I swear, I’m going to find out who put in that stupid levelup protocol, and throttle them with my own two hands. I angrily thought to myself as I woke up once more from involuntary sleep. I popped open my status screen to take a look at what had changed.

Name:

Fel

Floors:

1

Level:

4

Treasure Quality:

Average

Race:

Grand Dungeon

Creatures:

2/10

Exp:

35/75

Traps:

0/2

Mana:

37.5/37.5

Inventory:

+

Mana Regen:

5.8/Hr [6]

Skills/Traits:

+

Magic Disciplines:

+

Tha- [Construction order complete. 5 Exp gained.] Well okay, at least I now know that’s a repeatable exp gain for me. Hmm, I bet if I didn’t have that little leveling up penalty I would already be well on my way to level ten by now.

“System, I bet you know what I’m about to ask, don’t you.” I said aloud.

“You have been unconscious for seven hours,” came the reply, seemingly full of boredom.

“Oh, alri- wait a moment. Seven? I thought the maximum was three hours for a levelup?”

“Experiencing the levelup process while having gained enough exp to go past multiple thresholds may extend the timer. The amount of time extension is unknown, for it is an incredibly rare occurrence for dungeons.”

“Great, thanks.” I sighed. “So, did I manage to do it?”

“You did successfully create a starmetal resource node.” Is that a hint of awe I hear in System’s voice? Nah, can’t be.

I didn’t see it anywhere on the ground, so I checked my inventory menu, and gave a small whistle as I saw the resources I had available.

Items: +

Mythic Metal: 3lbs

Stone: +

Organic Materials: +

Common Metals: +

Liquids: +

Uncommon Metals: +

Gasses: +

Rare Metals: +

Wood: +

Legendary Metals: 0lbs

Resource Nodes: +

That’s pretty neat! Alright, let’s see what’s under the Resource Nodes. I opened the menu, finding the node I’d made that knocked me out.

Starmetal Resource Node (Poor) (5lbs)

A Mythic-tier resource node. Harvesting requires one full week, with allowed breaks for 15 minutes every hour. Resources gained equals the amount of starmetal that went into the original creation of this node. As with all other nodes, if a being is able to harvest for the full time without taking a break, an extra 10% of the resource is gained.

“Wait, poor? The fuck! System, why is this a thing?” I exclaimed aloud.

“Resource nodes that fit the minimum requirement for creation are noted as Poor quality, The more resources you put into the node, the better it is rated, and the longer it takes to fully harvest.” System replied.

“So what, if I put one hundred pounds of starmetal in, it’d finally be at the Mythic tier?”

“No. That would put it at the Common quality. For a Mythic quality, it would require at least sixteen tons of material.”

“It better have a better resource gain if it reaches that tier,” I harrumphed.

“Correct. Mythic-quality resource nodes allow up to 500% extra resources gained if a being is able to harvest them for the full allotted time. Bonus resources are only gained upon final completion of the task.”

“Okay... next question. Am I able to make resource nodes out of refined materials, like steel or bronze?”

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

“Refined materials require a workshop to create. In the case of bronze or steel, they cannot be made wholesale through a resource node. A variant of the inorganic node is gained when you use a sufficient amount of items, usually in the case of arrows for your defenders. The materials from an ‘ammunition node’ however, can only be used in ammunition and once used dissipate into unaligned mana after one minute. Organic nodes however, only need any organic material to make, and they can be in whatever shape or form you desire.” System replied matter-of-factly.

“What, like a fruit tree?” I asked. Hmm, I wonder if I ever happen to get, say, bullets, then I could make a resource node out of those, or if I’d have to have a whole workshop to make them? Dear god, I hope it’s the former.

“Yes. There are other things you could make as well, like a fleshy mass that is popular for most dungeons. When properly designed, it can also act as either a defensive creature, or trap, for the dungeon.”

“Yeah... no. I think I’m gonna stick with the more ‘normal’ things, like trees, vines, crops and whatnot. Speaking of which, if I did want to grow crops, do they need light here in a dungeon?”

“Dungeon crops do not require light to grow, but having a light source does help speed up their growth rates significantly.” System is really starting to sound like they\re trying to teach a particularly obstinate child at this rate. What gives?

“Alright, and how do I go about making the crops?”

“Dungeon crops are merely a variant on the organic resource node. Just make one of those nodes, and you can place it as you see fit.” Oh. Man I can be dumb. Please, please don’t be made the same way I did the starmetal node... I think I’m still internally cringing. Well, here goes.

Thankfully, creating a small organic resource node went much smoother than making the starmetal node. All I had to do was think of what I wanted it to be, in this case a small patch of wheat, and it popped up in my inventory.

Organic Resource Node (Dungeon Wheat) (Poor Quality):

Indistinguishable from normal wheat, the only major difference being it does not require light to grow.

An additional 10% of the resource is gained upon full harvest without breaks.

Well, that’s that then. Guess now I just need to figure out a spot to put it. Hmm, and I think that brings up another question I need to ask.

“System, is there a mana node?”

“There are no mana resource nodes,” I felt my hopes approaching the event horizon. “However, there are mana generators. The first Grandmaster Mana Generator is always free for every dungeon, unlocked after reaching Level Three.”

“Woo hoo!” I thrust my non-existent arms in the air in joy. I flipped through the menus several times, looking for the mana generator button. “Oh, hey, it says I’ve got a unique variant? That’s weird.”

Grandmaster Mana Generator:

Generates 10 mana per hour. Requires a 15x15x15 room to function. A dungeon may have up to 25 of these at any given time.

Requires 500 lbs of any resource to create, as well as 200 mana.

Future perks may allow you to adjust the size of your generators.

Choosing this locks out the [???] Mana Generator option.

[???] Grandmaster Mana Generator (Unique):

Generates 2 mana per hour. Requires placement around a Dungeon Core or Subcore. Mana generation scales with the size of the generator. There may be only 9 of these generators at a time for the original Core.

Requires 2000 lbs of Starstone to create, as well as 400 mana and 500 lbs of Starmetal. Also requires at least 24 hours to bring online.

Future perks may allow you to adjust the size of your generators.

Choosing this locks out the standard Mana Generator options and upgrades current and future dungeon cores.

“Huh, that’s neat,” I stated. I wonder what it means when it says it ‘scales with the size of the generator’? Ah well, time enough to figure that out later. I ain’t locking out the unique option if it’s available! With that, I selected the [???] generator, and felt a whoosh of air as suddenly my Core was not alone in the room.

Floating near my core was a small light gray orb. Aww, it’s kinda cute, hovering there. Above it I saw a countdown timer. Okay, no mana regen gained yet, but it’s definitely going to increase tomorrow. I can work with this. I wonder if I should name it?

I spent a good few minutes just watching the little orb float next to ‘me’, then turned my attention back to the rest of the dungeon. In the former armory room, I decided to place the organic resource node in one of the corners opposite the doorway. A patch of tilled soil appeared over the ground, and a timer counting down from sixty appeared over the patch. Ah, so this one’s one of the ones that has a reasonable timer on it. Great! Though, I don’t think I want either of my golems to harvest this, since they’ve got that debuff for harvesting organic nodes... I wonder if I can get something cheap from the other categories?

On a whim, I placed two lanterns in the room of the candle variety. Activating them brought out a gentle glow to the room, and had immediate results. Sweet! Looks like the light halved the regrow timer! Hmm...

I turned off one of the lanterns, with no change in the node. I did notice a six hour timer over the still lit lantern. Ah, makes sense. A six inch pure beeswax colonial-style candle will burn for six hours, generally. At least that’ll be... six harvests per candle. I turned it off too, and noted the timer of the node went straight back to the normal length, minus a few extra seconds. I turned the lantern back on, and made a note to myself to switch between the two every six hours or so until I could either automate the process, or make a creature to do it for me.

Thinking of which, might as well see about getting a non-golem creature, costs be damned, but still reasonable.

I spent the next hour scrolling through the creature menu, also making sure I had enough candles in my inventory to keep the lanterns restocked for the foreseeable future. There were twelve candles in my inventory. Geez, there’s so many creatures that I could make, and all so GODS DAMNED EXPENSIVE! Alright, let’s see if there’s some sort of filter...

Some fiddling later, and I managed to figure out how to sort the lists without System’s help. The absolute cheapest that I could make with my current resources was a rodent. Just a rodent? Doesn’t even specify if it’s a rat or mouse or anything. Can’t be as big as a beaver though, those’re listed as their own thing. Eh, might as well. Rodents like grains last I checked, so might as well pick that up.

“You’re seriously going to take a rodent as your first non-golem creature?” System suddenly chimed in disgust.

“Ack!” I yelped in surprise. “Don’t do that! But yeah, it’s cheap, I have just enough resources to make it, and it’ll harvest all this grain without losing half of it.”

“Just have your golem harvest it so you can get something else!” System pleaded.

“Why? You know what? Now I’m determined to make one even more!”

“Don’t you do it.”

“I’mma do it.”

“Don’t you do it!” System sounded quite cross.

“I’mma do it!” I exclaimed right back.

“Don’t!”

“Too late!” I yelled as I selected the [Rodent] option. I was immediately given several choices, and I giggled with glee as I selected one of them.

A small golden light shone next to the resource patch, and ten seconds later a small fuzzy rodent popped out and gently landed on the soil. It was fully grown, thankfully, and had a luxuriously long haired pelt that was a light tan in color. It raised itself on its hind legs, sniffing the air, and thus showed its white underbelly.

“You... you made a hamster.” System stated, voice dripping with resignation and more than a twinge of disgust.

“Yes. If I’m gonna have a resource harvester, why not have it be a cute lil’ guy? That, and I like hamsters. They’re adorable! Besides, now that it’s here, I can do this!” A catchy tunesprang into existence within the room, centered around the small rodent. The hamster looked around before tapping its hind leg to the beat. The little guy was soon dancing happily while exploring its new home. About halfway through, System let out a disgusted sigh.

“I... You... That’s it, I’m out. Good luck, Dungeon Fel, but I am not going to waste any more time here. Tak’ro was far more sensible in how it did things, and never needed the simplest of dungeon tasks explained to them from day one. The way you are going, you won’t last a month. I’ll tell the Dungeon God that he shouldn’t get his hopes up with you, even though you’re a Grand Dungeon, and should select a new Grand Dungeon to guide this continent. You should have been further along than you are now and made smarter creature decisions. You’re acting like a mortal, not a dungeon, and thus entirely useless to the War in Heaven efforts.” System said in a long-winded tirade. “If the Gods see fit, they’ll write you off and I can oversee the next Grand Dungeon of this world, and guide it like I did Tak’ro for the last twenty millennia.”

“Wait, what?” I asked the empty air. I could feel that System had already left without letting me take what they said all in. I was left dumbstruck, feeling a little bit betrayed by this event.

The hamster took the opportunity to scurry into the patch of soil, and begin digging a little lair for itself. Dirt was kicked out of the wheat node, dumped onto the stone, and was immediately absorbed into my resource inventory. I didn’t even notice it.

Silence reigned supreme in the dungeon, broken only by the sounds of the hamster’s furious digging.