Resetting a dungeon had three parts: body clean up, trap reset, and re-summoning mobs. He also randomized which trap rooms were open. Since Gem had taken care of the first part on his own, the other two were a cinch. Chesu inquired if Gem wanted to make changes to his traps or mob set up, especially now that he had more Command available.

But Gem wasn’t convinced he needed to, since the first group had died so efficiently.

He did create a Pylon and then summoned one of each type of new mob, just to see what they were like and to see them in action.

Cardinowl

3 Command Points

Flying Mob

Wields a lovely song, but has low attack and defense. Silent flight and excellent vision.

The image didn’t do the bird justice. It was around a block tall, but it had a wingspan almost three times the width of its body. The feathers were a deep crimson, with almost a purple undertone, and each feather was nearly as big as Chesu. Off the back of the mob were gorgeous, long tail feathers that were tipped with white half moons just along the edge.

Gem wanted to bury his face in those feathers. They looked so soft.

But not everything about the bird was soft. The Cardinowl had a wide, circular face that was nearly flat to its head. In the center of the face was an orange beak that seemed razor sharp. Likewise, each foot was tipped with deadly looking claws that clung to the branch the bird settled on upon being summoned.

Before it could orient those sharp eyes on Chesu, Gem gave the mob orders to follow, just like the others. It trilled in response, the sound beautiful and a bit haunting.

Gem wished he had eyes so he could close them, to force out all things but the Cardinowl’s song.

“Seems a bit useless, though.”

Chesu shook his head. “You’re a Dungeon Core, Gem. That destruction part should be all that’s important to you.”

Gem sent the wisp an image of a frown.

“Yes, but this is a mob. It should be used for creating death.”

Gem felt a worm of anger course through his core.

He changed the orders on the Cardinowl. Its demeanor immediately changed. Instead of looking reprehensibly at Chesu, it fluttered over to Shriek and pals and began singing for them. The song was full of a range of notes, even if Gem didn’t know what to call them. It was a melody that called back to his original vision for this place. One that made him immediately know what it was going to be used for.

Gem gave the Cardinowl one more set of orders. It fluttered down to Magi’s room and nested among the branches of the tallest trees. Once settled, it began its song again.

Gem followed the sound from his Boss Room and down through the dungeon. As he got further away, the song’s volume faded, but its draw grew. He felt the desire to follow the song, to find its origins.

While he was at the entrance to his dungeon, Gem also spent some time lighting it up. Once that was done, he summoned the second mob.

Skunkupine

4 Command Points

Ranged Mob

Can attack from afar with its butt. High rate of mutation.

This creature was a mammal, about the size of the Cicadossum. It had a small, almost timid face, surrounded by a halo of sharp quills. The quills continued over the length of its body. Most of them were black, but there were two stripes of white that traveled down the length of its back. It had a quill-covered tail, as well, although the quills there seemed slightly different.

Gem looked back at the description.

The creature wiped at its face with stubby paws as it watched Chesu.

“Might get that faster than you’d like, if you don’t remember to give it commands.”

Gem corrected that and then turned his attention back to the mob’s description.

Chesu rubbed his hands together. “Mutation is something neat. On Sleyn, it didn’t happen until the Ostrum showed up. But, basically, your mobs can sometimes be made different. I’m not entirely keen on the specifics for how mutation happens here, but a high rate of mutation means you’ll likely see it if you make a few of them.”

“Could be anything!” Chesu scooted closer to the Skunkupine, taking a look at the quills along its tail. “Maybe these’ll get longer. Or do more damage. Sometimes the creature itself will get bigger or smaller. Usually any downsides are more than made up for by an increase in damage or utility.”

“When you’ve got more Command Points, absolutely.” The wisp floated back up to land on Gem’s crystal. “I bet they’re kind of expensive, right?”

“Right. And mutations will always cost more than the base mobs, too, just like with a Boss Heart.” Chesu shook his head. “You’ll need enough command to be able to summon them all in, as well as pay for the increased cost to cover a potential mutation.”

Gem did the math in his head.

“Nor would you want to,” Chesu said with a grin. When Gem sent him a bunch of question marks, Chesu laughed. “Kid, costs are additive.”

“Right. Eventually you’ll get to a place where Command costs won’t be a worry. You know, assuming you survive that long. And that the world doesn’t get taken over by the Ostrum.”

Gem ordered the Skunkupine to go join one of the groups in his second room, but the creature’s little legs were unable to traverse the make-shift stairs. He had to unsummon it and reform it down in the correct room.

“Mid-tier rank. Five? Seven? Something like that.”

Gem reopened the dungeon, even though there weren’t any groups waiting. Instead of fretting, he and Chesu focused on building the Forge. The Room required Gem to have a number of materials in his inventory before he could select it. Thankfully he had more than enough Cobblestone, thanks to his generators, but Wood was a problem. He spent some time not only chopping trees, but gathering and replanting some saplings. Gem also needed lava, so he collected a bucketful and placed it in his inventory.

The Forge came pre-assembled and Gem could not change anything about it other than the orientation of the door. He formed it behind his Core Room, against the wall, so that the Forge was within his protective walls. It built from the ground up in a swirl of light, and then suddenly there was an empty room with a creature standing in the center of it.

“Hmmm?” the creature said, tilting its head to the right.

It wasn’t a man, but was obviously masculine. He was bipedal, about two blocks tall, and thin. His skin was a pale green, and instead of clothing he was wrapped in vines and covered in underbrush. Thick stalks of hair grew out of the top of his head in what looked like blades of grass.

When Gem didn’t say anything, the NPC tilted his head the other way and repeated the wordless question. Its voice had an almost bird-like quality to it, which matched the beak-like nose and mouth on its face.

The question was meant for the NPC, but it was Chesu who answered. “NPCs, by definition of being Non-Philosophically Conscious entities, aren’t alive like you or me. They also aren’t like your mobs. You cannot trap their personality in a Mob Heart, at least not without creating them separate from this room. NPCs can be used as a mouthpiece to mimic language back to you, and you can teach it how to respond to certain cues, meaning it’ll be able to participate in conversation.” He shook his head. “It’s a facsimile of life, however. Only ever as good as the entity that programs it, and even then, I’ve never seen a perfect one.”

Gem wanted to test this. Programming something to mimic speech patterns and conversation cues sounded like a great challenge.

It also sounded time consuming.

“Agreed. But alright. If you examine any of the equipment in the Forge Room, you’ll get an interface that’ll tell you what to do.”

Before Gem could begin that, he got an alert that one of his Cicadossum were engaged in combat.

He watched them for a few moments. They were coordinated, moving thoughtfully as a unit and they didn’t sling insults at one another. The tank was a hulking man with pebbly orange skin who used a giant lance as a weapon. His companions included another Sage—judging from the book in the woman’s hands—and another Rogue and Archer, but the fifth member was a short furry creature that seemed to be shooting unaligned magic from its eyeballs.

Gem asked, although he did so a bit dispassionately. He wanted to progress. To get things done. Adventurers would take care of themselves, for the most part.

“Nah. Let’s get your Plantlings some gear.”