One of the less pronounced memories he received back in the void, were of deep underground caverns. They were covered in darkness, where there was a constant fear of attack from all sides. Listening for all signs of danger, only to find the eerie sound of water dripping from one of the thousand stalactites that cover the ceiling. When you checked all directions and hear nothing approaching. You finally feel safe and you relax, that is when a gigantic maw descends and swallows you whole.

Just thinking about it sent shivers down his crystal. But he knew something like this would be a great first floor. He was underground already, so why not play that to his advantage. He could easily create something mimicking a natural cave system, instead of these unnatural walls. If he then allowed his creatures to dig out tunnels for themselves and then filled others up, he could end up with a sort of natural labyrinth, filled with monsters that are actively hunting anything to eat.

Finally, having a clear idea for his first floor he immediately dug out branching halls and rooms to get started on the theme. He ended up with some weird random shaped cave system that sometimes loped back onto itself. To lay the final piece on the aesthetic of the floor, he went into the Dungeon Shop under [Floor Theme] to find something affordable that fits, his vision. And he found it almost immediately.

Theme: Deep Dark Cave (Uncommon) 30 dp

The Deep Dark caves are home to many hidden beasts. With nothing but the few bioluminescent fungi to light the way. And random sounds of droplets makes it so that surface dwellers have a hard time adapting.

Effect: Gives all monsters' dark vision on this floor, reduces all lighting except for the bioluminescent fungi.

Bonus: bioluminescent fungi naturally grow in a rare few patches on the floor, random moss and mushrooms will grow, a guaranteed Alchemical mushroom. Automatically spawns insects, bats, snakes, and small rodents. Gives access to special monster

This was a perfect fit. It was affordable for 30 DP, and after buying it with 30 dp, he saw how his floor changed. Instead of straight halls, the walls and the floor became uneven and wavy. The rooms rounded out so that it had an oval shape instead. A few stalactites even formed on the ceilings.

Luminescent fungi were planted across the floor. He noticed that a few mushrooms began sprouting on the walls. After that, suddenly, the sound of life came to the first floor as the animals began spawning in. The buzzing sound of insects flying around, the screams of bats and the small pitter-patter of small rodents running across the floor, from time to time the sound of water dripping from the stalactites. It was beautiful, life was all around, and all was idyllic and peaceful.

After an hour or so enjoying, the nature in his dungeon. He decided that it was time to buy and spawn the monster for this floor.

First, he selected the Kobold, since the description said that they have habitat underground, and have an affinity for digging. They looked like a good choice for the floor and having a creature with the blood of dragons could never hurt. Using similar logic, he bought the giant centipede and the badger. The badger just sounded like a solid choice. The centipede was so that he could get a monster that was good at digging. So, having used his 2 free common monster selections, and 20 dp.

It was now time for him to summon his monsters. He knew that he had to place them apart from each other so that they could have time to claim, their territories since he didn’t want an outright war between them. He wanted them to hunt each other enough to utilize, the ability that came with his core type.

But first, he needed to know what it would cost to summon them. To do that he went under the summoning menu.

[Monster]:

Description:

Price:

[Badger](common)

The Badger family is one of the most aggressive in the world. Clever and with a horrible attitude, piss one of these off and it will hunt you for days ignoring injury and hunger. It is said that no matter the opponent, they will attack them, even dragons admire the sheer arrogance these animals have.

Their skin is very thick making it hard to pierce.

20 mana

[Kobold](common)

Kobolds are small, bipedal reptilian humanoids. Said to be the descendants of dragons, though very few will ever get to realize the power that is in their blood. They are clever creatures with an aptitude for mining. They love collecting valuable objects.

They gather in underground tribes where the strong rule, here they can develop primitive versions of sentients classes. They use primitive weapons like clubs, daggers, and spears.

In the tunnels that they dig, they make traps to kill intruders.

20 mana

[Giant Centipede] (uncommon)

Giant Centipede are large insects that prowl the undergrowth of jungles, and deep caves in search of prey, which they then attack and devour. They are even known to scurry along riverbeds to feed on fish, and when they feel threatened, their first instinct is to flee and dig themselves deep underground. They can dig through even the hardest of stone and have been known to dig through metal when necessary. But when forced into combat they are a tough nut to crack. Their carapace is tough and very hard to break.

30 mana

The prices looked affordable. So, he begins planning their placement in his dungeon. Trying to figure out how many he should summon and where. That was when the Tutorial decided to come and give some advice.

Sorry to interrupt you in your musing. But there are a few things that might be able to help you in the dungeon store, that I would like to recommend you get. First is the [Ecosystem] passive trait. It has a good synergy with your core type, as it helps you and the monsters and beast balance themselves. You will instinctively know how many you should summon to balance it out.

Second is the ability [Advanced Appraisal] which you can use to see the stats and abilities of all things in your dungeon. It is a good ability to have no matter what.

You can purchase these immediately with the funds available.

Both are good to get immediately as they offer good utility. The [Advanced Appraisal] can be used to see the strength of invaders, items/weapons and of your monsters. The [Ecosystem] is a good trait when one’s core type focuses on the hunting and consumption of other monsters in the dungeon.

Hearing that he immediately went to look under [Abilities/Traits], to read about them. As the tutorial hadn’t given him any bad advice jet.

Trait: [Ecosystem] (uncommon) 20 dp

This Trait allows you to instinctively know how to place creatures in your dungeon so that your creatures can generate a natural ecosystem. It also passively makes the creatures in your dungeon act as if it was their natural environment.

He could see what the tutorial meant when it said that the trait was compatible with his core type. And it was exactly what he needed right now, so he purchased it. Immediately he gained, not knowledge, no it was a feeling. A feeling that the creatures already on his floor were moving around. Claiming territory and hunting other creatures. He felt how an ecosystem was beginning to form, around the creatures that already was in his dungeon.

While the animals were adjusting, he looked at the other ability, that the Tutorial recommended that he get.

Ability: [Advanced Appraisal] (Rare) 30 points

The highest form of appraisal that you can get, without being of the divine. This ability allows the user to see all the target’s status, and abilities. It is possible to see the evolution trees, of the monsters in your dungeon. If a monster in your dungeon has previously evolved into that type of monster.

Reading it, he could see what the Tutorial was talking about when it said that it was useful. With this, I could monitor, what skills my monsters gained from each other. With this, I will be able to see how powerful my monsters are. This was a good ability, so he bought it immediately.

Now armed with the two new abilities he felt how many he should summon so that an ecosystem could be achieved. But for a complete system, he sensed that he would have to construct a large room away from the rest of the floor, as a base for the kobolds to house their tribe. So that is what he did. In the corner of the floor a little far from the rest but not too far he dug a big cave, where he summons them.

And so, with no further ado, he summoned 11 kobolds in their cave, he summoned 5 males and 6 females to start the tribe out.

A bright light shined, and 11 figures formed from it, they were 1,5 m tall bipedal reptiles, covered in scales of different colors through the most prominent was green.

As soon as they fully materialized, they started scurrying around the cave, looking through every nook and cranny. While they did that, I checked their status, to get an average for the kobolds.

Status:

Name: N/A

Race: Kobold

Level: 5

Hp: 500/500

Mp: 150/150

Skills:

Active:

Nimble claws lv. 3

Dig lv. 5

Sharp claws lv. 3

Passive:

Tough Scales lv. 5

Dark vision lv. 4

Devourer lv. N/A

After they had searched the entirety of the cave, they gathered in the center and started to communicate through sounds, that resembled hisses. One of them, a male, bigger than the rest, stepped forward and started showing himself off to the others. Seems that he was trying to select himself as the leader.

While that was interesting, he still had other creatures to summon. He moved his focus to the rest of his dungeon. So, he summoned 6 badgers and placed them in pairs of males and females, in their area further in the dungeon. They were small creatures, 23 cm tall and 69–106 cm long, without the tail. Muscular, short-necked, and flat-bodied, they have a broad, flattened head and short legs and tail. The color of the coat is grayish and grizzled, dark at the face and feet.

Using his new appraisal, he checked for the average badger status:

Status:

Name: N/A

Race: Badger

Level: 5

Hp: 600/600

Mp: 100/100

Skills:

Active:

Strong Bite lv. 4

Burrow lv. 4

Sharp claws lv. 3

Passive:

Thick Skin lv. 5

Dark vision lv. 4

Devourer lv. N/A

Indomitable will lv. 7

Rage lv. 5

Minor strength lv. 3

They almost immediately started growling at each other. They separated and started prowling through the cave system, starting to hunt.

With the Badgers starting to prowl around the halls, exploring and hunting the smaller animals.

He prepared for the summoning of his last monster for this floor. It was going to be the strongest on the floor, therefore he would only summon 3 of them. 2 females and 1 male.

Summoning them, they truly lived up to their name as giant, laying at an astounding length of 10 m, and a width of 3 m. They truly were a terrifying sight. They had a rounded or flattened head, bearing a pair of antennae at the forward margin. They had a pair of elongated mandibles, which looked to be able to crush anything.

Looking at their status, there was nothing too surprising.

Status

Race: Giant Centipede

Level: 5

Hp: 700/700

Mp: 75/75

Skills:

Active:

Crushing mandibles lv. 4

Tunnel lv. 6

Dash lv. 3

Passive:

Tough Carapace lv. 5

Dark vision lv. 4

Devourer lv. N/A

With that finished, he just sat back and watched as his monsters settled in.