My plan is working!

Comparing speeds, it's actually faster for me to reap the grass at our knees than it is for Ivy or Bomber to clear grass. In exchange for that speed, though, I'm finally getting a good idea of how hard work is.

My body may be that of a plant but even hacking away at the plains for a few minutes hurts. My leaves feel agitated and my branches and vines holding the tool hurt. While I don't think it'd be similar to being out of breath, my vision blurs from the stress every few swings.

So while I'm faster, it sucks. I don't like doing this.

[Notification] Ability detected...

Tracking progress...

Again?

Now that I think about it... didn't that same notification pop-up while I was killing the ranbi in their sleep?

Is this the same ability or a new one? And why didn't I learn it before?

... As much as I hate dealing with this scythe, maybe I should keep doing it for a while longer.

...

...

And we're here! The sun is still bearing down pretty strong on us pretty heavily so it must still be early in the day. Ivy doesn't look bothered but considering I had dealt with most of the stragglers that found us, I can understand why.

On the other hand, I feel even worse. For the first time in my new life, I think I'm feeling dehydrated.

Maybe the reason I hadn't needed water for so long was my evolution and lack of activity? Some plants last a lot longer than others without water... so it's not irrational to think the slow-moving Creeper Thorn and its evolutions are one of those.

All the more reason I want this filth-filled water. Anything is better than nothing.

The pond looked a bit better in the daylight since you could actually see the bottom, but it still looked pretty bad. Clots of dirt and some form of algae growing over the surface at least has me hopeful it's not bad.

But with light comes revelations; this isn't a pond.

It's the surface water of an underground spring.

It doesn't appear to be piping up hot water like a geothermic onsen though... so maybe this pond isn't the best but it should provide a pretty large source of water.

Thankfully, I'm not as impossibly daft as that tutorial probably hoped: I might not have known how to make or identify Landmarks, but searching menus isn't that hard.

Given the inclusion of Water Access level's mention, the obvious starting place was the Infrastructure section.

Infrastructure: Construct.

[Infrastructure] Name Summary & Effect Costs Path

[Select] Every dungeon needs paths. Each instance built covers 10 ft.

Inside Dungeon: Cobblestone.

Outside Dungeon: Packed dirt. 20 Favor Landmarker

[Select] Throughout the world, there are various resources available for claiming. Connecting these to the dungeon, Landmarkers are crystalized Favor energy that extends the reach of Dungeons. Once connected, the dungeon's mana replenishes the resource.

When placed, it claims resources within 20 ft. 100 Favor

1 Landmark slot [Back] | [Confirm]

Thank goodness I have a kick-happy killer bunny farming favor for me.

But Landmarks are just... recyclable resource claims? It's a bit vague on how it replenishes them, though: if I put this over a farm, would it convert my mana directly into new food?

... While possible, I don't think that's the case. Based on my magical theory it is possible to grow things with mana but it'd be extremely ineffective when it comes to cost. Especially with something like food.

Creating life should be one of the most costly parts of magic, by my reasoning, which is why my summons have an upkeep of mana from my dungeon. Ranbi can eat and sustain themselves but plants need nutrition from the area around them.

If I were to make a landmark over a farm, it'd run for a while. Ultimately, in the end, it'd most likely devastate the ground and be unable to grow after absorbing all the nutrition after only a few cycles. The speed of growth would be too high for the area and likely leave it barren.

I'll need magic to handle that before I can do anything special like that.

Anyway, time to focus. Landmarker is selected and...

Confirm.

Light breaks free from the ground in front of me, illuminating the pond's clearing and growing as a pillar of stone rose upward. It rose about four feet before stopping, opening up at the top.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Favor looks like yellow mana. I'd not really seen mana but the glow of my bonfire looked familiar to the energy flowing out of the hole. Even the crystallization of it looks similar, hardening and forming a non-translucent crystal about the width of a fist but almost a foot tall. The light's glow dims for a few seconds before the new construction pulses, audibly thumping and sending the ring of magic outward across the pond's surface and the nearby clearing.

All of the water turns crystal clear. Instantly. It's a sight that was unlike anything I'd ever seen; all the dirt sank and flattened along the bottom of the pond while the algae burned instantly with the passing ring of light.

[Notification] Landmark activated.

Water Source detected.

Randomly designating Landmark as Roth's Pond.

[Warning] Landmark cost calculated.

Increasing Upkeep by 1 Mana per day.

Roth's Pond isn't that bad as far as Upkeep. My previous increase to daily generation for the dungeon helped eliminate a lot of the issue I had with upkeep. It does mean I need to start looking for more ways, though, if I don't want to have Ivy and Bomber constantly eating to keep a profit, though.

Random choices aren't great but at least it's not something abysmal.

[Notification] New Landmark Roth's Pond grants the following:

+ Water Access Level 1

+ Washroom Construction (Dungeon)

+ Water Tank Construction (Dungeon Town)

[Notification] Water Access Level is now 1.

Population Limit of Dungeon & Dungeon Town is now 2.

Constructing additional items may provide bonuses.

New construction options, a total of four population slots, and the potential for bonuses.

Water really is the lifeblood of civilization.

Now that it's clean, though, I'm going to make good use of this water right now. Since I'm a plant, I can just drink by stepping into it.

Ivy looks a bit confused at me wading into the pool but I don't blame her since neither her nor Bomber need anything besides Mana to exist.

Of course, I don't think it'll hurt her to clean up a bit. Both of them may be yellow and red-furred but there definitely was a point when they started to appear more red with a few spots of yellow.

Ivy, use the water to wash yourself off.

She tilts her head in confusion.

Walk into the water. Like me.

I splash around a few times and it seems that she finally understands. She doesn't seem very confident about it, though; while I waded in to where the water reaches my body's waist-equivalent, she only goes in up to her ankles.

Honestly, water probably scares her because rabbits aren't fantastic swimmers.

... I think? I'm pretty sure I remember that being how they were back in my previous life. There's little reason to believe that things are different here when they appear so similar.

But Ivy tries. She does eventually sit down and set her garrote aside to try and splash more over her.

All the grime and gore on us wash off easier than it should but more interesting is how it dissipates into the water without any trace.

Every trace of blood or dirt that comes off either of us just vanishes into the pond as seamlessly as how the ring of light passing over it cleared the algae.

Tempting it further probably isn't a good idea, though.

Alright. Now that you and I are clean, it's time to do what we came here for. Inventory.

I feel pretty satisfied about how adapted I am to the Inventory functionality now; it's not as efficient as some bag of holding or quick-pull feature as an isekai normally has in my situation, yet I've still been able to master removing stored goods with ease.

All the excess DCT I prepared isn't that large... so it makes it perfect for protecting a tall but narrow pillar like the Landmarker.

I stack and wrap their ends while Ivy engages and chokes out a visitor, twisting the ends of the short strands together to the sounds of dying pest. Nothing is sweeter than getting rewards and securing my new Landmark than doing it to the sweet orchestra of ranbi strangling.

Seeing it, however, is a bit terrifying. Ivy's hold already changed to account for her garrote wire; originally she simply wrapped her arms and legs to squeeze the life out of them, but now she wrapped her legs around them and threw herself backward to use her weight with the wire.

It actually reminded me a lot of how trained killers snuck up and strangled their victim. The cold and efficient manner of it betrays just how much stronger she is than the ranbi.

... You know, I never did check out what level ranbi are at. Since I used the Experience Scope before, now seems like a pretty good time to try again.

Insert squinting noises and description here.

[Notification] Level of Ranbi Minion is level 1.

Ranbi Minion? Is that the species' name? So these things aren't the same as Bomber and Ivy's original states...

That at least might explain the difference in color.

But if these are minions, how is-

Summon Bomber has sustained 8 HP damage.

Bomber just took almost an entire fifth of his HP as damage!? Ivy is still strangling this minion but... damn it!

Trudge out of the pond faster, damn it!

Ivy, finish with that one and hurry back! Bomber is in trouble!

The ranbli girl nods and tightens her deadly choker cord on the struggling ranbi. Rushing suffocation wasn't exactly easy so I don't blame her for leaping up.

Although the wrapping wasn't very high up the Landmarker, it would protect it for a while if the ranbi did show up. As important as it is, replacing it is always going to be possible.

Even if he's weak, Bomber getting killed won't help me. After they finish him, we're down to two of us versus all of them until I can train a new summon.

Worst still, they might directly attack my dungeon after dealing with Bomber!

Thankfully for Bomber and my sanity, it's not that far to the dungeon's clearing! Clearing the way there makes rushing back easy.

But it doesn't make me feel good that I see one of the bone towers near my dungeon entrance go crumbling down and out of view.

Summon Bomber has sustained 6 HP damage.

Summon Bomber has sustained 12 HP damage.

That's almost half of his HP.

Bomber, hold on! I'm coming! Stay alive no matter what!

Even if he can't answer, I hope it's enough to keep him from giving up or letting himself die.

They might just be rabbits but both Bomber and Ivy had earned their nicknames. Without them, I would already have died or at best been struggling to survive. Bomber was my first summon in this new world and I don't care if he's easy to replace.

I'm a dungeon master... and until I can at least make a dungeon worthy of that, I refuse to let Brogdar take Bomber from me!