Four weeks had passed, and now twelve different V.E.Cs were floating around my core. I considered grouping them together to form a kind of cloud but ended up deciding against it and splitting them up instead, forming dark 'stars' in the sky.

Dark stars that the Humans have noticed appear.

I feel in a few months, I will be able to make a V.E.C. every day and have mana to spare. In these past couple of weeks, the Humans have become more and more confident venturing back into the IKEA without fear of the portal closing behind them.

They quickly realized that using furniture as building materials to make their settlement was a bad idea as their walls and 'buildings' were easily flammable, breakable, and, unfortunately, could soak up quite a bit of water, making the settlement have a terrible odder.

So, I got to work on influencing the Humans to delve into the biomes to gather materials such as Wood, Stone, and other materials through the Daily Quests, even going so far as to try and get the Integrated with crafting and lifestyle classes to begin working on their particular crafts.

However, there was one material that I could not offer the Humans: metal.

The nightly attacks had been slowing down enough to where I didn't need to use the Guardian to protect them; now that they had fortified the area around the portal, they were perfectly capable of taking on the staff by themselves.

I couldn't be their guiding hand forever, but I hope that they will be the examples my future visitors follow once they are ready, and I will no longer have to interfere as much.

...

Time continued to pass, and my V.E.C. count increased to 20, and my generation to 312 a day.

I decided to make a V.E.C. every two days and use the excess mana to shape and design the layout of the ruins of Invictus that would surround the dome. Once I make a V.E.C. every day, I can fully focus on expanding my interior, but I will not deny that I wish I could progress faster, and I could if I focused all of my mana on creating V.E.Cs but I won't do that, especially since I was not in a rush.

Patience was key to making a perfect world within my Dungeon, and with the time I had, I would be able to fully plan out and design my interior.

The Settlement now had 107 Integrated, which only continued to increase by the day as small parties of integrated humans continued to enter the IKEA for food, water, and supplies.

I believe they even found another settlement in the IKEA, and I had no doubt that all of the Humans in that settlement would leave in favor of joining the ARK settlement if given the choice or opportunity.

However, I do wonder what they will decide. Will they reveal the Dungeon? Tell them about the 'Escape' even though it wasn't really the Earth they escaped to.

However, that raised another question: why haven't they tried navigating through the biomes through the outskirts? Avoiding the more dangerous inhabitants of the biomes? Or were they afraid of another ambush?

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Humming, I assumed that they had either not thought of it or were preparing for it by gaining levels and strength.

...

Standing around a structure made of stacked furniture, the council of the temporarily named 'Ark Settlement' was having a meeting, discussing plans and logistics, and making important decisions.

The Council stood around a dining table with a makeshift map picturing what the scouting teams had explored of the Dungeon.

"Jay, what's your progress on obtaining anything of value we left at 'Living Room?'" Clair asked Jay.

"We've gathered whatever personal items were left behind and also have scoured for anything that might be useful, from extra weapons and makeshift bolts to stashes that were placed around the settlement," Jay reported, getting a nod from Clair, who then focused on Bright and asked, "Bright, how goes the exploration of the biomes?"

"Well, we are obviously focusing on exploring the Jungle first due to its plentiful and wide variety of huntable creatures and edible plant life, but unless one of us climbs up a tree, we have no idea how large the biomes are, or what other kinds of creatures might dwell within them," Bright explained with a sigh and slight smirk.

"Do we even know if the other Biomes are dangerous?" Clair asked naively.

"It might, but it also might not. If each of the biomes is so dangerous, then it really comes down to preference, but due to the fact we have already begun exploring the Jungle and the fact that we bring back whatever we forage and hunt, we chose the Jungle to explore, sure, we could make an attempt to journey through the other biomes, but personally, I don't think our odds are in our favor," Jay explained to the teenager.

Everyone was tired and overworked, with all of them getting very little sleep for the last few weeks, and it was beginning to show.

Noticing the obvious, Vernon, the Settlement's...psychologist, decided to speak up, "I know that with our current situation, we have no time to dilly dally and waste time, but I believe we all need rest, and more importantly, I believe we need to make a proper command structure. We are clearly overworking ourselves and putting too much on our plate."

"What are you proposing?" Jay asked, leaning on the nearby wall, clearly tired and appearing to be nearing falling asleep.

"Is it not obvious?" Sarah, our quartermaster, asked before continuing, "We need subordinates, people we can delegate to oversee our more minor decision-making and can act on our steed for the more minor things, leaving the more major decision-making for us. This will not only give us a bit more room to breathe, but it also means we can all get some rest. I don't know about you all, but having to work every hour of the day only to collapse onto my bed when I get home is certainly not healthy."

"Hmm, I agree. I certainly wouldn't mind having more underlings under me," Bright joked.

"Shut it, Bright," Sarah scolded Bright before stating, "So, all in favor?"

Everyone raised their hand, "Then it's settled," Clair told them, "Soon night will be upon us, Jay, Bright, you two will man the walls around the portal. Meanwhile, everyone else get some rest; in the morning, we will gather candidates and see whether or not they are fit for the jobs," Claur ordered.

Everyone left the room, Jay and Bright leaving together and heading towards the portal.

They passed by the many buildings and hazardous structures made of stacked furniture fastened together with rope, cables, and whatever else they could use to tie the furniture together.

But even though the settlement was new, hope and content were high, and everyone felt it. Who wouldn't? After being trapped within the IKEA, the settlement, the sky, and even the grass around them made them come to appreciate what they had lost.

Sure, the sky looked strange, including the strange stars appearing in the sky along with the small glowing white star that was visible day and night.

Something of concern, however, was the fact that there was no visible sun or moon concerning quite a few people, including every member of the Council.

After all, how could they see anything if there was no sun? Especially at night.

Little did they know that the same white star they saw night and day was the 'sun' and 'moon,' at least for now.

The two looked between one another and soon reached the wall that was built around the portal to keep the Staff from breaking through.

Little did they know, they were about to have the roughest night of their lives.