After Grey Man's visit, I stayed down in the dungeon for a while. And no, I still haven't chosen my reward affinity.

It's not as if I didn't want to be up there to help with defending the place. The hardest thing to do was to leave Bomber, Ivy, and the Creeper Thorn to dealing with anything that might come our way.

Nothing did.

The Omega Ranbi's cut-short cry had indeed fulfilled the job of a warning. Not once did I get any Favor-related notifications for kills even after a few days. But I also didn't get a notice for the Creeper Thorn's death nor either of the pair getting injured.

Whether or not you call that a blessing is up to whether or not you think I need more Favor, I guess.

Thankfully, upkeep for the Creeper Thorn is dirt cheap. It also helps that he is similar to the other two.

Unlike them, he has Omnivore: an ability variation of Herbivore that lets him consume anything. While it's not as effective, it doesn't really matter in his case.

And I know what you might be thinking: why am I calling the Creeper Thorn he?

Well... because I decided to name him Ropert.

It's not a great name but his voice sounded masculine enough. And technically, a lot of plants actually don't have fixed physical sexes; many plants instead rely on bisexual flowers with different gender pairings to ensure they can blossom and support themselves.

Much like this, it doesn't sound nor seems like he cares... so I named him after a dog that I lost when I was younger. Rupert was a good dog who had been with me in some of my most important years, yet in the end, he eventually died protecting me when things were going bad.

Ropert had been willing to give his life to ensure I survived and was happy. I know I summoned him initially as a sacrifice but I can't just throw him aside.

So I've decided: Ropert will be in charge of cleaning the defenses.

... I just need to go outside and actually show him how Compost works so he might actually pick it up himself.

But the instant I go out there... I don't know what to do with myself.

Killing this Omega Ranbi and talking to an actual god had been processing for days now but the reality of it all... it really is insane to think this is my new life. It's even further unbelievable that now that it's over, I still have to experience even more.

This world is going to get a lot bigger when I build the Teleportation Chamber.

But to do that, I need to do a few more things... things both inside and outside my dungeon.

Neither of them can be done without at least going outside for Favor.

... I'll go outside in a few more days. The others will understand.

...

After six days, we finally had our first encounter with another ranbi.

Not long after I decided to finally come outside, I saw Ivy strangling the bastard with wire.

He was the same colors as the others... and a quick squint confirmed he was another Ranbi Minion.

There's either an Omega Ranbi out there or something similar. Another threat either trying to fill the territory of the one we killed or merely roaming around the plains in search of delicious grass.

I don't particularly care for whichever it is. Roper picked up the Compost skill finally which means he can start properly digesting food and, as an Omnivore, start getting experience and covering his mana cost.

Bomber looks a lot better than he did a few days ago, yet I can't help notice he has a few patches of fur that look thin from where he had been cut by the bones. It actually made him seem like some war-bunny, despite how little fighting he had been doing since then.

Ivy, on the other hand, seems ever more energetic. After Bomber killed the Omega, it looks like she's trying to find a way to get my praise.

Or, maybe, she's trying to show Bomber she can keep him safe.

Either way, the two of them are in good shape and Ropert's experience gathering is going smoothly.

So, to ease me back into things... let's start with some proper dungeon work. I've got a stockpile of 329-... make that 330 Favor to spend. The temptation to claim that affinity of my own choice and a spell is definitely high, but I need things to be relaxing.

I need things to be focused on providing for all of us in the future.

Dungeon: Expand x2.

And yes, this works. Believe it or not, sometimes you don't need a tutorial to find workarounds. After navigating windows for a while now, I'm definitely starting to pick up on subtleties. It's like game features or quirks the developers left in but don't mention to their players.

Expansion costs 25 Favor per room. Every four rooms will raise Expansion Level by 1.

Are you sure you want to expand the dungeon?

[Yes] | [No]

Yes.

Two dings echo in my head and the ground beneath us rumbles.

I make my way back down inside and see something nice: the main room has three doorways now.

My house now has four rooms connected and a room off the main room.

And with that, I also have four rooms.

[Notification] Expansion Level has reached 1.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Additional [Construct] options added for Dungeon.

Dungeon: Construct.

[Dungeon] Name Summary & Effect Costs Stuffed Pillowbed

[Select] Decoration. A grass-stuffed pillow made from dead Creeper Thorn plants. Comfortable enough. 1 Favor Stone Table

[Select] Decoration. A low table made of stone, raised from the floor or projected from the wall. 3 Favor Storage Cabinet

[Select] Decoration. Stone raised/erected from the dungeon's walls. Useful for sorting stored goods and prioritizing their storage. 5 Favor Crystal Light

[Select] Decoration. Crystallized Favor, carefully embedded into the wall, floor, or ceiling to provide light. It can individually be colored. 10 Favor Washroom

[Select] Dungeon Masters are prone to getting absolutely filthy in their line of work. The best ones have washrooms.

Cleans dungeon once per day; if not used manually, activates when the sun goes down.

Passively allows bathing. 20 Favor

1 Unassigned Room Toolroom

[Select] Creating tools feeling hard? Maybe you need a room dedicated to it!

Upgrades Production Stage.

Modified by nearby rooms and their items. 50 Favor

10 Stone

1 Unassigned Room Teleportation Chamber

[Select] When you're wanting to go far away or you decide to get adventurous, this chamber is perfect for you!

Unlocks Teleporation feature for Dungeon Masters. 200 Favor

20 Mana

20 Stone

1 Unassigned Room [Back] | [Confirm]

Some construction options require more than Favor but this is my first time seeing my resources mentioned.

And two options require Stone. All the more reason to get out there and place a Landmarker on that stone obelisk.

But in the meantime... decorations. This is finally a chance to make my dungeon somewhat comfortable for more than just me.

First step: put everything into my inventory.

Something I learned while I was crafting is that anything in my inventory becomes part of my dungeon: that means that while it can be stolen while physically within my dungeon, I can also control it seamlessly.

Rather than push the Mana Bonfire, I put it in my Inventory and it becomes easy to move.

So in a way, my Inventory acts as a sort of "modify layout" tool.

While it's not a feature, this should at least give you guys some idea of how I plan to invest.

Dungeon Layout

WASHROOM BEDROOM

(Unassigned)   TOOLROOM MAIN ROOM / HALL

Mana Bonfire STORAGE ROOM

(Unassigned)   STAIRS  

Right now I can't make the Toolroom... so instead, I'll make the Washroom and some on decoration.

Every room will get a Crystal Light, which means I'll be spending 50 Favor on just that. An extra 20 Favor for the Washroom, obviously, brings the total up to 70.

Two tables. One for the Washroom to set things on to dry after cleaning them down and another in my Main Room. If I add four pillows for the Main Room's table, that brings it to 10 and then finalize it for 80.

Four cabinets will help me organize and make the storeroom more official, too. It'll be nice to have everything out of the way. Most of the bones and Creeper Thorn I've collected are small enough that they should fit in it.

That means I'm spending just 100 Favor here... and with the Landmarker, that's another 100.

... So an extra 130 Favor for building outside. Dedicating 50 Favor for the Toolroom should be a good idea... so that leaves me with 80 Favor.

Eh. You know what? It'll probably look nicer and add more texture if I use the Infrastructure menu's Path. So make that 70.

Dungeon Town: Construct.

[Dungeon Town] Name Summary & Effect Costs Water Tank

[Select] Unlike a dungeon, a town needs water. For those unlucky enough to lack an immediate water-source, this is the beginning step.

Increases Population Limit by 1.

Unlocks Water-based Traps and Defensive structures. 50 Favor

10 Stone [Back] | [Confirm]

So the stone has to get claimed. Well, at least now I know.

The Population Limit thing going up sounds nice but I'm still not entirely sure how I'm supposed to recruit people. Part of me thinks the Tutorial wouldn't have answered that too.

Another part bets I might have had a heads-up or at least some semblance of a hint on how it works. It's not worth spending my hint, though, since so far our numbers are just fine.

For now, it's time to go ahead and start organizing everything. With the Water Tank taken into account, that'd give me an extra 20 Favor to create pathways and start solidifying the floor plan of our dungeon's surface. Moving through the cut grass is fast but moving across packed dirt? That's how all older roads existed before being replaced with stone.

Cobblestone being carved or made from the dungeon is one thing, of course, but maybe I can upgrade my paths aboveground in the future. Either way, this is good. I finally found a way to take my mind off all the gloom of there being other threats out there.

It's time to get productive while I still have sunlight.

Bomber, you and I are going on an adventure! It's time to stretch those legs of yours again; you've rested long enough, right?

By the time I make my way up the stairs, the ranbli has his club in paws and is ready to go.

If this is one of the benefits of gaining his trust, I hope I can get the rest of them like this.

I also hope I can figure out a way to help Ropert feel more useful than just having him clean up after the battles. Not only has he been slowly rebuilding the bone towers that the Omega Ranbi broke, but he has even been pulling and piling up bodies into a Compost pile for me.

... Maybe I'll experiment with him to find a solution to all the bodies. If neither of us can devise a means to Compost the more damaged bodies or get rid of them, I'll just make Fire my Affinity so I can cremate all the bodies.