Dylan was facing a problem of epic proportions. He had undergone an upgrading spree on all of his creatures, and now he had 3 giant centipedes (which were ranked at F+ after the evolution), 2 heavy bombardier beetles, 2 leaping bombardier beetles, and 2 swarm-ants. This had effectively used up the portable mana storage he had, which was the pile of dead corpses saved up after the bug war…

Goddamnit! Dylan cursed in his mind. I need to upgrade this room to be like a true dungeon! But it takes so long to earn mana!

The total mana which Dylan gained from having [Siphon Mana] on totaled to about 1 mana per hour, which wasn’t bad considering his small group of monsters, but it definitely wasn’t good. Thus, Dylan’s brand-new plan of action to quickly gather mana was going to go like this.

First, I will send the leaping bombardier beetles and one of the giant centipedes outside. The bombardier beetles will be tasked with quickly bringing back cuttings of plants, fruits, twigs, etc. This way, I can learn to produce more plants quickly, and create a lush forest for my monsters and animals to survive. The centipede will bring back creatures for me to kill, if possible. In the worst-case scenario, it can probably bring back more plants than the beetles rather than creatures.

Dylan reasoned that he would be able to acquire cuttings and plants from the outside world due to the types of creatures he had acquired for summoning; moths, ants, spiders, centipedes, and bombardier beetles all lived in forested or at least grassy areas, and Dylan wanted to acquire plants for building his dungeon. If he could acquire the ability to summon trees just by having their branches, that would make things even better, and the only way to find out was to send out the expedition.

In all honesty, Dylan also wanted to test out the new version of [Dungeon Watching] he had received. The description of the new form of [Dungeon Watching] made it feel as if he could only see what happens outside when his creatures arrived back inside after an exploration…

But I want to see what is outside now!!!! If Dylan still had a body, he would have rolled across the floor of the cave, which he had finally measured to be about 20 feet in diameter, with a height of about 15 feet. The wait is killing me! I want a forest in my room! I want to see my monsters and animals living their lives instead of standing around my core!!!!

In all honesty, Dylan was having trouble prioritizing. He knew he needed to do several things-which namely involved leveling up again as quickly as possible to increase his mana capacity, evolving the praying mantis, spider, and moth to better suit his needs, and building a forest within his dungeon to increase the passive mana regeneration while also doubling as camouflage for his core, which he had moved to the back of the room, farthest away from the entrance, tucked behind a small boulder. At first, Dylan had foolishly tried to lift up or move the core with only his willpower before realizing he could just order one of the giant centipedes to pick it up and move it; a task it succeeded in perfectly.

After having considered the pros and cons of each idea, Dylan decided to build a forest within the cave first to earn mana. Another reason why Dylan wanted to build the forest, however, was because of the layout of his cave. Other than small boulders and some hanging stalactites, there was no cover within the cave. If a destructive battle were to happen between his monsters and some adventurers, his core could end up getting caught up in the conflict, and he might die. He needed the mana to quickly expand his cave and protect himself. He also wanted to activate [Natural Order] as quickly as possible, and he knew he would need more monsters and animals if they were going to be killing each other to get stronger, that and the fact that he needed more breeding pairs. For that reason, Dylan was opting with the forest option, which was why he said his farewells to the monsters in question (1 giant centipede and 2 leaping bombardier beetles), as he sent them to wriggle through the hole leading into his cave.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Ugh… I knew it. Dylan groaned as he lost his capabilities to see through the eyes of the explorers through [Dungeon Watching]. Since I lose the ability to look through their eyes when they’re outside of the dungeon, I’ll just have to keep busy until they come back! Luckily, I was able to get a glimpse of the outside world just before I lost connection with the centipede…

Surprisingly, the hole in the wall was quite a bit longer than even the centipede, which was why Dylan caught only a glimpse of the green expanse which waited outside before the centipede fully left his range of influence. If Dylan wanted to see more, then he would have to expand his influence through the entrance, or enlarge it, both processes requiring an unknown amount of mana.

It probably wouldn’t be long before Dylan’s monsters arrived with their first batch of hopefully still-living plants, but Dylan had something to keep him busy…

Evolution Points!

Ding!

You currently have 1 evolution point. What category are you searching for?

[Summons]

[Skills]

I’ll go with summons to see!

The words on the white screen began to shift again, and Dylan saw a list of animals and monsters; many of which he already recognized from Earth and some he didn’t quite know about.

Buy [Summon]: Sparrow

Buy [Summon]: Eagle

Buy [Summon]: Pidgeon

…

Buy [Summon]: Rhinoceros

Buy [Summon]: Trinoceros

Buy [Summon]: Brutoceros

…

After skimming through a frighteningly large list, Dylan chose a random organism on the list.

Would you like to buy [Summon]: Battle Puppet? This will cost you 1 evolution point

Y/N

No. Dylan closed off the window, as frankly, he didn’t feel the need to spend evolution points on summons at the moment. He wouldn’t be able to correctly utilize any summons he bought due to a lack of mana. How could other dungeons even grow quickly?

Right before Dylan was going to check out [Skills], he got several notifications from the Voice of the World.

Ding!

You can now [Summon]: Common Grass

You can now [Summon]: Common Ivy

You can now [Summon]: Stout Palm

You can now [Summon]: Glow Bulb Fruit

Yes! Plants for once! And let’s not forget the main course! [Dungeon Watching]!

Dylan zoomed straight up to the giant centipede, which was currently tearing up a few plants on the floor, before using [Dungeon Watching] on it. By concentrating, he was able to get a moving image, similar to replaying a video on a phone. He saw some grasses covering the ground, and a few short yet thick trees resembling palm trees spaced out. For some reason, the ‘recording’ of what the centipede saw was as it was entering back into the cave, however…

Wait. No way. Could it be?! This centipede’s memory is so bad it only remembers what happened a few seconds ago?!?!