Soaring across the Blue biome’s open waters I couldn’t help but let out a loud woo. Sure I couldn’t feel the air pushing against me or the water spraying into my face, but in a large open area like this I could really marvel at my ability to fly! There isn’t a single human being who hasn’t wished to do so and I actually can! Sure I might not technically be a human anymore but it’s still a dream come true.

Flight works differently than I’d always imagined in the comics. There’s no muscle to flex or winds to manipulate. If I had to describe the feeling it’s closer to kicking off a surface underwater except the propulsion never ends and I can change the force’s strength at will. Maybe it’s comparable to the zero gravity astronauts experience? Such a feeling really is almost impossible to convey in words.

Curious as ever I’ve run some tests on my [Projection’s] endurance inside the dungeon. While I can’t fly outside of our walls, within them I can simply hover or go at full speed for as long as I want. Pretty nice on days like today where I’m dashing all over the place. Using core mode is always an option but I find my [Projection] more comfortable when speaking with individuals.

Coming up on Azura’s island I circled around the shore. Knowing her she was probably training in her arena. Out of all the sisters she easily puts the most work into honing her technique. Considering she keeps up with the others in full plate mail I’d say it’s paying off too.

Finding the elevated stone ruins I took a seat on the crumbling moss covered stairs around the arena. Down below I watched Azura, brandishing her labrys, slither through a small army of wooden dummies occasionally striking one down. The dolls fell, were restored, and were cut down again as the dance Azura made around them grew more and more complicated.

After cutting down around 30 dummies Azura leapt out of the fray and relaxed her posture. She was drenched in the evidence of her hard work all the way down to her tail. Removing her helmet released her deep blue hair onto her shoulders. Flying over with a towel I found in the stands I handed it to her.

“I could have someone come down to help you spar if you wanted. Mary would be more than happy to once she’s done watching The Reaper’s integration.”

Accepting the towel and wiping across her forehead Azura answered “She’s... a bit too much for me right now. I’ll shorten the gap one day rest assured Father but you know how bad she is at holding back. Much can be learned from a loss but whenever I ask where my openings were she can’t really explain them. Miss Mulan on the other hand is an excellent teacher and partner. I still think back on her advice regarding my footwork daily.”

Stifling a laugh I asked, “Did you just call her “Miss”?”

Pounding a fist across her heart Azura nodded proudly “Of course! Miss Mulan is who I strive to be! She’s strong enough to fight those outsiders, beautiful enough to represent us while standing beside you, graceful as she effortlessly cuts through her foes in battle, and honorable in her devoted service to you. If me and my tribe members can even remotely resemble her I’ll be satisfied.”

Deciding to ignore the founding of Mulan’s fan club I moved on and asked “Speaking of your tribe, still planning on being our security? God knows we’ll probably need it once we have tourists interacting with us every day.”

“Of course! I’ll stop those damn outsiders from causing trouble anywhere you want me to. Almar has already given me permission to personally train bouncers for The Cascade. I’d also like to take over the distribution of [Quests] from you. I hope you don’t mind if we include requests regarding things we’ll need for ourselves. Noire suggested that we negotiate for materials our future craftsmen will be able to use, food, and useful outsider technologies.”

Nodding I pulled up the [Quest] tab in my status “Noire already asked me about it and I should be able to give her limited permission to use the skill. Anything you’ll pay out below 20,000 Rhilos for can be privately handled but anything above I need to personally sign off on it. All that is on my end though. Feel free to assign [Quests] if you feel they’ll be useful. I’ll hide my own requests in with all yours. Not everyone needs to know what I’m personally working on now that I’m a public figure.”

Azura gave a salute and said “I’ll spend some time creating a building that [Quests] and their rewards can be handled in. Something similar to the boards the adventurers have put up should work.”

Flashing her a thumbs up I motioned to my [Create Creature] menu making it visible to her “Just keep me updated. For now how about we get started on your tribe? You’ll need to start training them now before anyone reaches The Cascade. Not that I’m worried about any parties getting passed Almar anytime soon. It’ll take a full raid of A rank adventurers to take him down.”

Picking up her notebook from her things amongst the stands Azura flipped some pages and read aloud “I’m planning to leave the beach near the entrance alone. The adventurers can figure out their own ways across the reef. Along the way I want them to encounter Lionfish, Dolphins, Turtles, Dugongs, and some Seahorses. I’m expecting the coral and anemone to evolve alongside them of course. As for the island I’d like some Vanishing Vipers and Monkeys. Nothing specific for any of them but the aquatic species should be capable of knocking boats over.”

Cracking my knuckles I got to work sprinkling Azura’s requested creatures around the biome. The Seahorses, Dugongs, Vanishing Vipers, Monkeys, and Dolphins I left largely alone except for increasing their size. Little was done to the Turtles too but I did specifically use the Green Sea Turtle template as opposed to the Red Eared Sliders I’ve had for a while. This really only meant the turtles had fins instead of legs but I’m hoping they’ll lay eggs on the island’s sandy shores.

When I got to the Lionfish though an idea cropped into my mind. Taking inspiration from a whaler’s harpoon gun I gave their orange and white spines the ability to discharge at will. From memory I replicated the Concentrated Centipede’s legs as best I could and allowed my skills to fill in the gaps. Different from the arthropods though my Lionfish will be able to recall their spines back in. Just a few spines into the bottom of a boat’s hull should be enough to pull it underwater.

Turning away from the screen I informed her “I can’t do much about the coral or anemone yet but I’ll check on them in a few days. Once creatures start hunting overtop them they should evolve relatively soon. Other than that we’re ready to summon your tribe. Ready?”

Azura put a fist to her heart again and nodded.

Having gotten used to the phenomenon in just one day I summoned exactly 10 young Lamia’s of the Water Moccasin subspecies. Leaving them to get acquainted with one another I pushed off the ground and began flying towards the core room at last. But not before hearing Azura’s booming voice yell out.

“On your legs! We begin physical training immediately! Those who don’t finish don’t eat the food Father is graciously providing us for the next few days!”

---

Landing on my feet and walking over to my rocking chair I nodded to Noire. She was sitting behind her desk as usual with her reading glasses reflecting the orange light of my core. Beside her were several stacks of paper and an ink jar to dip her pen into. Said pen was moving at a blinding speed as she filled out or wrote contracts.

Once I’d properly sat down Noire greeted “Hello Chairman Sol, I presume all 7 biomes have had their inhabitants placed without issue?”

Leaning back I answered “Yeah no problems. Evolutions will come in around a week for most species and there’ll be more to do then. Tribes have been summoned too.”

Tapping her stack of papers and standing Noire removed her glasses and said “Then we should begin work on the safe zone immediately. I’ve already selected the Production type constructions we will need. Summoning the Oni would be a good idea as well. Sadly the dungeon has yet to level up meaning we can’t name one of them to lead but I’ll leave a note to do so in the future.”

“I just got back though give me a minute...”

Giving me a stern look from overtop her glasses while holding her clipboard Noire did all but order me to get up. Nice as it is to have an assistant she can be a bit of a workaholic...

Hovering a few inches off the ground I sighed “Sorry I don’t mean to mess up your schedule. It’s just been a long day.”

“I understand but these things must be done Chairman.”

Nodding I lazily reached out both hands and gripped the core room with my skills. Out of everywhere in the dungeon the core room is the easiest to manipulate as it needs to be frequently moved. Once I had it firmly grasped I simply shoved the room backwards through the underground territory I’d previously grabbed with [Expansion]. Around 10 miles into our journey I dropped my hold on the room bringing us to a stop.

“Think that’s far enough for your plans?” I asked Noire.

“It should suffice. If need be I’ll require your assistance to make any changes. Now if you would...”

With a snap of my fingers I began tunneling through the solid ground behind us with [Terraforming]. As the tunnels bore I pushed the 7 openings leading to the biomes back with them. Digging out the earth into an enormous dome I spaced each of the openings around the dome equally.

“Perfect Chairman. We’ll lay the paths into the city ourselves. If you could please have [Micromanaging] mimic the weather of the outside as well that would be great. I plan to have my sisters create farms, both crop and domesticated animals, alongside the pathways. We’ll offer transport into town and healers around the entrances of course.”

Putting my hands on my hips I asked “I leave it in your capable hands. Where would you like the Production facilities to be placed then?”

Noire held up her hand and I watched as her scales briefly flashed green. Soon as the light faded her entire body lifted slowly into the air where she motioned for me to follow. Having grown somewhat accustomed to her vast array of spells I simply shrugged and chased after her.

She took me about 5 miles into the dome before stopping and gesturing around “I’d like them to be placed about this far out from the center. Within a short walk from town so we can transport anything we generate back easily. What we’ll need are 3 Lumbermills, 3 Mines, 1 Stocked Stream, and 1 Cotton Mill.

“That many Lumbermills should generate more than enough wood for us to use and the landscape around them can be stocked with prey for Daphne’s tribe to hunt. Nothing dangerous of course since this is the safe zone but wild deer and rabbits should be admissible. As for the Mines please have them contain Coal, Salt, and Iron. We’ll use them ourselves and export them to generate income. Those alone should make us incredibly valuable to the world at large.

“We’ll use the Stocked Stream to fish for additional food as well as for water. From what the [Construction] tab describes different fish can be found in the stream depending on various factors like time and temperature. I’ll wait and see if the species we find can be used effectively.

“Finally, the Cotton Mill is to help us generate clothing. Not only can we use it for ourselves but cloth is an incredibly valuable resource in the outside world. A few other dungeon’s produce it from what The Reapers tell me but none within Illia. That’s a market we can easily capitalize on although we should do so in moderation. We hardly want another dungeon war fought over mere cotton trade.”

Spending the neccassary resources and 40,000 mana to create the Production constructs I did just as Noire asked. While expensive each of these facilities would regenerate resources automatically overtime. The regeneration rate is low to begin with, and we won’t know the yield until we start harvesting, but within the various shops upgrades can be bought. Those are several hundred thousand mana though. Well outside my price range right now but something to consider in the future.

First to pop up were the Lumbermills which despite their name took the appearance of a small forest of trees. What trees I wanted to have grown could be altered at any time as long as I possessed the proper seed template. For now I left them as simple oak and pine trees. One day we could theoretically grow Crystal Trees of any element along with any other magical woods we come across. As requested I lightly populated the forests with peaceful herbivores.

Next were the Mines which weren’t anything special. I could have them either on the surface of submerged underground. For now I left them on the surface to add some interesting terrain to the area. Each Mine simply formed a few hills with veins of their respective materials peaking out from within. Once mined out those veins would slowly regenerate just like the wood from the Lumbermills.

The Stocked Stream was in reality more of a Stocked Lazy River. Flowing around in a slowly winding circle were several thousand gallons of water. Peaking over the edge I spotted more than a few mundane fish appearing out of nowhere. It seemed as though Trout and a few Bass would be the first fish available from the Stream.

Last but not least was the Cotton Mill. As expected around 1 mile of rapidly growing cotton appeared almost instantly. In the center of the field was a full stone mill containing all the machinery needed to produce cotton. My creatures will need to figure out how it all works but from what I could tell the supplies were of good quality. Hopefully Noire’s business plans go as planned.

Once we’d inspected each of the Production facilities Noire turned to me and said “Last we’ll need for now are the Oni. I believe around 50 should suffice. We’ll begin setting up temporary shelter immediately. Me and my sisters plan on staying with our tribes and the Oni for awhile so don’t wait for us in the core room. I’ll of course still complete my work without fail.”

Before summoning the Oni I couldn’t help but ask “Are you sure? You still don’t want a tribe of your own?”

Pushing her glasses up slightly Noire made a small grin “Chairman please. I am a Lamia Queen not a mere Matriarch. While they may be my siblings my dear sisters will soon realize who’s really in charge. Why would I merely manage 1 tribe when I can oversee an entire city of lamias? Of course I’ll more than earn that position I assure you.”

Only slightly off put by how assured she was of her inevitable rule I turned away from the Lamia Queen and opened the Oni template. Unlike the Lamia’s there were no subspecies to choose from. The only choices were gender and skin tone. For now I’ll summon an even 25 of each gender and have the voice randomly select between red, blue, green, yellow, and black skin tones. Whether or not the skin tones are simply cosmetic I don’t know yet but their bodies won’t fundamentally change.

Mentally tapping the confirm button I summoned 50 Oni men and women in the dead center of the safe zone dome. Each was humanoid in shape but no one would confuse them for humans. Every Oni regardless of color or gender was easily over 7 feet tall, incredibly muscular, wearing little more than undergarments, and had the face of a demon. Their cat shaped irises were all a piercing yellow surrounded by black sclera. Atop their heads were long vertical horns sprouting out from underneath long white hairs in various styles. Their final obvious monstrous trait were pairs of bat like ears which twitched wildly as the Oni slowly began standing up.

Dismissing her flight with a simple wave Noire landed beside the group of Oni. Although shorter she raised a hand in a greeting they all seemed to recognize as peaceful.

“Come with me everyone! I’ll explain our plans while we prepare to survive. I’m sure all of us could do with some good food right now.”

A few of the Oni’s yellow eyes cautiously glanced at me and I answered “Please follow Noire’s instructions. You’ll all be living communally together for the foreseeable future. With her in charge there’s nothing to worry about.”

Having received permission from their creator the Oni all began following Noire as she led them towards the Lumbermills. Just how she intends to have them chop down trees without axes I have no clue but I’ll trust her judgement.

Watching them all for a short while I eventually took to the air again and flew towards the core room. I might not get physically tired but after such a long day I’ve earned a good rest.