He could feel his mana pulse in anticipation as he waited for Elvinia to explain the next floor making progress.
“Now you know that you had to fill this space with your own creations, yes?” She asked and Unbound pulsed out acknowledgment. “Well, it is similar to how you made the portal to the outside but for you, as the Void Dungeon, you need to tear a hole to pull part of the void within.” His confusion was evident, pull part of the void within. He had yet to unlock his secondary affinity mana pool.
However, when he voiced this his fairy said he didn’t need it.
“You don’t have the pool of mana purely based around Void. No.” She said. “But part of the process for becoming a dungeon was changing your soul’s affinity. The very fabric of what makes you, you is of the void. You just have to express it.”
That made slightly more sense to Unbound. He had been comatose for most of the changing process, but he had felt a shift and now he tried to remember that feeling. He dived into his own core and he. Felt.
His own mind luxuriated within the feeling, he was more at home there than within his own dungeon or even his crystal core. He felt his mind grasp the concept of what Void was.
To be the separation between realities Void had to be the polar opposite of everything that was. It wasn’t hot, cold, full of life or death. Void was simply not. There was no heat and yet no cold. No life and yet no death. It wasn’t an empty hunger or a ravenous destroyer, it just emanated the reverse of EVERYTHING reality said was true or untrue.
Feeling the concept, he pushed below his own core and made a doorway and made the reality that would have been there, not. He opposed the part of reality that hated a vacuum and made it. He opposed the part that said the inside could not be greater than the outside.
A sharp jolt of pain tore through him and his mind raged as he saw his core with a small scratch marring its surface. He peered around and only saw the earth elemental with his fairy upon its shoulder. The doorway to the next room was still there, but it was closer to reality now.
He looked at Elvinia’s face and saw. Fear. Unable to see any approaching enemy he asked for the source of her fear.
“You. And how you nearly killed us both.” She stated with simplicity and calmness that was a far cry from her usual amusement. Unbound was incredulous. She was the one who stated how to make the second floor and when he did, he somehow nearly killed them.
“What? I made the second floor.” He almost accused her. “I followed your own instructions to make the floor.” She frowned at him.
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“Are you sure?” She asked.
“Yes, I used the Void and willed the second floor to be.”
“And there it is. I willed it and it became so.” She said sadly. “You have a Void AFFINITY. You are not of the Void completely. Not yet.”
“But what does that mean?” Unbound mentally shouted, annoyed.
“It means.” She said with a sad smile. “That until the time comes that you are the Void et sperate you cannot fall into the trap of nigh-infinite power because before then you have a Void affinity. Not anything else.”
Unbound trusted her. He noted that her voice was speaking true and felt the fear that echoed down their bond. So, he waited and tried to pulse assurance and apologies down their bond. He waited the day as Elvinia kept a watch upon him, trying to make sure the massive power of the Void did not cause any unforeseen negative consequences for Unbound’s mental state.
During that time, he slowly filled the second floor with a shell of stone at the edges. The second floor was four times as big as the first and Unbound wanted it to be completely different from the first. The priest had left several seeds within the sack for different trees and fruit-bearing bushes. Recalling his experience as a lumberjack he set down a large layer of dirt with a massive groove down the middle.
The second floor was larger than a small city and would fit a small forest well. The massive groove should be able to make a small river IF e could make a flow with either small portals or the water affinity gems. The ceiling had a large light affinity gem, far beyond the size of the one the priest brought, to imitate sunlight.
He covered the floor with small trees and bushes and pumped his mana in to watch them grow. Before he added the defenders, he had access to he talked to Elvinia about the shop. She agreed but stated with the river both aquatic and land-based creatures would be needed, in addition to the massive amounts of insects, small prey creatures, and small predatory creatures he had access to.
With that understanding, he brought up the shop panel.
Shop:
Defenders
Traps
Plantlife
Environment
Skills
Available shop points: 75
Unbound was confused. When he had last looked at the panel, he had 35 points but now he had over double.
“The 35 points was before the other two incursions,” Elvinia explained. “Whilst that Undead are worth less than living creatures, the Resurrected Slime was more than able to kill most new dungeons and you gained more points.” The explanation satisfied Unbound and he clicked first upon the section he felt lacking in.
Shop: Traps
Puzzle Door 15 Points
Defender Alert 10 Points
Swinging Blades 20 Points
Pressurized Steam 35 Points
Drowning Chamber 40 Points
Poison Gas Chamber 50 Points
Upon first glance, the two most expensive traps seemed pointless to the foes Unbound currently faced, whilst a chamber to escape with a puzzle may be useful when intelligent beings entered, now they were a waste of valuable points.
Unbound took the Defender Alert trap. The ability to attack en masse on an open floor would be extremely useful and he could litter these out like a minefield. No other traps currently cheap enough to fit his current floor layout. Although, the pressurized steam seemed a good call for another underground floor.
After that was decided he moved to the next tab, Defenders.