After much lecturing from Nova on not rash decisions without first thinking through the potential consequences, Steve was ready to experiment with his new Celestial energy.

“What do you think I should do first? The prompt said it could be dangerous to use Celestial energy on an undead, should I try using it on their equipment first?”

While Nova was considering Steve’s question Azrael responded. “As you are a dungeon core it may be beneficial to infuse some Celestial energy into some of the loot you were planning on providing to any adventurers. I would not recommend spending too much of the energy on any of the equipment carried by your lesser minions as at the moment you can only gain Celestial energy passively through me and the process will be very slow.”

“What other ways are there of gaining more?”

“You would need a shrine room that adventurers could use to pray for blessings from their respective Gods. You would gain some Celestial energy for each prayer offered up, though the adventurers would likely be more dangerous after having receiving such a blessing. In any case I do not think you will be able to create a shrine until you advance further.” Azrael responded.

“I agree with Azrael. I would recommend creating some growths of quartz in the various rooms and try infusing that but I would also infuse some energy into your boss’ equipment so we can get an idea of the effects.” Said Nova.

“That makes sense. I’ll finish the third room and summon the minions in their and finish grow the quartz then we’ll do some infusing!”

Steve went back to work and quickly finished the third room and summoned the 5 basic skeletons and gave them each a copper sword. After that he summoned a small amount of quartz in the first two rooms, a larger amount in the next and an even larger amount in his core room. Once this was finished he had 30 Animus remaining which should be just enough to create a trap and his entrance.

There were several places throughout the room where the quartz was growing from and Steve moved his awareness towards some that was growing by the doorway. He concentrated on infusing it with Celestial energy and just like when he used his Animus he was able to intuitively tell how much energy it would take. For this particular growth it would take 68 energy to fully infuse it. Having no idea whether that was a lot or a little, Steve decided to just go ahead and give it a go.

Steve felt a familiar yet at the same time very different sensation as the Celestial energy left him and flowed into the quartz. As this happened the quartz began to glow with a soft, pure white light. Azrael especially seemed to enjoy the feel of this light and moved closer to bask in its radiance. On the other hand the skeletal boss seemed to shy away from the light and moved further into the room and away from the doorway.

Frowning to herself Nova commented on this. “I can’t say I particularly enjoy that light the same way Azrael seems to. While it doesn’t hurt or anything it certainly isn’t too comfortable.”

“As a spirit living inside a skull you are tied to the undead yourself so this is not surprising.” Azrael explained.

“Well this isn’t too good. If I have too much of this Celestial stuff in my dungeon my minions won't be able to fight and protect me as well.”

“It is likely that they will grow to adapt to it over time. Once they have built up a natural resistance you may even be able to infuse some small amount of energy into them.” Azrael theorised.

“Should I still infuse his equipment do you think?”

“I do not think it would cause it any harm though I can not be sure.” Azrael responded.

Steve ordered his skeletal boss to place its sword on the floor and back away, just to make sure it wouldn’t be harmed. Concentrating on the sword he found that it would cost 40 energy to infuse. Happy that it would cost less than the quartz Steve directed his energy into the sword. As the energy flowed from Steve into the sword the sword changed to reflect the new energy it contained. It did not glow like the quartz did but the blade now had a mirror sheen that was extremely reflective. Taking a moment to examine the sword Steve was quite satisfied with the results.

Name: Celestial Blade Item Type: Weapon (Sword)

Quality: Uncommon (Rare)

Description: This iron sword has been infused with Celestial energy to create a Celestial Blade. As a result this sword is much sharper and better able to pierce armour. Other effects unknown at this time.

“Awesome!”

Both Nova and Azrael looked impressed as well. Steve directed his boss to retrieve the weapon and make sure that wielding it did not harm him. Fortunately he didn’t seem to have any trouble.

“I’m going to do the rest of his equipment now!”

So saying Steve focussed on infusing the rest of his boss’s equipment for a total cost of 160, 40 for the shield and 30 for each piece of armour. As with the sword, the shield took on a reflective quality and looked like he was holding a large mirror. The armour on the other hand turned into what looked like a tough yet flexible material allowing for greater mobility.

Name: Celestial Shield Item Type: Weapon (Shield)

Quality: Uncommon (Rare)

Description: This iron shield has been infused with Celestial energy to create a Celestial Shield. As a result this shield is able to reflect some spells back upon the caster and is more resilient. Other effects unknown at this time.

Name: Celestial Armour Item Type: Armour (Helmet) Quality: Uncommon (Rare)

Description: This iron armour has been infused with Celestial energy to create Celestial Armour. As a result this armour is stronger than its base material yet much more flexible and lightweight allowing for better movement. Other effects unknown at this time.

The rest of the armour seemed to have the same description as the helmet. Overall Steve was very satisfied as his boss now looked like a force to be reckoned with.

“I must say I am quite impressed.” Nova said while examining the boss and his new equipment.

“What about you Azrael? Should I make some armour and weapons for you as well? I am unsure what your role in the dungeon is to be honest.”

“That will not be necessary Steve. While I will defend you from those looking to harm you I will not be able to assist you in battling adventurers who come merely to gain wealth, fame or experience. Besides, I make my own weapons.” As he said this Azrael extended his arm and a spear coalesced into his hand seeming to be made from light itself. He twirled it around himself a few times before letting it fade away.

“Wow, that was amazing! I had no idea you could do that.”

Azrael grinned at this and seeming happy with the compliment. "As to my role as an Angel of Death it will be my role to ensure that the souls of those who perish will be shepherded safely to the next realm. This will mean that I can not allow you to corrupt or otherwise trap their souls." Azrael said this with a calm yet resolute tone before turning his face back towards the Celestial quartz and basking in its glow once more.

Steve and Nova looked at one another a moment before turning to look back at Azrael.

"Fair enough. I don't think that will be a problem." After waiting a moment with no response Steve continued. “Well, I guess I’ll finish up by infusing some more of the quartz and creating my trap so I can announce myself.”

“I would not recommend infusing too much of the quartz, just some small amount in each room at most.” Nova cautioned him.

Nodding to himself Steve got back to work. He infused just one small piece of quartz in the first two rooms, a larger piece in the third room and several more pieces in his core room. Once finished he was now down to 642/1000 Celestial energy. Once finished he next needed to create a trap. Once he thought of doing so another blue box appeared before him with a list of traps he can create.

Traps currently available for construction:

Pitfall.

Of course. Really I don’t know why I was expecting to be able to create some elaborate trap with wires and darts or something.

Steve decided to put the trap in the corridor between the second and third room since the adventurers might have grown lax by then since they hadn’t seen any traps yet. Once finished he now had a 10 foot deep hole in the middle of this corridor. Unsure why he couldn't have just built that himself by absorbing the rock Steve shook his metaphysical head.

Congratulations! You have finished the third and final step towards completing your dungeon. Announcement: A new dungeon has spawned in the land. Will it contain vast riches? Tomes of forgotten lore? A pair of old boots? Only those lucky enough to locate this deathtrap and survive its fiendish depths will know for sure. Congratulations! As you have completed your dungeon you have advanced to level 1 and will gain any experience you might have accumulated while creating your dungeon and will now earn experience naturally. Congratulations! You have gained a new level, you are now level 2. Congratulations! You have gained a new level, you are now level 3...12. Congratulations! As you have reached level 5 you may now create an additional floor. Congratulations! As you have reached level 10 you may now create an additional floor. Congratulations! As you have reached level 10 you may now create an additional boss. Congratulations! As you have reached level 10 you may have now gained access to Mana Manipulation.

Congratulations! As you now have access to Mana you have gained the following skills.

Imbue item, Imbue creature, Imbue trap, Sense surroundings.

Steve stared at all of the blue screens, very surprised by many of them.

“AWESOME!!” Steve shouted while rushing back to the core room.

“Nova, Azrael, I’ve already reached level 12! Isn’t that awesome!?”

Nova looked at Steve puzzled. “What are you talking about? You have just finished your Announcement, you should only be level 1 since you haven’t earned any experience yet.”

“It said that I gained all the experience I would have earned while creating my dungeon, I guess I must have earned some.”

Azrael chimed in at this point. “It is likely that uncovering my containment sphere and bonding with me granted a sizable amount of experience. This would explain your rapid growth in such low levels.”

Nova looked very surprised by this revelation. “I guess that means you have access to Mana now as well then?”

“Yeah! I gained some new skills too, imbue item, creature and trap as well as sense surroundings.”

As Steve named each one and thought about them the relevant blue boxes appeared.

Imbue: Using Mana you can add a single element to something you have created. Experimentation will be needed to see the effects available to you. Sense surroundings: You may spend Mana to determine what is in a given area. This can be used to help locate mineral deposits, hidden creatures etc.

“As interesting as this is you will still need to create your entrance before doing anything else.” Nova explained.

“What, why? Can’t I experiment with some of my new skills first?”

“No. Once you have finished your initial Announcement you will be unable to make any changes to your dungeon or anything in it similar to the restrictions you will have when sentient species are within your dungeon.”

Grumbling to himself Steve took Nova’s advice and moved to the start of his dungeon. Once there he realised that he didn’t know where the surface was. If he just kept going straight would he eventually find the outside world? Or should he try going up. As he was considering this he realised that the knowledge was suddenly available to him. He knew that if he made a corridor at an upward slope of 20 degrees he would reach the surface after 30 metres. Assuming this was just a part of his dungeon instincts Steve got to work.

It took close to two hours to finish the tunnel to the entrance. Once finished Steve got his first look at the outside world. It was nighttime and he couldn’t really see much because it was also very cloudy. The fact that he couldn’t see far made him pause.

How could I see in my dungeon? Even Nova and Azrael seemed able to see ok. Apart from the quartz there wasn’t any light was there?

Turning around to look back at his entrance he could see a soft blue glow coming from within. Now that he concentrated properly he could see that the light seemed to emanate from the walls. Putting it to the back of his mind to ask Nova later he once again turned back to the outside world. He couldn’t see far but he wanted to explore and see what this place was like.

Unfortunately he found that he couldn’t move his awareness more than 20 meters from his entrance. What he was able to determine however was that his entrance seemed to come out near the bottom of a mountain. It seemed to incline quite rapidly above his dungeon and he decided it is probably quite difficult to navigate. When he moved to the limit he could reach going away from the mountain he could just make out some trees in the darkness but could otherwise see little else. He could also hear some few animals but he couldn’t determine what they were.

Interesting that I even know what trees and animals are. It is like the information has always been there but as I have never thought about it before, I didn’t realise I knew what these things were. I assume that this information was given to me in that dungeon manual…

As there was not much else he could do here at the moment Steve returned to the core rome so he could discuss with Nova and Azrael what his next steps should be.

“I can feel the air beginning to circulate so I assume that you have finished your entrance? Probably a good thing since you now have a living creature in here.” Nova reasoned.

“Yeah I finished. It’s night time right now so I couldn’t see much but I think we're located at the base of a mountain with some trees not too far away. I want to look again when it gets light outside. Speaking of light, do you know why the walls are glowing like that? I only noticed when I got outside and could see the difference.”

“It is something that all dungeons have long since evolved to do. As almost every creature needs at least some level of light to navigate dungeons began to have their walls emit a soft light so they could see. This meant that there was no need for torches which would emit a great deal of smoke over time and make it difficult to delve deep into a dungeon.” Nova explained.

“Ahh I see. Thank you Nova.”

“Steve? If is not too much trouble can I ask you to create a room for me? Unlike yourself and Nova I will need a place to live and sleep.” Azrael asked with a wry twist to his lips.

“Oh right. Ok sure! Wait. No, sorry. I don’t have any animus left at the moment.”

Animus: 0/1600 Celestial Energy: 452/3200 Mana: 64/3200

Steve frowned at these values seeing that his limit for them seemed to have increased and that he had gained a small measure of Celestial Energy and Mana. Figuring it must be something to do with him leveling up he decided to check his stats again.

Name: Steve Race: Dungeon Core Sub Race: (Unknown)

Class: Creator Quality: God Touched Disposition: - Level: 12

Characteristics:

Strength: 0 Constitution: 17

Dexterity: 0 Intelligence: 32 Luck: 3

Wow. That’s quite the improvement. It looks like my intelligence was increased by 2 for each level and my constitution by 1. I wonder if my luck increased for every 4 levels or if it went up because of something else. I wonder how I got more Celestial Energy and Mana though…

Celestial Energy Regeneration: 5 p/h due to presence of celestial being.

Mana Regeneration: Equal to Intelligence p/h.

Ah. I guess that makes sense. It seems that the maximum amounts for both Celestial Energy and Mana are equal to 100 times my intelligence and my Animus is 50 times my intelligence.

“Do not worry about it Steve. I only need to sleep every few days so it is not a huge rush. When it gets light I will head outside and see if I can locate some additional materials for you as well. I do not really fancy sleeping on a bed made of stone…” Said Azrael.

“For now as I imagine your Mana levels will be quite low I suggest we simply wait for morning before attempting any further changes or experiments.” Nova added.

"Awwww. I wanted to see what I could do with mana....."

While she was probably correct Steve was still disappointed.

I am happy to explain the uses of Mana while we wait for the dawn but as I said you will not be able to make use of it just yet.” Said Nova.

“Will I be able to make some amazing enchanted items now?” Steve asked excitedly.

“No. While Mana is used in enchanting you will need to gain more knowledge in that area before any actual enchanting can take place. It might be worthwhile for me to explain the difference between imbuing, enfusing and enchanting.” Nova offered.

“I thought they were all the same thing?”

“While they are similar they are also different in their application and scope. Infusing something with energy changes it. For example when you infused the equipment of your boss monster it changed the material so it is no longer iron. When you imbue something you are adding a specific element to it, which depending on what is being imbued will have varying effects based on the element. For example you could imbue a weapon with a fire element so that it will inflict a measure of fire damage. Enchanting on the other hand allows you to combine multiple elements to create more complex effects. Items like Bags of Holding that can store items in extra dimensions, Summon Stones that allow you to summon magical creatures to assist you or a Magical Carpet allowing you to fly through the air at great speeds.”

“Awesome….I can’t wait to be able to create things like that!”

“Once you reach level 25 you will unlock your Evolutions, these will help you to specialise and advance your dungeon in unique ways. However since you will only ever earn a limited number of Evolution points, you will not be able to do everything.” Nova cautioned him.

“I didn’t even know Evolutions were a thing. What types of Evolutions are there?”

“You will learn more once you reach the required level. Then you will start to earn Evolution points for yourself.” Nova explained.

After some time Nova and Azrael started to chat to one another but Steve did not join in as he moved his awareness to the entrance to wait for morning while imagining all the amazing things he would do in the future.