I ponder what to do with these skeletal corpses; they don't seem quite human. They are smaller, sturdier, and seem to have larger bones. But it seems I won't be able to grasp their origins quite yet. The fortress seemed like a sturdy place for the first floor of my dungeon, yet I still feel it is somewhat incomplete.

It already possessed a natural maze-like cave system, had real history in it, and had formidable monsters. Yet I feel as though I haven't done enough; I haven't left my mark on it. Perhaps I should add to the ruins? I examined the architecture of the fortress; it resembles early medieval stone fortifications. It didn't seem to have any arrow slits, but it did possess archer towers, which is evidence of bow use.

Though it seemed like most of the wood used for bows had been rotted away, after analyzing the architecture, I felt confident in my ability to replicate it. So, I expanded the fortress, making it larger, adding to the fortifications, adding cuts, and wearing the stone down to replicate age. Now that it was complete, the interior of the fortress was far more complex, and the maze could stretch on for a long time if you turned the wrong way. I added falling stone traps along the ceiling if any intruder wasn't careful enough. I gathered the bioluminescent beetles from the caves. Unfortunately, their bioluminescence was mundane; there was no magic in it.

But that is not to say they are useless. I gather around twenty of them and infuse them with mana. I alter their brightness and size; I make them twice as big and twice as bright as their natural counterparts. I'll scatter these bugs around the fortress not too many in the hallways, just enough so that a person can see what is just in front of them. I saved most of them for the throne room where Caecus resides, so the final boss fight will be more atmospheric.

Now this floor feels complete. The tenebrous darkness of the cave, the winding labyrinthian hallways that make up the interior of the fortress, the dim glow of the light beetles, and the eyeless basalisks within it who will chase you down if you even make the smallest sound. Though I am missing something, what was it? A reward yes, all good dungeons need a reward for completing each floor. Well, it's not necessary, but it would be more entertaining to do so.

So, I contemplated what would be a worthy reward. I look at the staff and shake my head. I still need to research it some more. Maybe I can attempt to recreate the staff? Yes, that sounds like a plan. I should first try to replicate the magic crystal that rests upon it. I look at the magic core of Caecus and see a resemblance. Maybe the magic crystal is merely a refined version of a monster core? Well, let's think of another hypothesis. First, I attempt to gather mana within the air, Trying to crystallize it, but it doesn't seem to form any matter, only making the mana density in the room higher. That was a failure; perhaps I needed a living medium to do that. Instead of trying to crystallize pure mana, I should instead imbue an object with enough mana, so it simply becomes attuned to it. Somewhat like how Caecus attained an earth-aligned mana core.

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I take a shard of Rock from a cave wall and start imbuing it with earth mana. Yet after only a minute, it crumbles into dust. Perhaps I need a stronger material. I take one of the golden rings from the fallen king and a rusty, broken sword from a fallen soldier and imbue both with pure earth mana for about an hour. After imbuing it, the sword became far more durable yet far heavier. As for the gold, it did not seem to retain as much earth mana, but it did gain an equal proportion of weight and strength from the infusion.

It did not seem to have as much mana emissions as the staff, but it did emit about an eighth of the amount, which seems good considering it is only a ring. yet it only emits earth mana; it doesn't do anything. That's what I assume runes are for. Yet I don't know the runic language used here. So, I simply carve the same exact rune from the staff to the ring. And when I siphoned mana into it, the ring shattered into dust. Strange, this shouldn't be the case; it's the exact same rune and material.

Perhaps the engraver needs to understand the rune itself before carving so it produces the effect desired. Well, that was a waste of a gold ring. At least I have nine left. I should at least gather the gold dust; gold is valuable. Okay, so maybe intent is more important? So, I gather a rusty spear from the pile of skeletons and start imbuing it with mana. I intended it to be sharp, thin, and durable. After imbuing it with intent for ten minutes, it seemed the spear let out a dull glow. I examined the spearhead. It was still rusty, but the edge was free of rust. It was thin, but not that sharp. Still sharper than before, though. Perhaps the material mattered as well. But that proves my hypothesis: I can enchant things without runes. But the effect seemed more passive than active, and it seemed to only absorb mana from the atmosphere now to maintain the sharpness enchantment.

It didn't seem to accept mana when I tried giving it. Perhaps when it comes to intent-based enchantments, the effect can't be amplified by its user. Well, it doesn't seem like I can replicate the staff. Knowing this, I take a ring from the king, take the gold dust from the previous ring, and start to mold it into a statuette of a throne. On it lay the fallen king. He held a great staff, and luxurious gold accessories were worn on each of his fingers. After finishing the miniature statuette, I laid it on the ring and fused it together. After I was done with the ornamentation, I started infusing it with earth mana. I intend the ring to be hard, impossibly so, and to create a formless gauntlet on the hand of its user. I wish it to be nigh indestructible, so after two hours of infusions, my mana had been completely drained, but the ring was done. It was a thing of beauty. The mana it emitted rivaled that of Caecus'. but I imagine the mana this would take to put on would be tremendous. I'm not sure where to put it, though. I have an idea. On the throne, I constructed a broken stone hand resting on the right armrest of the seat, and on its ring finger, I placed my creation.

If anyone were to stumble upon my desolate fortress, they would assume the basilisks were responsible for its abandonment and would seek to slay them to claim the fortress' treasures. After contemplating for a while, I think I can finally say I have completed the first floor.