It’s still dark outside, and cold. Stars are swarming the clear night sky, and staring at it, makes me think of a Christmas tree.

Okay. It’s late spring now. I can do whatever I have to do here and be back for Christmas. Cook a big turkey with stuffing and enough side dishes to fill the table for twelve.

That reminds me. I have to feed Oollie. And wolves too. Can’t have them starving in there. But, I don’t think I can let Oo’llie go and hunt for food. So, back to the Constructor, I go.

The place is just the same as I left it yesterday. Except for one thing. There is a scroll placed on a dusty bookshelf on the far side of the Core. I would not have even noticed it, but it looks brand new, and the light of the Core bounces off its texture, making it sparkle.

I look it up. It is the scroll that permitted me to have constructed one Oollie. The license for one. Booo.

But another interesting thing is that there are a bunch of old scrolls in there, covered in thick dust and sand. Must have been used by the ones who came before me.

I am surprised that I can actually pick those ones too. I carefully examine a few of them and let one by one unroll in front of my eyes.

There are all sorts of monsters there, ready to be made. To my delight, some have still licenses that have not been completely used up. Like the one for vipers. I hate vipers. So, it brings me no joy to see that the original license to produce 1,000 Remrian Faststriker has only been fifty percent used.

I guess I know now what this dungeon was constructing before I came here. It makes my skin crawl, and instinctively, I turn around to see if there are any serpents around.

No, I will not make serpents.

But, there are a lot of other options.

How nice of SAMS not to inform me that maybe this dungeon probably had some unused licenses?

“SAMS, that was a dirty trick. You made me spend my last penny.”

[I did not do such a thing. If you remember it right -]

“Whatever. You see whatever I can see, right? And even though I might have not guessed that there were licenses available here, you could, right? Or am I getting something wrong?”

[It was your decision to -]

“Yeah, just stop giving me excuses. You have to work with me, man. Not for… some big business mega-conglomerate that spans galaxies and has trillions of employees. For me. I bet they don’t even know your name. You know what I mean?]

[I do not. But I can provide you with more alerts if that is what you require of me.]

“Yeah, that might work for the better.”

So, I see I do not need to pay licenses for over two thousand goblins, sixty direwolves, and some other monsters as well. To create them I just need the LIC energy! Cool.

The only thing that’s bugging me now is… do I want to make them? And… another startling thought. All those monsters did not help the Dungeon before. What would happen if I start pumping them out? Why would it be different this time around? Didn’t Albert Einstein already explained what ‘stupidity’ is? Doing the same thing expecting different results?

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Yeah, maybe I’ll hold off on creating serpents and goblins that will keep not one but both of my eyes open at night.

No. There has to be a better way.

Oollie. I feel his presence outside the Core and I ask for the door to open.

He looks at me with his big eyes, and I know what he wants before he goes,

“Blabla, blue, ble.”

I need to feed him. A gallon of milk, fresh eggs, and bacon would be great for him, I bet. But there are no options in the Constructor for any kind of breakfast, Continental, Welsh, or Greek. Nothing.

Options are very limited.

I select ‘Denizens Food’ and find things I can feed the monsters with. There is actually an option called, ‘Human Flesh’.

A dozen of human hands or legs, chopped and ready to be served, go for 1 LIC Energy.

Disgusting!

But I guess it makes sense. Let the monsters feed on human flesh. Give them a taste and then watch them unleash hell.

Yeah, bad Dungeon.

I look under the option of ‘Prisoners Food’.

Nothing luxurious there.

Just the bare basics. Water. Stale bread. Cold porridge.

I think I will need to get Oollie a goat so he can get some milk. As sharp and strong as it may taste, I bet it is way better than stale bread. A goat will cost me 10 LIC energy to build one and two thousand coins for a license for only one unit. Yeah. So that will have to wait.

A better option would be to purchase licenses for making fresh bread and proper breakfasts.

But I do not have any money for them. Besides, SAMS informed me that the storage of biomaterial is not adequate and that it would cost me extra units of energy to compensate for that.

That’s the second time he has given me a notice about biomaterial storage.

I find it located under Menu - Holdings - Other

It says clearly

[Bio Material Inventory: 0 percent]

It does not make sense. The Dungeon is processing and digesting things. Like the dwarf’s dirty rags that they left behind. That should be there.

But as I click through, I see the settings have been moved and that all biomaterial is automatically going to create energy.

The last administrator must have been in dire need of energy, so he, she or it must have changed the settings.

I move it, deciding for the Energy Converter to start kicking in and using BioMaterial that the Dungeon will digest in the future only after being fifty percent full. Let’s see how that will work out. I can always change it back to zero.

In the end, I get a cold porridge and a big crate of doggy food. Unbelievable. It cost me a whole energy point.

The wolves are jumpy when we bring them food. I wait patiently for their growling to stop and only then give it to them through the spacing of the bars. We’ll see how long it will take them to learn their manners.

I leave it on the ground, and once I step away, they come sniffing it, and then devour it really fast.

I spend most of my day next to the Dungeon opening, staring at the nature outside, wondering how I can fix this place up, at least so it does not have this huge hole in its front door. It’s like having a bright neon light saying, “Come and Rob Me, Please, Pretty Please!”

Yeah, no wonder the dwarfs wanted to have a piece of it.

Everything stays rather quiet for most of the day. I feed the wolves again and they stay quiet. I’m waiting to see if I can see their other buddy, but nobody is outside. We spend time moving the stones and trying to close the gate, a bit at least, shoveling some dirt to cover it up. Then we bring some wood and leaves and grass inside, to make beds for us as well as to test if it’s true that the dungeon can digest it all.

And just to be on the safe side, we make sure that all picks, shovels, hammers, and chisels are taken downstairs and laid on black marble. I will most likely need those. Do not need the Dungeon to digest them all.

Late in the afternoon, I go into Denizens settings, see a good little Oollie's image there, click on it, and see that Oollie and my Bonding is now at 50 percent. That is going better than my Bonding with the Dungeon. Now it’s standing at 30 percent. I will need to speed that up if I want soon to hit Level 2. I just do not know how.

We sit next to each other and watch the sunset.

Well, looking back, it was a slow day, but at least now I know how to make energy without having to torture and murder someone. Which makes me think. Am I feeling relieved or… am I subconsciously disappointed? At least a bit?

A scene pops inside my head.

Oh, sorry Mr. Dwarf. I really don’t want to torture you, it’s not me, but, the baby needs new shoes. So, take this hot iron in your face!?! Or, look at your nails. They are so long and maybe I can help. Maybe we can just… pull them out!!

Hear him scream, and watch as my energy shoots through the roof. It could all be good.

Am I relieved or disappointed I do not need to do that? I am in all honesty… Not sure. Not sure at all.

It’s been only two days, and maybe instead of me changing the Dungeon, the Dungeon is changing me. And soon, Sauron won’t have anything on me.