After successfully creating five skeletons, the lich contently spoke to me,

"I believe I have taught you all you need to know. I expect you to return me to my vase and deactivate those accursed light mana enchantments."

I told the lich,

"Do not worry, I will keep my end of the deal. You will not have to deal with that for the duration of the month."

Keeping in line with our deal, I returned him to his sealed vase. The lich was a good actor, but I knew he had not quelled his desire to escape. I believe he might have devised a way to escape from the vase without any light mana to deter him, so I would need to strengthen his containment. From my pile of minerals and precious gems collected from excavating the floors of my dungeon. I took some iron and gold.

Necromancy wasn't the only thing I researched in my time with the lich. I tested metals and gems for their mana affinities as well. From my collection of rare metals and stones, the ones that held the greatest affinity for light mana were gold and, to a lesser extent, silver; for earth, it was iron for darkness, copper for water, mercury, and fire, flarium. I have not yet found a mineral that held affinities for air, and as for life and death, they held affinities to organic matter living for the former and decaying for the latter.

There may be materials that exceed the affinities of the materials I have found, but I have yet to find them. Like a Russian nesting doll, I construct another vase for the vase to sit in. Instead of silver, this vase would be made of gilded iron enchanted with earth mana and light mana. The earth enchantment would make the iron impossibly durable, impervious to rust, and very heavy. But the gold that lined the interior of the vase would constantly shine on the silver vase.

The light couldn't pass through the vase, but if the vase were broken, the lich would be in for one hell of a painful experience. After a day of creating the gilded vase, I placed the silver vase inside of it. Now that the lich was secured, I took a look at the previous invaders of the dungeon. It was unfortunate, but it seemed my monsters left the remains unrecoverable, so I simply took their tools and armaments and left them there.

I tried to turn them into undead, but I couldn't thread the broken bones and fractured joints, which was unfortunate. Even worse, the paladins who came with the lich were immune to being raised from the dead for some reason. Perhaps some form of divine protection or maybe their affinities for light mana protected them; I'm still unsure. but I still had a bunch of corpses, both from the previous inhabitants and the monsters that perished due to invading forces. So I would have to fashion undead out of them.

With news of my dungeon Reaching the city, they might organize a strike team to destroy the basilisks and, in turn, discover the other floors. I will need to bolster my defenses, and the fifth floor will do just that. At the end of the second section of the flooded temple, I began to create an iron gate encrusted with copper that was to be enchanted with darkness mana. The copper took the shape of a river of darkness below the earth, unseen. The river flowed through the world, and at the end of the river, the picture was intentionally broken. The copper was cracked and oxidized. To enhance the sense of mystery.

Beyond the gates, I created a dock and a small boat with rotting wooden oars. This river would be inspired by the river Styx. Now I would have to excavate an entire river. But first, I must test the mechanics of the floor. I laid out a five-meter waterway and started to imbue it with darkness mana, yet the darkness didn't stick to the water at all and started to coalesce on the bottom. Perhaps the darkness's mana needs something to attach to. So I gathered copper and started to mold it into a crude jar, pouring the water inside of it. I waited and waited for copper to leech into the water. Once completed, I used the leeched copper water and imbued it with darkness mana again.

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This time the water did what I intended it to do, and it became dark and unseeable. This water looked very similar to the waters of the dark sea to the east but was different compared to it; my water was less viscous but darker. After completing the darkness enchantment on the water, I began to enchant the Stygian waters with water mana with the intent to create a strong undercurrent. After hours of fiddling with it, I had made it so the water would flow steadily and slowly at the top but would flow with speed and veracity below.

At the bottom of the testing river, I placed artificial sand and sharp copper shards. If anyone were to try to walk below on the river, if that was even possible, they would meet a thousand shards of Tenebrous steel moving at breakneck speeds. I would need to find some aquatic life to inhabit the Stygian River, but the fish that inhabited the small creeks and rivers here were too small and weak for my purposes. Plus, there was a place where the wildlife would've adapted. Adapted to darker, more insidious waters.

The best monsters that could inhabit this floor would be from the dark sea. But the distance would be difficult to cross, to say the least. Taken on foot, the journey there and back would take a week and a half, but by continuous flight, maybe three days. But would any fish or amphibians survive the flight? I needed something that could both contain the fish without harming it and travel vast distances, something I do not yet have. But perhaps I can make it?

I'll have to find out. I turned my attention to the animal containment area, which wasn't connected to the dungeon, and looked for any possible candidates for the journey. A pelican could work, but I don't have one and am unsure if they even exist here. The only possible candidate was a frog. Theoretically, a bat could carry the frog from here to the Dark Sea, but it would be slower. Oh well, I guess I'll have to compromise. Taking a frog from its container and enlarging it to the size of a dog.

I made its stomach acid inert so it would not dissolve the fish, which also meant it could not eat. This will only be a temporary creature anyway, so I don't need to be concerned about its long-term survival. I enlarged its stomach to its very limit, taking about three-fifths of its entire body. And enhanced it with water mana so it would have an easier time diving into those dark, murky waters. With the frog complete, I ordered the bats to take it to the dark sea.

Unfortunately, it took three surveillance bats just to carry it, so I would have to assign a good portion of my spy network just to carry the damn thing. Watching the bats take the frog into the horizon was a comical sight; fortunately, the bats could cast a veil of darkness on themselves and, in turn, on the frog. So they wouldn't be detectable to the naked eye. By the time they went over the horizon, Herald had returned. I welcomed him into the caverns and asked,

"Herald, how did the quest go?"

The avian spoke with confidence and jubilation,

"It went great. I did everything you said, creator, and now the human boy is in the city."

The young bird seemed very proud of his achievement,

"Very good, Herald, as promised, you may have a sip of the wine of life."

Taking herald into the third, he entered the ziggurat and saw the bull, pointed at it with his wing, and asked curiously,

"Creator, why is that bull glowing?"

Oh, this must be his first time seeing the bull of heaven. I responded,

"It is because of his high light mana concentration."

The crow nodded and asked again,

"What's light mana?"

I had forgotten that I hadn't taught it about the elements it had only known of air and darkness, which were the ones I had imparted upon him.

"I shall teach you about it later, but for now you deserve a reward,"

so I took the wine and passed it to the bird. It took a sip, and then it started flying around the room chaotically. After a few minutes, he had grown tired and stopped.

"Creator! That was delicious. Can I have more, please?"

This wine may be too good. "

No. But if you complete more quests, I would love to indulge you in more."

Nodding, the crow flew into the canopy of the jungle and started to take a nap. Now I'll have to wait for the frog to return.