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Cottagecore Dungeon
Chapter 27: Fungus Among Us

Chapter 27: Fungus Among Us

Chapter 27: Fungus Among Us

We left the floppy bits of the remaining foot on Jimbo-no's leg. There wasn’t much point in removing it if there was no threat of infection. Jellybee obediently strapped the peg to the other skeleton’s leg. And it worked good enough.

Jimbo-no carried a limp and wouldn’t be able to put much pressure on it, which took him off mining duty, but for now the replacement would suffice.

Jellybee would be enough for what I had in mind. I sent him back into the tunnel to continue the good work. I had him carve through another six feet to lengthen the hall, then had him work on another room.

During that I started on a combination of Mana Dusting in the tunnel for more Mana and Leyline Stitching boundaries throughout the surrounding soil. All while sitting in my new rocking chair within the living room next to the hearth.

I needed to know the layout of the land. Not only to see when invaders approached the front entrance, but also to make sure we weren’t going to accidentally mine our way into a river or underground well.

Jimbo-no got sweeping duty upstairs. Within the hour he had sobered up. Which was surprisingly fast considering the amount of alcohol he had consumed. I surmised that he didn’t need a liver to process it all out of a bloodstream. It was the thought that counted when it came to this sort of stuff.

During his hangover he finally noticed that we had two more cats in the house. “Lady, are ya running a Dungeon? Or an animal shelter?” He asked.

“Both. Don’t worry about it.”

And I went back to Knitting.

The notifications flew in as I quickly grinded my abilities while multitasking. Soul Stroll, Mana Dusting, and Leyline Stitching all went up a level. Which made it easier to focus on each one individually.

Another hour passed. Only two hours remained for the Neverwatch Pot. I could tell the Pyreplace Simmer Power was brewing Spinemess along nicely. There was a distinctive smell in the air. What it was, I couldn't quite place it. Warm milk?

The notifications came and levels came slower. Which was disappointing, even if it made sense. Eventually my Mana topped off and I started acquiring incremental bits of experience in between Dusting and Gardencrafting repairs.

As soon as Jellybee finished one small room in the basement, I had him dig out another. Then another. Besides the original room that was supposed to contain Lucille, there were now three more on the opposite side of the hall. All evenly spaced.

For now, they all were to remain empty.

I had to give Jellybee some sort of reward for his efforts. He truly was a good lad.

In a way, the digging was its own reward.

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Ha! Good heavens! I almost sounded like my old pappy there!

No, the rooms were their rooms. One for each of my humanoid Minions. Even if they didn’t need sleep, they still deserve a place to rest or store belongings. Servant quarters, so to speak. They would be free to decorate them to their leisure.

Any invaders busting down doors looking for shinies might instead find someone lounging around in their deathday suit.

I still felt like Jellybee deserved something special. I took a gander at the old hollow oak tree in the backyard. Queenie was still safe and sound in the enclosure he had crafted up for her. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could do to help with his bug problems. I didn’t know a lot about bees in the first place. I left the bees be.

I turned towards my System menus and scrolled through endless recipes and blueprints. Eventually, I found something that I figured he would appreciate.

Mushrooms! There were quite a lot here. And none of the labels had consistency. It was like the System was trying to figure out the best way to interpret things, so it was making it up as it went along. There was the typical looking red mushroom labeled Amanita muscarnita, another called Yellow Oyster Bloom, another that was simply morels, and a bunch that were different shades of Glowing blue mushrooms.

Eenie, meenie, miney…

Oh, why not all of them?

When Jellybee finally finished the last room, I Gardencrafted a few of the mushrooms into existence around the room. As a treat.

Well, more than a few.

Like, all of them.

Once again, I underestimated how much a good fifteen Mana would create.

Oh no.

Two levels at once? That was concerning.

There was an explosion of fungal growth.

Mushroom stalks sprung from the ground and walls instantly, grew substantial caps, bulged, then went poof! A rainbow of spores vaulted in the air.

The growth continued. A blanket of vibrant fungus. Surging like a tidal wave. Past the room. Down the tunnel. Into the other rooms.

Reacting quickly, I Mana Dusted the falling rock trap.

The mushroom blanket hit an avalanche wall of dirt and stone.

Then came to a stop. Unable to continue onward into the cellar.

I couldn't believe my trap actually worked.

I looked frantically through the dust and spores, trying to locate Jellybee. I Dusted through the rubble and the tangled web of mushroom jungle. The Mana that returned to me was minimal compared to the amount I had put in. A good five minutes passed and I still couldn’t locate the boy’s body.

Finally, I found him.

Jellybee was above ground–clinging to a red and white tree sized mushroom that had emerged on the side of the house–laughing like he had just won the lottery. Thankfully the giant mushroom hadn't ruined any of the surrounding garden. And on the bright side, it added a pleasant degree of shade to replace the other tree that Bonny's companion had cut down earlier.

Despite this minor setback, we had made considerable progress.

The home was looking mighty clean upstairs. Hardly a speck of soot or ash remained outside the fireplace, all the fluff in the backyard had been Dusted away, and the sword cut materials had been replaced. Aside from an unfinished basement, the place was basically ship-shape. All it needed was some elbow grease and a few personal touches from the owner.

There was only one hour left until Spinemess finished his bath.

I was very excited to see how he had turned out.