It was already late in the morning when I woke up next to my steam fox. The sun’s rays were illuminating the sleeping fox, giving it a golden glow that went exceptionally well with its natural colors.

I spent a few moments appreciating the sight before standing up and stretching myself for the better part of a minute, then I went to begin my work for the day: Cilia had given me a new quest.

『Quest 8: An Oasis for Foxes

Task: Build a fitting environment and shelter for each single one of your monsters

Reward: Unlocks various food monsters for your foxes to hunt and play with

Just because you don’t need to eat doesn’t mean you don’t want to~』

I couldn’t help but imagine my foxes chasing after random critters, yelping and wagging their tails as they did so. Sure, mana was enough for my monsters to survive on, but to really thrive? This needed enrichment of some sort. There was only so much to do in a young dungeon like mine, after all.

The first course of action was obvious: I needed bridges, both for me and my foxes. Especially my fire and lava foxes couldn’t leave the room even if they wished to. Even the earth fox would have trouble with the lake surrounding the island now!

Having found my first task of the day I carried over my core to the main room and knelt down to then close my eyes and imagine a bridge coming into existence. It only took a few seconds for something to happen. A rumble and the excited yelps of several foxes could now be heard and the ground under me seemed to be shifting. When I opened my eyes again I was indeed greeted by a wooden bridge wide enough for two people walking over it side by side. It spanned all the way from the core room tunnel to the shore of my volcano island, finally connecting the two.

With a smile on my face, I carried my core over to the island to then make my way to its other side. Here, on the shore opposite the tunnel connecting my dungeon to the outside world, I knelt down again, repeating the process. And indeed a new bridge soon sprang into existence. My foxes could finally reach the entrance with dry feet - save for the water foxes, that was.

Naturally, I used this chance to task one of the earth foxes with gathering, having realized their forms to be the best for the task. My fiery foxes would just turn anything they touched into ash while my water foxes seemed to have trouble carrying anything that weighed more than a mere stick.

Having found a willing fox, I quickly told it to gather anything - just anything - that would make it happy to have around. The lucky earth fox selected was more than just enthusiastic about this task. It yipped in glee before making its way over the bridge, its wagging tail spreading particles of dust everywhere around it.

It was only when it left my dungeon that I realized how hard Cilia’s quest was actually going to be. Not hard in the sense of being barely possible, but it would at least take me several days, if not weeks to fulfill these basic needs of my foxes. This was especially true for my steam fox which - right now - had nothing but an empty meadow and a roof over its head.

Fortunately, my trusty fox soon returned to help me. At first, it seemed like it had nothing in its mouth, but that couldn’t possibly be true judging by its happily wagging tail and the red traces around its mouth. It wasn't until he arrived at my side and let his prey fall onto my lap that I saw he had brought me a single almost black berry. It was smaller than a fingernail but infinitely precious.

「Blueberry unlocked! Received 10 dungeon points!」

I couldn't help but hug and stroke the fox for several long minutes before I reluctantly let it go to plant the small berry bushes instead. This cost me only one point of mana for three whole plants, so naturally I planted three large groups of berries near the lakes, hopefully enough for all my monsters. Of course, it was somewhat unnatural to find blueberries in a meadow. They clearly belong in a forest! But trees had to wait for later.

The core in my hands diligently summoned the plants one after another, in groups of three, with only a tiny change: instead of being completely black or dark blue, the fruits of the plant were now snow-white, just like the fur bed where my core would usually wait for me.

The little berries still tasted delicious, something my foxes gladly confirmed. Two of them, both water foxes, were already busy harvesting the small bushes. I could only hope that the fruits would grow back quickly.

My diligent helper meanwhile was long gone. As soon as I had summoned the first bush, he had already run off to provide more variety to his menu. I could only laugh as he returned barely a minute later, this time with a tiny, still green forest strawberry.

"That one isn't ripe yet!"

The fox seemed hardly bothered by this fact, and my core was completely indifferent. After absorbing the berry and unlocking it for me, it let me summon dozens of the small plants, each with its own set of fruits. It would take some more time for them to ripen, but I was already looking forward to the harvest. My helper felt similarly. He stood next to me, tail wagging, and seemingly more than just proud of his find. Naturally, I rewarded him yet again before he, albeit reluctantly, went to continue on with his important task.

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This time it took him about half an hour to return, way more than enough time to start feeling anxious. I couldn’t imagine what I would do should something happen to my foxes while they were outside. Sure, they would simply reappear after some days, but I wasn’t comfortable with them being injured at all. Still, they needed to defend me, but there was no solution to that part of the issue, or was there?

I could only wait to ask Cilia later on. She would surely know a way to make things easier on my monsters.

When my fox finally returned, I had long placed all the berry bushes, both in the main room and my core room. Once again its tail was wagging, making me feel like my anxiousness was somewhat silly.

In the fox’s mouth was a meager, unrooted little sapling, with chewing marks in the middle and a few leaves I barely recognized in their roughed-up shape. It was a maple tree, similar to the ones we had had in our garden.

A bit disappointed that it wasn't a fruit-bearing tree, I summoned five of these trees in my larger room, three scattered on the grass and two to both sides of my Vulpine Circle. Fifty mana poorer and almost completely exhausted, I had no choice but to wait.

The summoned trees were an impressive sight. They had grown about ten, maybe fifteen meters high and had the dense canopy of leaves that I desired. The leaves, thanks to Cilia's blessing, were a friendly orange, each tip dipped in white. It looked as if autumn had arrived in my dungeon despite the heat of summer embracing my body.

The next raid by my diligent fox didn't bring any major novelties. He simply dragged a small sapling that I couldn't identify. Only my dungeon core explained that it was an elm tree, a tree I simply didn't know.

Decisively, I summoned one of these trees next to the bridge connecting the dungeon to the outside world. Almost as soon as I had summoned it and the mana mist disappeared, the tree shot in the air. Branches and more branches grew from its trunk, and soon I was bathed in shade.

The tree was huge, about twice as tall as the maple trees, and, in contrast to those, entirely green. Even when I took a closer look not a trace of Cilia's blessing could be seen. It was likely I simply didn't know elms well enough to recognize the changes.

It didn't make a difference. The plant did exactly what it was supposed to do, and even better. My earth foxes were already digging at the base of the tree, probably to create a shelter for themselves. I gladly helped them with a bit of mana and the help of my core.

With my assistance, it took barely more than a minute to dig a den, even though the foxes would probably still need to customize it to their needs.

Less than an hour later I had provided every tree in my dungeon with a cave that could serve as a home for the foxes. The monsters accepted the constructions gratefully, even if there was a dispute about who would move into which hole. Fortunately, I didn't have to intervene in the loud quarrel, as I was already carrying my core to the top of the volcano to provide the lava and fire foxes with their preferred version of shelter.

Once I reached the place, I asked the foxes themselves where to put their caves, which they answered with a series of barks I could barely make sense of. It was only when the lava foxes led me down towards the blazing hot lava pool, stopping right in front of it and pretending to dig with their feet, that things started to make sense.

I quickly went to work, digging one hole for each lava fox I currently had and a few more for safe measure. All of them were one, sometimes two steps from the lava pool, allowing the foxes to quickly reach it should they want to.

The fire foxes meanwhile seemed to prefer the two rivers of constantly flowing lava at the side of the volcano as they loved the heat but didn’t seem to like swimming at all - not that they would ever get dirty to begin with.

After digging another ten holes surrounding the lava streams, I walked down towards the lake again, leaving the fiery foxes to explore their new home. There was already a group of water foxes waiting for their turn, their tails swinging behind their backs and spreading droplets everywhere.

This time it was easy to grasp what my foxes wanted as they immediately led me over the bridge to then point at the walls separating us from my core room. Minutes later I had already finished my work, having dug yet another ten holes that gently sloped down into the water, allowing easy access without the need to climb or jump. They had the added benefit of being close to the bridge, meaning the foxes had an easier time defending it in times of need.

Having finished digging dens for the time being, I instead went to my core room to fulfill the steam fox’s various needs. I already had an idea in mind that would hopefully be well received, albeit one that could easily take me a few days of work or rather mana to get ahead with, depending on how expensive my core decided it would be.

First, I dug a dozen ponds in various sizes and shapes, the by far biggest one surrounding my core and its pavilion to all sides. After filling them all with water, I finally tested my luck, beginning with the biggest pond. I sat down next to it, placed my core into my lap, and closed my eyes to imagine a geyser coming into existence.

For a few seconds nothing happened, then, suddenly, an icy shiver ran down my body as my mana was quickly drained away. The earth under me was shaking, forcing me onto my knees, and before I knew it a miniature volcano was already growing out of the pond in front of me. It barely reached my knees, but was oh so precious.

Minutes passed in relative silence. I was watching the geyser closely, hoping it would shoot its fountain before I grew too sleepy to watch it, but it was only when I turned around and walked over to the pavilion that it finally went off, shooting boiling hot water almost half the way up to the ceiling.

I watched the explosion of water in awe for several minutes until it finally died off, before returning to the pavilion with a smile on my face. My work had turned out just like I wanted it to be, thanks to my core. I for sure didn't know how a geyser was working, after all, only that they were related to volcanism, just like hot springs were.

When I entered the pavilion, the steam fox was already waiting for me, having occupied a fair share of the furs. With a smile on my face, I laid down next to it and hugged my core for comfort. Just a little bit of sleep and I would be able to continue taking care of my foxes…