As excited as Violet was to see Gregory's and Henry's names show up on her [Guest List], she simply couldn't bring herself to go visit them. While she knew it was likely that they had only stayed away from the dungeon because of the previous town leader's policies, she also couldn't help but feel like she didn't want to scare them away now that they had returned. Maybe she would go visit them another time, but, for now, she would let them get reacquainted with her dungeon on their own terms.
Still, it was difficult to keep her mind on the task at hand, even if she knew it was best to start working on her boss room while she had plenty of mana coming in. Even Avorn and Camellia wouldn't be staying in the dungeon for much longer since spring was only a few weeks away. So, with a sigh, Violet made her way into the large room she had already set aside for her new boss [Monster].
Unfortunately, as much as Violet enjoyed theming a whole floor around the fae, as a representation of her pixies, they were not [Monsters] who could evolve, nor were they ideal for combat. That wasn't to say they couldn't attempt to engage adventurers in combat, nor that they would refuse like her kodamas would, but they simply were not the best suited for the job. So, after spending a rather large chunk of the season deliberating, she had come up with an idea that could incorporate the fae myths without actually using any of her pixies.
Would you like to research myconid using [Monster] pixie and [Base Resources] steel, wood, undyed cotton cloth, undyed thread, red dye, and white dye to create myconid evolution [Redcap Myconid] for 250 DP?
Yes
No
It had been a while since Violet had attempted to create any new [Monster] evolutions and she had forgotten just how expensive it could be. Rather than costing double of whatever the final cost would be, it was always a flat 250 dungeon points. While it was a relief not to have the cost doubled since she was working on a more expensive [Monster] with triple the base cost, it still made her pause a moment before selecting [Yes]. Regardless of how expensive the boss room ended up being, she would still have to go through with it. Nothing quite offered protection for the dungeon core the way a boss [Monster] did, after all.
Would you like to research myconids using [Monster] myconid to create myconid evolution [small myconid] for 100 DP?
Yes
No
Would you like to research myconids using [Monster] small myconid to create myconid evolution [Medium Myconid] for 100 DP?
Yes
No
Would you like to research myconids using [Monster] medium myconid to create myconid evolution [Large Myconid] for 100 DP?
Yes
No
Would you like to research myconids using [Monster] large myconid to create myconid evolution [Giant Myconid] for 100 DP?
Yes
No
Once again, Violet felt uneasy as she went through each of the prompts and selected [Yes] as she unlocked the various size variants for the myconids. It was interesting to see how the size names differed from that of the slimes. Instead of a king slime, she had a large myconid and the emperor slime had become a giant myconid. Still, it was a shame to see just these five research options had brought her dungeon points down from 5,091 to 4,441 DP.
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Violet wasn't sure how much she'd get from Gregory's tribute as he hadn't left yet, but she didn't have high hopes since she knew it was likely he was struggling. His family didn't have adventurers or craftsmen, as far as she had been told, so they had to survive on what little they could make from farming that year. Considering how much she had heard the general population of the Millstone was suffering, she could only imagine they weren't doing much better.
Finally ready to spend a bit of mana, Violet expended 100 MP on a spawner for the boss room. She'd have to wait until her mana refilled a bit before she could even summon a basic myconid, but that wouldn't stop her from reading the new descriptions in the meantime.
Name:
Cost:
Info:
Myconid
30 MP
Requires a suitable dark environment with minimal light and soil. Does moderate combat damage, but is capable of evolving.
Name:
Evolution Cost:
Info:
Redcap Myconid
75 DP
Requires a myconid to evolve. Requires a suitable dark environment with minimal light and soil. Does moderate combat damage using a scythe, but is capable of evolving into larger varieties of myconid.
Small Myconid
30 MP & 30 DP
Requires a myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic myconid and specialized myconid. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but is capable of evolving.
Medium Myconid
30 MP & 30 DP
Requires a small myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic small myconid and specialized small myconid. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but is capable of evolving.
Large Myconid
30 MP & 30 DP
Requires a medium myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic medium myconid and specialized medium myconid. Does slightly more damage than their smaller counterparts, but is capable of evolving.
Giant Myconid
30 MP & 30 DP
Requires a large myconid to evolve. Can be applied to basic large myconid and specialized large myconid. Does the most damage of all myconid types, but is incapable of movement.
Whereas the research costs had been the same for the slimes and myconid, the cost to evolve and make a contract with them had remained at the same ratio with the myconids being three times as expensive as the slimes were. Violet was grateful to Gregory and Henry for staying in the dungeon so long today as it made it easy to refill her mana. All it took was fifty minutes and it was back to full again. At that point, she spent 30 MP to contract with a basic myconid, 75 DP to evolve it into a redcap myconid, and then another 60 MP and 60 DP to evolve it into a medium redcap myconid.
Unfortunately, this was the best Violet could do for a boss [Monsters] this time around. She still had a limit of 100 MP on her spawners. Even if she wanted to splash out the 1,000 DP needed to unlock the next spawner upgrade, she didn't have the 250 MP needed to buy one. She likely wouldn't have it any time soon either considering each new floor she unlocked only increased her mana cap by a mere 50 points. She'd have to wait until she unlocked her fifth floor before she would have enough for it and, by then, she wasn't sure if there would be much point worrying about a boss [Monster] on the second floor.
Still, she couldn't entirely complain about the results she had gotten. Where your typical redcaps looked a bit like a goblin wearing a red cap that would be at home on a garden gnome and wielded a farmer's sickle, her recap myconid was a lot prettier. The basic myconid was, apparently, the same size as a kodama and, similarly, looked a bit Humanoid in appearance. They had red and white spotted caps and wore similarly patterned vests. They were absolutely adorable! However, the redcap version was a lot more feminine and wore a lolita-style red and white spotted dress, cap, shoes, etc. while wielding a wicked reaper's scythe. Thanks to the size upgrade, it was now the size of a five-year old Human toddler, which certainly still made it quite small, but she could just tell by the vicious look in her eyes that the redcap was capable of doing quite a bit of damage to anyone stupid enough to get close to it.
Gregory and Henry left not long after that, which allowed the dungeon to absorb their tribute. It was unfortunate she wouldn't receive anymore mana, but there was always later that day. Still, far more importantly, she was touched to find the tribute she had been left with was a patchwork teddy bear, likely sewn by one of the other household members in Gregory's family. Using the last of the mana she had remaining, she quickly summoned up a copy of the patchwork bear and then stuffed it into her merchant's bag. She wasn't planning on selling it to anyone, rather, instead, she wanted to cherish the thoughtful gift she had been left.