“Eggs? What do you mean eggs?” Red asked incredulously as the tension from the previous moment faded with the call for Megara, the only other Divine Brushnosed Beetleborn in existence besides Herc.

“Well, what did you think me and Meg were gonna be doin’ out here without nothing else for entertainment?” The beetle man said as he put two arms on his hips and folded the other set while looking at Red. As if the very implication that this didn’t make sense was ludicrous.

“Ras. Explain this now.” Red urgently said as he tried to get the information before Megara arrived with the eggs. He sighed in relief when it seemed that the box immediately had an answer for him. No doubt this was something that Dungeons learned about over time. At least that was what he hoped, and not that he was breaking the mold too wildly.

Population

When any species can reproduce asexually or through partnered sexual action, they can trigger the [Population] menu for the Dungeon. This occurs when the first young is officially born and takes their first breath. However, before that, several things occur when the process of gestation begins with the minions or monsters that are reproducing. This includes their connected spawner being paused, discounts on associated buildings, and removal of mothers from active combat roles.

Additional Notes: Creatures are excluded from this list as both naturally spawned and born creatures show no significant changes. Monsters can be bred to make new variants and each minion life is unique. However, the distinction between born and spawned still matters, as anything born from dungeon life is still capable of leaving the dungeon permanently with no deficit to its well-being.

Red felt like he was going to throw up, which was impressive because he neither had eaten anything nor even had a stomach while he was in his avatar. Nevertheless, his stomach was churning with the information as the larger of the two beetle people climbed up onto the porch holding a bindle made of leaves. His heart quickened in his chest and his head swam, once again incredible due to the lack of any organic features to his form to do any of it.

“Could have just come and get them yourself. Trying to build us a hut.” Megara, the ever taciturn beetleborn said as she gently set the bindle down on the ground and undid the knot. When the leaves fell away, there were six little spheres, perfectly round and metallic silver color to them. Red couldn’t help but get on his hands and knees to look at the eggs that were going to be the first ‘born’ individuals of the dungeon.

“I… um… Ras message Ivy! Get her and the build team out here ASAP! Megara you shouldn’t be building huts in your condition! I-I need to be a better dungeon!” Red said as he abruptly stood and began to almost hyperventilate as he realized that this was part of his responsibilities. He was panicking, everything that came with parenthood hitting him all at once. How was he going to get money for their schooling? Were there colleges in this world? What if one of them wanted to be a wizard!?

“I need to make money, and then make a college to send them to with the money. I need to” Red was stopped in his chaotic rambling as Megara slapped him in the face for going overboard at the first mention of newborns coming into the world.

“Quit. Panicking.” She said firmly as she buzzed in the air just in front of him, her wings giving a deep hum before she began to lower herself back down to the ground. She gently began to wrap the eggs back up before heading off of the porch. She seemed to be done with the conversation and was going back to whatever task she was busying herself with while waiting for the eggs to hatch.

“Uh, well dat dere isn’t exactly how I woulda done it. But I suppose she is right, Red. They’re our burdens to bare, why don’t you just do what you can? We’ll focus on college or schoolin’, and you just give ‘em a safe place to lay their heads at night. We think we will be pretty good parents, don’tcha know.” The janitor said proudly as he laced a digit under each strap of his overalls and pulled them outward before letting them slap back against his white shirt and the carapace underneath.

Red was slightly slouching as he looked at Herc before watching Meg wander away within the boundaries of his dungeon. He held his hands in front of him, tightening and relaxing his grip in a repetitious motion as he tried to think of how to respond. He was under a lot of pressure, it being his first day back from his meeting and he already had three tasks that were weighing on him hard. He could only hope and pray that things would start simplifying now that the problems were being identified.

“Right, you make a lot of sense, Herc. You two will do what’s best for your kids when they need you. I just need to be a good place for them to live in.” Red gave a defeated nod as he accepted that he was not the one in charge, he was merely the house the family lived in. He was barely even that considering they lived outside the dungeon proper.

Before he could lament about the mounting issues or problems that were going to swallow him whole, the front door to the shack opened up.

Out of the shack first came Ivy, wearing the white hard hat that denoted her as the foreman of the operation. She had a collapsible work table under one arm and rolls of blueprints under the other. She was then followed by the crew that she had assembled for her quest.

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The first, Ivy’s right-hand man, was Adan the brownie. He stood at the same size as when he had spawned but with a much different outfit than before. He was now wearing a pair of steel-toe boots, jeans, and a flannel work shirt that brought the laborer outfit together. He was wearing a pair of safety goggles and a yellow hard hat to denote him as a laborer and earth mover. He was carrying a heavy tool bag that was sized to his diminutive stature, still no bigger than the average fairy.

The next, also in a yellow hard hat, was an ordinary slime. The amorphous green blob of slime that Ivy had insisted would be useful in the long run. Red had no reason to refute that opinion, so he had blessed the monster with a name. At the time he couldn’t think of one, and Ivy helpfully suggested the name, Azure. As much as it didn’t make sense for a green slime to be named a blue color, it was better than anything Red had at that moment. Azure was carrying nothing, as their main role was currently cleanup.

The one hauling a wagon of planks and stones however had far more application to the worksite. The wagon was being pulled by an iron lobster who had the ropes tight in his claws. It was odd to see an orange hard hat affixed to a lobster’s head, but Ivy would not allow any of her workers to go without. Hacker was their materials man, in charge of cutting and shaping any wood or stone they needed for the job. He had somehow gone through a micro-ascension to the next form of metal lobster before Snips. Red had the theory that the micro-ascension meant that the lobster was continuing down its natural line while Snips was attempting to break the mold. The dull grey lobster scooted along, unaware that one of the fellow crew members was hitching a ride.

With the clouds being out today, the fourth member of the construction team was without complaint. The vampiric crow wearing a yellow hat looked around at the outside world, seeming very curious about everything. She was Mildred, a crow that had started getting too big for her britches and disconnected from the rest of the murder. Being the team’s gopher was a lot easier when one could fly back and forth at command. However Red was going to make sure that Ivy watched the sky so Mildred wouldn’t burn up.

The final member of the group was Poly, a pink-skinned fairy with yellow hair. She was the same size as Adan and had a similar outfit, but she had a green hat with a white stripe under it. There were rumors that Poly was simply picked because Ivy needed a fifth and Poly didn’t want to be conscripted into the Soldier Fey for having a useless born affinity. Red felt bad for the little fairy, but he was hoping that she would come into her own on the construction team.

“Alright, Red. What are you needing that makes us come out of the dungeon?” Ivy asked as she tucked one of the blueprints further under her arm to make sure that it didn’t fall out. Despite the insistence in her tone, it was clear she was trying to show herself as a strong leader to her crew.

“Right! So, we have just gotten the news that Herc and Megara are going to be parents! They currently don’t have a house to live in, and I plan on spawning more Beetleborns soon. So I need you to build them some homes that are appropriate to their size. Not to mention accounting for large family units and needing to protect from danger.” Red offered as he hoped that Ivy would be able to get the work done in a short amount of time. The last thing he wanted was for the eggs to be damaged because they didn’t have any kind of appropriate shelter. He would never be able to live with the guilt of those lives on his hands.

“…And where is the blueprint that you’re putting up?” She asked with a bit of curiosity as she scanned the area outside the porch. Red’s influence wasn’t exactly massive, it only spanned a hundred-foot radius around the shack itself. However, Ivy did not see the spectral red outlines that came with a building that Red had designed. Usually, her work couldn’t be done without doing so.

“That’s the thing that requires the entire build crew. I need you to work with Herc here to make a house that is up to their standards. Whether that is a burrow in the muck or a tiny marble temple. You have full creative freedom.” Red insisted with a smile, hoping that it would take some of the burden off of himself. The beaming smile that came from Ivy was already more than enough reward for delegating his duties.

“Finally! Alright Herc, where do you want your house to be built? Azure and Hacker can get to clear the area while we workshop what it’s going to look like.” She offered with a smile, looking down at the golden bug and hoping that he had at least some idea of where he wanted his new dwelling to be.

“Er, well den. Suppose ain’t no stoppin’ this train going off the tracks. Me ‘nd Meg want to live over yonder, between those two trees that are starting to grow leaves again.” Herc said as he went to the west side of the porch and pointed at a pair of previously dead oak trees that were slowly beginning to regain life with the purification. Without a word the lobster and slime quickly made their way over to the area and began to clear it. Hacker would chop down any bushes or yank stones from the ground to make sure they had a clear space. Azure was sucking down anything that Hacker tossed aside, dissolving the materials for their mass.

The spot that the two had picked was a nice spot where they could appreciate the river that was just barely within Red’s boundaries without it seeping too much into their structure. The leech grass would eventually be completely gone, and there was the hope that the river would become less murky as well. Only time would tell as well as the efficiency of their abilities.

“You got this, Ivy?” Red asked with a smile as he watched the two monsters work to clear a space for the new home. He turned when she didn’t respond, only to find that she had placed Herc on a chair so that he could see her now placed work table and blueprints. She was chatting wildly to him about all the things that they could do for the start of his little village. Plenty that was going over Red’s head at the moment, but he was sure her city planning was up to snuff.

“Yeah, you’ve got this handled. You have fun, Ivy. Try to watch out for your crew.” Red said with a smile as he turned towards the door, about to head into his dungeon once again. He paused as something popped up in front of him, yet another distraction to keep him from beginning the second floor.

Azure has leveled up enough to ascend to a greater form! Please choose from the following: