The following days went suspiciously smooth. Not that I complained, but after months of constant pressure and work, the sudden pause was almost nerve-wracking. I almost expected something to happen, and with the power of self-fulfilling prophecy, something indeed happened.

"What do you mean that we can't do that?" I asked in shock, almost making Amber laugh.

"You sound as if someone cheated you," Hestia pointed out in an amused tone, finally pushing Amber to chuckle.

"We don't have enough materials, my Lord." Ragnar opened his arms in resignation. "You told me that it could be hard, but with all due respect, the timeframe you gave us to deal with that problem makes the task impossible."

"What if we give you more time?" Luna asked, almost as incredulous as I was. "Sorry, Ragnar, but it is the first time I have ever heard you say that something is impossible."

"My Queen, it's still impossible even if we are given a few extra years. We are already using the resources gathered from four Dungeons but the eternally hungry economy and industry of Arcadia simply is unsated. We developed so quickly that in normal circumstances all our neighbours should declare war on us, scared by the magitech wonders that seem to pop up daily." Ragnar took a deep breath and fixed himself on the chair. "My Lord, we mostly need wood and steel. The current demand for the Royal Navy, the Legions, and the Guardsmen Corps has left almost nothing for civilian use. That's... Bad, my Lord. For most of them, the war was over when the Queens captured the Cridian capital. The current wars are far, far away and most of society here has started recovering. So, while they praise you and happily welcome all the changes you implement, there are already some voices of discontent. And to be honest, some of their claims are justified. We have reached a point where it's relatively easy to buy a weapon but good luck finding a chair or a new bed."

Instead of asking stupid questions, I took a deep breath and thought about that for a moment. Ragnar was right about the problems with resources. Most of the buildings in Avalon were made of stone and bricks. While that seemed lavish and, for many people, suspiciously generous, it was just a cheap trick to mask the problems of shortages of other resources. While stone was used mainly for buildings and the construction of road systems, it was an easily available material that I had in abundance. The large underground prisons, where most of the criminals, slavers, and void cultists captured during the Avalon siege were kept, were my main source of various stones. The vast majority of those criminals would spend the rest of their lives down there, producing tons upon tons of construction-grade and decorative stone slabs. The problem with trees, however, was their annoying requirement to grow outside. While I could plant fake trees underground, their wood was unfit for anything more than making a campfire from it. Still, the trees needed to grow on the surface. Who would have thought?!

"Theon!" Lavender's delighted voice called excitedly, pausing my pondering on my stupid ideas.

As I raised my head, my brow froze a few moments later as I lived through yet another shock that day. A huge and magnificent White Tiger followed behind my beautiful Dryad wife. It was so enormous that she looked like a small doll next to it. Words like deadly, dangerous, or even wild animal were instantly pushed away; however, they gave their spot to another that came to mind after seeing the beast—or two words- incredibly fluffy. The snow-white fur, with stripes as black as the absolute darkness of underground caverns, shined pristinely. Upon seeing the fluffy monster, all my wives reacted as if they saw a cute puppy, effectively postponing the meeting for the time needed to cuddle the tiger and pat it on the head. The fact that no single person in the room registered nearly four metres long and about one and a half metres tall monster as a threat was fairly amusing. The queen of the jungle patiently waited for the pats and cuddles to end, yet I saw in her sapphire blue eyes the plea for mercy mixed with joy and pleasure.

"Theon. You must come with me!" Lavender caught my hand and pulled me towards the exit, briefly smiling at the gathered Craftsmen before continuing.

"We are in the middle of the meeting, my Darling..."

"Yes, I know," she interjected quickly. "About the resources problems. I found the solution to at least one of them."

That received much more attention from the gathered masters than the magnificent Tiger. I looked at her with a mix of happiness and surprise. "You did?"

"Yes! Thanks to Alba..."

"Who?" I blinked a few times, utterly surprised, trying to process what was going on.

"My familiar!" she pointed at the White Tiger.

"Since when do you have a familiar?" My surprise swiftly transformed into confusion.

"Since this morning." She grinned. "Isn't she a gorgeous fluffball?!"

I looked at the Tiger who Irene and Aoi were still cuddling. According to my appraisal skill, that monster was probably as powerful as Aurora or Stella, but once she levelled up to the cap limit, she would reach the power levels on par with Thor and Arani. When our eyes met I had to fight the urge to pet this creature. There was something in her that made you abandon all reason and almost forced you to pet her. Seeing my judgmental gaze, Alba lowered her massive head in a bow, extending her fluffy paws in front of her. However, by doing so, she was pushed onto her side by Irene and ended up on the floor, so that now all my wives, except for Lavender, were fully engaged in pets and hugs with her. Olivia and Shirley, two brilliant inventors who had created field bandages and contributed significantly to the development of various magicraft techniques, stood up and joined my queens to pat Alba, probably to her cozy death.

"H-how?" It was all I could manage to ask as I turned my gaze back on Lavender.

"Ceallach." She grinned, making me stop again and wonder who the hell she was referring to. She rolled her eyes, seeing the depth of my confusion. "Oh, heavens... Ceallach the Wild Monsters Dungeon!"

"Oh, yeah! That guy. Totally." I awkwardly tried to mask the fact I absolutely forgot about his existence.

"Heavens... Give me strength," she sighed heavily. "Or maybe patience."

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"What? Even I can't remember everything."

"*Sigh* Just follow me..."

•••

In awe, we walked slowly among the picturesque lush jungle landscape filled with wonderful scents of tropical flowers and calls from exotic wild animals. The said flowers blanketed the ground and climbed broad trees in every direction. Despite the dense jungle foliage above us, the entire place was basked in the soft light of the sun. The Wild Beast Dungeon was incredible, and its reputation only grew upon further inspection. We climbed atop a reasonably tall cliff on the edge of the jungle. A roaring waterfall, just a few paces away, sprayed droplets of water that created spectacular rainbows as it formed the small lake directly beneath us. From it, a meandering river cut in half a sizable savannah where various monsters made their habitat. Ceallach had created a wonderful gem of natural beauty. The abundance of food and hunting nodes in this place made it a shockingly pleasant place to live in. Of course, if you could keep all predators that live here at bay.

The space in the dungeon was compressed, making it far more extensive on the inside than it should be, judging by the external borders. It was pretty expensive, mana-wise, but seeing the effects with my own eyes convinced me to reconsider using that effect. In the end, Lavender took everyone who had participated in the meeting with us. But while I was enchanted by the serene and picturesque views, the Guild representatives were engaged in a heated discussion about the incredible possibilities of this place. Whatever they came up with, I had already formulated an idea of how to use this place. Ceallach's dungeon was likely the furthest south of Arcadia's known dungeons. There was a slim chance that in the uncharted forests or somewhere in the mountains was an undiscovered dungeon, but I wouldn't hold my breath until we mapped the area. Despite being placed so far south in Arcadia, Ceallach was still geographically too far to the north to sustain its lush jungles naturally.

The Wild Beast Dungeon, located in an ancient forest of the temperate climate of Nilmerthis, utilized the same trick that I had to keep the farms of Avalon in constant two seasons. His changes were a bit more drastic, but fundamentally, they were the same. But the effect he achieved was simply stunning. I observed the hordes of colourful butterflies flying from the trees below the cliff we were on, enjoying their beautiful rainbow flight. The air was hot and humid but it was not as unpleasant as I would have imagined. I took a deep breath of sweet air and patted the wide leaves of a tropical plant that grew nearby.

"I like this place... Ceallach?" I asked the air.

"Yes, my King?" a slightly nervous voice replied immediately.

"I am not going to create a dungeon city here," I informed him, causing everyone to look at me in shock. "I don't wish to destroy this place. Instead, it will become a place of training, exercise, and relaxation. I will build a summer mansion for us, the Royal Family, here, as well as a resort town to allow the citizens of Arcadia to enjoy the masterpiece you have created. But the main goal would be to preserve as much of this as possible..."

I opened my arms and gestured in different directions. As I turned slowly, I saw the understanding, acceptance and enjoyment in the eyes of my wives and a small dose of disappointment flowing across the faces of some of the Guild representatives.

"However, I sense immense potential in this place, so we will expand your grounds, Ceallach. There, we are going to build a wood production centre that will make the best use of the abundance of resources within your limits." That information sparked enthusiastic whispers among the crafters.

"I'm glad to hear that, my Lord," Ceallach replied happily, relief evident in his voice.

"I told you." Lavender grabbed my arm and snuggled herself to my side. "I almost regret it took me so long to come here and see this wonder myself."

"That reminds me... Why did you even come here in the first place?"

"Leo, the scion of the Wild Beast Dungeon, arrived in Avalon to pay me respect. Ceallach is a dungeon deeply connected with nature and he considers and reveres me as the Queen of Nature. Although it might sound stereotypical or just overblown that the Dryad Queen ruled nature itself, well… After I became your wife and you had gifted me with so much power, I really did become the Queen of Nature. Not only in title, but it is now also my class." Lavender raised her left hand, with her right still holding tight to my side, and snapped her fingers. The plants around us started rapidly growing, blossoming with fantastically shaped and colourful flowers. As she lowered her arm, everything returned to its original shape, except for the flowers that stayed on the shrinking plants, creating an incredible carpet around us. "Anyway, it was then I met Alba. She arrived with Leo and I wanted her to stay with me so badly!" Lavender squealed in excitement but quickly regained her composure. "To my delight, Leo told me it would be an honour for her and the pride of the entire dungeon if I would take her as my familiar. After that, I kinda felt obliged to pay a quick visit... So I took my Praetorian company and we teleported here. Imagine my surprise and delight when I saw this gorgeous place!"

"Hahahaha! Oh, Lavender," I laughed and shook my head in amusement and slight disbelief. "And Ceallach, you sly fox!"

"My Lord?" the Wild Beast Dungeon asked meekly.

"To bribe my wife... Hahahaha!" I continued to laugh again while Lavender tapped her lips thoughtfully. When the realisation finally dawned on her, her cheeks turned rose red.

"Ummmm... N-no, my Lord, I-I wouldn't dare," he tried to convince me otherwise, making me chuckle even harder as his attempts were ultimately unsuccessful.

"But thank you, Ceallach." I stopped laughing and took a deep breath. "Alba would be an excellent defender for Lavender, and I'm glad you drew our attention to yourself. Who knows how much I would have destroyed in this incredible place if I had simply given the order to build another dungeon city? However, I will unleash most of the Architect's Guild on you."

"Should I be worried, my Lord?" I heard his consternation and confusion.

"Not really. I think not. Hmmm..." I rubbed my chin and pondered the thought for a moment. "I am almost sure you will be fine. They will be more scared of you than you should be of them. But to make it easier for everyone, just don't attack them."

"As you wish, my Lord."

We stood for a moment in silence as I realised that everyone had disappeared a while ago. I was left alone with Lavender, who was very happy about such a turn of events, and Alba, lying lazily on a warm rock but paying attention to the surroundings. Cats will be cats, I guess. Unfortunately, our private time wasn't meant to last long as we heard someone make their way through the jungle behind us. It wasn't long before we heard a merry whistling and saw a young Human woman picking some flowers and plants on her way towards us.

"This place is extraordinary, my King!" Olivia shouted towards us as she climbed up the narrow path. "I have collected hundreds of samples of various plants and herbs. The Alchemists must see them!"

"I'm glad to hear that, Lady Olivia," Ceallach replied with respect.

"THEON! Look! Look at them!" Amber teleported beside me, holding two tiger cubs in her arms.

The young predators were as big as house cats. They were extremely fluffy and held Amber's arm with their huge paws. However, just one glance at them made me realise that the cubs were not afraid but excited. They slowly curled the tips of their tails in every direction and looked around curiously, purring with satisfaction.

"Meow!" one of the cubs exclaimed upon seeing me, and its fellow joined a heartbeat later.

Lavender and Amber gave out a moan of pleasure that changed into a shriek of excitement upon hearing the mewling choir. I chuckled a little bit seeing this.

"Can we take them? Please, Theon!" Amber made puppy– or, I guess, cub's eyes at me.