Smoke and ashes, two things despised by all of society due to often being the omen bearer of a tragedy in the making. Like a plague, fire transfers from one object to another, leaving a trail of furious embers and blackened dust in its wake, consuming all in its path. The fumes and micro-particles are killers, assassins blending in among the crowds of innocent oxygen, waiting for their entrance ticket into some unfortunate person's insides.
Upon gaining access, the smoke and ashes begin their horrible work, clogging up lungs and blockading all supply routes carrying the vital life source, oxygen. Within a few seconds, the first symptoms of this sabotage are displayed, a coughing fit. Soon after, the patient would collapse, forced into a coma state. If not treated immediately by medical personnel, the victim is permanently stuck in a state of peaceful sleep.
Thankfully, this world seemed to actively suppress fire and its minions from weaponized water to supernatural recovery. Everything seemed to counter it in some way, shape or form. Cyrus's human body was an example of this extraordinary ability, having near immunity to this substance, washing away the microscopic invaders' futile efforts within a few hours of rest.
Learning from the disaster of the first room, the Decanus approached the second with extra planning and precautions. The dungeon core polished the rough surface of a slab of bronze ore into a thin, light mask sheet, achieving a mirror-like sheen. Molding the thin rectangular prism into a mask, he delicately drew a few runic squiggles into areas near the nostril and eye holes. For additional protection, Cyrus crafted a set of thin, light titanium armour to ward off both fire and heat. He was ready.
The man began by placing small stones emanating a warm, yellow glow at the four corners as light sources. Just as the final stone was fused into the wall, an idea struck him. This was the perfect opportunity to expand his army's experience and improve his troops' efficiency and cohesion.
Using the second room as a classroom for his troops, the roman leader guided his men through the art of camp building. From the positioning of trenches and walls to the lock mechanisms of gates and the setup for individual tents, the former centurion revealed the engineering power of the Roman Republic in all its glory.
Due to Cyrus's future plans for outside travels, the dungeon core had grown the necessary resources around the barren campsite, training his troops in lumber-jacking and gathering. The Decanus taught his soldiers how to find edible fruits and berries, spot weakened and decayed trees and most of all, how to survive in the wilderness. While the dungeon core could summon replacements, their quality wouldn't hold a candle to his current men.
After ensuring that his Centuria knew the basics and could manage unattended, the Decanus forced his army to repeat the process a dozen times. The camp was rebuilt from scratch over and over, each time faster than the last. The effects of this brutal training regime began to show. The walls were erected quicker and straighter, the fruits and berries were gathered at lightning speed, the ditches grew deeper and wider almost as fast as the eye can blink. By the time the soldiers had a few dozen preparation drills under their belt, Cyrus's perfectionist personality had been fully sated, satisfied with the level of efficiency and quality displayed by his men.
[You have gained 9 levels in [Beginner Lumberjack]!]
[You have gained 9 levels in [Beginner Gathering]!]
[You have gained 10 levels in [Beginner Tracking]!]
[The skill [Beginner Tracking has advanced to Level 1 [Advanced Tracking]!]
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
[You have gained 10 levels in [Beginner Camp-Making [Modified]!]
[The skill [Beginner Camp-Making [Modified] has advanced to Level 1 [Advanced Camp-Making]!]
Ordering his men back to the [Training Camp], Cyrus infused his mana into the room, ensuring the future destruction of the camp and the neighbouring forest wouldn't be permanent.
Gazing across the room, he paused, transfixed by the beautiful scenery. After a moment of sightseeing, wandering through the sea of brown and green, the dungeon core brought in the mobs. He loosed several [Fire Elemental Spirits] upon the room as "guardians" of the settlement. Chaos soon ensued.
With no commands holding them back, the fiery ghosts unleashed their flames. Orange and red orbs were released in all directions, their trajectories marked out by black smoke. Within minutes, the entire ceiling was concealed from sight, blotched out by thick smog. Catching on to his mistake the roman hurriedly jumped out of his human form and sped for the ceiling. Upon reaching his destination, he quickly engraved multiple cleansing runes on the stone surface, scattered along the roof without a noticeable pattern. Having averted disaster, the dungeon core casually wandered back to his body, grinning boyishly at the destruction.
[Congratulations! You have completed 2 dungeon rooms:
1. [Unnamed]! 5/5 Mobs 0% Environment Durability [Regenerating]
2. [Unnamed] 8/8 Mobs 90% Environmental Durability]
[Would you like to name [Room 1]?]
Y/N
[Would you like to name [Room 2]?]
Y/N
Cyrus's face twitched, his eyes narrowed and his lips straightened into a 180-degree line. Grumbling, "Surely the Gods could create a worthy name for my creations without asking for my input," he shook his head in a mix of irritation and disappointment. Titles and names zoomed through his mind, fading in and out as they were considered before being promptly rejected. His brows furrowed, the two eyebrows nearly making contact with each other. The metal gauntlet rubbed the base of his mask methodically as the man's mind bounced about. Giving up on composing a clever name, the Decanus titled [Room 1] as [Burning Forest] and the second as [Ignea Castra] (Fiery Camp).
His heart twinged in pain at the unoriginal names. A smiling mask was placed over his displeased face as if he was attending a masquerade. Shaking his head bitterly, the man pressed confirm. Relieved, Cyrus pranced freely out of the room and into the next as the world burned around him, flames constantly licking at his metal shell.
Stepping into the third chamber caked in ashes, the Dungeon core immediately sat and leaned against a wall, his mind whirling with ideas.
Cyrus began by expanding the dimensions of the room to the size of a Colosseum. Splitting the area in two, separated by a rushing river, the roman constructed another temporary base on the riverbank adjacent to the previous room. Strolling to the waterline, the man built a wooden dock, complete with a couple of crudely carved rafts with paddles.
Swimming over to the other side, the wet, shivering figure conjured up several long logs and a handful of planks. Planting the four thick wooden poles in a tight, rectangular formation, the man joined the planks together on the top to make a primitive platform. The process was repeated again a dozen steps or so from the first watch tower.
Retracing his steps back to the lake, the man summoned a mixture of rough uncut logs, planks and bronze nails. Cyrus first stuck the wooden cylinders into the mud in a wall facing the river. Taking the nails and planks, he restrained the topless trees together with planks, held in place by the tack.
Reaching the tunnel joining the current room to the next, the dungeon core added a door with a lock mechanism similar to that of the camp gate, only shrunken down.
Summoning a golden key, he placed it inside a random tent in the campsite. Cyrus finished the room with five [Fire Elemental Spirits] patrolling the base, two on the watch towers and another three standing vigil behind the palisade.
[Congratulations! You have completed 1 dungeon room [Unnamed]! 10/10 Mobs 100% Environment Durability]
[Would you like to name [Unnamed]?]
Y/N