Chapter 2

Now that I had sunk myself down into the mountain I had discovered that around the base of the mountain to the east was a forest. A forest with large trees and small ones alike, a forest with lots of shrubs, flowers, moss and numerous florae littering the wooded environment and sparse regions similarly. Bugs, beetles and various insects, arachnids and other such creepy crawlies existed within its grasp.

During the years that I had worked to bury myself, knowledge had leeched into my mind from somewhere beyond.

I had a knowledge equal to that of a fifteen-year-old child. A general sense of how life worked, the systems by which the major races survived, and an idea of the geography of the world, but not much else. I wasn’t counting the intrinsic knowledge of how to work with mana as that seemed to be a species trait and not studied or learned knowledge.

From what knowledge I had absorbed, I knew that this land was divided into 8 equal sections, sections that each had different climates and races that lived within them, and strangely enough, they all bordered my mountain. Around the outside was another mountain range and what was beyond it I didn’t yet know. Perhaps no-one did.

The forest was to my east, well a direction I was now calling east. Anyway, it was a large swathe of land with dense trees and sparse clearings that was home to the nature affinity creatures. Creatures of all manner and matter, there were big ones, there were small ones, there were sneaky ones and stealthy ones, there were ones with many legs and others with not so many, there were timid ones and aggressive ones, there were loud ones and silent ones and many more besides.

As a climate it was the most peaceful within itself. Having no civil wars as the nature affinity was closely tied with life which meant that the inhabitants were far more peaceful than those of other lands.

To the north, the grasslands, with waist high grasses, small hills and valleys and clumps of woods, there were large beasts aplenty in this continent and they were the ones that called it home.

In between these two was a swampland - that had the more reptilian beasts - and jungle like environment with dangers aplenty, but lots of good quality alchemical ingredients.

Carrying on clockwise to the south east was an oceanic place with a few islands and deep-sea trenches. The aquatic life was plentiful and the land untainted here, the fishes and mammals that called it home seemed to avoid the trenches for they held dangers of ancient proportion.

The sea froze over to the south evolving into an arctic tundra which was so cold that mana actually froze. Becoming the expensive mana crystals. Besides dungeons this was the only other source for them, but adventurers had to go through the most inhospitable climate to recover them and most never did.

Bordering this tundra, was a mountain range home to the rocky life that dwelled so hidden, huge lumbering behemoths and small stocky creatures that ran around constantly. Legend said that dragons existed in the westernmost peaks, but I wasn't sure I believed that..

Following around, to the west was a large desert, devoid of moisture, this baking heat was almost as bad as the tundra and there was nothing to be found out here.

The last section of land, the savannah, was home to the most common creature. The human the only sentient I had yet seen as there was a small settlement nearby, though it didn’t fall within my domain, I could occasionally taste its presence when the wind blowed just so. Weak in body and mind but with limitless potential these were both the weakest and strongest race to inhabit this world. The others, the elves and dwarves and all the others mentioned in the book, I had yet to find, for they never seemed to stray near my mountain. It was a shame that only these short-lived sentients would be the ones to challenge my dungeon – at the start at least - most searching for a wealth I couldn’t provide.

Dungeon, oh yeah that was what I was supposed to be doing. Whoops!

Many ideas had riffled through my mind as I was pondering the landscape and I made sure to file them away for later use. I could see myself with a great many plans and a huge expansive dungeon, but I had to build it first.

I had had an idea for the structure of my dungeon already, so I set out to build it with a happy humming and a bouncy cheerful heart.

I was pleased with my position in the mountain, it wasn’t too near the top to make it difficult for adventurers to get to nor too deep in the earth that the ground was impenetrable, and I had a good range of things within my domain.

First, I stretched my awareness up and away, away from my crystal body and up towards the top of the mountain. Until I reached a point where if the walls were 20m thick I would still have a good-sized floor area to work with.

This was about 4km above me though, so I had to travel quite a way to start work, an annoyance I was happy to deal with if it meant protecting my core. The book had said that the high tier mages needed dungeon cores for spells and enchantments and whatnot, something I was pretty sure would kill me.

I started by connecting it to my core as I had to have a mana flow to work, then I began absorbing the earth until I had my cavern. Using some of the earth I had just received I packed the walls tight and increased their density. By pouring in some of my mana I was able to alter the structure of the earth.

I increased the bonding of the molecules by enhancing it with mana cables. I strengthened them until I was sure there was no way short of godly influence they could collapse.

Then I took a look at their surface. About 1 foot into the wall I modelled it after a diamond creating a hard, impenetrable surface. The front foot was soft and sticky to entrap weapons should they be struck into it.

Stop them digging for anything where I didn’t want them to, they’d need a pretty high-tier mage to get past that.

The cavern was a good 100m across to where I would build the staircase down. At a height of 40m it would allow me to cultivate enormous trees and create a wonderland of nature and danger.

First, I covered the floor with a thick layer of earth about 3m deep. And compacted it so that it was fairly firm. Spending some dungeon points I unlocked all the basic flora, the knowledge suffusing me hurt in a good way, like a good workout, all my facets ached in a pleasurable way, I sighed happily and continued by covering the ground in a layer of grass.

Seeding and growing it by feeding it mana took a while and was surprisingly expensive, I managed to gain a skill from it though.

~~New skill acquired: Mana Suffusing~~

Until I got more experienced it would be very expensive to grow this ecosystem, but I could only persevere despite my wants.

It wasn’t long though it felt that way to an impatient soul like me, I could spend a year or two digging straight down doing nothing but at least I was making progress, now that I’d started to build it was all I wanted to do.

Soon however, I had a thick, lush layer of grasses coating the floor in various shades of green.

The other plants took longer to grow as they were more complicated, and I had less practice at them, but I was making progress and was a happy camper, I’m sure I would have been grinning had I a face to show it.

Cultivating walls that seemed natural and not maze like to divide the space into rooms was a little trickier, yet I managed it in good time.

The walls had to be made of a more hardy and rugged plant with thicker branches than most of the other common types of hedges used in the world.

I had to guide them to grow properly all the way, letting them grow naturally meant a far looser mesh than I needed and so I had to coax them all the way until I tied off their progress.

Then it was on to modifying them.

First, I started by increasing the colour intensity of the leaves to a more vibrant darker green. Rich in colour and tougher as well. The branches that had coiled around each other despite my best efforts were making the walls thicker and more reminiscent of an actual barrier. I decided it would do as it provided a bit more of the natural variance that seemed to fit.

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Next, I delved into the anatomy of the plant itself. I bolstered its feeding by increasing the efficiency of the oxygen carbon dioxide exchange, hopefully helping make the place a little fresher than you would expect a cave to be.

The roots grew deep and wide extending for metres and metres below the ground. In fact, I carved small channels through the ground and let water run from one side of the room to the other to help the plants thrive as they could drink from these fresh water supplies, making a source of water used a constant supply of mana but it was far less than I was getting naturally so I didn’t worry too much about it yet.

I had decided to sustain my creatures on an ecosystem instead of by mana like the book had posited, both were options, but an ecosystem was a far more delicate balance that could help me save mana in the future. I could always revert to feeding everything by mana.

Soon my constant work paid off and I had a basic layout. From one room to the next it would take only 15 rooms to get from one side to the other where I would place the descending staircase. I had a huge plan for my dungeon and as such I had to withhold from placing too many dangers too soon. The first floor had to be easy and linear. Something a small child could accomplish. After all I wanted my dungeon to attract creatures from all over and a dungeon that adventurers could train in from a young age that just kept going and going was bound to be a huge draw. Well, I hoped so.

If this was to be based for young ones, then traps would have to wait as I felt they would be too unobservant and may just end up dying straight away you don’t kill of the young generation if you want to survive, let the old and weary die cause they sure as hell won’t replace the younglings.

With the floor base done it was time to work on the detailing what would I include, what dangers? What creatures? What would I put in there?

Right so level 1, level 1 I thought to myself what I should include at the start. Humans and the other sentient races were top of the food chain. At least that’s what the book claimed, and I had no reason to distrust it yet, nor ever hopefully.

They had relatively little to fear except for magic monsters, dungeons and of course themselves. Even most basic animals posed very little threat to a child. Only top predators of the normal ones would pose any threat.

But of course, I don’t want to kill them straight off. A dungeon should get harder and harder until an adventurer will die trying to backtrack and die trying to fight the floor boss. Hmm I thought in my mind. Plant based monsters should be quite a good one for the start. Static and slow they shouldn’t pose a problem for anyone. Yep! Let’s go with that!

Right, lets go.

First things first, then second things and so on. Let’s make the walls a little more dangerous and then introduce some tree monsters I thought to myself, I had found thinking to myself in this manner had helped me decide what to do. Right now, my floor had a stable height. And I had a lot of space to work with. The grasses and shrubs were about waist high and the walls only 5m or so. So, a height change would be good as well.

I started by growing some hardened brambles within the walls, not sentient, these were just a passive threat, an annoyance.

Larger, tougher and with sharper spikes, it would still take an unbelievably stupid, persistent effort to hurt oneself seriously in them. Perhaps someone will do it, I think I’ll make a monument to them if they do. A Darwin award.

Next, the trees.

I manoeuvred my vision, so I was centred in front of the would-be entrance. Looking across the floor I could see where the stairs would be. It was a semi straight line and one which the adventurers would trace fairly readily.

Along where I assumed a path would be traced I began to plant some trees. About 50 trees for the room, 30 along the main path and 20 dotted through the rooms. 30 of these trees were harmless and the rest were dangerous.

I went for an apple tree as the safe ones. I had a plan to in the future bring back the flora and fauna of earlier levels with dangerous new twists.

These fruit bearing trees were safe but later I’d make them highly poisonous. Hopefully I’d catch someone out.

The dangerous trees were to be weeping willows, not all of them mind you, but enough that you wouldn’t know which ones. Large trees that had branches that grew up and then curved down under their own weight. The thin branches were soft and droopy. Flexible and soon to be strong.

So, I delved into the material and increased their tensile strength once again using my mana cables. Then I began to infuse my magic into it creating a living plant. It would wind its branches around you slowly and either begin to crush you or fling you back onto the trunk.

The trunk would have a literal weeping effect with a thin viscous coating which would be highly poisonous and kill quickly if entering the bloodstream.

So, any adventurer with lacerations and cuts from the brambles and rose bushes would die quickly without aid, a highly poisonous but relatively easy to cure poison. Apart from that it wasn’t very dangerous.

Each tree took a centre place in the side rooms and these were large trees, they took up all the space in the room however I made them activate only when touched. If disturbed by alive forces the branches effected would come alive and try to kill you.

A 15m diameter, the trees were a sort of maze to get through and in a notch in the trunk over which the poison flowed sat a small wooden chest.

Behind the deadly waterfall it sat dry and unmovable. Containing very little of value only a few coppers at most. With the rooms done I just had to cultivate those along the main path.

Smaller willows now only 5m diameter and a little stronger as they got closer to where the stairs would be. Next task would be the main path. Or should I create one? I thought to myself.

Ah I had it. I would just modify it so that a natural path formed. Along the way a flattened the ground slightly and thinned out the underbrush to make movement slightly easier.

Naturally adventurers would move this way and over time a path like the one I wanted would be created. More natural and it just seemed better.

After that I just had to populate it with animal life and the first floor would be done.

Then I could start on the second floor, third floor and so on.

I paused for a few minutes contemplating the floors and just picturing my future self, illustrious, adventurers would come from all over to brave the depths of my dungeon. I revelled in it for a moment before snapping back to myself.

I wanted an ecosystem, something with very little management needed. So first I created a good stock of insects. Little families, colonies, whatever they were. Dotted around the room they would just populate the floor with a depth of sound and life.

Small birds would eat the insects and these in turn would be eaten by a large eagle. A 4ft wingspan and inch long talons kept the populations in control. The eagle family had a small nest in the ceiling of the room. Obscured from all angles unless one stood on a tree by the stairs. Of course, said tree was a killer. On a whim I made the nest hold a small treasure trove. Lots of coin and a few gems. A reward for the eagle eyed, hah, nice pun dungeon, nice!

The little alcove was fairly warm and cosy. At least I thought so.

With the flying life done I needed floor life. A few ant nests, some snails and slugs and beetles and shrews and mice. This was the foundation of the underbrush. Some hedgehogs that I made have steel like spines - just cause - foraged around and in some small burrows were some grass snakes. These weren’t threats to any but the really stupid adventurers.

With that done I thought I had finished the first floor. Taking a look around I confirmed it. Yep! Well done me!

After a self-congratulatory moment, I started work on the stairs.

Wooden of course, to fit in with the theme, I wasn’t insane. I took the roots of the willow near the entrance and encouraged their growth until they stretched down another 30 metres with about 20cm steps - perfect right angle steps. With a half turn to drop the adventurers off on the next level the wooden latticework took the better part of a few hours and lots of mana.

Before I started work on the second level I checked my stats.

Menu

Name

???

Race

Dungeon

Titles

Renown

Undiscovered

Skills ^

11

Rating

1A

Level

45

Health

3,451/3,451

Mana

6,320/22,960 (22,960 mana for Lvl up

Knowledge

16,208

Dungeon Points

11,983

Status

OK

Attunement

E3

Rooms

35

Floors

1

Bosses

0

Monsters

30

Creatures

1,231

Creature types ^

70

Unique Items

1

Item Types ^

40

Looking good since it took about 4500 mana for floor one I estimated I could accomplish this next one with the remaining 6000 as it would be slightly bigger. In fact, every floor would get bigger as I progressed down the mountain as I had more room to work with.

Having been caught up in my revelry I looked and saw several notifications blinking in my vision, the mana patterns had hidden away whilst I was focusing. Now though I looked at them.

~~New skill acquired: Material deployment~~

~~New skill acquired: Material reinforcing~~

~~New skill acquired: Mana reinforcing~~

~~New skill acquired: Mana control~~

~~New skill acquired: Mana based biological modification~~

~~New skill acquired: Crafting~~

~~New skill acquired: Treasure creation~~

~~New skill acquired: Enchanting - summons~~