Greetings. I am a simple and humble dungeon master. My monsters are larvae, my creatures are plants. By sheer coincidence, I managed to get my plants to become a strange and stronger version of themselves. After a tragic battle with an ant dungeon, I had proceeded to evolve my larva and ignore my plants. Then, I made friends with a bee dungeon. Now, I am reflecting on my past and current life, to see if I had done something to anger the gods. 

Please.... you don't have to stick with me for every single second you know? The bee dungeon can never give me a moment of private time. She literally sticks with me the entire time, one of her honey bees always in my dungeon. I already said, dammit, that there is a specially designated area for you to collect nectar from my flowers alright! Come on!

But I want the ones closer to you, honey~

AAHHHHH, CREEEPYYYY! What is with this yandere! Get me out! *sniff* Just kill me already. I don't know why but like a couple days after we became friends, she literally began pestering me about some bonding thing which I still don't get. Like what become one and enjoy our gifts for each other and stuff. IE! (japanese for no) Stop! Those descriptions are too graphic! I was a virgin in my previous life and now I'm just a young dungeon not even a year old, please no adult stuff now...... there's no need to clear out the area of dungeons OK? No it is fine, I already have no privacy thanks to you already, having other dungeons around won't get worst than this. Wha-Don't sulk okay? Fi-Fine! I'll put the flowers closer to my core for you okay? 

Yay! I love you honey!

.... Kill me already. This is bad for my core. I need to distract myself. Hm? What is it, my Queen? You are nodding in this direction... hmmm let's see. That's a wall alright. Yup, that's a wall. Er? Oh, the other direction you say? Hmmmm, let's see. Yup, that's another wall alright. That's a wall. Queen? Umm, okay, you are moving towards my core..... you are thumping the ground.... I see! You want an expansion and a separate room! Okay, larvacks I need you t-No? That's not it? Now I'm confused. I'm really sorry, my Queen, I am kind of in a little shock right now. Hold on.... let me see..... (draw a nice line straight and do some math. The number of times she hit the ground and the two directions she pointed at and do some simulatneou-she is making me do complex numbers? No let's try that again with here and.......)

----(pause while dungeon master fails horribly at understanding his Queen)----

I need to give myself a gian facepalm right now. Someone just slap my crystal right now! Actually, don't do that, your life will be in danger after that courtesy of a certain bee *cough*cough* dungeon. 

IT WAS THE FREAKING PLANTS! I need to get some serious nourishment for my brain right now. Like seriously, how can I ever be so dumb. Me? The greatest? The best? Never, that's the answer. I was temporarily having a system reboot to function better, thus the misunderstandings are to be expected. I repeat, they are to be expected okay? *Ahem* Either way, it's fun time!

First, we need to get the plants into shape. 'Plants have no shapes' you argue, let me tell you one important thing. This is a dungeon. None of the rules of common sense apply, a dungeon can be yandere, a dungeon can be yandere......... I wanna cry... I didn't sign up for this. 

Right, enough digressing. Into serious mode we go, to prep our plants into a good shape. Give me diversity! Give me aaaaall the goodies that plants that have to offer. I present to you the impromptu table that the mighty dungeon master has set up for you. 

Plant Evolution Options

Option A Offense. Plants who posses properties most suited for offensive purposes. Examples are poisonous plants which can be easily harvested and plants that have parts which can, say, be thrown and explode. Option B Defense. Plants who posses properties most suited for defensive purposes. Examples are poisonous plants which can inflict harm upon contact and plants who can be used as traps.  Option C Utility. Plants who posses properties most suited to provide utility. Examples are plants that can be made into ropes and plants that can be made into other raw materials (like rubber or glue).  Option D Support. Plants who posses properties most suited to provide support to its allies. Examples are plants that can provide good food (or can be processed into good food), can produce items that can boost allies' performance. Alchemical and apotherical plants fall under this category. Option E Monster. Self-explanatory. A plant that has become a monster (can be sentient). Can fall under any if not all of the above options.

Judging from that... We should probably head for a Option D and B path right? NOT! Got you, hahahaha. Like seriously, what's the point of having all that when the plants can be monsters and evolve themselves? Yup! Option E is a go! E for Effort right? That is what the meme is right? I hope? Anyways, I've got to somehow unlock the plant's monster evolution path somehow. Unfortunately, I do know who to ask regarding this....... I hate my life.

"Yes, what do you want honey? Oh, could it be that you have finally prepared yourself? Kyaaa, I'm not mentally prepared for this! Give me a moment, I need to make haste. Darling has finally agreed, I have to present my very best. Where is my premium jelly, not here, not here~ Ah, there it is! Here you go, darling~"

"Erm. First off, I did not agree to anything. Please get that sorted. Next, I need some of your advice regarding something. And, ummmm, you can keep the weird-looking jelly. It's important right?" He-hey, why is she looking so pissed? Eehhhh, help?

"Mou, darling. Has anyone ever taught you never to reject a girl's gift?" The Queen bee she was possesing repositioned herself to a more regal pose. "So, what is the issue that brings honey to my hive? I will help in whatever way I can"

Ah, yes. I forgot to mention but, during the course of the couple of weeks, our reputation points have been rocketing upwards like crazy. I think it's because unlike RPGs this is actually a two way thing, so the other party actually can raise the status on their own as well. We now sit at "Trusted" status, halfway to "Oathsworn" status (which sounds creepy as hell) at [10,000] reputation points. Don't bother asking, I stopped doing so within 3 days. This 6 month old dungeon will no longer question the power of the yan-yan. *Haaah* Why is life so cruel?

"You see, I have the [Monstrous Creatures] achievement, which has unlocked lik-"

"You have that!? Oh, I'm so sorry, please continue."

"No problem, so as I was saying, I can make my plants turn into monsters. The thing is, I don't really know how, so I was wondering if you could help me out here. I only have {1/20} of the conditions unlocked. So I was wondering if you had any ideas on what to try...."

*Bee dungeon deep in thought* "Mmmmmm, I know of some things we could try. First of all is manipulating the dungeon influence inside them and condense it. However, not doing this carefully may destroy the entire plant itself. Another would be mana manipulation, manipulate mana both inside and outside the plants, it's worth a shot. Using animus is another method, but rather costly. Giving the plants more items to work with is also an option, maybe you could give them some honey in the soil? That can work... Possesion of the plants may also help, especially in understanding their composition, allowing you to make modifications easier. Having a concrete image of your desired end-product is important as well, but I have full confidence that darling is well able to do it. Right?" Ummmm, not reall-I mean, yes ma'am! With full confidence! So don't look like you are going to rip my face apart, I like my face. 

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"Ah yes, a dungeon core may help as well."

"?"

"You can break down a dungeon's core into a very special resource, you know? It's like cracking an egg, you hold it over the monster or creature, take the core and crack it. The energy will flow and the core will disappear, then you can tell the energy what to do. It's really fun, you know? I've done it a lot of times, the crack is so satisfying.... Hiyaa, the image of me and honey cracking a freshly claimed dungeon core. Mmmmm!" Um, please stop whatever delusions you have about me this instance. And don't talk about egg cracking so easily, I'm an oviparous dungeon you know? Oi, are you even listening?

Either way, that is a lot of things to try. Hopefully, by the end of the month I can at least satisfy half of the conditions. Why do I have the weird feeling that the plants participating in a dungeon battle is needed? Oh well, must be just a feeling. Peh, nothing to worry about. Let me just head back to my dungeon. Back to my limestone walls and away from the breccia. Out, peace!

Phew, I'm back. That dungeon is one cr- you heard nothing bee. You can go away now. I said go away, go on, shoo. Ah, never mind. Forget it. Let me just focus on my plants. First of all, the most important one of all is option D. An army marches on its stomach, as the saying goes. Don't get it? Well, it pretty much means that the quality and quantity of food determines the people's (in this case larvae) happiness and morale. I was also a gourmet in my past life (a pizza with ten different kinds of cheese was surprisingly tasty...I'll need to work on getting cows too...), so the taste of the food is very important to me. Right now, we have rather limited numbers, so it is in my best interest to increase my food supply. And variety as well. Munching on the same flavour of Vakiolum leaves must get pretty boring. I have the DP to spare anyways. Like seriously, [3100 DP]?

First off, let's purchase 30 larva eggs from the Catalogue. Must have that larva going, lovely lovely larvae. Place them next to my core, aaand perfect. [2200 DP] left. Now, let me check the plant section of my Catalogue. I'm pretty sure at some point in my dungeon life, there was a notification about added variety of plants in the Catalogue.

Plant Life

Vakiolum Seeds Cost: [10 DP] each. Mature Time: [3 days]. Requires: [Mana]. A hardy and adaptive shrub-like plant which can grow as long as there is mana present. It reproduces by suckers, so it does not flower. Variations that have been discovered can be added at additional costs.  Flower Seeds Cost: [10 DP] each. Mature Time: [4 days]. Requires: [soil][water][sunlight]. A pretty flower. Low possibility of producing fruit.  Sticktrap Seeds Cost: [20 DP] each. Mature Time: [4 days]. Requires: [soil][water][sunlight]. A grass that has a sticky surface which is very useful for slowing down enemies. Allies too.  Basic Tree Cost: [500 DP] each. Mature Time: [5 years]. Requires: [soil][water][sunlight]. A tall tree. May or may not flower to produce edible fruit.  Random Seed Cost: [1000 DP]. Mature Time: [unknown]. Requires: [unknown]. @#$%&*^$%@#%^. Can only be purchased once. Cannot be spliced.

Right. Not helpful in the slightest, Catalogue. Not helpful. I have some soil and a little water but I have zero sunlight. Or light for that matter. Haaah, I wonder if there was anyway to modify the seeds. Hello Catalogue? Can you like, give me a splicer or something?

You have unlocked the Splicer. You may now use the Splicer in the Catalogue. The Splicer can help you splice seeds with each other to produce a new seed. This process can be done with DP (costs may vary) with random effects or can be done manuallly (no DP cost). The product will be added to the Catalogue and can be removed. Note, removing a seed willl be permanant and its effects will not be retrieved. The cost of the seed will be the average price of the spliced seeds regardless of the effects of the seed. The splicer can currently only splice 2 seeds at once. 

I see. So this is pretty much a gacha huh. Yeah, it's a gacha alright. Except that you can now control your outputs. I feel somewhat better now. At least Catalogue has been rather nice to me. Now let's get to work and start splicing some seeds. 

Splicer

(insert seed) (insert seed) (collect product here)

Let's see. What exactly do I want. Hmmm, I can't pick. Oh well, since it is beneficial to us both, I'm going to splice the flower seeds with my vakiolum. 

Honey? What exactly did you do? I somehow got a Sporarrangium for no reason. It's you right? I thought it would be. Kyaaa, my darling is so amazing! *mwack*

I'm literally getting the shivers from this lass over here. SOD, save my dugeon! Please. If you have anymore surprises just do it now while I am still prepared. 

I'm guessing this is due to our "Trusted" status? I love you so much honey, thank you for procuring such a wonderful gift for me. I will treasure this well. Oh, let me give you some DP as well. It seems like it requires DP to work. Hyaa, darling using something that came from my core. *Haa*haa*

Alright, let's just ignore her completely. Nope, I know no bee dungeon, officer. I think she went that way. Yes, please leave me alone, I am innocent. *Sigh* I do hope she didn't give me some crazy amount of DP.

You have recieved [1000 DP] from your trusted friend. [+100] relationship points. 

I'm going to die from all these surprises. My heart will wear itself out. I mean, my core. Just fantastic, this eccentric bee lady. Give me back my peaceful life. She just gave me a months and more DP in just a couple of seconds like it was nothing. Forget it, might as well just use it. A true gentleman will never question his gifts. Ah, I can't hear you~

Vakiolum Seeds Flower seeds (collect product here)

Aaaaaand Begin! Manual splicing! 

Ooohhh, I feel it. The throbbing of both seeds as they combine. I focus of the flower. I imagined.... imagined an orchid. Of pure white, in contrast to the dark. It would be fragrant, yet light. A flower that you could smell from far away but not get overwhelmed by the scent up close. It would be small, with its long stamens hanging out of the flower. Its black stigma lying flat on the bottommost petal, a stark contrast to the snow white flower. Its petals where thin, yet long, it looked fragile and delicate, but also at the same time strong enough to hold under the weight of multiple bees. 

Next I focused on the plant. I drew on most of the vakiolum's hardy properties, making the plant able to grow even in the absence of light. The flower would bear fruit, it would be edible, but I had no idea on what it would be. I needed a name, and I decided on calling this flower the Beelflower, since the bees will be its primary form of pollination. *sigh* I know, I know. The bees where much better at pollination so I had no choice okay. 

Seeds spliced! You are now able to purchase [Beelflower Seeds] in the Catalogue. This seed cannot be spliced yet. Cosst: [10 DP]. Mature Time: [5 days]. Requires: [Mana][Water][Soil].

I quickly bought 10 of those seeds. Now I'm left with... still [2200 DP]. Welp, not complaining. 

Either way, Let's hurry up and plant these seeds. I'll focus on my larvae training until they finish growing.

---(5 days later)---

----(Bee dungeon POV)----

What in the world is that lovely smell. *Blush* Oh, darling~ How could you, meanie. You prepared such a nice surprise for me, I have nothing to give in return you know. Unless you wish for me to pay with my-*gasp* honey ecchi!

----------------------------------

I'm getting the chills for some reason.......