Right! So… the first thing to do is continue digging? To reach that mysterious “outside” and reduce mana upkeep. Great Dunes said life should be attracted to me… Guess I can only be vigilant.

Before that, I wanted to confirm: my questions are being answered automatically through this Dungeon Network? And this is at the cost of mana?

It does seem to be that way…. Ah!

Then: Mana Monitoring!

[Mana Total: 10,060

Intake: 0

Expected Upkeep: 10 per hour]

I wasn’t able to verify it earlier, but this Mana Monitoring thing sure makes it easy. I presume that it was one point for the question and one point to access Mana Monitoring? It is nice and easy to understand.

Now then, the upwards tunnel. I dug quite a bit earlier, but it wasn’t that far in all actuality. Maybe 12 or 13 crystal lengths up? I feel as though it should be more than a crystal width wide, but that kind of superfluous spending can wait. For now I send my mana up into the top of the tunnel to continue its expansion.

It feels much smoother than before, possibly as a result of the extra mana I recieved. Not only does it take less focus, but it is progressing at a faster rate as well. Still, there is only the dirt.

Can’t I have something else? How do I speed this up? For now, I try putting more mana into it, but it quickly starts to dissipate. Panicking just a bit, I try to stabilize it like when I stabilized the mana inside of my crystal earlier, and… Success? Somehow, if the mana whirls in a circle, the dirt is quickly moved out of the way. This is… a drill? A drill technique… this means that forcibly using mana might not always be the best.

Technique.

Let’s remember to experiment with mana techniques in the future as well.

Alright, let’s fire it up! I set my drill at the same speed as before… but actually, couldn’t we go faster? Faster and faster! The faster I spin the faster I win!!

...Is what I thought, but just as I was reaching new speeds my mana drill encountered a hard object and dislodged it from the wall.

DONG-!

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Ahhhh, I’m spinning!

What was that?! Have I taken damage?! It takes several seconds for my crystal to right itself.

This is… a rock? Why didn’t it get nicely compacted into the wall like the dirt was? Rocks are hazardous. Though… perhaps it was my fault for digging straight upwards…

Ugh…

Still, this is at least different from the dirt. Is it not something special then? I focus in on the object in question, trying to analyze it further and-

[Slate:

A hardened version of shale. It can be used as a writing surface or as a whetstone.]

Oh?! I was able to receive detailed information!

….I don’t know what any of these words mean.

Shale is… another rock, writing is… a means of communication? I don’t really get it, but it seems that it has limited uses for dungeons. A whetstone… is used to sharpen bladed weapons.

And so….

It is useless.

It seems certain creatures might be able to use something like a bladed weapon, but I’m still lacking here. In other words—too many problems and not enough solutions.

The first order of business should be to stop these useless things from falling on me.

Let’s see… I need to make a turn in the tunnel, or would it be better to perhaps… make a room.

Yes, my dungeon instincts are going crazy here. A room for creatures to live in. Perhaps I don’t have creatures because I lack these rooms. It makes sense, probably.

Therefore, let’s make the room. My crystal is floating in a vaguely circular space, but it seems that square or rectangular shapes work better if it is meant to be a room. I start by flattening the space outwards, leaving the hole leading to my crystal in the corner of the room. I want a lot of creatures, so it should be relatively large. For now, I’ll do seven crystal lengths for the length and width. How tall do creatures get? Should I just do another seven for the height?

Mmm, done.

…

…..

…….Now what?

When do the creatures arrive?

What was it that Great Dunes was saying? That they are even within the dirt? He wasn’t lying, right? ...Right?

So all I can do is examine the dirt! I mean, I was able to examine that rock closer right? Now I know it’s slate.

Therefore the dirt:

[Dirt:

The omnipresent resource. Plants are found spreading their roots within it for it contains ample nutrients to support them.]

Yes?

No no, wait. I’ve never seen a plant before? And yet I’m surrounded by dirt? Why is that? ...Light is needed? This is too confusing.

But is it a no-go for plants then?

It really feels like I’m missing something here...