'You know, you could give me a ding or something when the research timer is up!'

[Ding!]

'Funny. You think you're as funny as I actually am. You failed.' He didn't want to, but he went back into his Research room. He didn't intentionally avoid looking at his new resource, but he didn't bother to look at it either. 'I know I don't wanna look at you all day, but there isn't much else to do. So I'm making another room. You're gonna have to figure out some stuff.'

The resource didn't react.

He imagined himself getting down on the ground, laying flat on his chest, preparing to scratch dirt out of the wall at a very low position before getting up. 'Wait, there's so much more crap out there. Why am I not researching? Stupid.' He went back into the cave mouth room, and started looking around. He didn't have a use for it, but it was there, so he might as well, or so he decided.

'Research!', he shouted out loud, causing the "Bell Tower" to disappear in a wind. The dirt that was piled on top of it collapsed to the ground, no longer being held up. Without a reason to delay, he went back to what he was doing.

[Estimated time to research: 12 Hours]

Some time later, he started scratching and digging upwards and to the sides, the low and narrow tunnel complete. Now it was time to dig out a room. This time though, he heard a ding as he worked. 'Has it already been 12 hours? Shit, I must actually be getting used to this. Alright, then, time for another thingy.'

Looking around the cave mouth room, there was one obvious thing that stood out, literally. 'Wooden floor, your boards are getting researched! Tag, you're it!' The "Wooden Floor" only responded by disappearing in a disintegrating wind.

On the way back to the new room he was making, he stopped. 'I haven't had a hard time breathing or moving or anything, and haven't been hungry. Like, at all. Does that mean my mana's full? I gotta get used to that.' He looked at the "Aisle Shelf". Upon deciding he should have a second one, an imaginary, exact copy began to appear and become increasingly opaque until it was solid. The entire process didn't take more than a few seconds.

Seeing it as good enough, he put it against the wall, blocking the tunnel from view. Nothing happened. Then he moved it again, revealing the hole to the new room. It wasn't entirely secret, but close enough. 'Okay yeah the Core room is gonna be that room! Aren't monsters supposed to protect the Core? I know I saw... read... heard... I can't remember how, but I know that's the case.'

-------------- Bogsreach Exterminators Guild ---------------

The two scouts sat around the fire. This shift, the captain and rogue were posted as guards. The older one spoke up. "The weather's starting to look bad. Take a look."

The younger scout craned his neck, looking out of the window. It didn't have proper shutters, but it had some they had made with debris, which really helped. "Yeah, it'll probably rain. Should I go get the guards?"

"No. No matter what the weather is, when you're on guard, you're on guard. You stay where you're posted, and that's that."

"I'm curious now", he started to say, not looking at his elder. He turned to look at him, and saw one of the man's eyebrows raised. "No, not about that."

"Oh? What's got your interest?"

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"The dungeon. I want to see what's inside it."

"You already did."

"No, I mean what's in it. That's not all a dungeon is, right?"

"It is, and it isn't. They grow. The deeper they get, the more difficult they become, usually. This one though, we haven't given it enough time to do anything."

"I'm gonna ask the captain when we can go in, then."

"Go ask him now, then. You might even get back before you're twice as heavy and thrice as wet." The older scout started laughing.

"Okay! I'll be right back!"

The older scout watched his junior go running off.

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

The rogue shifted uncomfortably.

"You noticed that? You're more sensitive than I thought", the captain said.

"Ah, I'm not suited to magic. Can't ignore it either."

"Well, maybe once I can open the dungeon you'll-" but the captain didn't finish his sentence.

"Captain!" the younger scout shouted as he approached. "Captain. When can we open the dungeon?"

Captain Sylde had to keep his cool. "We'll do another inspection once the cave is cleared. We can't get past the monster, anyway."

The younger scout looked disappointed. "Alright. It's going to rain soon."

The captain put his hand out, catching some raindrops in his open palm. "Well, then that means you came as my relief?" The captain didn't wait for a confirmation, and started walking away. No one should have been surprised.

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

The corpse of the wildman lay where it was since it was researched; crumpled in a pile on the floor of the Research room. 'I don't want you in here. Come with me', he said to the thing. 'You're not a monster yet? Or maybe you can't hear me? Come on, let's go.'

Nothing happened. 'Alright, then this is happening now.' He touched the corpse, getting a ghostly image of it to place elsewhere. But, when he got to the second shelf, he looked confused. 'Okay then, uh, just hold up.'

He kept the image in his right hand, and with his left, moved the aisle shelf, revealing the secret tunnel. He got on his stomach, or so he imagined himself doing, and crawled through to the secret room before trying to stand up. His right hand still held the ghost. 'Good! You're staying in here. Like, right there.'

Then he got a message that seemed important.

[Removing resource seed from Research room will invalidate all placed resources throughout the dungeon. Proceed?]

'Oh fuck no! Resource seeds? So once I research something, it has to stay... I gotta check something. Well a few things. Okay then system, this is a research room! Didn't I say that already? This is the Secret Research Room!' He didn't breathe oxygen, but imagined himself puffing out a big breath anyway. 'Can I place this here, now?' He tried again and didn't get a message.

'Okay. Good.' He went back into the Research room, and started heading for the cave mouth. 'I wonder if I can switch room functions? I mean I should, right? You know what? This is a Monster Training room now. So, let's get a monster!'

A copy of the corpse of the wildman appeared, and collapsed on the ground. It wasn't too far away from where the actual man had died a few days prior. 'What are you doing? Stand up.'

The corpse stood up.

There was instantly a noticeable difference, as this one was lacking any subwaist gender equipment. 'Um, alright then. I'll get you some clothes or something later. Anyway, take this.' A copy of the wooden sword appeared. 'Pick it up properly.' The monster did so. 'Ah shit. Hold up, you.'

He walked over to the thwomp, which started to raise itself in midair. 'Hey, when that guy tries to go through this doorway, let him.' But it wasn't as if the dungeon was done with what it was doing yet. In the Storage room, he made a copy of the "Shitty Wooden Wall" and began to shout. 'Hey you out there, come in here!'

As the thwomp raised up and the corpse walked into the room, the dungeon got another message.

[New monster acquired! Name monster type or subtype.]

'New type or subtype? It's just a... actually, what are you?' He stepped back to look at it properly. He tried to ignore the starting decay and injuries it had gotten from The Elephant's Foot. He failed. 'Ugh, okay, well...' He looked again, but focused more on the thing's height, the narrowness of its face, how it didn't look especially muscular or agile. He tried to ignore the matted and disgusting hair. It didn't seem to really matter to him, but he did notice that it had the injury from the tick still, and a scratch on its leg.

'You know what you look like, if anything? You're not an elf. You're definitely not a dwarf. You're not a hobbit or a goblin or a gnome. If you look like anything, it's those guys from The Dark Crystal. They were called...' He tried to remember what they were called, remembering a skeksis screaming the name. 'Gelfling! You're a Gelfling Zombie!'