I'm now ready to create my second floor. In spite of that I still hold off for a while. That one party seems to be the only ones who know about my existence, and they don't seem to want to harm me. Sure, someone else might stumble in but anyone who can make it past the boss isn't likely to be stopped by anything I put on the 2nd floor. I do plan to add traps to the second floor. Since it will be the first set of traps in the dungeon though, I plan to make them easy enough to spot if you're paying attention. Another reason I'm putting off buying a second floor is so I can hopefully buy a few more interesting things from the shop. I have a general idea of what I want the second floor to be, but more options can't hurt.

The main reason I'm putting off my second floor though is because I kinda do want to form a bond with the leader of that party. It's boring having nobody to talk to but myself. Plus, the way that inspector person talked the bond must be accepted by both parties so I can back out if I decide not to go through with it. At least until after the bond is established anyway.

Fortunately, it only takes about 30 days for them to return this time. If they do like last time, I should have a bunch of world energy to add to the 43 I got while waiting for them to return. This time they are wearing full sets of gear. Well except for Lily who looks the same as last time. Strange. I mean, I get that she's the healer, but she should still have some means of self-defense for emergencies. Darrel on the other hand has a fancy new staff but that's about it. Cole for his part is actually starting to look the part of a tank inside his heavy iron armor. He even has a proper shield this time as well. His sword while not new does appear to have at least been repaired and sharpened. Then again maybe it is new and just identical to the old one. As for Clyde he seems to have gone for a mix of protection and maneuverability with light iron armor.

Still no mana or health potions so either they don't exist, unlikely since one of my theme options is potion crafter, or they are super expensive in this world. Once again, they stay here for two nights. They manage six full clear runs in that time. Despite that they only manage to go up one more level to level 4. The thing is now that they know where the boss chamber is once they do reach level 5 will they just go straight for it. Not that it matters now because I'll probably have to wait another 30 days or so for them to return.

In the meantime, I have 303 world energy burning a hole in my metaphorical pocket. This means that there are a lot of options in the shop suddenly. First, I decide to try something I've actually been thinking about for a while. See there has to be a reason rooms are in their own category despite there only being the one option. So, I go ahead and spend 20 world energy to buy two rooms. Now I focus on trying to connect them together in my inventory. To my utter astonishment not only did it work but they actually snapped together like two magnets and fused into a single room. Not only that but the rooms category now has 10x5x5 rooms available for purchase directly at 20 world energy each. Buying one I try to connect the two together and I'm rewarded with a 10x10x5 rooms for 40 world energy in the shop. Again, I buy one but this time I try placing it on top of the other one. This time what I get is a 10x10x10 room that costs a whooping 80 world energy.

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I decide to stop with the experimenting for now as there doesn't seem to be an upper limit and I don't want to use up all my world energy on this. Next up it's time to take a look at the plants category. Most of the plant options are still greyed out, but I think I know why. Comparing the ones that aren't greyed out with the ones that are it seems they probably need to be planted in something. The reason they're greyed out is because I don't have access to anything they can be planted in.

This causes me to skip down to the skills section. I had been planning to pick up earth eventually anyway. Going back to the plant category it seems I was right. There are still a few plants that are greyed out, but I have a bunch more options now. The first thing I decide to pick is three different types of grass for one world energy each. After all, why not start with the basics. Then I buy four berry bushes for 5 world energy each. Of course, I go with the classic blue and black, but I also get some miracle and chokeberries as well cause I kind of like the name.

Now it's time to decide on some monsters for the second floor. I still plan to wait for Clyde's party to reach my core but why put everything off till the last minute. So, for the monsters I decide to mix it up a little. The main enemy on this floor will be wolves which cost me 10 world energy for the blueprint. I also spend another 20 world energy for the dire wolf blueprint because I've already decided that will be the boss. I also spend 10 world energy each on fighter, archer, and rogue skeletons which are each equipped with their own class specific weapons and armor. I plan to also get the rest of the skeleton types at some point but for now I go ahead and pick up the ranch theme for 50 world energy as well. This is mainly so that I can add some none monster creatures to the floor. Although oddly non-combat animals, or animals not meant as an encounter, are listed as 'resources'. I want to teach them that not everything they encounter will be hostile. Though that doesn't mean the creatures won't defend themselves or try to get away.

As for why skeleton, I figure they can represent what became of the bandits. I am trying to craft a compelling story here after all. The second floor will be a significant step up in difficulty but not unreasonably so. I still need to buy some traps but by the time they clear the second floor they should understand that the tutorial is over.