally met the town leader. Elivyre is the only true friend I''ve made, thus far. She often visits just to collect herbs from the dungeon. Since she knows I like flowers and edible herbs and she uses them in her shop, she often tries to bring me ones she hasn''t seen in the dungeon as well. We usually just talk about our day and she''s the only one, besides Theodore, who is willing to treat me like her equal. She isn''t afraid of me and she was the one who showed me that my slimes only attack those who pose a danger to the dungeon.


    I asked her to help me with the charity project, but she ended up informing me that the town leader wasn''t willing to help. Apparently, he is planning on leaving soon and a new noble is supposed to take over come spring. I was hoping she would return soon so that the locals could get some help before the winter is over. I know they need it, I''ve overheard a number of others talking about how hard things have been.


    As for why I want to help, I guess it''s partially for selfish reasons. The local town leader banned the locals from entering the dungeon until it was deemed safe. I used to have a local boy and his father visit the dungeon every day when I first started. I want to earn the trust of the locals so that they''ll be willing to give me a chance. There isn''t much point in building a floor perfect for aspiring and beginner adventurers as well as locals alike, if no one ever visits. It''s kind of depressing and it becomes hard to stay motivated.


    However, charity was common in my old world as well. There were food banks, thrift stores, etc. that sold cheap goods or provided free meals to those who needed the help. I used to donate to such organizations whenever I could. Most of my childhood was happy, but my family had to depend on food pantries and thrifting for several years. It only seems right to give back when I can. Since I''ve got tons of extra mana just going to waste, I figured it would be good to turn it into something that can help others. Besides, food, potions, and firewood are all consumable, so it''s unlikely to ruin the economy."


    Theodore watched as Elder Kendric smiled warmly at Violet. Finally, a system message appeared in front of all of them. His senior was quick to explain


    "It''s lovely to see such a pure-hearted Dungeon Master, Violet. I really hope that this world doesn''t corrupt you. I really want to respect your wishes as much as possible, but I won''t allow your kindness to overshadow your safety.


    As you can see from the contract I just made available, new terms have been outlined. From this day onward, David will be banned completely from your dungeon. His daughter can return once she is of age, but I am a bit wary of how that may turn out. Hopefully you have implemented enough safety measures in your dungeon by then to ensure it won''t be an issue.


    I know someone who works with the adventurer''s guild in a different kingdom. It''ll be better than slavery, but he will be an indentured servant for a few years. A home will be provided for him and his child and she will also have her schooling paid for. However, he will have to follow every order the guild master gives him and serve his kingdom well.


    I can''t change all of the terms of the original contract. So, I have to make small changes. His indentured servitude will be used to provide a fund to pay for a replacement, which I''ve heard Theodore is already working on. You will also still have to abide by the same agreement in regards to no [Traps] on your first floor, but you said you don''t mind that, so I assume that''s fine.


    I have added a few clauses specific to Theodore himself. He will have to take some classes in regards to prevention and safety as well as contract making in order to better serve you. He will also be forced to spend some time exploring your dungeon until he is sufficiently familiar with it. During his visits he will be expected to provide additional companionship for you in order to ensure your mental health improves.


    I will also be assigning Beowulf and Theodore to help with the charity you want for the remainder of the winter season. They will help Elivyre since she seems to be safe enough. If you wish to make this a regular thing, Theodore will also be responsible for ensuring something is set up outside of the dungeon that is sustainable.


    Lastly, don''t worry about the town leader. He will be forced to answer for his crimes. His replacement had already been confirmed by the king of this kingdom, but I interfered some. I know the guy is a decent person and he should be around as soon as spring arrives and sort things out for you. He can''t make the locals trust you, but they will no longer be banned from the dungeon. There will be city guards assigned to watch the dungeon as well, but they''ll be up to dungeon accord standards."


    With that, Violet was asked to finish reviewing the contract. Then David was forced to sign alongside Theodore. Before too long, Violet was once more alone in the dungeon as the three left the dungeon. Beowolf and Theodore had to fetch Alice and then personally escort David to his new home while Kendric simply went home. It all left Violet feeling like she had whiplash with how quickly everything was resolved.

 2.50 (Dream Sequence) Hostess With The Mostest

    With her fears calmed, Violet slept much more peacefully. While the dreams she enjoyed the most tended to involve her deceased husband, Lee, that didn''t mean that he was always featured in them. In fact, today was quite a bit different as she was dreaming about hosting a dinner party with her girl friends.


    "Mmm! This is so good! What did you say it was called again?"


    Evelyn asked. Violet smiled to appear more friendly as she answered


    "That one is a pineapple-flavored melon pan. It''s pretty much just a sweet bread made with pineapple juice."


    Those were actually the most expensive of the breads she had prepared for their tea party. Her friend group always took turns hosting and they always did their best to come up with creative themes for the day. This was one of the first parties they had done, so trying different world cuisines was still interesting. However, later parties had taken on other themes like harvest season, winter wonderland, or an "Alice In Wonderland" mad tea party. Violet had always enjoyed Japanese cuisine, though, so she had, obviously, called dibs on that theme pretty early on.


    A trip to her local Asian market and several hours of cooking had seen to it that she had a full afternoon tea spread prepared. When she wed Lee they had been gifted a beautiful tea set, including three-tiered trays for holding tea sandwiches and desserts. That paired with a cherry blossom tablecloth and red napkins made the table look quite beautiful.


    While it was hardly necessary, their friend group had taken pride in setting up a proper afternoon tea. The first layer of the trays always held tea sandwiches. Today they held egg salad, pork cutlets, and fruit and cream sandwiches. The egg salad wasn''t much different from the American version, but it did require cutie mayonnaise, which was made with more yolks than other kinds. The pork cutlet sandwiches were, basically, a breaded and fried pork chop put on bread with the crusts cut off. Meanwhile, strawberries, kiwis, and mandarin oranges had been layered with homemade whipped cream for the fruit sandwiches.


    The second layer of the tray was usually supposed to be things like pancakes, English muffins, or biscuits with spreads like butter, clotted cream, jams, and lemon curd. However, the Japanese breads Violet had chosen for the day didn''t really need anything extra, so she had skipped that step. Her local Asian market had two varieties of milk pan, one had cheese added and then there was the original. Both were rather sweet, but not quite on the level of cake. They were soft little pillows and it was easy to stack them up on the tea tray. The pineapple-flavored mellow bun was a bit more expensive and much larger, but her friends were hardly going to complain about her dividing them into quarters. It would ensure everyone got the opportunity to try them while not having to blow her whole budget on them.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    The final layer of the tray was meant for small desserts. For this, Violet had chosen to use matcha and strawberry choco rolls, grapefruit-filled earl gray cookies, chocolate-dipped puff pastry, and a variety of different blocky flavors. Most of them would go well with tea, which was perfect since she had gone out of her way to provide oolong, Japanese green tea, and jasmine tea for her friends to sample. She wasn''t personally a fan of the jasmine variety, but it just seemed right to provide all three options.


    "So, what game are we playing today?"


    Mia asked. Violet stood up and brought a box over before explaining


    "I know it''s a Japanese-themed party, but I just picked out a flower-themed jigsaw puzzle. I didn''t really have any time to order something online, I¡¯ve been too busy with work lately."


    Her friends all worked in different fields of work, but this was hardly something they''d fault her for. It was good enough that she had done her fair share in hosting the tea party and ensuring everyone had enough refreshments and something to do while they hung out.


    "Well, I wouldn''t have expected anything different from you anyway. You have always enjoyed puzzles far more than anyone else I know."


    Lacey said, her laughter filling the room. Violet smiled back in return, feeling a bit awkward about the statement. She knew her friend didn''t mean anything by it, but it still felt a bit like a dig. Most of her friends liked to choose things like Cashflow Clash or a digital game like the Whackbox Fun Bundle. Sometimes they would even take turns playing Prance Prance Uprising at Lacey''s house, mildly teasing each other for their bad dancing skills. Violet didn''t mind doing what her friends wanted to do sometimes, though, making compromises was a healthy part of any relationship, after all.


    Violet usually chose to lose herself in her dreams, but it wasn''t truly the same as dreaming was before she reincarnated. She couldn''t change what happened in the dreams because it was mostly just her reliving her memories from her past life. However, she was very much aware of what was happening, just like if she was lucid dreaming. Oftentimes, as she relived things, she found herself making comparisons to her new life or taking inspiration for what to build next in her dungeon.


    She already had plenty of jigsaw puzzles and she was hardly about to reuse the idea so soon. Maybe after she had a few more floors, she would consider adding more jigsaw puzzles with a different theme. She didn''t really have use for Japanese cuisine in her dungeon right now either. She did have the milk tea powders, which she had already made, but that was a separate matter. Still, there were other things she could use.


    Relaxing her mind, Violet once more became a passive participant. It was better this way, she needed to rest. It would help her feel better when she next awoke, allowing her to better tackle the day. There was a lot she needed to work on in the upcoming week, after all.

 2.51 The Mishap

    After Theodore and the rest left, Violet decided to get to work. It was a relief knowing that she would no longer have to worry about David, but it had come at a cost. Now that he was gone, there was less of a guarantee she''d have enough mana and dungeon points coming in to freely build. She still had Camellia and Avorn she could depend on, but they were only one group and they couldn''t be depended on for everything. Thus, she no longer felt as free to let her mana and dungeon points go to waste. She''d need to spend her mana in a timely fashion and conserve her DP as much as possible.


    Taking her full 100 MP, Violet headed to the flower hunt room. It was the only room that didn''t have [Monsters] assigned to it on the second floor, nor did it lock its doors when non-dungeon entities entered it. That was something that she was starting to question now, though. David had been with Theodore''s group yet they had made good time traversing her dungeon, suggesting the dungeon rooms weren''t locked for them. Well, hopefully, Theodore would never purposefully allow other adventurers to use this weakness against her. It certainly didn''t seem very responsible of him if he let someone follow him and skip past all of her dungeon defenses, anyway.


    Finally arriving in the room she wanted, she went to summon two new pixies. After the incident with Aster and Hawthorn, she knew that it was entirely possible she wouldn''t end up leaving the pixies she summoned in this room. However, there was no way of knowing what she would get until after her mana was spent. She would just have to roll the dice and see what she would get.


    "Good afternoon-"


    The first male pixie was cut off abruptly by the second


    "Wait! No! Send me back! You have to send me back!"


    Violet was a bit surprised by the fact that she had managed to summon two male pixies this time. Most of the ones she had summoned, thus far, had been overwhelmingly female at a rate of three girls for every one male pixie. She had almost been convinced that male pixies were rare for their species. A bit too caught up in her own thoughts, Violet seemed almost oblivious as she stared blankly at the pixies in front of her. It wasn''t until the first pixie snapped at the second that she came back into focus.


    "Would you stop that?! You''re acting ridiculous! You shouldn''t have signed up to join a dungeon if you weren''t prepared to actually join one. Most of the people in my village would happily take your place in a heartbeat!"


    Violet raised her eyebrows questioningly at the first pixie, just now taking note of how distraught the second male seemed. Feeling a bit unsure of herself, she said.


    "Look, I apologize, but I must have missed your names. However, that doesn''t matter right now, we can get to that later. Why don''t you go over there and give the two of us some space to talk?"


    She gestured to a random corner of the room and the more calm, if a bit annoyed, pixie was quick to follow her orders. Looking back to the distraught male pixie, she sighed. Violet wasn''t exactly the right size to comfort the man, but she definitely didn''t want to just dismiss him without getting some answers. Scratching her face as she felt her anxiety increase, she asked


    "Could you, perhaps, explain why you want to return to your village? I''d rather see if we can''t find a different solution rather than resorting to such a thing, if at all possible."This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Violet couldn''t really understand what was happening, but she definitely wanted her [Monsters] to all feel at home. She would happily change the temperature of a room or decorate it to look more like their previous residence, if she could. If it was a matter of needing more purpose, she would happily try to design a new puzzle with them in mind. No matter what it was, she was happy to take action, but it would most certainly have to wait until later that night when Camellia and Avorn arrived. It wasn''t like she was going to regenerate mana without people actually being in the dungeon, after all.


    The male pixie sounded like he was having a panic attack as he explained


    "It''s my wife and daughter, they''re still back in my village. It isn''t safe there, they could die without me!"


    Violet felt herself beginning to panic as the pixie''s words sunk in. However, this wasn''t something she could take immediate action on. The small creature continued to speak


    "I knew there was the chance that we could end up separated when we signed up for a dungeon contract. However, I had consoled myself that I could live with it so long as my wife and daughter were safe. I never thought I would be summoned first, I wasn''t even the first of us to sign up for the program!"


    Violet wasn''t really sure how signing a contract with [Monsters] from outside the dungeon worked. Up until now, she had just ended up with complete strangers or pairs of pixies who knew each other and she hadn''t questioned it. Cedar and Lily were husband and wife, as were Hawthorn and Aster. There were even the twins, Iris and Orchid, who had been summoned at the same time. Since things had never gone like this before, she had never had to worry about whether families could become separated or not. Now she was starting to worry that she was harming those in her dungeon and whether she really should just send the man back.


    "I''m sorry, I don''t really know what to say. Could you maybe tell me more about what''s going on in your village? Are your wife and child actively in danger?"


    The man seemed to calm down a bit, feeling a bit uncertain as he answered


    "Well, I suppose so. My village used to be part of a more swampy area with an Elven village a decent distance away. Over the decades, the swamp dried up and the Elven village grew. However, in more recent years, we''ve had issues with Humans entering the forest. Now, it seems, the Elves and Humans in the area have gone to war with one another. Sometimes the Humans set the forest on fire or they chop down the trees to use them for their own needs. We never had any issues with the Elves because they have a lot of respect for the forest and those that call it home. They even killed off the more troublesome beasts and [Monsters] like the goblins or a rabid wolf, so we ended up benefitting from them.


    Shortly before I was summoned here, one of our village scouts reported a fire and our village was planning to evacuate. I don''t know what is going to happen to everyone else, but I know I can''t just leave my family''s lives up to chance. Without me, I''m not sure they''ll be able to flee fast enough and they most certainly won''t be able to bring enough supplies with them. That''s why I need you to send me back."


    Violet nodded in understanding as she listened to the pixie speak. She still wasn''t sure what his name was, but she was glad he was willing to explain things to her. It wasn''t really clear whether her pixies were all from the same kingdom her dungeon resided in or anything else. The way they talked about it, none of the pixies knew much about the world at large. They were all very isolated in their villages and only ever really learned about other pixie groups if they joined a dungeon, something they weren''t guaranteed to come back from alive. Sighing, Violet made her decision.


    "Alright, well, I hate to ask this of you when I don''t even know your name. However, I''m going to need you to wait until tomorrow morning before I make any official decisions on whether to send you back home or not. I have a lot more free mana at night and I''d like to try summoning more pixies to see if I can get lucky enough to bring your wife and child here as well. I don''t make any guarantees, but it''s the best I can do."


    Violet felt nervous, even as she said the words. If the man ended up never seeing his family again, something she certainly had no way of knowing about, she was fairly sure he wouldn''t forgive her.

 2.52 Family Reunion

    Violet ended up finding out the panicked pixie''s name was Clove while the more grumpy one was Basil. Well, maybe he wasn''t that grumpy, it was still a bit early to tell. Clove still seemed to be worried about his family, but he accepted Violet''s proposal easily enough. It wasn''t really like he had a choice, anyway, and she just hoped that he understood that she was trying to help. Sending him back to his village now wasn''t guaranteed to make things better. He might end up dying in the fire without ever getting the chance to help his family. Otherwise, even if they did escape, how long would it be before they''d end up in danger again? At least, in the dungeon, they could worry about their safety a little less.


    Since it was possible that she''d end up having to make more rooms in quick succession as well as summon several pixies back-to-back, Violet got to work planning out her next steps. She''d have to save working on new challenge rooms for tomorrow, more than likely, but she needed to be efficient with her mana now to ensure she could still assign the new pixies to a spawner. Luckily, she didn''t have to make a spawner for the flower hunt challenge room since it already had a nice 100 MP one in it, something she had upgraded to quite a while back. However, any new rooms or ones without challenges in it, would require her to spend an entire round''s worth of mana to install new spawners.


    Violet hadn''t really wanted to do things this way and she hated feeling rushed. The pixies would all need homes too, which meant she''d end up having to spend a night or two''s worth of mana on that before she could move on to bigger and better things. Namely, Violet wanted to start working on things like a new room meant for adventurers to rest in exchange for tribute and a new boss room. As for what she was going to put in the boss room, that was still something she still needed to work out. Pixies weren''t ideal for battle and Al-mi''raj couldn''t evolve either, so neither would really be able to put up as much of a fight as the emperor rock slime on her first floor did. Yet, it really seemed necessary to have something even more impressive to pit intruders against before letting them move on to the next floor.


    When her mana finally started to refill, Violet sighed a breath of relief. Things would still be left up to chance, but she''d know soon whether her efforts were worth it or not. When her mana finally reached 100 MP, she took an anxious breath and then summoned another set of pixies. More than a little surprisingly, she ended up with another two male pixies.


    "Greetings, Madam. I am Briar and this is my husband, Moss."


    "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss."


    The two pixies spoke in turn, sounding rather formal, but just as polite as the rest of her pixies had when she first met them. Violet smiled as she replied


    "It''s lovely to meet you as well, Briar and Moss. I do apologize, but I''m afraid I can''t celebrate your arrival as I usually would. Normally I would have tea and sweets for everyone to share before showing you to your new home, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Still, I hope you enjoy socializing with the others."


    Violet had already gone around and gathered her pixies into the mystery falls challenge room where Hawthorn and Aster lived. Everyone had been a bit disappointed by the nightly tea party being canceled, but they were still in high spirits as they socialized with one another. Due to the number of them now residing in the dungeon, Violet noted, it was almost like she had her own pixie village. She had heard that most villages only had a few dozen of them living there at any one time, so she was certainly well on her way.


    While two male pixies being married to each other definitely would have been a hot topic back home, she didn''t really find it her place to question it. In fact, most species in nature had been proven to have instances of same-gender coupling in the wild, so it made sense that the same would apply here. Violet herself wasn''t really interested in anyone but her husband, but she also didn''t find it worthwhile to cause pain and suffering to others for no good reason. She just hoped that all of her dungeon-dwelling inhabitants could live happily.


    In fact, of much bigger concern to Violet was the fact that she hadn''t ended up summoning Clover''s wife and child this time around. She had been hoping that it would be the case. That perhaps Basil was the first in line and that was why neither the mother, nor daughter had come alongside Clover. However, either that wasn''t the case or something else had happened to them. Another Dungeon Master might have made a contract with some pixies in the time she had been waiting to have enough mana to summon more of them. It was also, unfortunately, possible that the mother and daughter had perished. Shaking her head, Violet tried to calm her nerves as she waited for her mana to refill once more. She wasn''t going to give up until she ran out of mana for the night!The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    The next round of summoning also ended up coming up short, but had also ended up far more interesting than the last.


    Bowing his head, the newest male pixie introduced himself


    "Thank you for summoning me, Mistress. I am Chief Alder, the previous head of my village."


    Quickly flying over, Clove looked worried as he asked


    "Chief Alder, I can''t believe you''re here! What happened? Do you know if my wife and child are okay?"


    The gruff man seemed tired as he replied


    "Yes, Rosemary and Juniper managed to make it to safety. Unfortunately, others did not. My wife personally oversaw the evacuation of the women and children, but many good young men lost their lives today. It is a relief to see you aren''t among the casualties."


    Feeling relieved, Violet turned away while the two continued to speak amongst themselves. Alongside Alder, another, much younger male, named Aspen had joined her dungeon. From what she could understand from his excited talking, she had come from a desert village and he was quite happy to have been brought to such a beautiful dungeon with more moderate temperatures. Violet got the feeling Aspen was going to be quite popular with the young pixie girls in her dungeon. All four of the single women were quite excitable, enthusiastic in their youth, and she could easily see them getting along.


    The next attempt ended up with two siblings named Willow and Holly joining the dungeon. They were both quite young, barely adults by pixie standards, but they were a lot more serious. Apparently, they were from a pixie kingdom buried deep in some mountains, near a dragon''s lair. They were considered royalty where they came from, but they weren''t the firstborn, so it was better for them to join a dungeon and live their own lives free from politics than to continue residing where they were unwanted. Violet felt bad for the siblings, but found it quite fascinating to hear there were kingdoms with hundreds of pixies in the less well-known parts of the world.


    It did make a good bit of sense that the aether in the atmosphere would play a role in how the world developed. If Humans could only safely live near dungeons while [Monsters] could safely live in areas high in aether, then it would make sense for any larger settlements to be hidden away like that. Still, it kind of made Violet wish that she too could leave the dungeon. She wanted to explore the world and see what things were like for herself, not just hear stories about it, no matter how fascinating they might be.


    Once the siblings drifted off to socialize with the others, Violet''s anxiety began to set it once more. She hadn''t bothered to waste any mana on spawners or new rooms to place said spawners in, thus far. Yet, she had already spent an entire 300 MP on summoning pixies, which was a lot, even if it wasn''t quite half of her nightly mana. She didn''t quite feel comfortable leaving her dungeon [Monsters] vulnerable, though. Knowing her luck, if she did, she''d end up regretting it. Even despite no adventurers coming up to explore her second floor, thus far, she knew it was only a matter of time. The last thing she wanted was to have her pixies die while not being assigned to a spawner, it had already been bad enough with her first slime. It would be even worse with sentient creatures who could talk and whom she had grown accustomed to having around.


    Bowing her head, Violet decided to try praying to whatever deity would accept her prayers. She wasn''t really sure that the goddess of love and beauty would hear her prayers without her being at the altar, nor that she could do anything. It also wasn''t certain whether the system or any other deities would accept prayers from her. However, she couldn''t help but feel the need to try something, anything, to try and salvage the situation.


    "I don''t know if anyone is out there, if you can even do anything to intervene. However, I still have to ask. Please help me reunite Clove with his family. I''m doing my best here, but I think I can only summon two more groups of pixies, at most, before I have to switch priorities. I don''t want to be the reason this man suffers and loses his family, but I don''t want to send him back to a warzone either. I don''t really have anything to offer you either and I know I''m being selfish, but please just help me."


    Violet winced at herself as she finished the prayer. She would happily offer an entire night''s worth of mana in the form of tribute to a deity if it meant she could keep her pixies happy. However, since she wasn''t even sure who she was praying to, she could only ask for help without offering anything in return. She did feel lighter after praying, though, and then she went to summon another group of pixies. By some divine intervention, a miracle occurred and, finally, finally, Clove was reunited with his wife and daughter.

 2.53 Good News

    Violet was extremely relieved when she finally summoned Rosemary and Juniper to the dungeon. Clove was clearly overjoyed as well as they cried in each other''s arms. The fact that it had only taken 400 MP to summon the eight pixies was also really good news. It meant that there was still enough time in the night to take care of other pressing issues.


    First things first, Violet needed to build some new rooms and hallways! 128 MP had to be spent on four new 16-Units by 16-Units square rooms. 20 MP went towards making four new 5-Units straight hallways to connect the rooms and one of the old 5-Units straight hallways had to be moved. Violet wanted all of the rooms to continue the same pattern she had been using so that adventurers would have to go through all eighteen challenge and [Monster] field rooms before reaching the dungeon core room. With any luck, most adventurers wouldn''t be able to clear the floor without spending a few days working at it. That wouldn''t exactly get rid of any threats by itself, but the exhaustion they would feel would certainly make accidents more likely.


    Since the flower hunt room already had a spawner, only 400 MP had to be spent to get four new spawners to assign all of the new pixies to. That, unfortunately, ended up being the last of the mana Violet could afford to spend for the night. Anything else would be saved up and combined with the 25 MP that regenerated each morning so that she could have some to use the next morning. A few hours was hardly going to make for enough sleep for a normal person, but Violet didn''t need sleep anyways, so it was plenty for her. After seeing her pixies back to their respective rooms, she went to sleep.


    The next morning, Violet was excited to see Elivyre visiting the dungeon. It seemed like forever since she had last seen her friend, even if it was really more like only a little over a week. Still, she couldn''t help but act overdramatic as she hugged her friend and exclaimed


    "You''re back! I was starting to worry I wasn''t going to see you for another few months!"


    Elivyre laughed as she patted her on the back good-naturedly. However, she was quick to get down to business as she explained


    "I was a bit worried as well, honestly. Several Dungeon Diplomats were in town for an investigation most of the last week. I ended up having to show them my records and answer a bunch of questions, many of which seemed to relate to your dungeon. I''m guessing some idiot ended up causing you enough trouble to warrant all of this?"


    Violet offered a half-smile, feeling a bit guilty.


    "Yeah, kind of. Although, I think it was more that too many things added up and Theodore was starting to worry. I''m kind of glad, though, since things seem to be improving for the better. It is rather unfortunate that I won''t have very many visitors to my dungeon for a while, though."Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Elivyre shook her head as she went to sit down beside some plants, preparing to collect them. Violet did the same, eager to continue talking to her friend. It was quiet for a bit before Elivyre said


    "I know I didn''t have anything to hide, but it was pretty nerve-wracking being investigated. I don''t really do much of anything to warrant being looked into, everything is above board and I''d never do anything against the dungeon accords. I suppose that''s probably why the questions stopped being about me and my business pretty quickly. Mostly, I had to give them some information about the adventurers and locals I''ve interacted with as well as explain how things were going in regards to the town leader.


    Now, I guess, I''m being assigned help from some Dungeon Diplomats to do the charity thing you wanted. I was originally told that Theodore you mentioned and another one named Beowulf would be helping me, but I guess they''re busy so they''re sending someone else. Should be able to pick up the first batch of supplies from you early next week."


    Violet nodded, blowing out a breath of air, before she said


    "I suppose I''ll have to start preparing for that then. Do you think you''d mind visiting me more often so I can get enough mana to cover everything? I''m hoping to get my third floor at the beginning of spring, but I have some things to work on before I can do that. I don''t mean to complain about something I suggested, but making the supplies can be costly and I wasn''t expecting to have all of my regular visitors disappear."


    Elivyre looked thoughtful before replying


    "I can see what I can do. It might be good to gather some more herbs for my shop and stock up before spring arrives, especially if I won''t be able to visit the dungeon at the start of the season. Unfortunately, until the new noble arrives, we have to follow the rules the town leader set up. I''ve heard he is going to have to stand trial and face punishment for trying to limit who visits the dungeon, but the politics surrounding everything is too complicated for everything to immediately change. Still, I''ll do my best to advertise your dungeon for you while I hand out supplies. Hopefully, the Dungeon Diplomats don''t try to investigate me for it."


    Elivyre chuckled as she finished speaking. Violet gave her a smile of sympathy, feeling bad that her friend was being scrutinized so much. Hoping to reassure her friend, she said


    "Well, if it helps, Theodore, the one assigned to my dungeon, seems to think well of you. I know I''ve told him I''m happy to have a friend, not many people are willing to look past my status as a Dungeon Master."


    "Yeah, but it''s kind of understandable. You might not be trying to actively kill everyone who steps foot in your dungeon, but it''s hard to give you a chance when everyone else is so problematic. I''m sure people will warm up to you with time, which, luckily, you have plenty of."


    Violet knew what her friend was saying was true, still it sucked being judged for the actions of others of her kind.

 2.54 Cutting Costs

    Violet spent the mana from Elivyre''s visit on an extra magic bag and firewood to use for charity. She needed her mana from nighttime to work on some of her other projects, but she also knew she''d need to start working on creating goods for the charity work sooner rather than later. Actually, the project she was working on today was meant to help with her mana costs while ensuring her quality of life was still consistent.


    As soon as Camellia and Avorn arrived for the night, she made her way through her rooms until she arrived at the first unused room after the mystery falls, which sat between the pear and orange orchard [Monster] field rooms. Much like she had done for the fae circles room, she cleared away some of the unnecessary trees in the center of the room.


    "Pardon me, Miss Violet, but what are you working on?"


    Holly asked. This room was where she had assigned Willow and Holly, the pixie royalty she had summoned just yesterday. While the pixies had all been calling her different things when she first summoned them, they had all seemed to agree calling her "Miss Violet" was the best choice. Considering she didn''t actually want to have any titles used, she supposed she would have to accept the wins she could get. Being called "Miss" wasn''t nearly as stuffy sounding as "Madam" or as strange as "Mistress" anyhow.


    "Well, I''m sure you''ve heard from the others that I tend to make all of the rooms you are assigned to challenge rooms."


    "That''s correct, Miss."


    Willow interjected. Smiling, Violet continued


    "Well, I''m doing the same here, but I was thinking of having it be tea party themed."


    Willow creased his eyebrows in confusion, but Holly was cheerful as she exclaimed


    "How fun!"


    The way these two spoke certainly made them stand out from the others. In fact, Violet almost felt like they had an accent of sorts that made them sound more like aristocrats, but she couldn''t quite say whether that made sense or if it was all in her head. She most certainly wasn''t used to her pixies being anything more than carefree and informal, save for when they called her name.


    With the space finally ready to start building, Violet opened her [Dungeon Status] screen.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Dungeon Status:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Mana 100 / 100


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current DP: 5,960


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Floors: 2The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Rooms: 36 (18+18)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Monsters


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Construction


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Research


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Missions


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Despite how poorly things had gone when Violet last interacted with David, she had still managed to do their weekly trade. This was mostly because she had opted to do so before they began their swordsmanship training for the night, something she had conflicted feelings about now. There was no way she would have willingly done so after what he pulled that night, that much was certain. However, she couldn''t help but wonder whether it was better to have made the trade and have gained the extra 2,500 DP or if she would have preferred not to have traded with him, ensuring that he couldn''t benefit from her efforts.


    The rest of the gains she had received had been from things like Avorn and Camellia paying rent, the tribute from the Dungeon Diplomats trio, and the tribute of herbs Elivyre always brought her. Elivyre usually brought along two different herbs to give as tribute as she was always generous, but she had opted for just one this time around. Still, the apple mint was intriguing to Violet who always loved to see what new and interesting herbs her friend would bring her next. Besides, she was fairly certain that she would easily choose Elivyre visiting without any tribute at all over her friend not visiting just because she didn''t have enough to give as tribute. Violet just enjoyed her presence that much.


    The diplomats themselves seem to have chosen to give a separate tribute each. As to who had given what, Violet wasn''t sure, but she could certainly make some educated guesses. There were two steel daggers, luminous moss, and an iron chestplate with a protection enchantment. Knowing Theodore, she was fairly certain that he had given her the moss since she had asked him for glowing mushrooms previously. Beowulf seemed like a tough guy while Elder Kendric seemed like he''d be wealthy, but cautious. So, she thought it likely that Kendric had given her the enchanted chestplate since she could, potentially, use it as a reward for adventurers.


    Regardless, Violet was quite happy to know that she had 5,960 DP because she was most definitely going to need all of the dungeon points she could get for her current project. Normally, she cared more about making a fun challenge with a good reward for the adventurers who came through. This time, however, she was more interested in cutting costs on future tea parties. While she wasn''t sure if her dungeon [Monsters] required food to live, there was no denying the fact that their nightly soir¨¦es made everyone happy.


    While the charity work would only be affecting them for a matter of a few weeks, now that winter was almost over, there would be other things Violet needed to save her mana for later on. She didn''t want to worry over the tea not being hot, the cookies not being fresh, or a lack of variety just because she wanted to build a new challenge room instead of spending all her mana on foods that could range from anywhere from 1 MP to several tens of mana points in cost.


    Besides which, Violet was more than a little aware of the fact that she wouldn''t always be able to prioritize her pixies as the dungeon would only continue to grow. When she, one day, had a dozen or more floors, she would have to consider the needs of other groups of [Monsters] as well. She didn''t feel the need to worry about the ones like her slimes who weren''t capable of higher thought, much less properly communicating with her. However, if it was possible to get pixies on what was only her second floor, who was to say she wouldn''t end up with even more powerful sentient creatures? Wouldn''t something like a dryad or a shapeshifting werewolf require love just as much as her pixies did?


    However, just because she had to balance her attention in other places, later on, didn''t mean she couldn''t ensure her pixies were happy. Making them homes and a tea party that refreshed daily, without any input from her, would guarantee they''d always be able to get by without her. Violet just hoped they''d still be as happy to see her in the future as they all were now. She certainly knew distance didn''t always make the heart grow fonder, even if she still hadn''t gotten over her deceased husband, Lee.

 2.55 Mad Tea Party

    Violet pulled out the drawings she had made when planning out the new tea party challenge. She had a lot of little details she planned to implement for this room and she didn''t want to forget anything. Before doing anything else, she was going to need to do some research for some new furniture. 10 DP was spent on researching a tree stump before 5 MP was used to place one off to one side of the clearing. This was where Violet planned to put a miniature version of the larger tea table for her pixies to comfortably sit at and enjoy themselves.


    In order to set up the main part of the clearing, she spent 90 DP and 105 MP to set up a table with chairs and a tablecloth. While Violet had previously researched a rectangular wooden table for her tribute room, she decided to research a new one since a round table would be more suitable for a tea party. It made it easier for everyone to reach everything on the table as well as be able to talk to each other without having to talk as loudly. The tablecloth was perfectly white, but was still well decorated with lace accents on the edges. There were four chairs that were made from sturdy wood with rounded edges and comfortable padded velvet cushions, which ensured those who sat to enjoy the tea would be comfortable. Violet would be using this room herself too, after all.


    Nothing about this setup was going to be cheap, but that was why Violet had waited until night when she knew she''d have plenty of mana to use on this project anyhow. For the tea set itself, Violet decided to go with a beautiful painted ceramic with a floral design and gold accents. The set had cost an entire 160 dungeon points to research and 80 mana to create. However, it also had several pieces with one teapot, one sugar bowl, one milk jug, four tea cups, four saucers, four spoons, and a golden storage rack. Honestly, it was the sort of thing that Violet wished she could have afforded in previous life. It was just too bad she had to lose everything she had ever had, including her own life, before she could have such luxuries.


    A 3-tier matching painted ceramic and gold cake stand was also needed to display the foods that would be served alongside the tea. However, since there were fewer pieces involved, it only cost 40 DP to research and 40 MP to create two. With four people being served at one table, Violet wanted to ensure there would be enough food to go around. It wasn''t like she needed to consume food herself, but she knew for certain there was no way a few tea sandwiches and small desserts would be enough to satisfy four people unless she had, at least, two trays worth.


    Of course, simply having nice tableware and a place to sit didn''t make for a tea party. There was a need for food and actual tea. So, Violet had planned out a nice menu of some classic afternoon tea options with only a few special additions that fit her personal tastes a little better. 5 MP was spent on water to fill the tea pot and then another 2 MP was spent on some black tea leaves. The teapot had a filter on the inside of it that would ensure no loose tea leaves made it to the tea cups themselves. While she didn''t have the option for hot water, Violet hoped the sun could heat the teapots just as well as they did the mason jars she usually did. Either that, or when she set the room''s theme, she hoped the system would make the appropriate adjustments.


    For tea sandwiches, Violet went with boar, apple, and cheese as a remix of the classic ham, apple, and brie. Then a boar bacon, watercress, and tomato sandwich as a remix of a classic BLT, which required researching boar meat to get the boar bacon as a new [Base Resource] to use. Since sweet sandwiches were also great options, she also decided to make two other choices. There was a strawberries and cream sandwich as well as a pecan-butter and raspberry jam one. Luckily, most of the ingredients she needed for the sandwiches were things she had already researched or received as a tribute in the past, making this part fairly simple. Really, the only thing, besides the boar bacon, she had to research was the raspberry jam and whipped cream, everything else was made with previously unlocked [Base Resources] and [Items].


    That made the total research cost for the tea sandwiches was 110 DP, which wasn''t bad at all. That put her at 5,550 remaining dungeon points out of her original 5,960, so she was definitely spending a lot on this one challenge, but the individual costs weren''t bad at all. There were just a lot of little details to worry about, but that just made it all that much more worth it. Nothing felt quite as good as making a perfectly curated room that would be well-used in the future. The finger sandwiches themselves cost 5 MP for four, but that was more like 5 mana for one normal-sized sandwich made with sandwich bread from her old world. Considering an entire loaf of white bread could be made for the exact same mana cost, Violet wasn''t sure whether this was a better or worse investment. Well, it wasn''t like she''d be spending mana on it every day, these ones would be respawning as the room refreshed instead, making the cost almost irrelevant.


    The next layer on the 3-tier tray was for bread. However, the breads themselves weren''t the only thing Violet had to worry about. Butter, orange curd (lemon curd substitute), clotted cream, and jams needed to be prepared in small ramekins that way guests could spread it on the variety of bread options they would have to choose from. That meant she''d have to research ceramic ramekins and then research each of the spreads, even things like butter, which she otherwise had unlocked already. Just for the spreads, it ended up costing 138 DP for the research and 54 MP since she needed two of each type since there were two 3-tier trays on the table to fill.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Of course, none of that even accounted for the breads themselves. For that, Violet decided to go with bread rolls, mini pancakes, bearberry orange muffins, and triple-berry scones. The first two, Violet didn''t even need to research, which was, actually, a surprise. She had expected to have to research the pancakes she already had unlocked in order to make them tiny, but she ended up finding out that the system would adjust the sizing of anything, but that she''d have to spend extra to do so. The pancakes had only cost an extra 1 MP each to create a miniature version of them, but the system had listed 0 DP next to the cost, which suggested the costs could be much worse, depending on what she was working with. Still, this fact alone was revolutionary! She could already imagine the possibilities of what this might mean for the future of her dungeon and she was excited!


    Still, there was much work still to be done. Thankfully, the bread options only ended up costing her 16 DP to research, even if the eight pieces of each, two of each per person, ended up costing her 56 MP. It was a bit steep to pay so much for so little bread, but it wasn''t like her mana costs, overall, were that bad yet. She had only spent 380 MP for the night out of what was likely to be more than 1,000 mana over the course of the night. She was earning 2 MP per minute thanks to Avorn and Camellia, after all, which easily added up over the night.


    Still, she would need to wrap things up soon. There was still the smaller version of the tea party setup to worry about, which was likely to cost her even more than she had spent thus far, even if she now knew she could save on the dungeon points cost. So, Violet got to work making the small desserts to finish off the 3-tier trays.


    Lavender meringues, chamomile & honey shortbread cookies, ginger spice cake with spiced pear jam petit fours, and citrus cake, orange curd, and whipped cream mini trifles perfectly finished off the trays. The first two were already available since they were actually challenge rewards on the second floor. Meanwhile, the petite fours and mini trifles took a good bit of research. Violet felt pretty good about the fact that she was making pixie food out to be flavorful and delicious, even if some of the flavors might take some getting used to. As Theodore had previously pointed out, floral flavors weren''t something that children and most other individuals would easily be able to enjoy.


    Interestingly enough, the research for the ginger spice cake, citrus cake, and spiced pear jam ended up being more costly than the petit fours and mini trifles had been. However, it made sense when Violet saw that the result was a whole frosted ginger spice cake and citrus cake that could be created for 25 MP each. It was much different to have one-bite-sized pieces of cake versus a whole cake, even if the decoration was much fancier on the petit fours. Still, perhaps she should have been expecting as much since all the jams she researched also tended to be 0.5 Unit jars while the recipes she used them in required far less of the substance.


    With the trays both now full, Violet was satisfied with the larger table''s setup, now she just needed to set up tables on the stump for her pixies. The only problem was how to ensure all of her pixies could be comfortable. She currently had eighteen pixies in her dungeon, but she had only covered half of the space in her dungeon. Considering she had yet to make the resting room and boss room on this floor, it was difficult to say just how many pixies she''d end up with by the time she finished this floor. Even then, there was a limit to how much could fit on any one tree stump.


    While waiting for her mana to increase again, Violet looked over her notes and drew up some more sketches to work with. However, no matter how she looked at it, she couldn''t seem to figure out something that would ensure everyone was taken care of. She would just have to make do with what she had and hope no one felt left out. Maybe some of the pixies wouldn''t enjoy tea parties? It wasn''t like they could all make it to the room, anyhow.


    Violet decided to go with two rectangular tables for the stump instead of round tables. The challenge itself was meant to be a spot-the-difference type, so it was fine to have some difference between everything. Each table got a tablecloth, eight chairs, two tea sets, four 3-tier cake stands, and an appropriate amount of food and tea. This ended up making the total for everything 1,844 MP plus an additional 136 MP to shrink everything. That, of course, ended up meaning that Violet had to return the next night to continue working on everything because her mana ran out before she was even halfway finished with the miniature version of everything.


    Of course, Violet also needed some of the foods and designs on everything to be different, so she also had to spend another 200 MP to make the design on the tea sets and 3-tier trays different from the larger version. The food was left the same since she didn''t expect people to try it in order to see if the ingredients were different. However, to make the challenge even more difficult, she also planned to add the stipulation that the adventurers had to follow the rules of fae etiquette in order to complete it.


    While that would normally be complicated since the rules said not to refuse a fae''s hospitality, but that you couldn''t eat their food in their realm or you''d be stuck there forever, Violet just planned to make it mean that they should eat the large food, but not the small food. The adventurers would also be expected to be polite to her pixies and not murder them.


    Deciding to call it a night, Violet spent 150 DP to set the room''s theme and called her pixies in to enjoy an overdue celebratory feast. She could finish the challenge tomorrow, but she definitely needed a break and she wanted to celebrate the new dungeon arrivals before too much time passed.

 2.56 Playing Dress-Up

    The next morning, Violet was surprised to see she had someone new in the dungeon. Well, she didn''t actually know if the person had visited her dungeon before or not. She hadn''t always had her [Guest List] skill and she had chosen not to always greet her guests the previous fall. Still, she was overjoyed to see that there was someone in her dungeon! It meant that she could continue to work on her mad tea party room since she would have mana coming in.


    Since the last part Violet needed to work on wasn''t so much for the room itself, but for her pixies that lived in the room, she had to walk over to her new challenge room before getting started. When she arrived, the siblings were quick to greet her.


    "Good afternoon Miss Violet."


    "Good morning, Holly! Good morning Willow!"


    Violet returned their greeting. Willow frowned before saying


    "It is quite perplexing how time works in a dungeon. We didn''t think you''d be returning until your usual time and it''s nearly impossible to tell how much time had passed. The sky always looks the same here with no changes to indicate the time of day."


    Violet frowned, looking up at the strange sunset sky with its pinks, blues, and purples. It was certainly true that all of her rooms here on the second floor still had their default settings. Still, as tempting as it was to change things for her pixies, that wasn''t something she could prioritize right now. She simply didn''t have enough spare dungeon points to waste on weather and time effects, especially since she needed to continue working towards unlocking her third floor. While she felt fine investing in researching new [Items], it just felt different to spend anywhere from 25 DP to 150 DP just to change the time of day from day to night.


    "Yes, well, I''m sorry things have been so difficult. I still haven''t gotten you a house to live in either, which can''t be helping matters. I''ll be working on that once I''m done with the challenge in this room. Maybe I can do that today? Assuming I can finish things this morning, that would be the ideal time to make them."


    Holly flew closer to Violet as she reassured her


    "It''s alright, Miss Violet. I don''t think my brother meant to sound like we were complaining. We know you have been working quite hard on our behalf and we really appreciate it!"


    Violet smiled, nodding in acknowledgement before she got to work. Since she didn''t know Joan or the young boy with her, she wasn''t sure how long they would be in the dungeon. She had already had a full mana pool thanks to the daily 25 MP regen and the leftover mana from Avorn and Camellia''s stay in the dungeon. So, she needed to quickly get to work if she didn''t want any of her mana to go to waste.


    Today''s goal was actually to make appropriate tea party outfits for Willow and Holly. It would help to set the mood for the room and Violet just felt that it would be a nice gift for her new pixies. She did feel awfully bad about having pixie royalty in her dungeon without being able to treat them appropriately. Since Willow''s outfit would include several [Items] she already had unlocked, she started by spending 26 MP to create brown leather boots, a brown leather belt, a decorative steel scabbard, and an iron sword. An additional 4 MP then had to be spent to shrink the [Items] down to the appropriate size.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The main part of Willow''s outfit would require research, though. Violet had drawn sketches up to better imagine what she wanted. She planned to make the outfit brown, green, and white so it would have very foresty colors. Of course, she also planned to use gold buttons as a nice luxurious accent to the outfit. There was a white silk dress shirt, a white lace jabot, a brown cotton vest, a green cotton tailcoat, and green cotton trousers, which would be work in addition to the boots and sword kit she had already created for him. Overall, the outfit seemed just right for a noble like Willow.


    The research costs for everything ended up costing 86 DP, which wasn''t bad at all. Violet was pretty sure the dungeon just didn''t see basic clothing as very valuable since clothing was always fairly cheap. The mana costs were, initially, half the cost at 43 MP, but Violet ended up having to spend an additional 5 MP to shrink everything down to the appropriate size. After handing everything to Willow, he flew off to another part of the room to get dressed. While he was gone, Violet got to work on Holly''s outfit.


    While she had already spent 78 MP out of her 100 MP mana pool, time had also passed, so she had already managed to recover 10 MP. With two guests in her dungeon, that meant that she would quickly recover her mana. Still, 32 MP was definitely not enough to make another full outfit, so they would have to wait for a while.


    For Holly''s outfit, Violet chose to go with a red rose floral theme with green and white accent colors. She felt it would go well with her red hair and green eyes while still sticking to the nature-theme she had gone for with Willow''s outfit. There was a lacey lolita-style dress with red roses and green leaves across a white background with multiple layers. The shoes were dress shoes with a strap and 3-D roses attached to them. Of course, the top layer wasn''t the only important thing, so Violet had also ensured to design white lace drawers and to create a set of the white lace stockings, just like the ones she, herself, was wearing.


    For accessories, she had designed a straw hat with red ribbon and red roses on it as well as lacey white gloves and a glass pearl necklace. While pearls made from glass weren''t nearly as fancy as the real thing, Violet had to work with the materials she had available and she rather doubted the difference would be noticeable once everything was shrunk down to pixie size. Overall, the total research costs for Holly''s outfit ended up coming out to 156 DP, which was a bit more than her brother''s outfit. However, that was hardly surprising since there were more expensive materials being utilized for Holly''s outfit. In fact, most of Willow''s outfit was made from cotton and leather, which the system tended to charge a small pittance for.


    It took about half an hour of waiting before Violet could afford to materialize the full outfit for Holly and then pay to shrink it. Luckily, it seems she ended up having just enough since Joan and the young boy with her left not long afterwards. It was a shame since Violet really would have loved to meet them, but she had to prioritize what she was doing now instead. Still, she did note she now had another 2 DP from their tributes, bringing her total up to 4,766.


    While their tribute hardly made up for the amount she had just spent for her pixies'' outfits, it was still nice to have visitors to her dungeon. Besides, they had clearly put some effort into their tribute, unlike David used to. Violet shivered, feeling glad that she no longer had to deal with the man. He hadn''t exactly been that bad, but there was no denying that he wasn''t good for her dungeon or her mental health.

 2.57 Tea With Friends

    Violet was nervous as she hesitantly asked


    "Hey, Elivyre? I was wondering if you''d be willing to join me for tea on the second floor today?"


    Her friend looked up from where she was collecting herbs as she answered


    "I''m not against it, but... is it safe? I''m not a particularly skilled adventurer since I mostly spend my time running my shop."


    Violet smiled, feeling a bit more confident, as she explained


    "There are a few [Traps] and more dangerous [Monsters] than I have here on the first floor, but nothing is too dangerous. Mostly I have some jump scare [Traps] in the beginning, some briar patches, and the most dangerous [Monsters] are horned rabbits. I don''t know if I can tell them not to attack you, but I can certainly show you a safe path through the rooms.


    I also have some pixies, who will likely join us for tea, but they''re not effective at combat. They aren''t all friendly towards adventures, but I think it would be good for them to meet you."


    She genuinely thought so too. With how much some of her pixies hated people, she wanted them to meet someone she actually trusted who might change their mind. It was fine for them to be cautious around adventurers, smart even, but it wasn''t good for them to assume that all of them were bad, not when there were those like Elivyre among the bunch.


    "Alright, well, just let me finish up what I''m doing here and then you can show me the way. I don''t like to leave my shop unmanned for too long, but, since I''m the only employee, it isn''t like anyone can stop me."


    Elivyre finished off with a chuckle. She felt nervous about taking Violet up on her offer, but it wasn''t because she thought the girl meant to harm her. Elivyre simply knew all too well just how dangerous dungeons could be. Since she had grown up in her father''s alchemy shop, helping him out, she had heard plenty of stories from adventurers. There might be a big difference between Violet and other Dungeon Masters, but that didn''t help her unease with the situation any.


    Still, after putting her herbs into her bag, Elivyre stood up, dusted herself off, and gestured at Violet to lead the way. While she oftentimes went in the other direction, today she was in the garden meadow room, so the journey wasn''t long, but it was a bit burdensome. Even with Violet calling off the slimes, the parkour room was hard to cross without getting wet. Luckily, Elivyre always stored her winter coat in her magic bag when she visited. While her other clothes would dry after some time in the artificial sun of the dungeon, her thick fur coat would have been more time-consuming to dry.


    Elivyre had never really bothered with going this direction before because Violet had explained that the boss room was in this direction. She didn''t want to battle the [Monsters] of this dungeon, she just wanted to collect herbs for her shop and talk with her friend, so it just wasn''t something she would normally bother with. Even Diva, her pet raven, seemed uneasy as they entered the boss room. It made sounds of distress as it flew low in the sky, careful not to set off whatever boss [Monster] was in the room.


    "Don''t worry, I''m pretty sure I can tell my emperor rock slime not to attack. Theodore has come through with others before and didn''t mention having any difficulties, so I assume the same should apply with me being the actual Dungeon Master."


    Violet''s words didn''t help Elivyre''s nerves any, but she decided to trust her friend. Even if something did happen, she knew the potions in her bag would be enough to ensure she wouldn''t die. She''d just have to be cautious enough to avoid any truly fatal attacks. There was no healing herself if she died first.


    Her concerns ended up being unnecessary. When they reached the giant blob of a creature, Elivyre watched as her friend went up to it and patted it in greeting. It was certainly interesting seeing the level of affection Violet held for her dungeon creatures. However, perhaps, that shouldn''t have been surprising. Her friend was a bit too kind for her own good, even if Elivyre did prefer to be treated as a friend than an enemy. Maybe she just was lucky enough to get a unique perspective on the dungeon that most others did not. It wasn''t like Elivyre had ever seen Violet around anyone else, it was always just the two of them when she visited.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    After making it past the first floor boss room, it was smooth sailing from then on. Elivyre did end up a bit surprised by the butterflies that swarmed out at her when they first entered the second floor. Violet giggled, thoroughly enjoying herself. She couldn''t really blame her friend, she likely would have also found it funny if she had been on the other side of it. She did feel a bit embarrassed, though, since she had sensed the small creatures and had been warned about there being a jump scare [Trap], even if she hadn''t known the specifics.


    Elivyre watched in wonder as they walked through each of the rooms as Violet greeted each of her pixie [Monsters] by name. It was impressive that her friend could remember so many different names and faces.


    "Hello, Miss Violet! Isn''t it a bit early to be gathering everyone for tea? Oh! I almost didn''t see you there. I''m Hawthorn and you are?"


    Elivyre was surprised to be addressed, but quickly recovered as she replied


    "I''m Elivyre. It''s nice to meet you."


    The elderly male pixie laughed as he reassured her


    "I''m sorry if the younger ones have been giving you a difficult time. Many of them have spent their entire lives suffering at the hands of Humans. They can''t help but feel prejudiced against other races as well since they''ve never had any positive association with others."


    Elivyre smiled back in response, appreciating Hawthorn''s words.


    "Thanks, but it''s alright, I understand. Violet invited me to join you all for tea, I hope that''s alright?"


    Aster, who was beside her husband as they continued to travel through the rooms, answered


    "I''m sure the others will calm down in time, dear. We''ve actually heard a little about you from Violet. It''s nice to know she had friends like you to rely on."


    There were only a few more rooms to pass through before they arrived at the mad tea party challenge room. While the other rooms had mentioned what the challenge was, this was the first that didn''t have a notification pop-up for Elivyre. The room appeared to be well-decorated, so it didn''t seem like her friend was still working on it, but it was hardly as if she knew the specifics of such things. Even though Violet often talked about what she was working on in the dungeon, many of the concepts were hard to understand without actually experiencing them for oneself.


    Violet pardoned herself to go gather some others, assuring her that she could start enjoying the tea while she was gone. The younger pixies who Violet had introduced, but whose names Elivyre had already begun to forget, seemed excited as they sat down to tea at a small table. They didn''t bother her, even if they didn''t seem to appreciate her presence in the dungeon. Meanwhile, others like Hawthorn, Aster, Chief Alder, and siblings in rather noble-looking attire chose to keep her company.


    "Mmm! This one is quite good. Have you tried it yet, Elivyre?"


    Holly exclaimed, holding up a piece of a petit four. Elivyre gestured to the tray as she explained


    "I think I''d rather start with some of the savory [Items] first. Everything has been quite good, so far, though, so I''m sure everything will be delicious."


    Willow nodded as he enthusiastically endorsed their Dungeon Master


    "Yes, Miss Violet has shown us excellent hospitality and many of her ideas are quite good. We feel quite fortunate to have been assigned to this room. I only regret that we won''t always have such wonderful company as yourself."


    Violet had explained a little bit about the various challenge rooms as they walked through them too. It had been interesting to see how things had changed from the first to the second floor. The use of [Traps] was an obvious difference, but there were other ways that the danger-level had subtly increased from the first to second floor. Yet, her friend has still managed to put quite a bit of love and care into building the floor so that the pixies could live comfortable and happy lives here.


    Elivyre''s father might have been a Human merchant, but her mother had been an Elf through and through. Oftentimes, when she was growing up, she would hear stories about the sorts of creatures that lived in her mother''s ancestral forest. Pixies oftentimes were said to get along with Elves with the two groups drawing up agreements that worked for everyone. Elves believed in a peaceful existence with almost all forms of life having their place in the forest''s ecosystem. Still, many such creatures were something ELivyre could only dream about as she had never had the chance to see them for themselves.


    Today was truly a unique chance as she highly doubted she''d ever get the chance to have tea with pixies if it weren''t for the unique existence of Violet''s dungeon. Elivyre even felt a bit guilty as the thought of what other things she might get to experience thanks to her friendship with the girl crossed her mind. However, while it was fine to accept her friend''s hospitality when it was offered, she never wanted to take advantage of Violet. That just wasn''t who she was.

 2.58 Joyful Holly

    Holly was only one of eighteen pixies in the dungeon, but she certainly couldn''t help but feel happy to be there. The Dungeon Master she affectionately called ''Miss Violet'' was always kind and seemed to care a great deal for all of them. While she had been quite happy in her home kingdom, Holly knew that it was quite possible she could have ended up in much worse circumstances.


    Despite how well her brother, Willow, and she got along, they had been very much in danger at home. Their eldest brother had been the crown prince and was set to receive his coronation in just a few short years. If they remained in the area, though, it would be seen as a challenge to his right to rule. That could result in any number of problems arising from being assassinated to a civil war taking place. While these events tended to look a bit different from how it did with the larger people, it was still, nonetheless, problematic.


    Some of their other siblings had chosen to make the trek to other pixie villages and kingdoms to live out their lives there. Some of them were lucky enough to ask larger [Monsters] for help in doing so, but it wasn''t like all of them could burden a dragon to help them. Besides which, neither Holly nor Willow actually had anything of worth to offer the local dragon to repay them for their help.


    Due to their kingdom''s size, they did have a few maps that depicted the kingdom they lived in. It was a map that was originally meant for a Human and took up an entire wall in the castle they had once called home. Any pixie kingdoms, cities, and villages they knew about were marked on the map, but it was hardly possible for them to know about every location when they couldn''t personally travel there themselves.


    Regardless, the point was, that trying to find a new home was far too difficult for Holly and Willow. Their best bet had been to sign up for the dungeon contract system and hope they could live semi-decent lives. However, as Holly showed Violet the tree she wanted her new fairy house to be hung on, she couldn''t help but feel like she was one of the luckiest pixies alive. She had read the records in the castle library about what their kind usually had to deal with when it came to joining dungeons. It had never involved being given her own home, a suitable role in the dungeon, or being gifted customized clothing just for her.


    Once her home was taken out, Violet said


    "Here, Holly. Why don''t you put your old clothes in your house? I''m not sure how they work, but nothing the others put in there ever seems to be altered by the dungeon when their rooms reset."If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Violet followed her statement up with some semi-incoherent mumbles about her intentions and the possibility of using some discovery to her advantage. Not wanting to interrupt her Dungeon Master, Holly waited to respond, but Violet ended up walking away, causing Holly to have to fly after her to say


    "Thank you, Miss Violet! I really appreciate you giving us such nice clothing and homes. I promise to serve you and your dungeon to the best of my abilities!"


    Violet just nodded, looking far away. She had other homes to place tonight too, so Holly decided to leave her be. Her brother''s home was placed a few trees away from her own. It was far enough away to be considered a different neighborhood by typical pixie city standards, but it was still close enough that they could easily visit one another when the desire arose.


    Truthfully, while their small size did slow them down a bit, they could still travel quite fast. They were only a little slower than a bee might be, which meant they could easily keep up with Violet, but they lacked the stamina to cross the distance of one Human settlement to the next without most of an entire day passing by. This was part of the reason their kind was often utilized as foragers within a dungeon. They were small enough to go unnoticed by most while still being fast enough to guarantee they could bring back something useful by the end of the day.


    Holly had already talked to everyone else who lived in the dungeon. While they all seemed to be assigned to challenge rooms, not all of them were required to be there for the challenge to properly function. Apparently, Violet had mentioned to some of the early arrivals that she planned to give them the winter off, but then she would expect them to help with foraging in the spring. More than likely, such a job would be given to those like Cedar and Lily or Briar and Moss, who had been assigned to the flower hunt room.


    Holly did feel a bit bad for them since the trek down to the first floor would be hard enough without anyone to open doors for them. However, Elder Hawthorn had reassured her that Violet cared for everyone''s safety enough that she''d likely help them return once night fell. So, they would just have to worry about making it inside of the dungeon before then. It was common knowledge that Dungeon Masters couldn''t leave the dungeon itself, after all. If they could, there would be no need for foragers of their size in the first place.


    Holly knew her brother and she would never have to worry about being foragers, not without room assignments being changed, anyhow. The fact that their presence was meant to be part of the room''s challenge had only been reinforced by the amount of effort Violet put into creating custom outfits for them. They were so pretty too! Holly had never felt more like a princess than she did now with the delicate materials and beautiful patterns she was wearing. Despite how nice the outfits she wore in her home kingdom were, it just wasn''t the same as lace and glass pearls, something pixies normally wouldn''t have access to.


    Yes, Holly was truly happy and content to be part of Violet''s dungeon. She couldn''t have gotten luckier.

 2.59 Empty Challenges

    A few days passed before Violet could get back to work on making new challenge rooms. The night after Elivyre visited, she had to make fairy houses for her pixies. Briar and Moss were assigned to the flower hunt room and only required one house to share. Holly and Willow were in the mad tea party room and needed separate houses, which they chose to have placed a short distance apart. Where the twins, Iris and Orchid, almost always wanted to spend time together, the noble siblings much preferred their own space.


    The next two challenge rooms were currently empty, but would be worked on today. Violet assigned Chief Alder and Clove to the first one and Clove''s wife and daughter, Rosemary and Juniper, to the next one. Despite having different room assignments, though, Violet only placed one fairy house in each of the rooms. She didn''t mind if Clove went home to his family each night and she was even willing to design the challenge rooms the four pixies would be assigned to, so that they would only need one participant in each of them to help run the challenge. That way it wouldn''t matter that her pixies couldn''t open doors and Clove wouldn''t have to risk being separated from his family for long periods.


    The only remaining pixies that needed to be assigned to a room after that were Basil and Aspen. They were complete strangers who came from different villages in different environments, but they were willing enough to work together, should it be asked of them. So, Violet happily assigned them to the last challenge room she had available and made them separate houses to live in.


    Last night there was no mana to spare to work on new challenge rooms, even despite how cheap they were likely to be. Violet had spent the entire night''s mana on firewood and shelf-stable foods for the charity program. As promised, Elivyre showed up bright and early the next morning with two Dungeon Diplomats Violet had never met before. They carried the magic bags Violet packed with goods and then promptly brought them back. Apparently, the Dungeon Diplomats that had been sent to help with the charity work were a married couple. They were friendly yet very serious, giving the impression that they took their work very seriously.


    While Violet had the feeling that the charity program was likely too late for some, she did hope that it would bring much-needed relief for others. It wasn''t like people were suddenly going to have more food, so the end of the season was likely going to be the hardest. Of course, Violet wasn''t stupid either, she was well aware of the fact that, even once spring arrived, things wouldn''t magically be better overnight. Crops take time to grow, merchants take time to travel, and not all hibernating wild animals would come out right away. That meant there would be a hunger gap in the beginning of spring, but Violet hoped that the locals would warm up enough to her and her dungeon by then that they''d be willing to put in the effort to come raid her dungeon for resources.


    Shaking her head, Violet tried to refocus on the task at hand. The two new challenge rooms were actually going to be almost embarrassingly empty compared to the others she had made. However, she still had to put in the work to research new rewards and set the challenge up on the system side of things. For the first challenge, she planned to do a "capture the flag" event. So, she spent 1 MP to summon some purple ribbon. While red was a more classic color for capture-the-flag, Violet only actually had orange and purple unlocked. Besides that, she felt purple was prettier, so it was fine to just use what she had.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Chief Alder accepted the bit of ribbon, looking perplexed as he asked.


    "Am I supposed to do something with this?"


    Violet laughed as she spent 4 DP eight over to research a tiny glass jar of edible glitter sealed with a cork. She wanted it in all the colors of the rainbow as well as black and white. Since she now had the option of randomized challenge rewards and the research for the first one had been so cheap, it seemed fitting to offer lots of options for it. Edible glitter was basically just sugar with dye that gets baked until it shines like glitter, basically shiny sprinkles. Violet planned to have the system label it as ''fairy dust'' as a fun little way of setting the theme.


    Of course, she also had to spend an additional 32 DP to set the challenge reward. However, before that, she needed 300 DP to set the room''s theme and lock the door. Finishing up, she explained how capture-the-flag worked to Chief Alder. He seemed to catch on fast as he noted


    "So, that''s what my job will be in the dungeon then? I can handle that. I''m still pretty young, though, so I can''t guarantee anyone will be able to catch me."


    The man finished with a chuckle. Violet smiled in return, replying


    "Yes, I''ve noticed that. You don''t have to make it easy for them, but don''t take any risks either. I''d rather you just let them win than for you to die an unnecessary death."


    The next room didn''t require any equipment for the challenge itself. Violet planned to play on the theme of pixies being mischievous by having the challenge be a game called ''2 truths and a lie". The game would require the pixie to give three statements about themselves and then the adventurer would have to guess which one was a lie. If they guessed it wrong, they would have to start over with three new statements until they guessed correctly. The game could just as easily be run by Clove as it could by his wife, Rosemary.


    For the challenge reward, Violet spent 30 DP to research fairy lanterns. Basically, they were glass mason jars with black silhouettes on them that depicted pixies and various nature scenes. An unscented candle would come with it and, once lit, a room could be illuminated with the silhouettes creating pixie shadows on the wall. Since Violet already had most of those elements available as [Items], nothing extra had to be researched to obtain the final product. Another 300 DP to set the room theme and lock the door as well as 30 DP to set the challenge reward and she was already done with the room.


    Of course, before she could call it a day, she did have one more stop to make. The mad tea party room hadn''t been completed yet. The room''s theme was set, so the tea setup would refresh, but it wasn''t set up as a challenge yet. For the reward in this room, Violet decided to go with fairy bread. It wasn''t something she had enjoyed much in her last life since she wasn''t from Australia, but the name was fun and it seemed like a fitting reward for the challenge. The fairy dust sprinkles got used alongside some butter and white bread, all things she had unlocked previously, and the research was easily completed for 10 DP. Since the room''s theme was already set, it only cost 150 DP to lock the door and 10 DP to set the challenge with its reward.


    Since she didn''t end up spending very much of the night''s mana on the new challenge rooms, Violet decided to get a head start on the charity work for next week by investing the rest into firewood and shelf-stable foods.

 2.60 (Interlude) Road Trip

    Theodore looked behind him, sighing as he took in the sight of Beowulf. The large man was asleep, but still had a firm grip on David, never quite letting his guard down. Honestly, he felt relieved to have his help escorting Alice, her familiar, Luna, and her father to the next kingdom over. His strength and ability to remain calm and calculating, regardless of what was happening around him, made Beowulf very uniquely qualified in a way that many other Dungeon Diplomats certainly weren''t.


    David had stopped struggling and trying to escape after the first few failed attempts to run away. The fact that they had his daughter in their custody certainly didn''t help matters. Despite his failure to get along with Violet, the man wasn''t a bad father. He wasn''t going to abandon his only daughter. Even with how complicated family dynamics could be for those raised in dungeons, Theodore wasn''t blind and he could understand that much about the man.


    Traveling from one kingdom to the next was going to be time-consuming, though. The council had paid for and arranged for transportation and accommodations for them. Still, neither Theodore nor Beowulf could afford to spend too much time traveling. That was why Beowulf was in charge of driving in the daytime while Theodore would take the night shift. Every town they came to, there would be another set of horses ready to swap out for the exhausted ones that had been transporting them. The horses would get their rest and then return home on their own. They had been trained to always know their way home, which was a mandatory part of training for horses that were to be rented out to travelers.


    Still, it wasn''t like they could continue traveling indefinitely. They needed to restock on rations and other gear on occasion as well as get some proper rest in an actual bed. So, arrangements had been made for them to stay at inns and another Dungeon Diplomat would drop off supplies for them. If they didn''t have to transport David and his daughter, they could have instantly transported to any dungeon in the world. So, it was a rather rare thing for their kind to have to travel for so long. Still, Theodore was grateful that the council was so cooperative in ensuring everything went smoothly for them.


    It was likely going to take them a week or two to get where they were going. After that, Theodore would have to immediately get back to work. He already missed his wife, but it simply couldn''t be helped. Violet needed to be checked on first to ensure everything was running smoothly and then he would have to check on the two other dungeons he was assigned to. After that, he would likely be forced to take classes, but he would get to remain in his hometown and get to spend some quality time with his own family.


    Of course, there were some other matters to attend to as well, Theodore was reminded, as more magical mail materialized before him. He stuffed the letter into his pocket before continuing to watch the road. In every city, town, and village they passed through, he had been putting up notices in regards to seeking David''s replacement on Violet''s behalf. He would have to worry about interviews and figuring out who the best matchup was while he worked on the mandatory training Elder Kendric insisted he take.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    There were a few promising applicants, thus far, but no one was quite a perfect match. Violet''s request for someone willing to help out with her new goddess, train her in the sword, and actually be open-minded enough to befriend her was a rather large ask. It was certainly not impossible to find something close enough, but it was likely going to take a lot more time and effort on his part. He might even have to teleport around to a few different kingdoms and put up some flyers in a large number of adventurers'' guilds and taverns besides the ones he''d see on his route to drop David off.


    Honestly, a lot of Dungeon Masters liked to think his job only pertained to keeping them in line and helping them out. That was far from the truth, though. Similar to how Beowulf was helping him now, he had to help out others with their investigations and other work. There were meetings he had to attend in the areas surrounding the dungeons he managed. Plus, he had to put in plenty of time to help teach the younger Dungeon Diplomats how to control their abilities and how to best serve the dungeons they would one day be bonded to. It was kind of like being a jack-of-all-trades, but everything related back to dungeons in one way or another.


    It wasn''t like Theodore could really complain about his lot in life, though. His wife and him were both dungeon diplomats, so they''d both live long lives. They had a rather large manor with servants and the pay was quite good. Normal Humans, Elves, and Half-Giants weren''t privy to where their species lived as they were quite secretive about it. However, when two Dungeon Diplomats have children together, most of the time, it results in children who are Halflings and not true Dungeon Diplomats.


    If their father was a [Monster] that evolved to be a Dungeon Master while their mother was from the Shifter race, it could result in someone like Beowulf who was half-man half-beast. If Beowulf had children with someone of the same variety as him, their children would likely end up being considered Half-Shifters. They''d get none of the abilities of a Dungeon Diplomat besides having a slightly extended lifespan, similar to a half-elf, but they''d get all of the perks of the Shifter race. Since the children were raised in their village, but couldn''t perform the same roles they did, they often took other sorts of jobs to help their communities. Other times, they simply left and lived the same way other races did.


    Still, even if Theodore enjoyed the fruits of his labor, he really couldn''t wait to get home to his wife. It was far too depressing escorting an irate man and his unfortunate daughter who had to suffer for his decisions. Even if David had pissed him off with his stupidity time and again, it was hardly as if he enjoyed watching the man suffer. Theodore hardly thought the punishment should have been less severe, though. He just simply didn''t enjoy this kind of work as much as he did other parts of his job.

 2.61 Raising Funds

    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Dungeon Status:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Mana 100 / 100


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current DP: 5,204


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Floors: 2


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Rooms: 36 (18+18)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Monsters


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Construction


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Research


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Missions


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet reviewed her [Dungeon Status] menu as she carefully thought over what to do. Since she had set the room theme in the mad tea party challenge room, four days had passed. This meant that she had already received 400 DP from Avorn and Camellia and she''d soon be receiving another 100 DP from them since it was almost night time again.


    When Elivyre had visited to have tea with her, she had brought her some foxglove beardtongue as a tribute. Apparently, they were a white flowering plant that was at home in a meadow environment. This was perfect for Violet who didn''t actually have very many plants that were specific to a meadow environment, even if she had added quite a number of flowers and herbs to her first floor.


    Not that long ago, Elivyre had also stopped by briefly with the two Dungeon Diplomats to pick up the goods for the charity event. Despite them only staying for a brief moment, they had all still left her a tribute. However, it was all repeats and had only netted her 3 DP. Still, Violet couldn''t complain about the random woodland plants and stones they had plucked along the way since they were doing her a favor by coming here in the first place. It would be greedy of her to even expect a tribute, much less anything decent.


    Still, even with her friend''s generosity, Violet was starting to worry about the amount of dungeon points she had and whether it would be enough to unlock the third floor when the time came. She no longer had David here, so she was no longer guaranteed to earn 2,500 points each week from selling him food. That was a small problem in the long-term and certainly worth it since she was now rid of him. She didn''t like the stress and discomfort he brought along, much less being used.


    Still, Violet knew that she needed to be more proactive if she wanted to ensure she''d be able to unlock the third floor before spring arrived. There were only about two weeks left at this point and time certainly isn''t going to pass by any slower than it is now. Of course, if Violet knew for certain that the cost would be the same as it had been for the second floor, she wouldn''t even bother concerning herself. 1,000 DP was only a fifth of her current amount and 4,000 was certainly enough to take care of the rest area and boss room for the second floor.


    The main reason she was theorizing the cost would increase was because of how everything else within her system worked. The dungeon spawners had gone from costing 100 DP to unlock a 25 MP spawner to 200 DP for a 50 MP, doubling the cost. However, the most recent spawner had been even worse at 500 DP for a 100 mana limit. That meant the price had increased by more than double for the third one. Even her [Monsters] had increased in cost when she unlocked the second batch. 10 MP slimes and 30 MP kodamas had turned into 20 MP horned rabbits and 50 MP pixies. While the cheapest option had doubled, the most expensive option was less than double. There wasn''t exactly a ton of consistency in what to expect a cost increase to look like, so she had to prepare for the worst case scenario in order to ensure she''d meet her personal deadlines on time.


    That''s why, as soon as Avorn and Camellia arrived in the dungeon, Violet made her way downstairs. It was a bit of a pain to lug three magic bags with her, even if they weren''t as heavy as their contents suggested they should be, but she still made her way downstairs, feeling like a pack mule as she did so. One of her bags was full of merchandise to sell while the other two were for firewood and shelf-stable goods for charity. The charity bags were mostly empty right now since she hadn''t had the opportunity to buy new goods to fill them with just yet. However, her merchandise bag was packed to the brim.


    Since Violet had sold off all of the potions she had stored in the bag, she was able to use that space for other [Items]. The potions had freed up about 4.5 Units of space, but it was still enough for her to add four tins of black tea, two jars of honey, one jar with twenty five lavender meringues, one jar with twenty five chamomile shortbread cookies, one jar with eighty saltwater taffy, one jar with eighty pecan kisses, and four bars of unscented lye soap. Since most of the other merchandise was things like dried produce, soups, and milk teas, it seemed like a good idea to balance it out with some normal tea, sweets, and even a basic necessity like soap. Besides, food seemed to sell the best and it didn''t seem ideal to take chances with anything new.


    "Oh, Miss Violet! It''s been a while since we''ve seen you! We were starting to wonder if we''d get to see you at all before spring came."The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Camellia enthusiastically greeted her. Avorn gave her a nod in acknowledgment, clearly looking a bit awkward. He didn''t seem as afraid of her as he once was, but he certainly seemed unsure of what to do with himself. Violet laughed as she replied


    "Well, I''ve not exactly been hibernating like a bear or anything, as tempting as that might be. I just don''t want to bother you all. I know some adventurers certainly don''t like me being around since it distracts them from the task at hand."


    Avorn sounded thoughtful as he agreed.


    "That''s certainly likely. We spend most of our time just relaxing around the campfire while we''re here now, but it certainly would be bad timing if you had visited us while we were fighting a boss or something."


    "Oh? Have you tried fighting my emperor rock slime already then?"


    Violet asked in surprise. Camellia shook her head vehemently as she replied


    "No, not yet. We''ve made some good progress on leveling up, though, thanks to your generosity. We''ve also made enough profit that we can afford to buy some new equipment when spring arrives and we can travel to the next town over. We were hoping to tackle the boss then and, hopefully, start working on the second floor after that."


    Violet nodded as she continued


    "That seems like a good plan. Depending on what you need equipment-wise, though, I wouldn''t mind helping you out with some of it. You wouldn''t even have to worry about the sizing since the dungeon takes care of all of that. I don''t have anything on me today, I mostly just brought food goods and some soap in hopes you might be interested in some of that."


    "That''s alright, we''re probably better off looking at the local shops at our levels. While our classes determine a lot about our fighting style, a lot of it is still up to personal preference. We haven''t quite figured out what types of gear we want to use in the long-term, though. For example, Avorn is an archer, but there are actually a lot of types of bows out there and many of his class skills would also apply to crossbows or things like dart blowing.


    We''d hate to put you out when we don''t even know what we want to use. If we go to a shop, at least, we can take a look and try out some of the equipment to see how it feels before making a choice. Are you planning on having equipment for challenge rewards in the future? I know many of the people we''ve met say that it''s a good way to try out new equipment and they can always sell something if it doesn''t fit their personal preferences. It can lead to blacksmiths not wanting to do business in the area, though, as it can end up being too much competition.


    I mean, you''re free to make your own decisions. Don''t take this as me telling you what to do!"


    Violet could tell Camellia was clearly worried about breaking the dungeon accord restrictions on influencing how a dungeon progresses. However, she just waved her hand to dismiss the woman''s worries as she reassured her


    "Don''t worry about it. I understand what you mean well. I don''t know what I''m going to do in the future, but I wasn''t planning on having anything like that for dungeon rewards anytime soon. The second floor is pixie-themed, so many of the rewards are based on that. There''s a little bit of everything from silk scarves to flower-flavored foods. Actually, I moved many of the rewards from this floor to the second because it didn''t seem as suitable flavor-wise for this floor."


    Camellia''s eyes widened in surprise as she listened to Violet speak. They had only recently begun to complete the challenges on the first floor, but they had already been enjoying the rewards quite a bit. If it weren''t for how much effort they were exerting to complete the parkour challenge and defeat slimes, Camellia was even fairly sure they''d have put on significant weight from all the sweets they had been enjoying.


    Still, the second floor sounded even more tempting! Silk scarves were likely to sell for a small fortune to noble ladies and she was fairly certain she''d enjoy having one or two for herself as well. It wasn''t like she always dressed in armor and carried around daggers, after all. She did like to go home to visit her family or her in-laws. Plus, if she was successful enough in her class, there was always the possibility that unique social opportunities would arise in the future. Even A-rank individuals had a small chance of becoming a lower noble while S-rank almost guaranteed you''d be chosen for a noble ranking.


    If the kingdom you were in didn''t have any positions, you could issue an official challenge to take their position or you could try your chances in another kingdom. After all, adventurers were integral to a kingdom''s economy and success in war times. There was no place for nobility who weren''t strong enough to protect their positions in the kingdom. It was really only because it was too difficult to become such a high-ranking person without the long-standing security and unique opportunities a noble family would have that it wasn''t common for them to be replaced.


    Still, even a C-rank or B-rank was likely to be offered better jobs by the adventurer''s guild or receive an invitation to social gatherings held by rich merchants and local nobles. So, Camellia definitely liked the idea of getting ahold of some of the unique treasures mentioned. In fact, that was about all she could think about for the rest of the time Violet visited with them.


    Avorn ended up having to handle the rest of the trade process. They had been stocking up on acorns and other small bits and bobs around the dungeon in case the opportunity to trade arose again. So, they bought some black tea, a jar of honey, a bar of soap, and a few different soup options to enjoy in the coming days. With their new magic bags they could certainly have bought a lot more, but they preferred not to use up all their space on such luxury goods and they didn''t want to take advantage of Violet''s generosity.


    Still, being 172 DP richer was still better than nothing. It would at least cover the cost of researching a few new things. Violet would just have to put in a bit more effort to also sell things to anyone else who might wander into her dungeon and, otherwise, hope for the best.

 2.62 Treasure Hunt

    For the final challenge room for this half of the dungeon, Violet had something a bit extravagant in mind. She had always found the trend a bit silly, but she had often watched videos of sellers showing off what they referred to as "fairy treasure". Generally, they''d have tiny treasure chests full of things like seashells, crystals, painted mushrooms, fake flowers, etc. The random odds and ends would be mixed together and then scooped out and into a decorative bag for anyone who bought from them.


    Violet couldn''t replicate the idea in its entirety, but the idea did seem like a fun one for her dungeon. The only thing she really had to worry about, besides the lack of [Base Resources], was balancing the variety and feeling of abundance with the need to keep the [Items]'' value low. She didn''t actually care that much whether it cost her a whole night''s worth of mana to set the challenge room up, but she didn''t want the value of the [Items] outside of the dungeon to be very high.


    Unlike the mad tea party challenge, she wasn''t going to have an etiquette clause to keep people from taking the [Items] from the room with them. While the economy outside of the dungeon was unlikely to directly affect her, she still wanted to do her best to be careful that her decisions didn''t hurt anyone. Still, it wasn''t like the trinkets had to be valuable in order to fit her needs, so she still had plenty of options to work with. Before getting started on that, though, she needed to set up the room itself.


    The first thing she set up was a winding pathway that led from one side of the room to the next, but took many detours through the trees. Still, since the stone brick pathways only cost 10 MP / 100 Square Units and the room itself was only 16-Units wide, she only ended up having to spend 10 MP to make the entire path. Next up, she made a slightly elevated platform from stone bricks along one portion of the path. This would serve well as a place to house the treasure chest the challenge would be based around.


    While Violet already had quite a number of containers unlocked, she didn''t have anything suitable for this challenge. A wooden crate and an engraved wooden box meant for holding fudge were hardly the same thing as a treasure chest, after all. This ran her 50 DP to research it and 25 MP to create one of them. It looked quite nice with dark, sturdy-looking wood and golden accents, just right for drawing one''s attention at a glance. The chest was fairly big, but not huge. It was approximately the size of a proper drink cooler.


    With the environment set up, she now only had to fill the treasure chest with [Items]. First she decided to get all of the research out of the way. A total of 108 DP allowed her to unlock weather iron keys, five types of painted stone mushrooms, smooth stones, painted heart-shaped stones, painted flower-shaped stones, and painted butterfly-shaped stones. Since she needed to mix things up and carefully layer everything, she had to create everything outside of the treasure chest as her mana slowly regenerated.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The first thing she spent mana on was ten each of the seventeen varieties of buttons she had previously unlocked. There were iron snap buttons, flower-shaped ceramic buttons, gold and silver buttons, and tons of other varieties that ensured the chest had a variety of colors and materials in it. Next up was twenty five each of acorns, pinecones, and maple seeds as well as fifty each of pecans, black walnuts, and pine nuts. The size variances were good, but Violet mostly went with them since pixies actually had a strong connection with nature, making them a good, cheap option.


    Finally, it was time to add the new [Items] she had just finished researching. The weathered iron keys she only put 10 of, but it still ended up costing her 150 MP. They weren''t functional and couldn''t unlock any doors yet the dungeon still insisted they were worth more than things like buttons or stones. The mushrooms were all fairly large and were based on button, morel, amanta, oyster, and chicken of the woods mushrooms. Violet felt it gave a good style variety while also making them more realistic since they were based on real mushrooms. These she only put five of each type into the chest.


    As for the stones, the plain rounded stones, which were perfect for skipping across water, were cheaper than the painted, shaped ones. So, she put twenty of them while the others only got ten of each of them. The flower design was a very basic five-petaled variety and the butterfly was very generic as well. She didn''t really want to spend all of her dungeon points on this, after all, especially when she''d likely have to come back and add new things later. She was hopeful she''d get things like non-magic crystals, different varieties of stone, rather than a basic gray, and also some seashells in the future, but she''d have to make do with what she had, for now.


    Alder and Aspen, the two pixies assigned to this room, weren''t actually required for the challenge. Violet just spent the 30 DP to research the challenge reward and then another 30 DP to set the challenge with its reward. Adventurers would have to find a random [Item] in the chest, dictated by the system, in order to earn a wish necklace as a reward. The jewelry was made from a steel chain with a glass and cork vial that held a dandelion seed hanging off of it.


    The idea was cliche seeming back when she had seen something similar in her old world, but it seemed just right for this occasion. Honestly, Violet couldn''t help but feel like a lot of things were like that now. Sticking within a theme based on fairies tended to mean embracing her own child-like wonder and letting her imagination run wild. Still, she felt pretty good about how things were progressing, so she was hardly about to let shame and embarrassment keep her from doing something "childish".


    Finalizing the room, she spent 300 DP to set the room theme and lock the door. That ended up bringing her total down to 4,888 dungeon points. It was a little less than she wanted to be at, but she couldn''t really complain about the nearly 500 DP she spent for the room when it could have been so much worse. As it was, she had to repeatedly cross out her own ideas while planning the room just because she had been worried about the cost. Thus, she could only be at peace with the results being as they are.

 2.63 First Class Quest

    Joan was nervous as she hurried her son into the dungeon. She had been avoiding entering the dungeon until her husband arrived. He had been slowed down by all of the snow by quite a bit and then they had been struggling with just getting by, so they still hadn''t made a trip to the dungeon. A few days ago was the first time in several months they had made the trek through the forest to the dungeon.


    As the mother of a rather young boy, Joan couldn''t help but worry as she saw just how much things had changed around the dungeon. She had felt like she was holding her breath as they slowly worked their way through each of the rooms, uncertain of when they would run into danger. Her husband, Raphael, had reassured her that there was no way they were going to run into anything he couldn''t heal on the first floor of a dungeon. She knew he was right, but emotions were rarely ever logical.


    "Mom! Dad! Come on, hurry up!" Adam shouted excitedly, pulling on her hand. Their son had just received his first quest, which was supposed to help him learn a new class skill. Due to the fact that he had yet to choose a patron deity to follow, his opportunities for such things were rather limited.


    The current one was for his swordsmanship skill and required him to kill 100 F-rank or higher [Monsters]. That would allow the skill to evolve from being a poor-grade one to a beginner-level skill. There would likely be similar quests in the future to further increase the skill''s quality. Just using his skills would allow them to level up, but the quality of the skill could only be increased through quests such as this one.


    Joan was a summoner, so she didn''t have to worry about weapon-based skills. However, from what little she had learned on the subject, both the skill''s level and quality were important. The quality would determine how much knowledge and resources. It was like having years of training knowledge was put in your head the moment the quality was increased. Less stamina would also be needed to perform more complicated maneuvers, ensuring her son could fight for longer. Meanwhile, the skill''s level was more of a numerical expression of how much physical experience her son had with using the skill. After all, having the knowledge to use the skill wasn''t the same thing as muscle memory.


    As her son went off to fight the five slimes in the first [Monster] field room, Joan smiled, feeling bittersweet. She could remember how just the other day he had been struggling to fight just one of them. Now he was confident even facing off against multiple of them at the same time.


    "It''s okay, love. I was actually talking with the local alchemy shop owner and she reassured me that the first floor is quite safe. Apparently, she has talked with the Dungeon Master a number of times and regularly comes here to collect herbs. There is apparently a system-bound contract that ensures no [Traps] can be placed on the first floor."Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Joan looked relieved as she turned to her husband and replied


    "Is that why you seemed so relaxed about coming here today? I remember you were just as worried as I was when you heard how much the dungeon had changed."


    Raphael nodded before offering up


    "Elivyre is actually really friendly, I bet you two would get along quite well. Actually, she has been running a charity event on behalf of the Dungeon Master. They even have two Dungeon Diplomats helping them. It''s quite unusual, really. She was rather forthcoming about information regarding the dungeon, almost like she was advertising it."


    Joan frowned as she questioned


    "Doesn''t that make you worry whether the information is reliable or not?"


    Chuckling, her husband replied


    "It doesn''t seem like that''s the problem here. She answered every question I had without any hesitation. Apparently, this first floor only has slimes and non-combatant [Monsters] called kodamas. They''re supposed to be some sort of nature spirits that live in trees, so most people never even see them when they visit. Even the contracted [Monsters] on the second floor seem to be fairly harmless, pixies, if you''d believe it."


    Joan''s uncertainty changed into incredulity as she stared blankly ahead, watching her son. After a moment, she cautiously said


    "Maybe we''ve been worrying about the wrong thing. There are going to be a lot more adventurers come spring, maybe we should make an effort to visit the dungeon more often before then. I worry we might not have the opportunity to let our son train in such a safe environment for very long."


    Her husband hummed in agreement beside her. It wouldn''t definitely be good to, at least, get her son''s class quest complete before then. There is no way to force class quests to appear more quickly, but the faster he could grow strong, the better chances he would stand in a proper dungeon. Goblins tended to be merciless creatures who liked to play dirty and horned rabbits liked to surprise adventurers by rushing out at them from seemingly nowhere. Slimes were rare and one of the only [Monsters] weak enough to not pose much threat to an adventurer.


    If the adventurers that came in the spring ruined this dungeon for them, her husband''s job offer could evaporate just like that and then they''d have to move somewhere else. Joan wasn''t really that worried about their finances. She could easily earn enough for them to get by for a few months by herself and her husband''s healing abilities would always be in high demand. The only thing that really worried her was ensuring her son could grow strong enough to live a long life, even with how dangerous a life of adventuring could be.


    After staying for several hours, allowing her son to complete a good chunk of his quest, they decided to leave the dungeon for the day. They''d have to come back soon, very soon, but they didn''t have to do everything in one day.

 2.64 Fairy Retreat

    Violet waited until she received the notification regarding the nightly rent from Avorn and Camellia before starting her work for the night. With the 3 DP from repeat tributes a group of three had brought earlier that day, she now had 5,091 total dungeon points. Since she had already purchased the supplies for the charity for the week, she no longer had to worry about it and could spend the rest of her mana on building.


    Only half of the floor had rooms built so far, but time was running out. Soon it would be spring and Violet wanted to get the third floor unlocked before then. Since the rest area and boss room were bound to take up a ton of resources, it was best she get it done now so she''d have time to finish gathering the dungeon points needed to pay for the next floor. Unfortunately, despite asking the system, she wouldn''t know the answer to that until after the boss room was built. The system just kept giving her annoying error messages about needing a boss room before considering building a new floor.


    Before she started building, first up was rearranging things. Violet wasn''t going to fill the boss room with anything yet, but she decided to start with that. Thankfully, unlike the first floor, she had enough mana to outright buy a 32-Units by 32-Units room this time. The 64 MP didn''t even feel like that much nowadays and the efficiency of building one large room instead of two smaller rooms and combining them was certainly a relief.


    The second floor boss room was shoved up into the same corner as the first floor one had been. There were no rules against having rooms disconnected from everything unless it was the dungeon core room, so she could easily move on to the next step without worrying about rearranging hallways just yet.


    The rest area room only cost 32 MP for a 16-Units by 16-Units room, the same as most of her rooms had. Since the two rooms only cost a total of 96 MP, she didn''t even have to wait for her mana to refill until after the two rooms were made. However, since the hallways would have to be carefully arranged, Violet decided to wait until her mana was full again before she started working on that.


    The long-term plan was to have the staircase that would lead from the second floor to the third just behind the first one. It would mean the hallway leading out of the boss room would be in a different place from the first, but the room size itself was big enough that things could still line up just fine. Besides, the new boss room wasn''t going to be a maze, so it didn''t really matter where the boss room doors were. The adventurers would still have to defeat the boss before they''d be able to leave.


    Seeing her mana was full once more, Violet began to rearrange some hallways, buying new ones as necessary. It ended up costing 171 MP for various hallway lengths as well as an additional 20 MP for a 10-Units by 10-Units roundabout hallway. The rest of the length came from moving the hallway that was previously behind the dungeon core room to in front of it so that it connected to the boss room as well as utilizing the remaining hallway to the left of the peach orchard.


    There was a lot of excess hallway on the second floor now, but Violet didn''t care that much right now. She could always rearrange things later, but she wanted to be done with building the second floor for a few months, at least. Since she had forever to perfect her dungeon, it only really made sense to complete half of each floor before moving on to the next. While she had too much pride to be building empty rooms in order to advance more quickly, that didn''t mean she had to entirely rush the process. Some of each floor could wait a while and be built slowly over time.


    Now, in order for adventurers to reach the next floor they''d have to travel from the first floor stairs through eighteen rooms that were half challenge rooms and half [Monster] fields. With the doors all being locked, they''d be slowed down considerably. Once they got through the final room, the peach orchard, they''d have to walk down a long hallway, make a right turn, walk some more, and then they''d arrive at the rest area room. That would be the last stop before they''d end up at the boss room with just some hallway, including a roundabout, in between the two.


    While Violet had long ago given up on the idea of confusing adventurers with a labyrinth, since she knew yearly dungeon mapping was a thing in this world, she still liked to use them before the boss rooms. She found that it made it easier to make branching pathways later on, should she decide it was necessary. Things like creating a shortcut for adventurers to leave or to get to the boss room faster was bound to save both her and them some hassle. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Sure, it meant they could bypass all of the challenges, but, when she added a few more floors to the dungeon, that wouldn''t matter much. The boss [Monster] was also likely to be the most difficult part of the floor. If they could get past it, everything else would just be stalling on her part. Besides, she was hardly going to build such a shortcut right away, right now she was definitely benefitting from making intruders trudge through long hallways and locking them into challenges one after another.


    Finally satisfied that the foundation was set up, Violet decided to take a closer look at the rest area room. She had gone with a peaceful garden meadow with a wishing well to throw tributes into on the first floor, but this time was going to be slightly different. With the addition of the fairy houses for the pixies and learning she could resize things, she was planning on using that knowledge to create a much nicer rest area then she normally would be able to.


    After removing half the trees from the rest area, only leaving them to populate the sides of the room, Violet spent 100 MP on a fairy house, which she placed in the middle of the room. It took a while for her mana to refill once more, but she had to be sure she could afford the size increase before attempting it. From what she had seen, decreasing the size of an [Item] cost 10% of its initial cost in mana and 0 DP to do so. Her experiments from a few days ago had also resulted in her learning that increasing the size of an [Item] would cost her the same amount of mana as it cost to initially create the [Item] plus ten percent of the initial cost in dungeon points. In this case, she would have to spend 100 MP and 10 DP on top of the initial 100 MP cost.


    Of course, before she could do that, she had to spend 250 MP to increase the room''s height by the maximum allowance of 10-Units. The total room height would then be closer to 15-Units total, which was just barely enough for a three-story home from her old world. Considering most one-story homes were just under 5-Units in height, from the tiny bit of information Violet could recall. She had to research a lot of size comparisons to help with her work designing things for video games. She didn''t want to make a cat 1/10 the size of a house if it was meant to be 1/15 of the size. That would just make her look bad when the game tester complained about the proportions being off.


    Unfortunately, by the time the fairy house was enlarged, most of the night was already over. That meant there wouldn''t be much more she could do to improve the room for the night, which was probably fine since the house didn''t need much more than it already came with. The house ended up being a little cramped with the ceiling being just barely high enough for her, but would likely present problems for taller adventurers. The room was just barely tall enough for a three-story house and the fairy houses she had made were meant to be multi-story abodes with plenty of space for her pixies to enjoy. The stairs leading up to the house meant the first floor was already raised off of the ground, then the roof cut the space she had off even more, leaving the three-story house a bit short.


    Still, it was rather nice to tour the fairy house for herself, seeing the functioning magic lights and furniture for herself. Even the beds in the upstairs bedrooms were incredibly comfortable compared to the hard stone or grassy fields she usually had to settle for. Still, as much as Violet felt like she wanted to move into the home and claim it for herself, she knew there would be opportunities to create something better later on down the line.


    After finishing the tour of the home, Violet decided to spend the last of her mana on some much-needed luxuries. She spent 20 MP on two empty aluminum milk cans with an additional 5 MP to fill them with water. Then 10 MP was spent on a large empty crate with 40 MP to buy eight each of apples, pears, oranges, apricots, and peaches. Finally, 18 MP was spent for a wooden sign that said


    "Feel free to enjoy the amenities, but don''t forget to leave a tribute as payment before you go."


    Violet didn''t really want adventurers to get greedy and steal the [Items] from the area. So, she decided to keep it simple and only offer water and the same fruits that were freely available throughout the second floor. Since the resources in a room would only reset once the dungeon was completely empty, it was a very real concern if the supplies were raided by those who didn''t need them only for there to be nothing less when others came along.


    Finally, Violet finished things up by spending 150 DP to set the room''s theme before calling it a night.

 2.65 Gregory’s Return

    Henry excitedly ran ahead of his father, eagerly jumping into combat with the slimes in front of them. It had been months since he had last been allowed to enter the dungeon, but he had been diligently practicing with his sword every day. Where he had struggled to defeat even one slime, previously, he now confidently dispatched of them, taking on small groups of them at the same time.


    Gregory watched his son with amusement, but still scanned their surroundings nervously. It had been worthwhile to open up his home to David in exchange for his help training Henry. Both him and his daughter, Alice, had been taken away a short while ago. Gregory knew his son didn''t quite understand why his instructor had to leave them so suddenly, especially in the middle of winter. However, he could only be grateful that the Dungeon Diplomats had left his own family alone.


    As a farming family, they normally wouldn''t even interact with the Dungeon Diplomats because they wouldn''t enter dungeons in the first place. Gregory had chosen to take a chance to do something for his son because he wanted all of his children to lead good lives. Most of his other sons were content to go to become apprentices of tradesmen or to become farmers like he was. His daughters were all still young enough to be making up their mind on what they wanted to do in the future and he was hardly going to rush them. His wife, Ester, taught them valuable life skills like cooking and tailoring, but it was hardly as if their options were limited. They could just as easily ask to pursue a life of adventuring as Henry had.


    "Father! I did it!"


    Gregory looked at his excited son as he ran over to him, his wooden sword still in hand. Nodding his head in approval, he encouraged


    "Good work. Shall we move on to the next room then?"


    When they had initially entered the dungeon, they had gone and dropped off their tribute in the new tribute room. The room was strange, feeling half like it was a shop and half like an empty warehouse a big merchant might own. However, the magic lights in the hallway had made it easy to read the wooden sign in the hallway that labeled the room as meant for tribute. After quickly dropping off the tribute, they had gone the other direction as another wooden sign had said this way had the [Monster] fields and challenge rooms while the other direction was also supposed to be home to the boss room, somewhere neither of them were prepared for.


    Looking a tad frustrated, Henry complained


    "No! I mean, the screen, I can see it!"


    Gregory''s eyes widened in surprise. While he had believed in his son enough to arrange for David to train him and to bring him into the dungeon, he hadn''t thought his son would be fortunate enough to be blessed with an actual class. Feeling his own enthusiasm increasing he asked


    "That''s great, son! What class did you get?"


    Depending on what the answer was, he would have to make preparations for his son''s future. Just because he had learned the sword didn''t guarantee the class would even be combat related, after all. His son was supposed to return to school in the spring, much as his other children would. Many farming families had to pull their children out of school early, but he had done his best to make-do long enough for them to learn basic math and reading skills as well as the local laws and important dungeon information that everyone learned at their age. Even those without classes or any notable skills needed to know how to keep themselves safe from wild [Monsters] that could easily take their lives, after all.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "I think it says I''m an assassin? What''s that, father?"


    Henry frowned, feeling unsure as he replied


    "I''m sorry son, I''m not very familiar with the classes adventurers can have. It doesn''t sound like a craftsman class, though, so it should be offensive. Does it say anything about skills?"


    Henry was still rather young and neither of them had much knowledge on what a life of adventuring truly entailed. Luckily, once the adventurer''s guild set up shop, they would be able to sign up for some beginner classes to learn more about it together. As much as Gregory half hoped it would be a craftsman class, since it would be safer for his son, he also knew this was better. The classes at the guild would be far easier and cheaper to arrange for his son than paying for a specialized trade school and trying to convince a merchant in some far off city to accept his son as their apprentice. Besides, he wasn''t quite ready to say goodbye to his young son just yet.


    His son''s forehead creased and his eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated on the menu in front of him. Gregory couldn''t see it and could only make do with what information his son could provide him. Unfortunately, it ended up being not much.


    "I think my menu is broken... I checked the one that says skills, but there''s nothing there!"


    His son''s voice raised as a hint of a whine slipped into his agitated voice. While Henry could act quite reasonably and had been quite dedicated to his sword training over the last few months, it was still a fact that he was but a boy of ten years old. As exciting as it was for him to make progress on his goals, there was bound to be a learning curve. Sighing, he patted his boy on the back and reassured him


    "I''m sure it''s fine. You probably just have to keep practicing with your sword so that you can unlock your skills. I''m sure we can figure things out if we give it some time."


    Luckily, that was something they had now. Where the local town leader had banned them from entering the dungeon, the restrictions were as good as lifted now. The town leader had gotten into some trouble with the Dungeon Diplomats and it had been announced that some noble would be taking over come spring. Apparently, banning anyone from the dungeon, even while the safety was checked out, still went against the dungeon accords. There would be no punishment for them coming to the dungeon now, even if nothing could officially be done about the previous ban until the new noble arrived.


    Moving on to the next room, Gregory told his son to go ahead and attempt the challenge, stepping in to help him push the wooden balls into place when he saw him struggling. They had a lot of catching up to do in regards to his son''s dungeon experience, but he wasn''t exactly as fearful as many of the other locals were. He had gone to get firewood from the lovely Miss Elivyre earlier this week and she had happily entertained his questions about the dungeon''s current state. Apparently, there weren''t any [Traps] on the first floor and everything was safe enough so long as they stayed away from the side of the boss room.


    Everything he had seen since arriving today had only reinforced what he had learned. If anything, he felt more eager to return to the dungeon after seeing all of the valuable resources they were missing out on. The pond in the first room had fish in it, which sounded like the perfect excuse to break out his old fishing gear. There weren''t any good fishing spots where they lived, so he hadn''t gone ever since they had their first kid. He didn''t want to leave his wife alone for so long, especially not for such a selfish endeavor. However, the fresh fish would be good for his family now and he''d feel less guilty than taking the limited food supplies that were being passed out.


    David had ensured they had plenty of food stocked up at home. When he had been taken away, the leftovers had remained in his home. Considering how many reports he had heard of high neighbors starving and freezing this winter, he hardly wanted to take more than he had to of the limited supplies available. Hearing that the lovely Miss Violet had been responsible for the odd food being passed out was hardly surprising either. She had always been kind and friendly when he had visited the dungeon the previous fall. Still, what food supplies they had could always be supplemented and his son would certainly benefit from the time they''d be spending in the dungeon.

 2.66 Second Floor Boss Room

    As excited as Violet was to see Gregory''s and Henry''s names show up on her [Guest List], she simply couldn''t bring herself to go visit them. While she knew it was likely that they had only stayed away from the dungeon because of the previous town leader''s policies, she also couldn''t help but feel like she didn''t want to scare them away now that they had returned. Maybe she would go visit them another time, but, for now, she would let them get reacquainted with her dungeon on their own terms.


    Still, it was difficult to keep her mind on the task at hand, even if she knew it was best to start working on her boss room while she had plenty of mana coming in. Even Avorn and Camellia wouldn''t be staying in the dungeon for much longer since spring was only a few weeks away. So, with a sigh, Violet made her way into the large room she had already set aside for her new boss [Monster].


    Unfortunately, as much as Violet enjoyed theming a whole floor around the fae, as a representation of her pixies, they were not [Monsters] who could evolve, nor were they ideal for combat. That wasn''t to say they couldn''t attempt to engage adventurers in combat, nor that they would refuse like her kodamas would, but they simply were not the best suited for the job. So, after spending a rather large chunk of the season deliberating, she had come up with an idea that could incorporate the fae myths without actually using any of her pixies.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to research myconid using [Monster] pixie and [Base Resources] steel, wood, undyed cotton cloth, undyed thread, red dye, and white dye to create myconid evolution [Redcap Myconid] for 250 DP?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It had been a while since Violet had attempted to create any new [Monster] evolutions and she had forgotten just how expensive it could be. Rather than costing double of whatever the final cost would be, it was always a flat 250 dungeon points. While it was a relief not to have the cost doubled since she was working on a more expensive [Monster] with triple the base cost, it still made her pause a moment before selecting [Yes]. Regardless of how expensive the boss room ended up being, she would still have to go through with it. Nothing quite offered protection for the dungeon core the way a boss [Monster] did, after all.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to research myconids using [Monster] myconid to create myconid evolution [small myconid] for 100 DP?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to research myconids using [Monster] small myconid to create myconid evolution [Medium Myconid] for 100 DP?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to research myconids using [Monster] medium myconid to create myconid evolution [Large Myconid] for 100 DP?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to research myconids using [Monster] large myconid to create myconid evolution [Giant Myconid] for 100 DP?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Once again, Violet felt uneasy as she went through each of the prompts and selected [Yes] as she unlocked the various size variants for the myconids. It was interesting to see how the size names differed from that of the slimes. Instead of a king slime, she had a large myconid and the emperor slime had become a giant myconid. Still, it was a shame to see just these five research options had brought her dungeon points down from 5,091 to 4,441 DP. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Violet wasn''t sure how much she''d get from Gregory''s tribute as he hadn''t left yet, but she didn''t have high hopes since she knew it was likely he was struggling. His family didn''t have adventurers or craftsmen, as far as she had been told, so they had to survive on what little they could make from farming that year. Considering how much she had heard the general population of the Millstone was suffering, she could only imagine they weren''t doing much better.


    Finally ready to spend a bit of mana, Violet expended 100 MP on a spawner for the boss room. She''d have to wait until her mana refilled a bit before she could even summon a basic myconid, but that wouldn''t stop her from reading the new descriptions in the meantime.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    30 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a suitable dark environment with minimal light and soil. Does moderate combat damage, but is capable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Evolution Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Redcap Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    75 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a myconid to evolve. Requires a suitable dark environment with minimal light and soil. Does moderate combat damage using a scythe, but is capable of evolving into larger varieties of myconid.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Small Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    30 MP & 30 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic myconid and specialized myconid. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but is capable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Medium Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    30 MP & 30 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a small myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic small myconid and specialized small myconid. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but is capable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Large Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    30 MP & 30 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a medium myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic medium myconid and specialized medium myconid. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but is capable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Giant Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    30 MP & 30 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a large myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic large myconid and specialized large myconid. Does the most damage of all myconid types, but is incapable of movement.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Whereas the research costs had been the same for the slimes and myconid, the cost to evolve and make a contract with them had remained at the same ratio with the myconids being three times as expensive as the slimes were. Violet was grateful to Gregory and Henry for staying in the dungeon so long today as it made it easy to refill her mana. All it took was fifty minutes and it was back to full again. At that point, she spent 30 MP to contract with a basic myconid, 75 DP to evolve it into a redcap myconid, and then another 60 MP and 60 DP to evolve it into a medium redcap myconid.


    Unfortunately, this was the best Violet could do for a boss [Monsters] this time around. She still had a limit of 100 MP on her spawners. Even if she wanted to splash out the 1,000 DP needed to unlock the next spawner upgrade, she didn''t have the 250 MP needed to buy one. She likely wouldn''t have it any time soon either considering each new floor she unlocked only increased her mana cap by a mere 50 points. She''d have to wait until she unlocked her fifth floor before she would have enough for it and, by then, she wasn''t sure if there would be much point worrying about a boss [Monster] on the second floor.


    Still, she couldn''t entirely complain about the results she had gotten. Where your typical redcaps looked a bit like a goblin wearing a red cap that would be at home on a garden gnome and wielded a farmer''s sickle, her recap myconid was a lot prettier. The basic myconid was, apparently, the same size as a kodama and, similarly, looked a bit Humanoid in appearance. They had red and white spotted caps and wore similarly patterned vests. They were absolutely adorable! However, the redcap version was a lot more feminine and wore a lolita-style red and white spotted dress, cap, shoes, etc. while wielding a wicked reaper''s scythe. Thanks to the size upgrade, it was now the size of a five-year old Human toddler, which certainly still made it quite small, but she could just tell by the vicious look in her eyes that the redcap was capable of doing quite a bit of damage to anyone stupid enough to get close to it.


    Gregory and Henry left not long after that, which allowed the dungeon to absorb their tribute. It was unfortunate she wouldn''t receive anymore mana, but there was always later that day. Still, far more importantly, she was touched to find the tribute she had been left with was a patchwork teddy bear, likely sewn by one of the other household members in Gregory''s family. Using the last of the mana she had remaining, she quickly summoned up a copy of the patchwork bear and then stuffed it into her merchant''s bag. She wasn''t planning on selling it to anyone, rather, instead, she wanted to cherish the thoughtful gift she had been left.

 2.67 Honored Host

    That night, Violet didn''t join her pixies for their nightly tea party. She had more work to do in the boss room, which was going to take most of the night. That left Willow and Holly to play host for the night. Where his sister was cheerful and loved socializing with the others, Willow couldn''t help but find the whole thing a bit tedious.


    Willow had never really found much joy in lavish events back when he lived in the castle. Grand balls full of dancing pixies, grand displays of food, and power plays were boring and exhausting to attend. The nightly tea parties here weren''t nearly as bad, but the frilly decorations and the gleeful chatter was still not his cup of tea. Still, he would never utter a word of complaint to their mistress. He would happily play the role of the honorable host, even if it was hardly his ideal way to pass the time.


    "Greetings, Prince Willow, how are you this fine night?"


    Iris asked, barely keeping a straight face. Willow offered a small smile in return, always making sure to keep his best manners on display.


    "I''m alright, Iris. Are you and Orchid finding everything alright?"


    Willow continued to socialize until the two excitable girls flew off, eager to play with Jasmine and Daisy as they often did. His sister, Holly, had told him the other night that she was fairly sure that the girls had a crush on him. By the way they turned into a blushing, awkward mess every time they approached him, he wasn''t surprised to hear it. He wasn''t interested in pursuing a relationship right now, but he was hardly going to act dismissively towards them. Even if it might make his own feelings on the matter more clear, it was hardly ideal to sour his relationship with the others in the dungeon when they''d be stuck with each other for as long as Violet wanted them around.


    Besides, Willow much preferred to think of himself as a pixie warrior who was here to help protect the others. In fact, part of the reason he was fine with accepting the job Violet had assigned him was the fact that he felt seen. She had gifted him a proper sword and scabbard as well as clothes that he could easily move in, even if they were a bit flashy. While there was still a limit to how much damage a sword as big as a needle could do and he certainly had to strategize plans of attack to make up for his small size, he was still confident he could do some real damage with his new sword.


    At home, Willow would never have been able to get ahold of such a high-quality weapon. Pixies had to use the materials that were suitable for their small size. Mining metals would be difficult, much less trying to set up a proper blacksmith''s forge to manipulate such metal. No, the best that his kind could use was weapons made from wood, bone, or other common materials. It would take a lot of time and attention to detail to whittle things down into a usable form, but there were several craftsmen dedicated to such work.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Still, most of the strategies they employed to protect their people tended to involve diplomacy or finding a mutually beneficial agreement with powerful, larger [Monsters]. The kingdom he had come from had an agreement with a dragon. Ensuring their side of the agreement was always carried out and that the dragon remained their ally was the job of his father and the crown prince. Willow had never been made privy to the details of the contract since he had never stood a chance of inheriting the crown and he didn''t have any skills that would prove useful, apparently.


    None of that mattered now, though. He now had a new purpose, which he was happy to fulfill. He would protect his sister from anyone who wished to hurt her as well as any other pixies he could. There was a limit to how much he could help those who were assigned to other rooms and he wasn''t supposed to leave the dungeon with the others when spring arrived. So, he would have to do what he could with the limitations forced upon him.


    When Violet came into the room, Willow was shaken from his thoughts.


    "Good news everyone! Please say hello to Mr. Mushroom. He doesn''t really say much, but he will be helping you all get around from now on."


    Willow immediately went to do as his mistress asked of him. It was true that the myconid didn''t speak the same language as they did, for the most part. This one mostly seemed to quietly hum in response to anything said to it, but Willow didn''t mind since it seemed harmless enough. Apparently, this was a medium myconid and he was meant to open the doors for them to help them travel through their floor and so they could forage more easily in the spring without getting locked out. Mr. Mushroom was assigned to one of the newest rooms in the dungeon and had been made specifically so their mistress wouldn''t have to worry about them being able to get around the dungeon.


    Willow felt bad that his mistress even had to worry about them getting locked out of their assigned rooms. However, it wasn''t something that could be helped. Pixies were always small and they weren''t capable of evolving the way other [Monsters] could. Still, it was clear from the way the other pixies were acting that he wasn''t the only one touched by their mistress''s thoughtfulness. It was a bit disappointing to know that Violet wouldn''t always be around to socialize with them, but none of them really had the right to complain. They were already fortunate just to have a Dungeon Master who so readily accepted them, much less one who genuinely cared about their needs.


    Willow made up his mind as he flew closer to Mr. Mushroom. It would be best to befriend the strange creature since he would have to depend on him in the future. Willow would have to rely on the myconid to ensure the others returned from foraging safely. Besides, more allies was always a good thing.

 2.68 Mushroom Mayhem

    Violet smiled in amusement as she filled yet another room with mushrooms. She had just finished up the boss room and made a new myconid. She decided to name it Mr. Mushroom, for the rest area. Now she was just spending the rest of her free mana for the night on glow-in-the dark mushrooms for all of the rooms on the second floor. It just didn''t seem right to have an "enchanted forest" without them.


    It had taken quite a bit of time to finish up the boss room, though. She had to spend 250 MP to increase the boss room''s height by 8-Units. Then she had to do some research to unlock stone brick tower ruins, stone brick wall ruins, and stone brick bridge ruins. That had run her 126 DP and then another 333 MP to actually build everything. However, it had felt well worth it when she saw the finished result.


    Redcaps had never really been Violet''s favorite fae myth, but she still knew enough about them to know that they preferred to wander about in old castle ruins. It was only natural that she would recreate it in her own dungeon for her new redcap myconid, even if it did cost quite a bit. While the new medium basic myconid couldn''t talk, only hum, the redcap variant had more of a broken speech pattern, much like she imagined a goblin might. The redcap had been quite excited as she tried to tell her


    "Th-Thang.. yough!"


    Well, the redcap tried to say some other things as well during her time in the room, but most of it was so difficult to understand that Violet mostly just smiled back at her new [Monster] with a pinched expression. She was certainly glad now that she had unlocked the pixies first as it would have been incredibly disappointing if the first talking [Monster] she had ever ended up with was something like her new redcap. Of course, she likely wouldn''t have tried to make a redcap myconid in the first place if it weren''t for her trying to recreate different aspects of fae mythology in the first place...


    Besides the castle ruins, Violet had opted to create a moat around the area surrounding the castle. It ended up costing her 2-Units she could have used to increase the overall height of the room and the moat had still ended up rather shallow, but it just seemed right to have a moat of some sort since there was a castle. That had run her another 40 MP, but that hardly seemed that bad when compared to having to spend her DP.


    Luckily, Mr. Mushroom, who was the only [Monster] assigned to the fairy retreat rest area, hadn''t cost her any more dungeon points. All the research had been done already in order to create her boss [Monster]. While it felt a bit odd to have both the boss [Monster] and a random dungeon [Monster] be the same size, Violet could only accept it. Anything smaller and Mr. Mushroom wouldn''t have been able to open the doors of the dungeon for her pixies, which was the main reason she had signed a contract to bring him here in the first place.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    She did learn one interesting thing from creating Mr. Mushroom, though. Apparently, most of the basic myconid fought using pure strength. They were rather weak defensively and easily damaged, but they also had supernatural strength that was far above what their bodies should naturally allow. It was mind-boggling in comparison to the redcap, which utilized a rather sharp scythe to damage its opponents.


    Walking into the next room, Violet began to apply honey mushrooms, glistening starcaps, and luminescent morels, much like she had all of the other rooms. She had a few other varieties, but had decided to stick to just three so that the rooms didn''t end up too filled with mushrooms, ruining the aesthetics she was going for. Mushrooms were a fairly cheap room feature to apply at a mere 5 MP / 100 Square Units. All of the rooms, save for the boss room, on this floor were 16-Units by 16-Units, meaning it cost her about 38 MP for each room or 722 MP to apply the mushrooms to all of the rooms, except the boss room. The boss room was going to end up costing her 150 MP to add the mushrooms to and would likely end up having to wait until tomorrow when she''d have more mana.


    While it might seem wasteful to spend thousands of points worth of mana on some decorative mushrooms, Violet wasn''t bothered by it anymore. It had certainly taken some getting used to before she could accept letting mana go to waste, but an entire season had passed and she had slowly gotten used to it. Sure, Avorn and Camellia would no longer be tenants soon and the dungeon would likely be empty for an entire month, after she unlocked the next floor, but there would always be new opportunities to earn mana and to build.


    Besides, Violet was seriously considering the possibility of just sleeping for an entire month after she finished unlocking the next floor. The adventurers weren''t going to come and visit her until after that long anyways, so there was no point in sitting around bored the entire time. Even if she considered the possibility of wild [Monsters] attacking her dungeon, she was fairly sure things would be fine. If they made it too close to the second floor boss room, the dungeon wouldn''t allow her to continue resting. That was if some mere goblins and whatever else was in the area could even manage to make it that far.


    Luckily, she no longer had to worry about the undead attacking her dungeon. A real shame since that meant she couldn''t farm mana from them getting stuck in the slime parkour pool, but also a relief considering what was causing it. Without having to worry about a malicious non-dungeon entity targeting her dungeon, it would be much easier to take a much-needed break.

 2.69 Mission Management

    With both her boss room complete and half of the floor built, Violet could finally find out how much DP she''d need to unlock the third floor.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to purchase the third dungeon floor for 3,000 DP?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    While she technically did have enough to do so, Violet decided to hold off, for now. There was only a little over a week left until her contract with Avorn and Camellia would expire. It would be polite to wait until then to upgrade the dungeon so that she didn''t end up making them uncomfortable. While they hadn''t stayed away for the month after she unlocked her second floor, it was a different matter altogether this time. She didn''t want to accidentally upgrade the dungeon while they were still inside it and it was hardly going to hurt her to wait such a short period of time before initiating the change.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Dungeon Status:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Mana 100 / 100


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current DP: 4,275


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Floors: 2


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Rooms: 38 (18+20)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Monsters


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Critters


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Construction


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Research


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Missions


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet blew a breath out as she looked over her [Dungeon Status] menu. Her DP had gone down another 250 points as she had to officially set the boss room as a boss room, but she had also collected another 100 DP in rent while finishing up her mushroom placement last night. Her room number was also certainly starting to look pretty impressive. However, she had pulled the menu up for a different purpose, she wanted to look at her [Missions] menu as she knew there were likely rewards ready to be collected.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Origin:


    </td>


    <td>


    Status:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    <td>


    Reward:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete the first floor


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock ten [Critters]


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete second floor boss room


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete half of the second floor


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Complete the second floor


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    System


    </td>


    <td>


    IncompleteThe author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock the third floor


    </td>


    <td>


    Unlock a new [Critter] option


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Patron Goddess of Love & Beauty


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Have ten different children level up within the dungeon (3/10)


    </td>


    <td>


    Blessing (? cost toys & sweets)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Patron Goddess of Love & Beauty


    </td>


    <td>


    Incomplete


    </td>


    <td>


    Have ten different couples enter the dungeon (6/10)


    </td>


    <td>


    Blessing (true love never dies)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet was pleased to see she had made significant progress on her quests for the goddess of love and beauty. It seems that trying to rescue Clove''s wife and daughter had been a blessing for her as well. She now had several pixie couples in her dungeon as well as, apparently, adventurer couples who had visited her dungeon. However, none of those quests were complete and ready to collect the reward, so they were hardly important right now.


    She did have two quests complete now. So, she went ahead and accepted their rewards.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Please select one of the following options to be randomly awarded a [Critter] from:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Cnidaria


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chordata - Aves


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Arthropoda


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet really wanted some more insects for her dungeon. While she usually found them creepy-crawly and didn''t want anything to do with them, she couldn''t deny that they were an important part of creating a more natural-seeming environment for her dungeon. Besides, the system was hard-locked into a cute theme, so there was no way she was going to have to worry about getting anything too awful.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Randomizing options...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    New [Critter] option unlocked!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Mana Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Firefly


    </td>


    <td>


    1 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Behaves the same as a normal firefly. Emits a faint light. Incapable of engaging in combat.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Awesome! Violet''s eyes lit up in excitement as she took in her new find. She had been expecting something like a ladybug or maybe a butterfly of some sort, but fireflies were way better! It was almost too tempting to run off and start adding them to every room on the second floor, but she resisted the temptation as she still had one more reward left to collect. Besides, it wasn''t like every room had space on the spawners, even with how insanely cheap the fireflies are.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Please select one of the following options to be randomly awarded a [Critter] from:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chordata - Reptilia


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Arthropoda


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Echinodermata


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Shrugging, she chose the [Athropoda] option again. It would be good to get some more options, maybe there would be something good to use on the first floor as well.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Randomizing options...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    New [Critter] option unlocked!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Mana Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Ghost Crab


    </td>


    <td>


    5 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Behaves the same as a normal ghost crab. Mediocre combat skills. Is safe to consume.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet would certainly be the first to admit that she was no expert in science. Still, she had thought she knew, to some extent, what to expect from the phylum categories now that she had received a few [Critters] from the system''s reward system. However, she hadn''t realized that things like crabs were also part of the [Arthropoda] category.


    Well, it wasn''t like she could use every [Critter] she had access to now anyhow. Reviewing her full list of options, she now had: queen bumblebees, normal bumblebees, fireflies, ghost crabs, jade tree frogs, little owls, fennec foxes, giant checkered rabbits, chinkara gazelles, koi fish, and crystal jellyfish. Speaking of which, checking her [Missions] tab, she now had another quest complete as there were now ten different [Critters] she had access to. Well, might as well accept the reward while she was at it. Goddess knows she likely wouldn''t check her progress again for another few weeks.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Please select one of the following options to be randomly awarded a [Critter] from:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chordata - Amphibia


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chordata - Reptilia


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chordata - Other


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was always a bit weird to see only chordata options, but it also wasn''t surprising since more than half the options called into that category. Since she didn''t really want another frog, right now, that really only left two good options. After some short deliberation, Violet decided to go with the [Chordata - Reptilia] option and just hoped not to get a snake or something equally terrifying.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Randomizing options...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    New [Critter] option unlocked!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Mana Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chinese Water Dragon


    </td>


    <td>


    3 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Behaves the same as a normal chinese water dragon. Poor combat skills. Is safe to consume.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Well, there were certainly worse things than lizards. Violet felt satisfied with her new additions, but also felt like she was going to need to start planning out where to use them. She hadn''t, honestly, utilized [Critters] in her rooms ever since she had unlocked her second floor. Maybe that was something she could work on over the next week or so, it wasn''t like she wanted to do any more major renovations before the third floor was unlocked anyway.

 2.70 Adding Ambiance

    Over the next week, Violet decided to work on adding more ambiance to her second floor while taking every opportunity she could get to try and sell merchandise to dungeon visitors. Unfortunately, that didn''t amount to very many people. Avorn and Camellia came every night, which netted her 700 DP by itself and she was able to convince them to buy some soups and sweets for another 492 DP worth of [Items]. However, Violet got the distinct feeling they had felt bad about turning her down and had gone out of their way to collect some extra pine needles and such to trade with her.


    Gregory had shown up every few days, but had seemed uncomfortable the one time Violet approached him, so she didn''t end up selling him anything. He had been polite, but she just still couldn''t quite handle his overly polite and somewhat fearful behavior towards her. Maybe that was more on her, though, as she couldn''t help but worry she was going to scare people away, especially with how badly things had gone with David, who she had, at one time, hoped to have a positive relationship with.


    While many of the tributes they had brought were repeats, Violet did manage to obtain some dried spearmint, a rusted bronze wood ax, and a bit of green ribbon. That had amounted to 82 DP, counting the repeats. Honestly, Gregory had been super apologetic about bringing a rusted, old tool the day she had tried to visit him. Violet was actually thrilled about getting a new type of metal as well as an axe for an item, but the whole thing had certainly left a sour taste in her mouth. She didn''t want Gregory''s family to go broke just so Henry could train in his dungeon. That just didn''t align with her goals at all...


    Elivyre had also visited a few times in the past week, but a few times she didn''t have time to stay. Violet had given her the charity [Items] and then they promised to enjoy tea and talk the next time she visited. Since her friend had been so busy, she had chosen not to bother her about selling anything and to try to just enjoy her company when she was able to stay more than a few minutes. The Dungeon Diplomats who came with her helped with the tributes, so she was able to get a few more interesting [Items] including: some dried curly parsley, wild bergamot, and something the system referred to as almond applesauce. The last one was particularly interesting as Violet had never heard of such a dish, but she wasn''t sure if it was a common medieval dish in her world or if it was actually something unique to this one.


    There had also been one other group that visited the dungeon twice, but, somehow, she had missed them both times. Still, after their tributes, which were just repeats of what she had previously received, she ended up earning a total of 1,385 DP this week, which brought her total up to 5,660 dungeon points, since she hadn''t researched anything this week.


    Thanks to the small handful of visitors she had over the course of the week, there was plenty of mana to play around with. That was part of the reason she had increased her charity donations for the week, but the rest of it was spent on small upgrades in all of the second floor rooms. Unfortunately, all of the challenge rooms already had two pixies assigned to the spawner, which took up the full 100 MP limit. However, Violet still decided to go ahead and add twenty five fireflies to each of the rooms, regardless of whether they could be assigned to a spawner or not.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Violet tended to have a sour taste in her mouth whenever she had to assign living things to a dungeon room without there being a spawner for them to be connected to. However, insects were hardly the most sentient, even of the [Critter] options she had. It was unlikely that adventurers would go around killing them off either since they were neither edible nor were they a threat. They would just add a nice bit of ambiance as they flew around, faintly glowing in the shade of the trees.


    In all of the forest [Monster] field rooms, Violet also decided to add grass, clover, creeping charlie, Alaska violets, fairy slippers, starflowers, and blue-eyed mary flowers. While there were other flowers that could grow in forest environments like common daisies or wild violets, those had already been used in other places and she didn''t want her dungeon to get too repetitive. Besides, Violet knew quite well, thanks to Elivyre, that a good variety of plants spread throughout her floors would be good for drawing in adventurers. With so many different plants in the world, she might as well choose just a few options to decorate each of her floors with, if she used them at all.


    All of the plants were fairly cheap as they ranged from 1 MP / 100 Square Units for things like grass to 2 MP / 100 Square Units for the flowers. That amounted to an average of 28 MP to apply everything to each of the [Monster] field rooms. As she wanted the challenge rooms to be a bit more customized, they only shared the grass, clover, and creeping charlie since that helped add a good bit of variation to the ground covering.


    The hopscotch, mad tea party, capture the flag, lie detector, and treasure hunt challenge rooms got the same treatment as the [Monster] field rooms. However, the mystery falls room had some watercress, chickweed, and cattails, added while the flowers were skipped. The rainbow of roses, flower hunt, and fae circles challenge rooms utilized flowers as part of their challenges, so no additional flowers were added to those rooms to avoid confusing the adventurers too much.


    As for the fairy retreat rest area and the castle ruins boss room, Violet wanted to be especially careful about what plants were added to them. Cattails, watercress, and chickweed were added around the moat area of the boss room while some extra oyster, red pine, and puffball mushrooms were added around the outskirts. As the boss [Monster] was a redcap myconid, she really wanted to emphasize the mushroom theme in the room, but also couldn''t resist the pairing of the water-loving plants with the moat. The fairy retreat had some larger plants added around the outside of the main house including: some lavender, baldhip flowers, and sunflowers since it just seemed fitting to have some pretty flowers for a fairy house. For the main forest, though, things were kept simple with just ground coverings so that adventurers weren''t tempted to wander around and spend too much time in the room.


    It had been a rather busy week full of lots of small changes for the second floor, but Violet felt a lot more satisfied with things now. She was now confident that she''d be able to unlock the third floor at the beginning of spring and then hibernate until the adventurers arrived. With everything thoroughly taken care of on the second floor, she was confident that it was ready for adventurers.

 2.71 Spring’s Arrival

    Violet looked over her contract with Avorn and Camellia, confirming one last time that this would, in fact, be their final night staying in the dungeon before spring arrived. It was sad to know things would be changing so soon, but, as someone with the potential to live forever, she was going to have to get used to the unsettling feeling of things changing far sooner than she''d like. Even if she could control much of what happened in her own dungeon, the outside world was likely to continue to change with the passage of time, resulting in those changes being seen within the dungeon, to some degree, as well.


    Over the last few days, she had continued to amass dungeon points with 500 coming from the nightly rent payments and another 174 DP coming from various tributes. Gregory and a group with a young child, named Adam, had continued to visit the dungeon over the last few days, but most of their tributes were repeats. Still, thanks to Elivyre and the two Dungeon Diplomats helping her with the charity work, she had received some nice new [Base Resources] and [Items], including: coal, a fire magic crystal, thyme, and some marjoram.


    Before now, Violet had actually only ever gotten two other magic crystals, which had been for the air and light elements. She did, technically, also have some earth magic, but that was from the dungeon absorbing a goblin earth elementalist, not from a crystal itself. Of course, something like fire magic was even more special because it meant she could now make [Items] that utilized fire in their design.


    The magic light that Tobias had gifted her had allowed her to place magic lanterns along the dungeon walls, but they were rather expensive and far too tempting for adventurer''s to steal. Thus, she had immediately reabsorbed the ones she already had placed and spent 10 DP to unlock wall torches, which she had placed throughout the first and second floor earlier in the week. At only 5 MP per wall torch, it was fairly cheap to light up the entirety of both floors'' hallways. The other good thing was that it would also make it easier for adventurers to read the many wooden wall signs she had begun placing throughout the hallways to direct them around the dungeon.


    In the past, she had wanted to make her dungeon labyrinth-like to confuse adventurers and force them to backtrack as much as possible. However, that no longer aligned with her goals. Making her dungeon easy to navigate for adventurers would be good marketing and it wasn''t like intruding [Monsters] needed signs since they always seemed to hone in on the quickest path to the dungeon core anyway. So, now every entrance had a wooden sign above it stating what the next room held while hallways with multiple directions, like her roundabout hallway, had signs that stated what was in each of the directions. There would be no children getting confused and ending up in the boss rooms and no one could say that she was purposely leading people to their deaths.


    Of course, that had been far earlier in the week and now she had an entire night''s worth of mana to look forward to. Charity work was no longer a concern as Elivyre had come to collect the last batch of goods from her earlier in the week. Violet had chosen to give away all of her previously stocked merchandise at that time since she knew her priorities were likely to be different the next time she decided to play merchant. Besides, hopefully, there would be more adventurers regularly visiting the dungeon, so she would need to base her merchandise around that, not what was selling during the winter season.


    As a temporary goodbye, Violet had invited Elivyre to one last round of tea with her pixies. Most of them were still uncomfortable with the half-elf''s presence, but her friend didn''t seem offended in the slightest. Violet was glad that her friend had such a good disposition and that she genuinely enjoyed her presence. She could only hope that whoever Theodore brought in to replace David was equally as kind, but she had no clue when that would be. She most certainly hadn''t seen the man in quite some time. However, Violet was hardly the sort to hold that against someone and could only hope that he was doing alright.


    After spending nearly 870 dungeon points and most of an entire night''s worth of mana, Violet smiled to herself. She had wanted to get Avorn and Camellia a parting gift that she was certain they would be able to make use of. Now that everything was ready, she made her way downstairs so that she could catch them before they left. She didn''t want to miss them, especially since she knew they planned to head to a nearby city to shop for new gear. That would make her efforts wasted, which was hardly what she wanted.


    "Oh, Miss Violet! We didn''t know if we''d see you before we left, but I''m glad to get to see you. We''ll be leaving for a while, but we did want to express our sincere gratitude for your kindness in allowing us to stay here all season long."


    Camellia said in a chipper tone. Violet smiled back in return, holding two bags out to them as she explainedUnauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Yes, that''s actually what I was here for as well. You have both been such lovely guests that I wanted to give you a parting gift. You not only held up your end of the contract, paying your rent on time, never attacking the dungeon core, etc., but you''ve also been welcoming and cooperative every time I''ve come to see you. I''ve never had to worry about you trying to take advantage of my kindness either, something I''ve come to appreciate after having to end a messy situation with the first person I made a contract with."


    The two seemed almost embarrassed by her words, so she merely continued


    "Right, well, I''ve made you both magic bags in the style of camping backpacks. They hold 100 Units each, double what your current ones can handle, and they''ve been packed with some other [Items] as well. I know you both have been sleeping on old blankets without proper tents or anything since your initial gear was just normal backpacks that couldn''t hold much, so I made you leather tube tents, leather bedrolls, and cotton sleeping bags.


    The backpacks and sleeping bags use zippers, which have a little tab you gently pull to open and close the seam, when necessary. I''m not sure if that''s something you all have seen before or not, I really don''t mean to belittle you or anything. The tents have loops with steel tent poles you hammer into the ground to hold the tent down while at the top you just string the included cotton paracord through and tie it to two trees. It should be big enough to fit both of you under one, but I have provided two tents, in case you prefer sleeping separately.


    This section of the backpack right here is for holding these steel thermoses I made for you. You have to twist the caps off, but they work just like the waterskins you use, except they can also hold hot liquids like tea, not just water. Inside the magic bags, I''ve put sixteen-piece mess kits that include tea kettles, a skillet, and a pot with a lid. All of them have collapsible handles so they can take up less space. Then there are two cups, two three-piece collapsible silverware sets, a short wooden rice spoon, a collapsible ladle, a wooden dish scraper and a knitted cotton sponge. The last two will require some soap to work effectively, but should make cleanup easier. All of the mess kit pieces can be used over a campfire, so I''m sure it should serve you both well since you seem to often spend your nights outdoors instead of at an inn.


    The last two [Items] are a camping multitool and a fire-starting kit. The kits include lighters, which have fire magic crystals in them, so I hope one of you can use magic. Unfortunately, I didn''t have any flint to make a non-magic option. My dungeon is still fairly new and it seems like I''ve mostly been getting plant-based tributes, thus far. I did also include things like fatwood and wax infused hemp ropes, which should set fire quite easily and function as a useful tinder for setting your firewood on fire. As for the multitools, they include an ax, hammer, saw blade, file, bottle opener, straight cutter, and a whistle. They''re super compact, but should help solve a lot of your camping needs, including setting up those tent poles."


    Camellia was speechless as she stared at Violet, unsure what to say. Normally, she would be the spokesman for both of them, but she wasn''t sure how to react to such an insanely generous gift. It felt too good to be true and she wasn''t sure whether to reject the offer or not. Luckily, Avorn''s survival instincts kicked in and he didn''t have as difficult of a time responding.


    "Thank you, that''s very generous of you. Do you mind if we take a moment to transfer some of our valuables? We''d like to leave our old gear with you, even if it isn''t worth much, but we have to keep some of our things. I don''t know if you''re aware, but there are bandits and such on the roads as well as wild [Monsters]. It would be a shame if we left everything we owned for you only to be unable to defend ourselves and lose such a precious gift as this before we could even properly enjoy it."


    Violet couldn''t help but look confused as she handed the bags to Avorn and Camellia. She was glad they weren''t refusing the gift, as she had worried they would. She was well aware they didn''t want something like weapons from her as they had discussed that the last time they met. However, she wasn''t sure why they felt the need to pay her back in such a way. She didn''t personally mind if they sold off the 50 Units magic bags she had previously traded to them in order to afford better gear, nor did she expect them to give her anything else in return. However, she was hardly going to argue with them either. She was too afraid of them changing their mind and no longer being willing to accept her own gift.


    While their gifts had been rather costly, when it came to the dungeon points investment, it was hardly a big deal to her. In fact, she had actually chosen to reabsorb her old magic bag and replace it with a set of the same gear she was now gifting to Avorn and Camellia. A backpack was less accessible than a satchel was, but the backpack and other gear would still be fairly convenient and had the added bonus of blending in with other adventurers. The only things she retained of her old gear were the patchwork teddy bear replica Gregory had left as a tribute the other day, her iron sword from David, and the engraved steel scabbard Matthias had gifted her so long ago. Outside of that, she just had the clothes she was wearing and her purple cloth shoes she had reincarnated into this world wearing that had been stuffed into her new magic backpack alongside the teddy bear.


    After some more brief, if slightly awkward chit-chat, the three of them parted ways. It was finally time to unlock the third floor.

 2.72 The Third Floor

    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to purchase the third dungeon floor for 3,000 DP?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet selected the [Yes] option and noted that her dungeon points were now sitting at 2,511. It really wasn''t too bad considering she was soon going to be hibernating for a month or so and wouldn''t need to use any of them. Hopefully, after that, she would also have tributes regularly being donated to the dungeon and she would be able to freely research and decorate her new floor as she pleased.


    The dungeon began to shake, then a now familiar dungeon prompt appeared


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    A [Monster] stampede has been initiated to ensure the dungeon is free of non-dungeon entities. The dungeon entrance will be sealed shortly. Please prepare for the dungeon upgrade in the meantime.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Please build or designate an 8-Units by 8-Units room for the staircase to the second floor. Please also ensure there is a clear path from the entrance of the dungeon to the staircase.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    While Violet had spent all of the mana she had earned from Avorn and Camellia before heading downstairs, the time she had spent talking with them, as well as the daily 25 MP she regenerated, easily allowed her to afford the necessary costs for the new floor. She did somewhat wonder what would happen if she didn''t have enough mana to cover the new room, but she had to assume, given her history with the system, that it would have denied her request to unlock the third floor had that been an issue.


    To the bottom right of the castle ruins boss room, Violet built a 5-Units straight hallway for 5 MP and then a new 8-Units by 8-Units square room for another 16 MP. That made it so the new staircase would be just behind the set that led down to the first floor, not that it mattered much since they weren''t directly connected. Violet just liked the aesthetics of it being done that way.


    Knowing she would be passing out, this time, she quickly lay down on the ground. While she was unconscious the dungeon continued to rumble and shake as the third floor of the tower was built and the dungeon core room, where Violet was, moved up to the third floor. The earthquake-like tremors in the dungeon stopped not long before Violet regained consciousness and then everything was still once more.


    Violet''s initial reaction hadn''t changed much since she unlocked the second floor. Just like she had the last time, the first thing she did was to open up her [Dungeon Status] menu.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Dungeon Status:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Mana 79 / 150


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current DP: 2,511


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Floors: 3


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Current Rooms: 38 (18+20+0)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Monsters


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Critters


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Construction


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Research


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Missions


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was a bit disappointing how consistently her mana pool always increased by a mere 50 points every time she unlocked a new floor, even if she had been warned of as much, the first day she had reincarnated into this world, by Theodore. Still, Violet could only comfort herself that it didn''t really matter that much since she would rarely be limited by her mana pool anyhow. It just meant she was unlikely to be able to afford fancy enchanted [Items] and large builds anytime soon.


    Much like it had been last time, her hallways and dungeon core room had been moved to the new floor with any extra length covered free of charge. It was certainly interesting to see even the [Traps] had been moved into place, ensuring none of her previous investments had been wasted. It wasn''t like the [Traps] would have fit between the boss room and the new staircase room anyhow, so it wasn''t much different from the choice she would have made either.


    Unlike the last time, she didn''t have as many system prompts to look forward to as she did the last time. There was no need to select a new patron deity as she already had one. Instead, the first prompt she got to see was for the new floor''s theme.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Please select a new floor theme:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Snowy Pine Forest


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Swamp


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Redwood Residences


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Last time there hadn''t been any [Monster] options listed either, so it wasn''t exactly surprising to see the same was true this time as well. The options were certainly a lot more interesting this time around, but only one of the options truly seemed significant to Violet. Snow could be added as a weather option to any forest and she didn''t exactly feel like trekking through a swamp in order to travel between floors. However, [Redwood Residences] sounded an awful lot like an indoor option, which sounded amazing right about now. Violet was ready to settle down and make herself a space to live in on a regular basis, which an indoor option sounded perfect for!


    Last time a prompt had shown up declaring which new [Monsters] she had access to, which is what she had been expecting this time as well. However, when the prompt didn''t appear right away, she decided to manually pull up her [Monsters] menu option.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Summonable Monster Options:


    </td>


    <td>


    Mana Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Basic Slime


    </td>


    <td>


    10 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Basic slime [Monster] with no special features. Does very little combat damage, but is capable of evolving.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Al-Mi''raj


    </td>


    <td>


    20 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Horned rabbit [Monster], which prefers to make fast and stealthy attacks while avoiding danger as much as possible. Does moderate combat damage.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Summonable Monster Options:


    </td>


    <td>


    Evolution Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Aqua Slime


    </td>


    <td>


    25 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a slime to evolve. Requires a suitable environment with a significant amount of water for it to live in. Does very little combat damage, but is capable of evolving into larger varieties of slime.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Chameleon Slime


    </td>


    <td>


    25 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a slime to evolve. Blends in with its environment. Does very little combat damage, but is capable of evolving into larger varieties of slime.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Rock Slime


    </td>


    <td>


    25 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a slime to evolve. Has a protective external layer made from stone. Shoots stone projectiles that cause minor damage, but is capable of evolving into larger varieties of slime.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Big Slime


    </td>


    <td>


    10 MP & 10 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a slime to evolve. Can be applied to basic slimes and specialized slimes. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but is capable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Large Slime


    </td>


    <td>


    10 MP & 10 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a big slime to evolve. Can be applied to basic big slimes and specialized big slimes. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but is capable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    King Slime


    </td>


    <td>


    10 MP & 10 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a large slime to evolve. Can be applied to basic large slimes and specialized large slimes. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but are incapable of movement. Capable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Emperor Slime


    </td>


    <td>


    10 MP & 10 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a king slime to evolve. Can be applied to basic king slimes and specialized king slimes. Does the most damage of all slime types, but is incapable of movement. Incapable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Contractable Monster Options:


    </td>


    <td>


    Mana Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Will-O''-Wisp


    </td>


    <td>


    20 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a dark environment to live in before you can form a contract. Does no combat damage, but can add ambiance and lure unsuspecting adventurers into [Traps].


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Kodama


    </td>


    <td>


    30 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a suitable environment full of plant life and will not engage in combat. Primarily functions as a worker-type [Monster] and cares for its environment allowing its environment to flourish.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    30 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a suitable dark environment with minimal light and soil. Does moderate combat damage, but is capable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Pixie


    </td>


    <td>


    50 MP


    </td>


    <td>


    Refuses to live anywhere they aren''t surrounded by their own kind. Does minimal combat damage, but is playful and enjoys playing tricks on adventurers. Primarily functions as a worker-type [Monster].


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Contractable Monster Options:


    </td>


    <td>


    Evolution Cost:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Redcap Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    75 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a myconid to evolve. Requires a suitable dark environment with minimal light and soil. Does moderate combat damage using a scythe, but is capable of evolving into larger varieties of myconid.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Small Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    30 MP & 30 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic myconid and specialized myconid. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but is capable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Medium Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    30 MP & 30 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a small myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic small myconid and specialized small myconid. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but is capable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Large Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    30 MP & 30 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a medium myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic medium myconid and specialized medium myconid. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but is capable of evolving.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Giant Myconid


    </td>


    <td>


    30 MP & 30 DP


    </td>


    <td>


    Requires a large myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic large myconid and specialized large myconid. Does the most damage of all myconid types, but is incapable of movement.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The list was quite long now, but it was more than clear that she hadn''t actually gotten anything new. Well, that''s disappointing. The final system prompt appeared, pulling her out of her bitter thoughts.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Please select a new skill:


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skill Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Info:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Recall


    </td>


    <td>


    Instantly teleport from anywhere in the dungeon to the dungeon core room. Can be used even on floors where non-dungeon entities are present.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Gluttony


    </td>


    <td>


    Any non-living, non-dungeon [Items] left in a designated tribute room will be absorbed immediately rather than after the dungeon has been cleared of non-dungeon entities.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Achievements Masterlist


    </td>


    <td>


    Allows the Dungeon Master to set challenges that aren''t tied to a specific room with rewards to entice non-dungeon entities with. Will appear as a hidden feature that can only be discovered after completing the relevant tasks.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet remembered the first two options from when she had chosen her [Guest List] skill. Honestly, these skills were one of the more exciting parts of unlocking a new floor and the one she had previously unlocked had already proven quite useful. While the options from last time were certainly still tempting, she couldn''t help but want the newest addition. It would be perfect for adding a reward to her boss rooms and she was fairly certain that, with a little creativity, she could improve several other things around the dungeon. She quickly selected the [Achievements Masterlist] skill.


    Last time, she had gone through and accepted the rewards for completed [Missions] only to find her dungeon being attacked by a crazy necromancer. Luckily, that wasn''t an issue this time, but she did wonder if Theodore would make it to her dungeon today. Perhaps he was still too busy with sorting out the mess from the investigation. She certainly wasn''t going to wait around for him, though. Thus, she spread out her new bedroll and sleeping bag, climbed into bed, and laid down to sleep in front of the dungeon core. If anyone wanted her, they could come and get her, she wasn''t going to sit around waiting for anyone anymore.


    ---End Of Volume Two¡ª

 3.1 Overdue Wakeup Call

    Theodore frowned as he looked back at the two individuals with him. This was the first time he had entered Thornkeep Sanctuary in a few months. Well, it was the first time he had been here outside of the few times he had teleported in only to immediately teleport away. He didn''t want to disturb Violet''s rest and she had been sleeping since the end of the winter season. It was now the beginning of summer, but he could no longer put things off.


    The first time he had arrived at the dungeon, he had felt guilty about being so late. He had gotten the notice that a new floor had been added to the dungeon a few days prior, but he was in the middle of handing David over to the guild master. It had taken a bit to sort out a new home, Alice''s schooling, and the indentured servant contract between David and the local guildmaster. Since there was a dungeon in the area, both he and Beowulf had been able to teleport back to the Dungeon Diplomat village, to report their success, right away. He had teleported to Violet''s dungeon right away after that. However, it had been too late for Theodore to meet with Violet by then.


    Since she had been asleep, he had gone back to his village and immediately started taking his refresher course on dungeon management. He had also sorted through all of the applicants for David''s replacement and teleported all over the place to put up some more notices. Now, he had, finally, found the perfect individuals to join Violet''s dungeon, but he needed her to be awake before they could even begin to discuss the possibility of signing a contract.


    Violet was sleeping heavily, enjoying reliving her memories from her past life until a nagging feeling pulled her from her sleep. It had been so long since she had last been conscious that it was confusing and disorienting to be pulled away from the hyper realistic dreams. Blinking her eyes, she looked around the room she was in, unsure what was going on. When she saw the deep purple dungeon core on the stone pedestal above her, everything clicked.


    The discomfort from having someone on her third floor pulled at her consciousness once more, demanding her attention. She had no idea how long it had been since she had first gone to sleep. However, as much as she was tempted to panic, assuming intruders were making their way to the dungeon core room, she tried to remain calm as she packed up her bedding and used her [Guest List] skill to see who it was.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Guest List:


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name:


    </td>


    <td>


    Classification:


    </td>


    <td>


    Class:


    </td>


    <td>


    Rank:


    </td>


    <td>


    Location:


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Theodore


    </td>


    <td>


    Dungeon Diplomat


    </td>


    <td>


    --


    </td>


    <td>


    --


    </td>


    <td>


    Third Floor Hallway


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Amara Moonwhisper


    </td>


    <td>


    Elf


    </td>


    <td>


    Priestess


    </td>


    <td>


    F-rank


    </td>


    <td>


    Third Floor Hallway


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Solas SilverfrondIf you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    </td>


    <td>


    Elf


    </td>


    <td>


    Cleric


    </td>


    <td>


    C-rank


    </td>


    <td>


    Third Floor Hallway


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It seems that Theodore was bringing strange people into her dungeon again. It wasn''t a super common occurrence, but this was hardly the first time either. Still, Violet felt herself getting excited as she read over the classes of the two Elves with him. They weren''t very high-ranking individuals, but they seemed perfect for David''s replacements. Exactly what she had asked for when describing what she wanted to Theodore.


    Theodore didn''t enter the dungeon core room right away, but knocked on the door between them instead. Violet appreciated his cautiousness in not bringing complete strangers into her sanctuary. She immediately opened the door and greeted them.


    "Hello! Sorry I didn''t greet you sooner, I was resting."


    Theodore smiled knowingly as he replied


    "Yes, I''m well aware. I apologize for disturbing your rest, but I''ve brought some individuals I''d like you to introduce you to. This is Amara Moonwhisper, a priestess, and her husband, Solas Silverfrond, a cleric. This is Violet, the Dungeon Master for Thornkeep Sanctuary."


    Amara looked shocked by the lack of title, but recovered quickly as she greeted


    "It''s lovely to meet you. I apologize, but how do you prefer I refer to you? I''d hate to offend you by calling you the wrong thing."


    Solas nodded, seemingly waiting for Violet to answer.


    "Oh! It''s really kind of you to ask! I actually prefer not to be referred to with a title, but, if you must, could you settle for something simple like ''Miss Violet''? I know that''s the compromise I had to settle for with my pixies."


    Solas chuckled before bowing, greeting


    "It''s lovely to meet you Violet. My wife was quite excited when she heard about your dungeon and I just couldn''t say no when she wanted to apply to work with you."


    "Oh, dear! Don''t embarrass me now, you know I wanted to make a good impression."


    Amara said. Violet already liked these two. They reminded her of her own husband, Lee, who she still loved quite a bit. It was nice to see them get along so well, but it was certainly bittersweet knowing she''d never get to banter like this with Lee ever again. Theodore gestured toward the dungeon core as he asked


    "Do you mind if I check things out while you finish getting to know one another?"


    Violet stepped aside, allowing him access to the room before asking the two Elves in front of her


    "So, what made you want to apply to work here then?"


    Amara was excited as she replied


    "Well, I haven''t actually chosen a deity to serve yet! Solas chose the goddess of healing a long while ago and has already made it to C-rank and gotten so many class skills while I''ve stagnated. It''s hard to find deities who fit with my own beliefs and don''t already have an abundance of followers, so I''ve been checking out new dungeons to see what sort of deities they choose for a few years now. When I saw the notice for your dungeon, I couldn''t help but be interested.


    What is the goddess of love and beauty like? She sounds lovely compared to the god of death or the goddess of chaos, but I''ve never heard of her."


    Violet wasn''t sure how to answer the woman''s question. It wasn''t like she could hear the voice of the goddess, she just received quests via the system. Could priests and priestesses hear the voices of deities? She wasn''t sure, but she also didn''t feel comfortable asking. Seeing her awkwardness, Solas changed the topic as he teased his wife


    "You could have accepted the goddess of healing like me. I can understand not wanting to align yourself with such bloodthirsty deities, but there are plenty of more neutral ones like the god of commerce as well."


    Amara laughed nervously as she explained to Violet


    "I''m not exactly much of a merchant, so that wouldn''t have worked well for me. Besides, I want to help people, not charge them an arm and a leg just to find out whether they were born with a class or not. Besides, the goddess of healing has thousands of followers, I wouldn''t be able to make a difference. I''d have to follow the rules the higher-ranking individuals in the church make up and I''d be lucky if I could ever level up my class or make even a small difference for the general population."


    Violet was starting to really like this couple. Before she could ask any further questions, though, Theodore stepped out of the dungeon core room and asked


    "So, what do you think Violet, are they acceptable? I need to know whether to send them away or if we can start discussing the terms of the contract."

 3.2 Fair Terms

    After Violet nodded her consent, Theodore was quick to follow up with


    "Alright, well, shall we outline what everyone''s expectations are in regards to this agreement? Why don''t you start first, Miss Amara?"


    Violet was surprised by how professional Theodore sounded compared to the previous times. It would seem Elder Kendric''s interference the last time they had met had a rather profound effect, not that she was complaining. She didn''t know much about making contracts and it was nice to have someone capable to look out for her best interests. Amara seemed nervous as she finally spoke


    "Well... I plan to make a contract with the Goddess of Love and Beauty. As part of that, I will need to have access to a temple dedicated to her on a regular basis. It would also be ideal if I could share my new faith with others and be allowed to complete any relevant system quests. Lastly, while I won''t be able to do so until I reach a higher-ranking, I would like to use this opportunity to help those in the community. I want to reduce meaningless deaths by appraising people so they know whether it is worthwhile to be risking their lives in dungeons."


    Amara flinched as she saw Violet frown, but she hardly needed to speak her protests aloud as Theodore already knew her well enough to know what the problem was. He was quick to reassure them both


    "In theory, that shouldn''t be a problem, but I feel you may be misjudging the situation here. Violet wants the locals to enjoy her first floor as well as adventurers. She is even under contract to never have [Traps] on the first floor and she has spent quite a bit of resources and time developing the first floor in a way that makes it safe for anyone to visit. Actually, I''d recommend you don''t try to visit the upper floors without her explicitly inviting you and, perhaps, even offering her escort, but you should feel free to explore the first floor."


    "Oh... oh! That certainly isn''t what I was expecting, but that sounds wonderful!"


    Amara exclaimed. Solas was quick to add on


    "Yes, it sounds like our interests may align far more than expected. As for my part of this, I am aware that a vital part of the recruitment process was that you wanted someone with sword skills to train Violet. Is she a warrior class then? I''m fully prepared to teach her as much as I can in return for safe passage in the dungeon for me and my wife as well as the monetary compensation you were offering. As a cleric, I may also be able to offer healing services for anyone on the first floor who might need it. My contract with the Goddess of healing does limit most of my class spells to those you might expect a healer class to have, after all."


    Theodore looked at Violet, seemingly unsure of just how much to reveal. So, she took the initiative to answer the question herself.


    "Actually, I''m not originally from this world, so I don''t have a class at all. I was initially training with the sword with someone else, but they were problematic and so Theodore invited you here as his prospective replacement. In the early days of my dungeon, I had to fight off goblins and the undead by myself since my slime [Monsters] aren''t very effective. My emperor rock slime seems to do a good job of taking out any beginner-level [Monster] intruders nowadays, though, and I have a whole second floor. Still, I''d rather not be a sitting duck and let my dungeon fall so easily, so I want to do what I can while finding a balance between dungeon defenses and helping the community."


    Theodore nodded, smiling faintly as he interjectedEnsure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    "Actually, many Dungeon Masters tend to confuse the purpose of dungeons. That used to be a problem with the general population as well and is something the council has been actively working to fix for centuries. Dungeons not only convert aether into mana, but they are supposed to have a symbiotic relationship with adventurers. That''s why the system forcefully balances things out with [Monsters], [Traps], and everything else being slowly unlocked so the dungeon gradually gets stronger. If it was just about protecting the dungeon core, there would be no need for there to be such handicaps in the first place.


    I won''t lie, it''s obvious that you''ve been making your floors progressively more dangerous. I''m sure that trend will only continue with this third floor you''ve unlocked. However, your desire to have a mutually beneficial relationship with the community is one I wish more Dungeon Masters would adopt. Anyhow, do you have any specific requests for your side of the contract?"


    Violet frowned, feeling guilty as she replied


    "I don''t want to start things off on the wrong foot with you two, but I want more protection this time around. I still feel traumatized by my experiences with your predecessor. My recent hibernation helped with that a lot, but it also made it very clear just how much my view of the world has begun to change.


    I don''t want to be required to show up for training every day and I don''t want them to come looking for me if I choose to take the day off. I''m fine with there being a stipulation of not having my dungeon [Monsters] attack them, unless provoked, in return for a stipulation that they never enter the dungeon core room and never purposely harm my dungeon. I don''t want them to ever try to kill me either, even if I won''t stay dead, I don''t like it.


    I''d actually like it if Amara did appraise those who visit the dungeon and Solas heals anyone who needs it, so long as they keep such activities limited to the first floor. Spreading the name of my deity seems like something she''d like and I can only imagine this world could do with some more love. Maybe it will even help drive the sort of traffic to my dungeon that I need in order to complete my own obligations.


    Could you tell me exactly what sorts of compensation are being offered to them? As it''s my dungeon, I''d like to help with that, if I can. However, I don''t want them to take advantage of my kindness. This isn''t meant to be some ''get rich quick'' scheme."


    Theodore laughed, but it seemed forced, as if he was trying to lighten up the mood. Seemingly sensing her discomfort, he tried to rush things along.


    "All of that should be reasonable to include in the contract. Basically, everyone plays nice with each other and doesn''t intentionally harm one another. Violet would actually really love it if the two of you would treat her like a friend in the genuine sense of the word. It was one of the requests she made when she asked me to put out the recruitment request.


    A house has already been built for the two of you in the nearby city and you won''t have to worry about paying any yearly taxes to the local Lord as that will be taken care of as part of your expenses. Violet, you will be interested to know that the local Lord has arrived and has not only lifted restrictions on entering the dungeon, but is actively encouraging new adventurers and merchants to move to the area. The adventurers'' guild is now finished being built as of last week as well, so you should have fairly steady traffic.


    Rather than you offering compensation, what if I include a stipulation that they don''t have to offer you tribute? Since they''ll be here every day, it would be more convenient if they didn''t have to worry about that. They''ll have to provide tribute to your deity often enough as is. We are allocating them a certain amount of gold each year for living expenses and some small luxuries, but it''s certainly not enough to do anything too crazy with. Maybe you could offer to sell them [Items] on occasion while they promise never to directly approach you with the expectation you will sell them something. It isn''t like one can get mad at local merchants deciding to close their shop for the day either, so that should be how things are done anyway, right?"


    The two Elven individuals standing across from Violet most definitely looked confused as they listened to Theodore and Violet talk. While she could appreciate her privacy being maintained, she did feel a bit guilty about holding the mistakes of others over their heads. Still, with everyone''s needs sorted, the contract was soon sorted and then signed by all parties. As it was night, the three left with Theodore, promising to be back soon. He still had to complete the mandatory dungeon exploration due to Elder Kendric''s previous orders.

 3.3 The Priestess

    Amara was excited as she dressed in her priestess robes. This set was rather generic, but she''d have to wait until after she contracted with her chosen deity and earned a new set of robes before she could wear anything else. Those who followed the God of Death tended to be given black, hooded robes with silver detailing and skull accessories. The Goddess of healing was more practical and provided a set of white clothes including: a tunic, robe, and an herbalist''s satchel perfect for carrying herbs and potions with. Oftentimes, healers and members of the church would have to go out onto the battlefield as they tried to save as many lives as possible, so it was imperative they have something easy to move in and always remain clean to avoid spreading diseases.


    Regardless, the attire was always tied back to the deity one served and Amara was excited as she daydreamed about what the Goddess of Love and Beauty might provide. Would she have to dress up in luxurious clothes with a well-kept appearance or would it be something more practical, but charming at the same time? While Amara did have a few concerns that the clothing might be too revealing for her tastes, she also felt that was unlikely since it wasn''t a deity related to lustful activities. There was certainly a Goddess like that as it was very fitting for a dungeon run by a succubus, much like the one in the Rosefall Empire. So, hopefully, something different would be in store for her today.


    "Are you nearly ready, dear? You said you wanted to get there before the dungeon gets too crowded and the sun is already rising."


    Solas called out from the other room. Amara quickly opened the door, striding out, before replying


    "Yes, we can go now."


    It was a shame that they won''t get to take a tour of the town today, but that can always wait until another time. They''d certainly have plenty of time to adjust to their new home thanks to their employment contract not having an expiration date. They owned the humble two-bedroom home they were now standing in and their yearly pay was minimal. However, they could continue to keep their jobs for as long as both they and Violet wished to continue the arrangement. While the friendly young Dungeon Master was already so friendly that she couldn''t help but want to get to know her better, the desire to remain here was certainly even more motivation to befriend her.


    "I wasn''t actually told a specific time for when to train Violet, so I suppose I''ll be free to remain with you until she comes to get me. The contract does say that we aren''t to enter the dungeon core room and that she is free to not show up and accept training anytime she wants to."


    Solas mused. Amara pursed her lips in response. They were rapidly approaching the dungeon as they walked at a brisk pace through the forest. However, both of them were certainly nervous about their first day. After a moment, she spoke up to say


    "I honestly felt bad for the poor girl. I don''t know what her previous mentor did, but she seemed genuinely upset. She wasn''t acting out of an abundance of caution while being perfectly capable of defending herself. You know, like what we learned about in school. It was more like someone had taken advantage of her and she was afraid of getting hurt again."


    Of course, by school, she meant the prestigious school she had gone to as a teenager. Basic schooling that everyone took focused less on the history of dungeons and how to interact with Dungeon Masters, should you get the rare opportunity to meet one, and more on basic dungeon safety. Solas chose not to comment on the matter, feeling he was far too out of his depth to say much on the matter. It wasn''t their job to psychoanalyze Violet, whether they choose to befriend her or not.


    Amara didn''t push the matter and quietly made her way into the dungeon. Thanks to the torches and wall signs, it was easy to find the altar room. The stunning marble walls, golden carpets, and altar to the beautiful goddess was breathtaking. She had actually visited a number of dungeons and churches over the years and she could say with certainty that none of them were quite as extravagant as this. In fact, despite the fact that the dungeon could easily repair any damage done to the room, she felt afraid to touch anything. She didn''t want to destroy such a sight by clumsily moving about.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Her husband whistled as he said


    "I think you made the right choice in taking this job. The lighting in here is nice, the pay is decent enough, and we even have a nice young woman for a boss. There isn''t even any need to worry about you running into any stray [Monsters] on the way to the altar. Maybe I''ll even see about taking on a few jobs with the guild since I don''t have to worry about you too much."


    Theodore had actually been quite generous in that regard. They weren''t allowed to try to make money off of the dungeon or Violet in any way that wasn''t standard behavior for adventurers. However, they could still collect resources and defeat dungeon [Monsters]. They could also freely take on quests from the adventurers'' guild so long as they still showed up to the dungeon once a day to give Violet the chance to decide whether she wanted to accept training for the day. In order to ensure she had enough time to traverse the floors, they were expected to give a certain allotment of time based on the number of floors currently in the dungeon, but waiting around for a while was hardly a big deal when they, otherwise, had a significant amount of freedom.


    Amara felt happy as she walked up the stairs to the altar. She opened the tribute chest in front of the statue of the Goddess of Love and Beauty and placed her prized childhood doll into it. Most of the time, leaving a tribute with some personal significance was required for a deity to even consider forming a contract. It showed you were serious about serving them since you were even willing to make such a sacrifice. This could even go to the extent of requiring one to sacrifice the lives of loved ones if you wanted to serve a more traditionally dark god like the Goddess of Chaos. That was something Amara was hopeful wouldn''t be required here.


    She knelt down to pray to the goddess and was immediately met with a system prompt.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Dear child, I appreciate your sincerity, but please choose something else for a tribute. As a Goddess that stands for love, it would not be right of me to take something so precious to you.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    When Amara stood up, Solas looked confused. When she went to retrieve the rejected tribute, he was even more concerned as he asked


    "What''s going on? She didn''t accept the tribute? Are we going to have to look for a different form of employment?"


    Solas wasn''t worried that his wife would suddenly turn on him and kill him, although he certainly might have with anyone else. He was in the right place at the right time, after all. When Amara turned around, she was also confused, but also looked rather happy as she said


    "Actually, I think I just need to try a slightly different tribute. Just give me a bit."


    After tucking the doll away into her bag, she removed the ribbon from her hair, causing it to cascade down around her. She quite enjoyed decorating her hair with such things as she always felt pretty with the nice pop of color they brought. However, the ribbon was easily replaceable, even if it was still a representation of something she enjoyed in life. Amara hoped this sort of tribute would suffice.


    This time, the chest glowed as the tribute was accepted and a system prompt initiating a contract with the deity appeared. Amara carefully read through everything ensuring she understood what was expected of her. Seeing that nothing was amiss, she easily agreed and was immediately issued a set of attire.


    Beautiful purple flower hair clips, an elegant white dress with purple details, and golden sandals appeared before her. It was interesting to see the color purple was used considering how the Dungeon Master''s name was Violet. Even the flower hair clips seemed to utilize wild violets in their design, although other, larger ones were mixed in as well. It seemed a bit silly, but, perhaps, her new goddess wanted to show her appreciation to the only Dungeon Master who had chosen to make a contract with her. It certainly seemed fitting for such a compassionate and loving deity to do such a thing.

 3.4 Killing Spree

    When adventurers began to filter into the dungeon the next morning, Violet was still busy sorting through her system notifications from the past few months. There had, apparently, been quite a number of locals, adventurers, and invading [Monsters] that had come to visit her. None of them must have made it past the second floor, though, as the uncomfortable feeling of someone getting too close to the dungeon core room hadn''t awoken her.


    What was worse, the number of Humans remains and bone weapons made it fairly clear that a large number of the non-dungeon entities had been dying. Since there was no longer a necromancer sending the undead after her, she couldn''t help but assume the worst. A small panic attack had overtaken her when she first realized the extent to which her dungeon was killing people off. How were they dying? She had no way of knowing that, she could only piece things together through the tributes log.


    There was certainly a lot to go through as well. Despite the one month she likely didn''t have a single dungeon visitor, she had still managed to earn 1,086 DP from repeats and another 2,825 dungeon points from new [Items] and [Base Resources]. That had brought her total up from the previous 2,511 DP to an incredible 6,422 dungeon points. The sheer variety of the tributes was equally as impressive.


    For new seasonings, she had received: sweet basil, lemon basil, globe basil, lemon balm, pineapple sage, chocolate mint, orange mint, bay leaf, cilantro, chives, lovage, anise, perilla leaves, garlic mustard, amaranth, sea salt, pink rock salt, green peppercorns, and black peppercorns. Violet supposed this was largely due to the number of plants she had incorporated into her first few floors. It had likely given her a certain reputation that was going to be difficult to escape from. However, that was a problem she could put off, for now.


    She had also received a number of foods including: apple pie, iced gingerbread, mini marzipan cakes, dried figs, dried currants, strawberry tarts, caraway seed cookies, sugared almond fritters, sugared funnel cakes, baked pears, apple cake, elderflower custard, cinnamon rolls, blawmanger, roasted vegetables. Since she already had access to a lot of ingredients, the only new ones were cinnamon, white peppercorns, saffron, rose water, figs, currants, lemons, caraway seeds, dried elderflowers, chicken, rice, cabbage, leeks, and peas.


    Violet had never had any reason to research what sort of foods people ate in medieval times, but she still got the distinct impression that these foods were from a different time than her own. Many of the recipes certainly sounded similar to ones she had seen in modern-day, but foraged ingredients like elderflowers and names like ''blawmanger'' were a dead giveaway. Actually, funny enough, the strange name was just a dish of chicken, rice, almonds, and spices. It wasn''t nearly as strange once you knew what it was, but no one would use a name like that where she was from.


    Outside of edible things, there had also been some magic crystals and minerals. These had included an earth crystal, a water crystal, an ice crystal, charcoal, a granite tile, a shale pot, a limestone pavestone, a sandstone stepping stone, and a blue calcite ring. There wasn''t anything of particular value like emeralds or rubies, but that seemed fitting considering the sorts of adventurers who were showing up to the dungeon. Already a few locals and adventurers were in the dungeon alongside Amara and Solas. All of them were below C-rank, which meant it was unlikely they would be able to afford such luxury [Items].This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Thanks to Tobias''s party passing on her request for beautiful [Items], she had also received a ton of different flowers. It was nice to see people listen to her requests, but she was definitely going to need something besides plants soon. Most of the flowers were the sort you''d see in a flower shop or a garden and included: tree Peonies, moutan Peonies, french Marigolds, signet marigolds, red-crescent marigolds, waterlily dahlias, oakleaf hydrangeas, climbing hydrangeas, ashy hydrangeas, silverleaf hydrangeas, viola pansies, solar flare pansies, colossus pansies, purple coneflowers, yellow coneflowers, parrot tulips, lady tulips, garden tulips, common zinnias, desert zinnias, tatarian aster, sea aster, aromatic aster, bearded iris, yellow iris, japanese iris, and cemetery iris.


    Honestly, Violet still had to wonder why the dungeon system classified all cheeses as ''cheese'' without any differentiation between the types yet nearly everything else was always specific. She didn''t really want to complain too much about it, though. It would be a real shame if her system made an alteration that led to her getting fewer dungeon points. She had most certainly learned her lesson after getting hard locked into a cute dungeon theme. Her slimes weren''t as bad as she had thought they would be, but butterflies certainly weren''t as helpful as wasps might be. She could only assume such a useless, nonlethal [Trap] was a result of her initial request.


    Finally, the last category of tributes is equipment. A few pieces were especially nice with new enchantments, which had been added to her [Base Resources] list, but most were basic and cheap weaponry and armor. The full list included: unbreaking - protection enchanted steel pavise shield, wooden buckler shield, rebound enchanted iron targe shield, green mages robes, red mage''s robes, iron gauntlets, iron chestplate, iron grieves, padded cloth helmet, leather gauntlets, leather greaves, wooden quarterstaff, leather whip, flame enchanted steel scimitar, wooden blow gun, wooden longbow, flint arrows, iron arrows, and flame enchanted steel arrows.


    It made sense that the armor she was getting wasn''t something like mythril with half a dozen different enchantments. She''d likely have to wait until she had, at least, B-rank adventurers before she''d get anything truly impressive in that regard. Still, it wasn''t like she planned to include armor or weapons in her challenge rewards. Violet much preferred to have more customized options that weren''t likely to be very common outside of the dungeon. Besides, she had to work within her mana limits. Even if regular dungeon traffic meant her mana would constantly refill, she still couldn''t summon anything worth more than her 150 MP max limit.


    Speaking of, what would she be able to make with 1,250 MP? That''s what her limit would be once she unlocked her final floor, but she could already do so much with her current limit. A 100 Units magic bag only cost 100 mana points. Surely no one needed a magic bag that could store the equivalent weight of a baby elephant, right? Deciding to set such thoughts aside, Violet opened her [Guest List] skill, determined to figure out how so many people had died in the last few months. While she didn''t want anyone to make it to her dungeon core room, it was also important that there wasn''t some sort of balancing issue with her dungeon That would just scare people away from her dungeon.

 3.5 Killer Slime

    Beatrice looked at the faces of her party, feeling nervous, before she pushed open the door to the boss room. Over the last few months, everyone has come to love Thornkeep Sanctuary. It was well known for its slime [Monsters] and abundance of puzzles. Her own party had excitedly traveled across Deepvein Kingdom just to reach this very dungeon after hearing a number of tales about this dungeon. Everything they had heard had been true, but not everything was rainbows and sunshine.


    Their bard immediately got to work, using her lute to buff their party before pulling out a matching set of daggers. Their healer held up a shield they had brought for extra protection from the boss''s lethal projectiles. The man was strong enough to pull them out of danger before healing them and sending them back into battle. However, Beatrice was still nervous. No one in their party was higher than D-rank and they had heard the rumors about just how many other parties had been slayed by this thing.


    At first, the problem had been caused by the unexpected contrast between the mostly peaceful first floor and the dangerous floor boss. Slimes were a rare dungeon [Monster] to see in the first place, so it wasn''t like the guild had much information on them. It certainly didn''t help that the one not on the boss being unusually dangerous had been misplaced due to a guild not being available in Millstone until just recently. It was only after reports started coming in that the neighboring city of Elesfield realized their mistake.


    As soon as her group got close to the behemoth slime, the projectiles started firing off one after another. Despite their careful preparation, one of her party members immediately went down. Beatrice shook her head before jumping into battle herself. Her axe smashed down into the hard rock of the slime, causing a small chunk to crumble and fall to the ground. Unfortunately, an axe wasn''t very well suited to such a boss and her weapon also took some damage. She blew a breath of frustration out as she smashed her axe back down into the slime, slowly crumbling apart the emperor rock slime''s armor-like exterior.


    "Frank''s dead! Should we retreat?"


    Their healer called out. Beatrice looked back in the direction of his voice, but that was all the time the boss needed to attack her, a huge projectile slamming into her, sending her rocketing backwards. When she came to, her arm was missing and their healer looked grim. They were no longer in the boss room.


    "What happened?"


    The man looked grim as he replied


    "They''re all dead. After you fell unconscious, I grabbed you and dashed for the exit. It''s supposed to be locked, but, for some reason, it wasn''t, this time. The others tried to provide cover while we left, but the boss''s attacks shredded through the hedges and it was hard to get away."Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Beatrice tried to stand up, feeling disoriented as she did so.


    "Take it easy. I was able to heal the worst of your injuries, but your arm is still missing. I''m not a high enough ranking and we don''t have high enough quality potions to heal it. We''ll have to see if we can get help from the adventurer''s guild."


    Beatrice grimaced. Now that he mentioned it, she did feel a bit odd. No wonder! Her arm was now nothing but a nub and she couldn''t help but vomit off to one side. It was unlikely they''d be able to afford healing from anyone qualified to help them. If they were lucky, they could spend a few months farming resources in the dungeon until they could get the money together, but, by then, it would be even harder to get the help she needed. An A-rank could regrow her arm as things currently stood, but only an S-rank would be able to help her if she had to wait that long¡­


    <hr>


    Violet was unaware of just how much the adventurers in her dungeon were suffering. She had seen the party in her boss room nearly get wiped out. When they had chosen to retreat, she had unlocked the doors and let them out. She didn''t want any unnecessary deaths on her hands. Those who had died in battle made her feel a bit more complicated. The dungeon had immediately released calming vibes, forcing her to settle down, when she had first started to panic as she noticed the recent deaths. However, now that she was calm, she couldn''t help but think that, maybe, it was only natural.


    Adventurers knew the risks of entering a dungeon. She had enough torches and signs designating the room as the boss room. Even if they couldn''t tell by the fancy, larger door for the boss room, she had made certain they knew what they were getting into. If they chose to take on her emperor rock slime before they were ready, then she couldn''t be blamed for their deaths. Besides, it would be wrong of her to deny them their right to challenge her dungeon. She couldn''t afford to reduce the difficulty of her boss [Monsters] either as they were the primary form of protection she had.


    Violet turned her attention to another set of names. This group had made it to the second floor. Their progress was slow as they constantly got locked into the various challenge rooms. There wasn''t a single other group that had made it to the second floor today. She couldn''t help but wonder if this meant the group would be camping out on the second floor for a few days. Would they try to take on her new redcap myconid boss [Monster]? She wasn''t sure if they would even make it that far. Really, only time would tell, but it was most certainly an interesting new experience to get to watch as the various adventurer groups explored her dungeon.


    Well, ''watching'' is a bit generous. She could feel their energy signatures and she could see their current location with her [Guest List] skill. When their names disappeared, she knew they had either left or their lives had ended. She did wonder a bit what everyone thought of her dungeon, but she was too busy working on her third floor to be bothered with traveling down to the lower floors. Greeting her new guests would have to wait until later.

 3.6 Her Own Space

    While it was tempting to start building challenge rooms and [Monster] fields right away, Violet decided she wanted to do things differently this time. Instead of doing what she usually did, she planned to focus on her own needs and desires this time. If her oversleeping had made anything clear it was that she could take her time doing whatever she wanted. Adventurers would likely, eventually, make it to her third floor, but they hadn''t yet, so she could easily afford to take the next week or so for herself.


    Violet started off with building a hallway that branched off immediately in front of the staircase room to the second floor. Then another one that branched off to the side from there, which led up to a brand new 32-Units by 32-Units round room. This was the first time she had built such a large room without it being meant for a boss room, but she needed a large space so that she could use it both for a shop and a home for herself.


    The huge space in the room was a truly amazing sight made even more impressive by the seemingly endless height. It was like she was in a massive redwood tree that was unnaturally wide, compared to those from her world, and just as tall. The inner wooden walls reminded her of the artsy wooden cutting boards sold in the art center she once visited in her old world. The grains of the wood varied in color and the patterns were anything but consistent yet it was beautiful all the same.


    Violet couldn''t help but procrastinate as she stood there admiring the scenery. Somehow, it felt wrong to have a new home, as if she was betraying her husband, Lee. He wasn''t here to enjoy it with her, so it would never be theirs. Sure, there was more freedom when you were building something just for yourself as you only had to worry about your own tastes, but it wasn''t worth it if she had to live without her love. She wanted to feel his arms wrapped around her as they lay in bed together, his warmth enveloping her. The smell of breakfast cooking in the other room as she took her time waking up, only to be surprised with breakfast in bed. Even the sound of him getting too excited while playing games with his friends had always made it feel like home.


    Shaking her head, she sighed. No matter how much she put this off, it wouldn''t change anything. She had already wasted the previous day away ''observing'' the adventurers as she lazed the day away in her dungeon core room. She had received plenty of tributes, including: cinnamon oatcakes, marble stone, and panther caps, a poisonous mushroom. There were also several repeats, which seemed to be a common theme lately, but she was just happy to see her total increase to 6,558 DP. It would be very useful now that she had to do a lot of research in order to create her own home and shop.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 50 DP to research wooden partition walls using the [Base Resources] wood and nails?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 10 DP to research a wooden door frame using the [Base Resources] wood and nails?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    NoThis tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 10 DP to research wooden doors using the [Base Resources] wood and steel?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 50 DP to research false wooden ceilings using the [Base Resources] wood and nails?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    As much as Violet loved the high ceilings, she found the way they looked endless to be a bit at odds with the ability to add walls to create smaller ''rooms'' within the dungeon-defined room. The system description of all of the wooden options specified that the wooden building materials could easily be broken by adventurers, unlike the sturdy walls of the dungeon. Of course, she knew from the zombies, all that time ago, that the doors to her dungeon could also be broken down, if one was determined enough. The option to lock the doors seemed to reinforce the doors, making such a thing more difficult, but she was sure that a strong enough adventurer would likely still be able to get past it. Regardless, it didn''t matter how strong the wooden walls were, just that they helped give the impression of privacy and a less open floor plan in her home.


    Before doing anything else, Violet divided the space in the 32-Units by 32-Units round room in half via the wooden partition walls. One half would be for her home while the other half would be for a more public space to run her shop out of. The shop half was then divided in half again before one of those halves was divided into thirds. The undivided shop half would be for shelving for her to put [Items] on display, which she would only do when she was around to ensure no one stole anything from her. The other half, which had been divided into thirds, she planned to have the middle third for an entranceway while the two sides would be used for a public bathroom space.


    Violet didn''t personally have any need for a toilet as she didn''t have the same needs she had when she was considered purely Humans, rather than a Dungeon Master. However, that didn''t mean she had forgotten what it was like to have such needs. All the decent shops in the modern world also had public bathrooms, so it only made sense to provide such a luxury in her own shop space. Still, the furnishing could be left until later, she still had to figure out the layout for her home half of the room.


    Since Violet enjoyed eating, sleeping, and inviting Elivyre to visit with her, she wanted her home to reflect that. So, she divided her home into a few different-sized sections with the wooden partition walls, being sure to add in wooden door frames and doors where necessary. There was a decent-sized space for a bedroom with a walk-in closet. A kitchen with only a partial wall used between it and a living room space created a more open floor plan while still dividing the space neatly. Then, the last area was a bathroom, which she did actually have some use for. She still needed to bathe and clean her clothes, even if she didn''t need to use a toilet. Although, she certainly still wanted to include one of those since it just felt right. Violet didn''t like being reminded of her inhuman status. Besides, any guests she invited over should be able to use her private bathroom instead of being sent out to use the ones on the shop half that everyone else would use.


    While it was tempting to work on furnishing today as well, Violet decided to put it off for now. She wanted to ease herself into the idea so that she could, hopefully, make the whole process less stressful. Instead, she decided to use a small portion of her remaining mana to build more hallways and four new 16-Units by 16-Units round rooms going in the opposite direction of her home. She spent a lot of time distracted by the adventurers below and was hardly as efficient with her mana as she could have been. At the end of the day, there was still a direct path from the second floor stairs to the dungeon core room, but she just couldn''t be bothered to care about that. It wasn''t like rerouting the hallways would really slow adventurers down without locked doors, [Monsters], [Traps], or challenges anyway.

 3.7 Furnishings

    Violet spent most of the week working on decorating her new shop and home space. She had more than enough mana to get it done on the first day, but it just felt easier, mentally, to do things this way. With her extra time, she went down to the second floor to visit her pixies. Well, she only saw the ones who weren''t preoccupied by adventurers, but still. Besides the first party that had made it to the second floor, two individuals with noble titles had passed through the area. They had even made it through her second floor boss room by the end of the week, but had immediately turned back around and made their way out of the dungeon. Considering how little time it took them to leave, she knew they had defeated her redcap boss with little to no issues, so she wasn''t sure why they hadn''t continued pushing forward.


    Regardless, Violet had been overjoyed when she noticed just how nice the tributes they had left her were. Their titles hadn''t been anything as fancy as a viscount or a prince, so she wasn''t sure how they could afford such a generous gift, but she still appreciated it. Besides the repeats, over the course of the week, she had received: cherries, pomegranates, limes, grapefruits, cabbage chowder, grilled venison steak, garnet, amethyst, wild geranium, trout lily, partridge berry, marginal wood fern, bracken fern, an iron rake, an iron hoe, a pair of steel shears, a steel pickaxe, and a steel pitchfork. Most of the tools had been rusty or broken, but that didn''t matter to the dungeon system. As for the cabbage chowder, the only things she had unlocked a new [Base Resource] from it for was some coriander seasoning.


    Still, she couldn''t complain since she was just happy that dungeon traffic was picking up again. For the most part, she was only getting really low-ranking adventurers who were F-rank and D-rank, but that, kind of, made sense. It wasn''t like she had even half the maximum number of floors built in her dungeon, why would truly high-level adventurers want to visit her dungeon? Well, the Lord and Lady who had visited were B-rank and A-rank, which likely explained why they had cleared her first two floors so quickly, but they were the only exceptions. Violet was a bit curious as to whether they were the new nobility assigned to the nearby town of Millville or if they had traveled out just to visit her dungeon, but it was hardly as if she had any way to find out without asking them in person, something she wasn''t really up for right now.


    Violet wandered through her new shop, remembering the many system notifications she had received over the last week.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 10 DP to research green cotton rug using the [Base Resources] cotton and green dye?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 100 DP to research magic toilets using the [Base Resources] clay, white dye, water magic, and water magic crystal?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 150 DP to research a deluxe magic sink using the [Base Resources] clay, white dye, water magic, water magic crystal, fire magic, and fire magic crystal?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 10 DP to research a wooden bench using the [Base Resources] wood and nails?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Violet had found the specification of the magic sink being a deluxe version strange at first. However, later, she had realized that it was likely because of the use of the fire magic to allow for the sinks to have hot water instead of just room temperature. That was likely also why the sinks cost more than the toilets despite similar materials being used.


    The toilets didn''t use any pipes and looked more like the idea of a modern toilet with white porcelain. She guessed it was because the water wasn''t actually being drawn from pipes, but was magically produced and then the dungeon made the waste and water disappear. Dungeon magic that made rivers flow to nowhere and plumbing function was certainly a strange phenomenon, but not one that she felt the need to think on too much.


    Of course, for some privacy, Violet had made toilet stalls with doors. She had even utilized the idea in her own home as it made the space seem fancier as well as keeping the unclean toilet area separate. Her home would likely work the same as the other dungeon rooms, refreshing the important details to keep things clean, but she wasn''t certain since she knew her pixies homes seemed to keep their belongings around instead of making them disappear, even despite it being unnecessary for the room''s main theme. She had to assume having the theme of her own home being a home and shop would keep her belongings safe, but everything was a bit unclear since this was new territory.


    The rug was the only thing in the center entryway that led from the hallway in the main dungeon to her shop. The benches were used as a resting space for the bathroom since only so many stalls could fit in the bathrooms and she knew many adventurer parties could vary from a mixed group to a group of four people of the same gender. She hadn''t met very many people, but she had certainly been learning plenty from her observations using her [Guest List] skill over the last week or so.


    For the primary shop space, it was mostly just tables and shelving, just like her tribute room on the first floor. It had been tempting to make a counter for a checkout space, but the idea had lost its shine when she figured out that she couldn''t actually make a cash register. She didn''t know the inner workings of one and the dungeon couldn''t piece it together based on this world''s own technology level either.


    Moving into her own home, she smiled at the sheer amount of purple there was. Her own bedroom had a bed with purple bedding as well as a plush purple armchair. Then, in the living room, there were two huge, plush, purple sofas. She had considered adding a fireplace or something along those lines, but had decided it was, ultimately, unnecessary since this floor of the dungeon wasn''t exactly cold, nor did she really seem to feel the temperature changes. A hot, summer-weather room didn''t feel any more uncomfortable than a mild, spring-weather room. Violet even got the feeling that a winter storm would feel like a mild inconvenience to her now with next to no chance of her dying from hypothermia, even if she fell asleep in a snowbank.


    Once more, Violet reminisced on the many system notifications she had gotten over the last week.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 10 DP to research wooden bed frames using the [Base Resource] wood?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    YesThe narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 30 DP to research a padded mattress using the [Base Resources] undyed cotton and undyed thread?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 10 DP to research goose feather-stuffed pillows using the [Base Resources] goose feathers, undyed cotton, and undyed thread?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 30 DP to research purple silk sheets using the [Base Resources] undyed silk, undyed thread, and purple dye?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 20 DP to research purple silk pillowcases using the [Base Resources] undyed silk, undyed thread, and purple dye?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 20 DP to research purple quilts using the [Base Resources] undyed cotton and purple dye?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 40 DP to research purple cotton armchairs using the [Base Resources] wood, undyed cotton, and purple dye?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It had taken an entire 120 dungeon points just to make a proper bed in her bedroom. She had also added a rug under her bed and in one corner where she had placed a purple cotton armchair. Another corner of her room had a wooden shelving unit, which was meant to mimic a bookcase, even despite her lack of books to place on it. Due to her wooden signs costing 1 MP / word, she doubted there was any way that she''d ever be able to make a proper book. Even on her twenty fifth floor, she would only have 1,250 MP, at most, which was barely enough for more than books meant for children.


    It would be nice if she could get a book as tribute so she could know for sure what the cost might be without having to go through the effort needed to find out for herself. Her memory was more than perfect, so she could easily recall any story she had read before she had died, but it wasn''t as simple as just deciding which book she wanted. The system needed to know the exact details of what she wanted and she had to think about what she specifically wanted to remember in order to recall it. So, she''d likely have to create an empty book and write all the words down herself before absorbing it and then trying to recreate it. If she spent the hours needed to manually write the words down just to have it fail, it would be disappointing. As for writing all her books by hand, it just didn''t hold the same appeal as printed text.


    The walk-in closet had been filled with wardrobes with wooden hangers that could be hung inside of them. With the combination of a dresser on the bottom half and hanging space on top, it had been the perfect compromise. The wooden hangers had run her 2 DP to research while the wooden wardrobe had cost 10 DP. While she could have just used wooden shelving, it just didn''t hold the same appeal as the gorgeous medieval-style furniture she was using. They reminded her of the romance manga she used to read, which also led to her wishing she could be the noble daughter of some rich family.


    Moving further into her home, she smiled as she took in her kitchen and living room. They had also taken quite a bit of dungeon points to get the furniture unlocked in order to decorate them. Of course, it was really a drop in the bucket compared to how much she was earning now, but it still felt like a lot.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 20 DP to research purple marble bottom kitchen cabinets using the [Base Resource] wood, nails, marble, purple dye, white dye, and gold?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 20 DP to research purple marble bottom corner kitchen cabinets using the [Base Resource] wood, nails, marble, purple dye, white dye, and gold?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 20 DP to research purple marble island kitchen cabinets using the [Base Resources] wood, nails, marble, purple dye, white dye, and gold?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 16 DP to research upper kitchen glass cabinets using the [Base Resources] wood, nails, and glass?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 16 DP to research upper corner kitchen glass cabinets using the [Base Resources] wood, nails, and glass?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 150 DP to research a deluxe magic ice box using the [Base Resources] ice magic, ice magic crystal, light magic, light magic crystal, steel, cork, and glass?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Would you like to spend 150 DP to research a deluxe magic wood stove using the [Base Resources] fire magic, fire magic crystal, light magic, light magic crystal, iron, and coal?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Yes


    </td>


    <td>


    No


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It had taken a lot to get a functional kitchen and she still didn''t even have proper dishware, pots, and pans made to fill the cabinets, nor food to fill the fridge. Still, she just loved the gorgeous mix of white, purple, and gold streaks in the marble on her countertops. The glass on the upper cabinets wasn''t colored, but she still found it gave a cozy cottage feel and it would be nice to see all the dishware and jars of food organized in them, once she got around to it.


    The icebox and stove weren''t exactly modern renditions, but Violet had been more surprised it was even possible to make them. It would seem her system was able to take her own references to lights inside the modern fridges and ovens and combine it with the technology of this world to make a more medieval-style appliance that fit the vibes of the rest of her home perfectly.


    She already had a round wooden table unlocked from the mad tea party challenge room. However, the velvet dining chairs in that room had been white since she hadn''t dyed them, whereas she wanted purple velvet for her home. So she decided to go ahead and research that alongside a coffee table and purple cotton sofas, which perfectly matched the armchair in her bedroom. All of that had cost her another 130 dungeon points, but it was worth it.


    The only other room left to decorate was her bathroom, which she already had toilets and sinks unlocked for. So, she just had to spend 150 DP to research a deluxe magic bathtub, which she was more than certain she would enjoy using frequently in the future.

 3.8 The Local Lord & Lady

    Lord Nathan Blackwater had met his wife, Lady Amelia Blackwater, long before either of them had ever been considered for positions of nobility. They had started out as low-ranking adventurers who had no clue what they were doing, each in their own parties. They had seen each other a few times in passing whenever they were in their local city''s adventurer guild. However, they had never properly talked with one another until after an incident had occurred with Amelia''s previous party.


    The man in charge of the party had been foolhardy, rushing into battles they were nowhere near ready for. Despite the other party member''s protests, he had insisted they take on a floor boss far too quickly and without waiting long enough so the others could gather information from their fellow adventurers at that. Everyone but Amelia had ended up dying that day and she had come close to it as well. After she had spent more than a week huddling in the corner of the room, avoiding the boss, the Dungeon Master must have taken pity on her, or grown bored, as another party was let inside the room. They easily defeated the boss and then were kind enough to escort her to safety.


    When she had gone looking for new party members, Nathan had easily convinced the others in his party to accept her. He was a rather talented shield tank class that utilized the sword and board to ensure he could give as well as he could take. Despite his class being limited in the strength and agility department, he had ensured his training more than made up for it. If one of his party members needed to be rescued, he wanted to be able to carry them out of the dungeon. Being able to take a beating might have been what his class prioritized, but that didn''t mean he had to leave things at that.


    Amelia had been shy, but she had a small crush on him, so she was more than happy to be invited into his party. He hadn''t known that, though, at least not until a few years later when she had worked up the courage to ask him out. Their party members had been happy for them, but they had still all gone their own ways, save for him and his now wife, Amelia. That had been back when they were only C-rank and B-rank, but they had managed to make it to B-rank and A-rank in recent years before stalling out. It was only because of his own rank and show of leadership that he had been considered for a position of nobility when a new position had opened up.


    Amelia was a skilled assassin class, but that had limited her ability to rank up quite as easily as he had. She could dish out damage just fine, but the class and skill quests tended to require more strict conditions to fulfill, which had slowed her progress down more and more as she had gone along. Still, they were both fairly happy with their progress since it wasn''t exactly super common for Humans to make it as far as they had, much less to S-rank, in their lifetimes. Many of the other races with their extended lifespans had that as an advantage over them.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Now, they were mostly ready to retire and start a family of their own. While they had been surprised when they were offered a noble rank, even if it was the lowest one, it had also offered a unique opportunity, one they were eager to take advantage of. Thus, they had sold all of their non-sentimental belongings, save for their armor and weapons, and invested in a luxurious home, if modest for a noble, in the town of Millstone. Then they got to work straightening out the affairs of the town and cleaning up after the mess the previous town leader had left them.


    As a mere Lord and Lady, their responsibilities were minimal, as was the land they were in charge of. They had to report to a baron alongside a number of other nobles who were in charge of the larger territories that their new town was part of. They likely would never be able to earn a higher title for themselves, but their children would now have the ability to continue building up their estate with the hope of earning better titles for their families. Of course, there was also the possibility that they could lose their titles if they didn''t measure up to the expectations society placed on the nobility, but it was still great just to have this much.


    It had been a bit confusing to learn of the circumstances in Millstone and there had been a learning curve when it came to learning his new responsibilities. He wasn''t sure why the previous leader had tried to ban the locals from entering the dungeon, as it sounded like pure insanity. Did the man have no fear of the dungeon accords and the Dungeon Diplomats who enforce them? Of course, that was only one small facet of the things he had to deal with as there was also the influx of merchants and adventurers wanting to move to the area and build new shops and homes as well as the locals who wanted to move away. That had led to an abundance of paperwork and meetings to attend to for the entire spring season.


    Nathan did have to admit, though, the place looked a lot less like a ghost town now that the new shops were built and traffic through the city was picking up. He was still trying to get word out about their local dungeon, but that was likely to be a slow process. He didn''t know enough about the dungeon, nor had it been established for nearly long enough to draw more than the low-ranking adventurers who could afford to make the journey. In fact, that was why he and his wife were on their way to the dungeon now.


    Amelia looked beautiful with her leather and cloth armor that practically clung to her every curve and her red hair tied back into a beautiful bun. She was wearing a cape as well, but her hood was down, for now, since she didn''t need to worry about stealth until after they entered the dungeon, if at all. The dungeon was unlikely to present them with much of a challenge, but they both preferred to be over prepared rather than risk their lives unnecessarily.


    As they entered the Thornkeep Sanctuary dungeon, Nathan gripped his shield tighter. It was exciting to be back in a dungeon after more than a season away, but he couldn''t help but feel nervous. He had heard plenty about how strange this dungeon was, that it wasn''t anything like those that were dotted across the entirety of the Deepvein Kingdom. Well, he was hoping things would go well.

 3.9 Happy Wife, Happy Life

    Nathan grunted as another rock slammed into his shield. They had already spent much of the last two days exploring the first floor and completing challenges. Now they were taking on the first floor boss before moving on to the second floor. While he was taking the aggro of the boss [Monster], an emperor rock slime, his wife was doing her best to take it down solo.


    "Get ready for it!"


    Amelia shouted before running and ducking behind him. Nathan braced for impact as the slime burst into pieces, rocks exploding everywhere. His wife had made short work of it, using a mace to smash the exterior to pieces, staying behind it the entire time, while using an acid mixture to further deteriorate its armor and cause it to explode. As high-ranking adventurers, they were used to having to adapt to different types of [Monsters] during their many years of dungeon delving. That was why they both had magic bags with a whole arsenal of different gear to draw from. If they had only brought sharps, like his sword, then they wouldn''t be able to defeat undead or rock [Monsters], like this emperor rock slime. That would be a rather stupid way to die when they could just come prepared for a variety of situations.


    "Good job, love. Shall we move on to the next floor and then take a break?"


    Nathan asked. Amelia''s eyes were alight with excitement as she replied


    "That wasn''t even enough to wind me. Besides, I don''t want to waste time that could be spent completing challenges."


    Nathan laughed as he replied


    "Fair enough."


    His wife had been particularly loving the fun puzzle in this dungeon and got excited every time they earned a new reward. The abundance of sweets on the first floor had resulted in them spending more time than they had initially expected to spend on the floor. Of course, many of the puzzles were also different from what they were used to, but they could easily afford to spend a few hours on each since there was more than one floor in the dungeon. Many of the adventurers and locals were also quite friendly and more than willing to explain what they knew of each puzzle whenever they were asked.


    Walking through the dimly lit hallway, Nathan kept his eyes out for any [Traps] or signs. The first floor hadn''t had anything even remotely dangerous, besides the boss [Monster], but that didn''t mean the second floor would be the same. Seeing a strange-looking section of a wall, he pulled his wife behind him.


    "That part of the wall looks different. We should be careful."


    Amelia nodded, taking out a small object that she tossed forward, triggering the [Trap]. It was a special magic object that would trick even proximity [Traps], meant to only go off when living creatures passed by, to trigger. When a mass of colorful pink, purple, and blue butterflies were released, Amelia laughed in amusement. Nathan furrowed his eyebrows as he asked


    "Are they poisonous? Surely it wouldn''t make sense otherwise..."


    The butterflies looked very artificial, nothing like the ones you could see in the wild. Yet, they were very realistic, suggesting they might be real. After a moment, Amelia replied to his question


    "My skill says they''re non-lethal. Should be safe to pass through."


    As an assassin class, she had the ability to identify poisons, among other things. As a B-rank, she had unlocked most of the class skills available to her. Only the truly OP abilities that were reserved for A-rank and S-rank were out of her reach. After so many years traveling together, Nathan easily trusted his beloved with his life and walked forward confidently, smiling in amusement as his wife acted like a kid, giggling as she held her hands out to the butterflies in wonder.


    Nathan made a mental note to himself that they should come to the local dungeon more often. He liked seeing his wife so happy and carefree and it would be good to keep tabs on what was happening with such an important resource for their town. Hopefully, one day, it could grow into a large city like Elesfield City, even if that would likely come with its own problems.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Nathan received a system prompt as soon as they walked into the first room of the second floor. It seemed this was a challenge room. Behind him, his wife notified him


    "Looks like the door is locked. Neither of us are a strength-based class, so we will have to be careful moving forward."


    "Well, this one should be easy enough. It just wants us to collect the flowers in the correct order and then present the bouquet to one of these altars. With the colors available, I''m guessing it¡¯s the same deal as that wooden ball puzzle on the first floor."


    Amelia nodded, immediately getting to work collecting the roses. Nathan found it tempting to collect some for his wife as well, but he didn''t even want to risk messing up the challenge by picking the roses alongside her. There was no point in messing things up for them, even if it would be nice to get more than one set of the reward. Before too long, Amelia placed the bouquet of roses on the stone altar next to the door and they were stepping through the threshold. After accepting the reward, she smiled as she declared


    "I got something called a wild violet and honey lollipop. Seems like a nice tie in with the flower-themed challenge we just completed."


    Nathan smiled in response to his wife''s words. He was happy she was enjoying herself. They''d likely end up earning a second one when they went to leave the floor, but he''d happily let her take both. It was more important to him that she had some for later. Besides, they had been able to enjoy plenty of other rewards together like the walnut fudge, which they had received a decent-sized box of on the first floor after completing a rather annoying slime parkour challenge. That''s what the map at the adventurer''s guild had called it, anyhow.


    Honestly, if it weren''t for his more than a decade of experience as an adventurer, Nathan would be more nervous about this second floor. There wasn''t much information about it and there wasn''t a map available for it yet either. Unfortunately, he had learned that the dungeon had recently been mapped out, so it wouldn''t be possible again for several seasons. There was even talk about waiting until the next spring in order to allow the map making group more time to do their job before wintertime came around. Apparently, the job had taken longer than expected the last time due to how quickly the dungeon was growing, how unusual the challenge rooms were, and the timing since it was nearly winter when they first arrived.


    Nathan was relieved as he found this second room was a [Monster] field, but that joy didn''t last long as the next room was highly problematic. The challenge required them to place the correct plant on the correct stone altar and the doors were once more locked. The good news was that they could attempt it as many times as necessary and they had brought plenty of rations, but their odds didn''t look good.


    With some teamwork and a good dose of good luck, they managed to make it out of the room. Amelia befriended some pixies named Briar and Moss who offered to help them complete the challenge in exchange for some of their sweets. Having four individuals to switch the plants out, instead of just two, made things go a lot faster. Unfortunately, the pixies either didn''t know the answer to the puzzle or they were unwilling to share the answer. Still, they were so grateful for their help that they left the two a small pile of the sweets they had earned on the first floor.


    None of the other puzzles on the second floor provided nearly as much difficulty, allowing them to easily complete them all before the week ended. There were a lot more rooms to travel through on the second floor than the first, but it was nothing they couldn''t handle. Besides, most of the pixies were friendly while the others tended to avoid them. There were a few who seemed to enjoy singing creepy nursery rhymes about violence that seemed aimed at them, but they didn''t really pose enough of a threat to worry about them.


    The boss room on the second floor had been fascinating with a huge castle that sat in ruins with a moat around it. However, it had been almost comical when they had found such a small boss [Monster] within. The strangely feminine mushroom had put up a decent fight, even despite how much of a power difference there was between them. Nathan had to put a bit more effort into blocking the fast and accurate swipes it made with its scythe, but he had still made it out without a single scratch on him. His wife had stood back, merely watching as he took the boss [Monster] down on his own. The threat wasn''t enough to need the both of them and she had done most of the work on the first floor, which they''d soon have to go back through, so he was fine with her taking a break.


    While they had seen a route to the third floor, they had chosen not to continue forward. Despite the dungeon, thus far, being child''s play for them, they didn''t want to bother the Dungeon Master. While Nathan certainly wanted to meet the rumored young woman in charge of the dungeon, he didn''t want to worry her. They were far stronger than most adventurers and it would be best not to make her worry they were coming for her dungeon core. If the opportunity ever presented itself to meet her on one of the lower floors, though, he was certain he''d happily take advantage of it then. Perhaps, they would have better luck next time, but that was bound to be a while since they''d have paperwork to catch up on when they returned home.