As Scout brings me more mana though ethically dubious though necessary means, I consider what to do next.

I had by now, long since come to terms with my situation. I don't mind much anyway. This seems more interesting than my old life.

I suppose that settles it.

If I was a dungeon, then I would be the greatest dungeon.

I would put each and every other dungeon in this world to shame.

That is my ambition.

I am going to live this life to the fullest. I am going to be a mega dungeon.

With a newfound sense of purpose in my heart, no, in my core, I set about planning.

There would most definitely be risk, but there would be reward too. I would start with whatever kinds of magic plants I could conjure up and figure out more stuff once I had the ability to do so.

I would have puzzles, monsters, traps, and bosses. I don’t even know how to do half that stuff yet, but you best believe I am going to figure it out.

I focus back to the first chamber. It didn’t need to have anything dangerous in it. But I did want to do something at least. I created two more enchanted doors. One at the entrance and exit to the first room. The entry way door would open in conjunction with the door blocking the actual entrance to my dungeon. I raised the central circular tile in the floor up into a pillar - 2 and a half feet tall and 8 inches across - and carved a circle into it. I could modify this later, perhaps to change the difficulty of the floors based on party size, assuming adventurers even grouped up like that, but for now it would act as a key.

When the circle atop the pillar was touched the circle would glow a gentle blue, like my core, and after a moment the door would open, remaining open for 2 minutes or until everyone in the room had passed through it.

As I worked, I found the ease with which I did increased. Either the effect of practice or of an increased core size.

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At the end of the hallway connecting the first and second chambers I placed another door, to open in conjunction with the door before it and to close once the hallway had been vacated. I didn’t want to accidentally split any groups of people.

In the second chamber, I brought forth the magic healing berry vines from my inventory. I should really name these. Hmn.

Lesser Life Fruit.

That should do. I sense something changing within the plant as I name it. I focus on the plant, and I am left with a sense of it. This seems a sort of appraisal. It is most definitely called a “Lesser Life Fruit” now, and there is some information about its minor restorative properties as well.

Given the two examples of actively naming things that I have, it seems a given name, at least one from a dungeon, holds great power. I should keep that in mind.

I create two light sources in the walls, identical to those in the first chamber, beside the door leading into this one. I also have the life fruit take root in the walls. I don’t want more than a few berries ever being harvestable at once from this room.

A taste of the treasure that will lie further within.

Now, my grand plan for this first floor.

It will be a series of connected cubic rooms. I am going to try and see if I can create traps using my enchantments, and place them in the rooms as well. Each room will be connected to the last by an enchanted door. Once a room has been “cleared” or “passed”, a door to another room will open.

With the general idea of this first challenge in mind, I begin to dig. I carve out three new doors, one on each unoccupied wall, behind them I begin to carve chambers identical in size.

I set my mind on autopilot, carving out new rooms until I have a 5 room by 5 room grid, each room connected to its adjacent neighbors.

Once each room is created, I weave a great enchantment. It seems like a more fun idea than letting people explore whichever rooms they want too anyway.

Each time this challenge begins, the enchantment will create a random pathway from the first room to the last room. The pathway could be a straight line, it could take someone through almost every room, or anywhere in between. The idea is that the path is random and different each time. The enchantment is extremely complex and draining but with my new mana income from Scout I manage to pull it off, just barely.

I place some lesser life fruit around throughout the rooms, as a small reward. I make sure to give each room some light sources and decorations, fitting the general aesthetic I have created so far.

As a finishing touch, I make channels around each door to ensure proper mana flow once I move my core deeper into the dungeon.

But before I start trying to make traps, I want to give something else a try.

I have a hunch about getting myself some monsters.