Chapter 2: Settling Up The Dungeon
[Lee: Then why don't you try summoning one of those Earth Elementals and find out. ]
Lee, the Dungeon Artificial Intelligence version of me commented, with a mischievous look on his face, almost like he knows something that I don't.
But, I interjected and said, "But I don't have enough dungeon points to even summon one out."
However, Lee insisted, despite knowing that I lack the amounts of dungeon points to fully summon a single Elemental.
[Lee: Just try one, and we would see if you are able to summon one or not. ]
Lee was being quite mysterious, and very much insisted for me to follow suit.
I then press on the 'Earth Elemental {Rock Variant}' option of the monster summoning selection, wholeheartedly expecting the dungeon system to reject my input command because I don't have enough dungeon points.
However, the determined outcome was truly unexpected, as it definitely falls outside of my expectation.
The summoning immediately went through, as I could instinctively feel all of the remaining dungeon points sucked out of the dungeon crystal and some of my magical power.
Ding!
(!) System Notice You have successfully summoned 1 Earth Elemental {Rock Variant}, 125 DP is hereby consumed!
"What the...*gasp*" I exclaimed, then gasped, with a visibly shocked look on my face.
The dungeon points are consumed, since it was not enough, some of my magical power is sucked to partially displaced the summoning cost.
The whispering of spirits, the fluctuations of mana, as magical power then rapidly gathers together, and a fully formed earth elemental core then materialises outside near the dungeon core crystal.
"What the..." I exclaimed, with looks of confusion.
Lee, the Dungeon Artificial Intelligence version of me then floats up to me, and carefully explains everything to me what just happened.
[Lee: In fact, the actual price of the Earth Elementals are 125 dungeon points, but to fully summoned the creature would cost you 225 dungeon points. ]
[Lee: And why is that, that is because the elemental core is the heart and soul of the elemental, whilst the body is merely a vessel to contain. The elemental's vessel body is made up of materials that match with its elemental core and element type. ]
'For Earth Elementals, it's rock, earth, and rubble. For Fire Elemental its fire and lava/magma, and Water Elemental it's water...' I thought along the lines of those thoughts.
And then it suddenly it hit me, 'Earth and rubble, we're currently in a cave. So there is plenty of earth rubble lying around here.'
[Lee: Bingo! ]
As he said this, the brown amber-like earth elemental core began to light up, almost gravitating, as it started spinning at a much higher velocity.
The ground, earth, and rubble began to rumble, shaking, as an unknown force began to them together.
Lumps of the earth began to be pulled out from the ground, boulders of astronomical size began to roll over, as stone pebbles are sent flying like falling meteors. All towards one place, end, and final destination.
The bits and pieces of the earth began to rapidly attach themselves to the earth elemental core, and a humanoid figure then steadily form right before my eyes.
After a minute or so, the Earth Elemental then completely formed itself, as bits of loose dirt began to fill in every nook and cranny, small dry cracks and holes in the Earth Elemental's body.
The Earth Elemental stood on two legs, with a towering figure of roughly about 2 meters, with a humanoid-like body shape.
Its own face was far less pronounced, less detail, and disorderly, almost like an amateur stone sculpturer sculpting a face for the first time. The Earth Elemental's eyes, resembling two dots of orange light, began to lit up.
The Earth Elemental was emotionless, despite being just born a few couples of seconds ago, it certainly displayed some level of sentiency, and curiously survey its entire surroundings.
Since the Earth Elemental was not something that was naturally born out of nature, but rather is nature itself, incarnate. It certainly lacks the basic necessary instincts instilled in all life and wild creatures to fear the unknown.
How a prey is fearful for its life, whilst running away from a predator. And the predator's drive and will to live, so thereby it must kill in order to survive and live.
However, an Elemental lacks either of those basic instincts, so long as its elemental core is not destroyed, it will not die.
An Elemental does not age, nor grow old, so it can certainly live on forever like it is immortal. For the exception of the Nature Elemental, which certainly has its own lifeforce tied to the plants and wild fauna living withinside its own surroundings.
Not so long after, after surveying its own surroundings, its own eyes finally landed upon my extravagantly gallant figure and the tiny floating holographic version of me, beside me, which is named Lee.
The Earth Elemental then felt a certain level of connection, floating and seemingly coursing throughout the entirety of its elemental core, between me and itself.
The feeling was quite harmless, neither threatening nor displayed any intents to do harm, kind of like kinship.
The Earth Elemental then tilted its head slightly, whilst placing its own left hand over its chest, as it continues to stare seamlessly in my direction.
Confused, I then asked Lee, "Lee, what is it doing? And why is the Earth Elemental mindlessly looking at my direction in particular? It seems to be doing something."
Lee, the Dungeon Artificial Intelligence version of me then immediately came up with an appropriate answer, based upon his logical thinking and hypothesis.
[Lee: It must have sensed a connection between you and itself, like the connection between the dungeon and the dungeon master. And also, its earth elemental core contains trace amounts of mana which is used to summon it as well. ]
"I see." Nodding my head in agreement with Lee's theory and hypothesis.
I then clap my hands together and said, "It's time to renovate the dungeon."
"You there." I then pointed at the Earth Elemental, which certainly then immediately caught its attention. "I want you to excavate and help me expand this dungeon room, do you understand?"
After listening to me, issuing out orders to it, the Earth Elemental then nodded its own head in confirmation.
The Earth Elemental then steadily walks towards one of the sides of the 3 × 3 × 3.5 meters cave room, its footstep sounds like sumo wrestlers stamping their feet down on the ground.
As the Earth Elemental, with its bare hands, begins bashing into the rock-solid cave wall.
Its massive stone fist, like a man-made wrecking ball, it started to chip away at the stone cave walls. Bits and pieces of rubble began to unravel, as the Earth Elemental then unleashes its fury of punches.
I then unknowingly cast the skill 'Dungeon Observation', which costs 0 MP, thereby allowing me to see the target's status windows.
The Earth Elemental's status window is displayed openly for me and Lee, the Dungeon Artificial Intelligence version of me to see.
[Earth Elemental's Status Window]
Status Screen Name: {Unnamed} Age: 1 Day Old Gender: Genderless Race: Earth Elemental Body Type: Humanoid Body Constitution: Rock Height: 2.1 m Weight: 241 kg Birthplace: Alexandre's Dungeon Monster Class: F Class Monster Level: 001 (0%) Individual Realm: Elementary Realm Title: Basic Stats Health Points: 213/213 Magical Power: 158/158 Health regen per sec: 0.018/s Mana regen per sec: 0.044/s Stamina Points: 203/203 Hunger/Satiety Points: 303/303 (100%) Stamina Regen Per Sec 0.022/s Health Condition: Healthy {Stable} Fatigue Points: 0 Mental/Spiritual Power: 0 Stats Attributes Strength: 27 Intelligence: 13 Agility: 11 Wisdom: 8 Defense: 36 Willpower: 14 Endurance: 49 Concentration: 11 Dexterity: 16 Spirit: 23 Vitality: 24 Charm/Charisma: 2 Stamina: 22 Luck: 1 Constitution: 18 Fame: 0 Unallocated Stats Points: 0 Elemental Affinity Fire Element: 0% Life/Nature Element: 0% Earth Element: 25% Death Element: 0% Wind Element: 0% Dark Element: 0% Water Element: 0% Holy/Light Element: 0% Lightning Element: 0% Arcane Element: 0% Ice Element: 0% Void/Chaos Element: 0%
Skill List [Body Moldability {Passive} Lv.1][Mana Sensitivity {Passive} Lv.1][Mana Absorbtion {Passive} Lv.1][Mana Regeneration {Passive} Lv.1][Basic Mana Control {Passive} Lv.1][Basic Mana Manipulation {Passive} Lv.1][Stone Skin {Passive} Lv.1][Minor Earth Control {Active} Lv.1][Rock Punch {Active} Lv.1]
"Its stats aren't half bad, definitely, certainly are better than mine for the most part," I commented, after seeing the Earth Elemental's status window.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
[Lee: Well, Earth Elementals are widely known to be one of the more physically strong and defensively orientated amongst the many Elemental races. They are certainly stronger than the average human being. ]
'If it weren't for the class speciality, which thereby refines our skills into technique and abilities that would make us far more capable than monsters.' I thought so to myself.
[Lee: You know that you could spend a few of your magical points to help speed up the excavation process right. The exchange rate of magical power to dungeon points is one to one, after all, it only costs a little bit to excavate a 1×1 block. ]
Excavate 1×1×1 Block 10 DP 1 Room 100 DP 1 Floor Level Not available (insufficient amount of rooms and power)
I then check the amount of magical power that I may have left within the mana pool, which was plenty, and it was certainly enough to use the excavation block process a few times.
99/123 MP
Pressing on the '1×1 Block' excavation three times of the dungeon interface.
I could then instinctively feel the magical power leaving my body like all the heat and warmth is suddenly drained out from my body, and into the dungeon core creature.
The dungeon core crystal then lit up, and three 1×1×1 cube outlines then appeared over the side of where the Earth Elemental was mining.
The Earth Elemental then halted its actions and immediately stopped digging, as it senses a strange disturbance. Sensing the large fluctuations of mana that is happening within its surroundings.
The area that was within the three 1×1×1 meter block outline was suddenly engulfed by an intensely bright light, and everything within it was immediately disintegrated into nothingness.
I then asked Lee, "Whatever happens to the rubble, earth, and dirt that was excavated?"
Lee, the Dungeon Artificial Intelligence version of me then answers, giving an unsuspecting answer that manages to catch my interest.
[Lee: The 1×1×1 meter block that was successfully excavated are immediately deleted, and nothing of it remains, but residues of white particles of light. ]
"Interesting!" I said so to myself, then wave my hand at the Earth Elemental, giving the 'A-OK' signal to continue excavating.
The Earth Elemental then resumes its mining demolition, smashing the stone cave walls with its massive rock fists.
'The excavation process consumes nearly a third of the remaining magical power reserved that I have left.' I thought so to myself, as I checked the remaining reserve of magical power that I have left.
70/123 MP
"So what should I do now, Lee? Or maybe I should wait for my mana to regenerate so that I could possibly summon another Earth Elemental? Any suggestions, Lee?" I asked Lee, the Dungeon Artificial Intelligence version of me.
[Lee: Whilst, the Earth Elemental is busy preoccupied with mining, and expanding the dungeon core room. You could focus on increasing the biodiversity of your dungeon. ]
Lee, the Dungeon Artificial Intelligence version of me then suggested an alternative plan of action, which sort of gotten me interested.
I then responded with, "How am I supposed to do that, Lee?"
[Lee: You could simply begin to increase the plant vegetation inside of your dungeon by transplanting patches of grass and dungeon moss. And silkworm & mealworms to start off the food chain. ]
"Hmmm..." I then said, "I get the whole plant and vegetation thing, but why mealworms and silkworms."
[Lee: And that is because mealworms and silkworms are herbivores. They only eat plants, leaves, and moss, quite often they are used as feed to be fed to other small carnivores like birds and lizards. ]
"I see," I said, whilst nodding my head in agreement with Lee's statement.
[Lee: In this case, we will be raising the mealworms and silkworms as cannon fodder to be used as baits to lure in wild critters from the outside world, and when the wild critter is busy preoccupied with its meal. We will be able to capture it and add it to our collection of monsters. ]
"Now that does sound like a plan. I dig it." I complimented my other-self.
I then opened up the dungeon interface, and immediately went to the summoning section, and bought 3 patches of 1m² grass for 3 Dungeon Points.
(!) System Notice You have bought 3 patches of Tall Grass for 3 Dungeon Points! 3 DP has been deducted from the remaining 70 Dungeon Points!
67/123 MP
I placed the three patches of grass in the front left corners of the cave room, plenty of space away from the dungeon core crystal, so that it may not impair my field of vision through the tall grass.
At the same time, I've bought two patches of dungeon moss for a total of 6 Dungeon Points.
(!) System Notice You have bought 2 patches of Dungeon Moss for 6 Dungeon Points! 6 DP has been deducted from the remaining 67 Dungeon Points!
61/123 MP
I placed the dungeon moss on the cave walls, right behind the tall grass. As the dungeon moss grows, it would definitely spread upwards, eventually slowly making its own way towards the ceiling.
Afterwards, I then bought a group of ten Mealworms and ten Silkworms, each costing 3 DP for each one.
(!) System Notice You have bought 10 Mealworms and 10 Silkworms for 60 Dungeon Points! 60 DP has been deducted from the remaining 61 Dungeon Points!
1/123 MP
After I've purchased the ten silkworms and ten mealworms, immediately placing in each individual patches of Tall Grass, segregated from their particular counterpart.
Once the silkworms and mealworms are placed down, I then feel a sudden uncomfortable feeling, as dizziness then struck me.
I felt a bit light hearted, and a feeling of tightness unravelling withinside my chest, as I started to have difficulty with breathing. My vision collapsing, and I then falls on all four, breathing and panting heavily.
'What is happening to me? Why is my body like this?' I asked myself, not so longer after I then black out, and completely myself to the ground.
Lee, the Dungeon Artificial Intelligence version of me, who was floating right beside me and watch it all happened. He was certainly surprised by it all.
[Lee: I should have really warned him not to overused spending all of his magical power in one go, otherwise he would then enter a mana exhausted state. ]
----------------------------------------
This chapter was written and edited on a Mobile Phone!