After a day has passed, I had 28 new animals I was able to create. All were bugs except for one. A lizard followed the bugs into the dungeon and was killed by the smallest of the three monster mice, who after eating the lizard catapulted itself to be almost as big as Miki. I had to rush to enlarge the size of its room.

I contemplated a few times during the night on if I should make one of the tunnels big enough for a monster mouse to walk in and out off with ease. Just in case a larger animal, hopefully, a mammal of some kind, would decide to explore my dungeon.

“I would love to have another animal to keep me company. Preferably something cute and cuddly. Like one of the foxes maybe. I could use one of the small mice as bait and while the fox wasn’t looking have Miki and the other two attack it.”

Yet I don’t think the dungeon mice can win against it. And even if they somehow manage to do it, it’ll have to be inside the confines of the dungeons walls for the fox to be added to the bestiary. I could always buy something from the dungeon shop, but all the cool animals cost too much for me and even if I could afford it I don’t think spending the points on that would have been the right choice.

I don’t know of any other way but achievements and level ups for getting dungeon points. Achievements are too unreliable of a method to count on and leveling up will take longer and longer. Dungeon points should be saved up for now and not used on things I can acquire myself eventually.

The forest is full of animals, and once I’ve grown my dungeon big enough I’ll add all of them. And then I’ll never be lonely, having cute animals to watch and play around with. Maybe I’ll get a wolf or a bear. A polar bear, or a…a” my excitement leaves me almost speechless, “How did I not think about this until now?! With the [Splicer] skill I can probably create the coolest dragon ever!”

My imagination takes over by that point and I spend hours playing around and adding to the idea. My dungeon can have all sorts of dragons. And not just dragons. Unicorns, Cockatrices, the cool sounding Chupacabras and many others can live with me in my dungeon. All I need to do is buy a perk to the [Splicer] skill that will allow me to better customise my monsters.

Rushing to the dungeon shop to sift through the various perks, I soon have my fantasies crushed back to reality. The perk costs even more than the initial skill and unless I get an achievement or preferably two, there's no chance I’m getting it in the near future.

Plus, splicing fauna is a whole different story then splicing flora together. The amount of mana needed is currently beyond what I can use without resorting to days of wait in between attempts. Sure, the rate at which I gain mana skyrocketed ever since things began to die inside my dungeon on regular bases, but it's far from enough for my needs.

So I check how much mana I have left and go back to daydreaming about dragons while I wait for it to fill.

Congratulations!

You have reached level six.

Next level up at 1500 mana.

+10 dungeon points

Another day passed and the dungeon ecosystem kept on growing. Some of the tunnels were now large enough for the monster mice to squeeze through. More area in the dungeon meant that there was space for the mushroom and moss to spread. Two more plants also sprouted inside the dungeon, somehow brought inside with the influx of bugs or a rare lizard. Both were added to the list of plants I can create.

When grass started to grow and a flower bloomed all while insects reproduced and grew to maturity, in the span of a day, I rushed to the shop to see if there's a skill or perk related to it. As I suspected there were quite a few of both. All, however, not worth the cost. There was even an option to increase my dungeons ecosystem growth rate by a standard amount for every point spent on it. A potentially limitless amount I could increase the speed by which my dungeon fauna and flora grew.

“But the initial investment was too high.”

However, from the description of some of the skills and perks, I concluded that increasing the growth rate had something to do with ambient mana in my dungeon. This could mean that I might be able to get a similar effect by myself. Since I can control mana, I should be able to concentrate a lot of it in one place. If my theory is correct I should be able to speed up the growth rate of the things I want.

Focusing only on one mushroom, I slowly pour mana into it through the connection I have with it. Nothing happens at first, but as more and more mana is pushed into it, it starts to grow. Larger and larger until it is twice the size of the ones around it.

The skill from the shop would probably help offset the mana cost for such things, but getting more mana was easier than getting more dungeon points. So, for now, this will do, and all it means is that I’ll have to wait for the mana to regenerate.

“Something I find is much easier to suffer through as the ecosystem in my dungeon grows. Not only because it's faster, but because watching the circle of life is quite fun."

I had about fifty mana left which I decided to try on the only monster worm I have. In the span of a few days it has become bigger. Now as thick as three of the regular earthworms, it was moving at a quick pace making a circular tunnel, half a meter deep around a dead tree, between whose roots my dungeon lay. Regular earthworms were connecting the circular tunnel to the main system of tunnels right under the tree.

Along the circular tunnel and the ones leading to it, I used my mana to carve entrances outside. Simple one or two cm slits in the ground, for my ambient mana to permeate through. This allows my creations to move aboveground, wherever the slits are present. Bringing me more joy and entertainment the bigger the territory grows.

But for now, I stop the monster worm, compact a cylinder of earth around it so it has space to grow, and infuse it with mana through our connecting link. For some reason a much stronger link than the connection I have to plants and animals. It the same strong connection I have to all four of my monsters.

This time, however, I also try to add my intent and give my mana meaning instead of just pushing it mindlessly like I did with the mushroom. I concentrate on its usefulness in digging tunnels. I find my desire to grow the dungeon and focus on it, imbuing the worm with my wish to expand the dungeon as fast as I can. To dig tunnels that would take me to see interesting things all around this world.

I don’t have much mana, just 50 points, five times the cost of summoning a monster worm. So I can’t spend the mana aimlessly, I need to improve not the whole worm but just a specific aspect of it. So I need to make each point of mana count, and movement speed is what will give me the best worth for each point.

Slowly the mana leaves, as slow and deliberate as I can, so that I can shape it with my intent for longer. Eventually, the worm starts to grow, not in size but in length. Its body filling out the tunnel behind it, ending at an increase of 30 centimeters to its length. The monster is now half a meter long and has small visible setae, small stiff bristle-like hairs that stuck out at an angle from its body.

Achievement Unlocked

You have a dream that you shared with your creation.

Monsters will serve the dungeon until death.

They will sacrifice their lives to do what the dungeon asks them to.

Knowing what the dungeon wants the monsters will adapt themselves to achieve it

[Conscious Growth] skill awarded.

Advance your creatures into a desired path.

+100 dungeon points.

Mana pool empty, I order the worm to keep digging tunnels in a spiral, expanding out with the tree as its center point. The now slightly more impressive monster worm mouth opens up and begins to burrow forward at an impressive 20 cm per hour

“Amazing. Such a result with only this little mana. And the achievement is a wonderful surprise.” Happy at the outcome I dive into my favorite mouse, the one I first looked at the forest through. Together we go exploring all the new territory I gained over the last few days.