Veraform had spent quite a bit of mana expanding outward. He had come to the conclusion the super secret goal must be to have more rooms. How would one conquer this world from a 5 by 5 room? In the time that passed after killing the rabbit he expanded to 19*5*12, though most of it was dirt and stone. Now, he thought, was the time to create a second room. Opposite the entrance he created a very short(two feet) hallway that led to another 5 by 5 room. As soon as it was done he got the tell tale message and felt very proud of his deductive powers.

Level Up!

You’ve got another room!

Passive mana regen will increase by 1 for every 5 rooms you have!

Max mana will increase by 5 for every room you have!

Once you’ve gotten 5 rooms you’ll get a super cool reward that every dungeon needs!

Oh. He was wrong. He’s learned some more, but he doesn't know what the super secret goal is, and on top of that now there's talk of a ‘super cool’ reward. Come to think of it, he really didn't get a reward for leveling up just now. Veraform had been thoroughly irked but at least the next reward was easy to get. He had enough space to make several rooms. He decided to make the layout a little more interesting than a bunch of 5 by 5 squares. The entrance room will have two doorways, one on both sides and the far wall's door will be covered. The door to the right of the entrance will lead to a room twice as long as the first room and then connect to the room that was just sealed off. It will then be a dead end for now.

Meanwhile the door to the left will lead to a normal 5 by 5 room and on its right wall another door will lead to another 5 by 5 room. This would very neatly bring Veraforms room total to 5 and he could have rat tunnels between all of the rooms. He got to work. Once he had finished he received the standard message.

Level Up!

You’ve got 5 rooms!

You're moving forward so fast, but what's a dungeon without loot?

Minions now drop loot!

Gained the ability:create loot

You can now place loot dispensers like chests!

You can move your core!

You can now possess a Minion!

Choose a reward: Kobold, Imp, Spawner

This was the first time leveling up offered a choice. Veraform was perplexed. How was he supposed to make a decision when he’s got no information? What even was a spawner? For that matter how potent was a kobald or an Imp? Veraform wasn't taking this decision lightly. He looked within himself and contemplated his options.

That's when he heard it. The screams of the leftover souls he contained. Pick the imp, pick the kobold, choose me so I may serve you master. Allow my soul respite from the empty nothingness that is non existence and bring me into this world.

His minions were not only willing, but desperate to serve. He would not pick the spawner. That left the imp, and the kobold. An imp did sound better at first thought, but then why was kobold an option? Surely the choices had equal merits, right? Wondering would achieve nothing. He made his decision.

New material! Imp

With that, Veraform began constructing an imp. It was an entire 8 inches tall with arms that touched the ground, less due to their length and more due to the things slouch and its legs being bent. Its skin was pale. The nose of the creature was long and its eyes were positioned on either side of its head rather than facing forward.

The imp cost a whopping 8 mana and 1 minor soul. It stood before Veraform with wide eyes, looking at the gem. “Thank you master” it said in a nasally voice. The creature could speak! Veraform thought. This is just a minor soul, imagine what a greater soul could do. Though maybe they’d be less submissive. “That's a bridge I'll cross when I burn it” Veraform thinks to himself.

“Tell me minion, what can you do?” Veraform projected the question into the imps mind. “I'm an imp, I can call the powers of hell to blast enemies with demonic energy.” Promising. “Show me” Veraform demanded. He made a rat scurry into the room. The Imp hadn’t hesitated before blasting the rat and burning away the hair where it hit. The rat curled and squeaked before stiffening. It had died. Veraform checked it's menu and he had regained a soul. It's a good thing too, because he hadn't considered the possibility of losing a limited resource until he had already given the command.

Veraform had opened many new doors by leveling up. First things first, he decided to move his core to the back room of the dungeon. It would do no good for him to be discovered. Second he wanted more raw materials to work with.

“Imp. Go outside and catch any animals you can and bring them to me.” The imp cocked its head. “Master, I am bound to you. I cannot leave, nor can your other minions.”

This was a problem. How was Veraform supposed to gather new creatures? Lureing adventurers in with the promise of loot meant little if he couldn't kill them. Leveling up may be the only consistent way to gain power. Veraform decided he would make a loot dispenser and then expand so that he’d have more space. He settled on putting it at the end of the path that did not lead to his core. A small wooden chest materialized at the back wall of the room. At this point he was low on mana and would have to wait to do much else.

Level Up!

You’ve got loot!

Now adventurers will come explore you!

Uh oh, it looks like you’re not very formidable yet, but that’s ok. Get a few more rooms and you’ll get more rewards!

New material: large rat

The message was accompanied by a FWOOSH noise and a bright light outside Veraform’s dungeon. Adventurers would learn his location and he had little to defend himself with. His mana was too low to spawn a large rat and if it cost a minor soul he’d only be able to spawn one. He checked his menu and noticed something strange. A new kind of soul was listed. Between minor and lesser, there was ‘slighter soul’ of which he had none. Would the rat need a slighter soul to create? Could he use a larger soul to create lower tier minions? Regardless it wouldn't be worth it. He would simply create another imp when he could. Veraform decided he would spend mana as he got it to create another imp and then create rats. He needed to be ready for adventurers.

After gaining his hourly mana, Veraform realized he’d have to wait 3 more hours to gain enough to summon a second imp. If he summoned rats instead he could get 2 an hour until someone entered the dungeon. “Imp, tell me. Do you believe yourself to be worth more or less than 8 rats?” The imp had been running its fingers through the cracks in the walls, as if it could keep itself entertained that way. He stopped and hobbled towards the core to tell him, ”yes master, the rats are simple creatures of bone and rot. I am a fiend of magic and brimstone.” That settled it. “very well” Veraform dismissed his minion. He would wait to summon another imp. Unknown to Veraform, the imp simply feared he would be killed to be replaced by a pile of rats had he responded differently. His magic was limited to only so many casts in a short time, but going back to unlife was not appealing.

In time veraform had 6 mana and needed only 2 more to summon an imp. Unfortunately for him, time was up. AN INTRUDER! His mind fluttered as he saw the shape of a man at his entrance. Well… more of a boy than a man but Veraform had no way of knowing the difference. The pubescent held two one handed axes and stood on the stairs. As he entered, he stopped and turned back. “The roof is kinda low,” he called back to some unseen other. “Good, that means the dungeon is still young. You shouldn't need me to intervene then.” The other voice was deeper and more confident. The boy entered and had to bend uncomfortably to fit under the low ceiling. “What’s your plan,” the man called. It was a question but sounded like a command. “Follow the right hand rule until I've either mapped the place or found the loot sir” the boy replied without hesitation.

“Damn” Veraform thought. There were two of them and they seemed to be taking this whole situation as a training exercise. He’d show them. Veraform would be the deadliest dungeon they’d ever seen. Once the boy was in the long room the rats would flow out and attack him. Once he was distracted the imp would enter and blast the boy until he was a fried mess.

The boy turned and started walking towards the door on the right. “The place seems empty sir” he called back. “So what should you expect?” the man replied.

“Rats or spiders sir. Maybe both.” he glanced at the ceiling corners when he entered the long room. Once he’d made it in the man stepped into the previous room. He was larger with long dark gray hair. He carried no weapon oddly enough. Now was Veraform’s chance. Rats flowed from the holes in the wall. Flow was a strong word considering there were only 6 but Veraform prefered that phrasing. The boy turned to then as they scampered over. “Rats!” he yelled as he swung at them. The low ceiling prevented an overhead swing, which made it harder to hit a target on the ground, but the boy still cut one right down the middle. “Fight” Veraform called to his imp. The creature poked its head around the corner and fired a blast at the boy.

The boy very nearly blocked the attack with the head of one of his axes. How had he known and reacted? Veraform thought. It didn't matter, he was hit square in the chest due to the boy turning to attempt to block it. The blast made him stumble back, less due to the force and more so the pain. This opened up the chance for the rats to climb up the boy. The boy let out a yell. The blast, he knew he’d be able to handle in isolation, but the rats had gotten on him. He’d have to drop an axe to handle them.

Suddenly the man was beside the boy, faster than veraform could realise. The man made a few quick movements and all the rats were off the boy and three were dead, crushed by the man's grip. “Let’s go.” the man said. “We can try again tomorrow.”

“Sorry” the boy said meekly as he quickly left the dungeon.

Veraform was shocked. That man had dealt with the rats like it wasn't even a problem. The imp had fled to the core room when the man attacked the rats. They’d be returning tomorrow and Veraform had to be ready. He needed to get stronger. Imagine the souls he’d gain if he could kill even one of them. With that, he got to planning.