Wanting to avoid Lilly lecturing me even more, I may know nothing but hearing that I know nothing still isn’t pleasant, I quickly pull up the construction menu and pick the ‘Build room’ option. I decided to try and test if I could build two rooms at the same time. Just have to make sure that I can have enough mana for it. I set the room dimensions to 9 meters long, 5 meters wide and the ceiling at 3 meters height. The cost works out to 40,5 mana for that size after I once again decide to build it with stone. So that means it would be 81 mana to build both rooms at once so I happily confirm. I’m very good at math. The numbers are getting bigger but I can still manage without asking. Ha! Take that, you talkative fairy. I’m not completely useless.

Lilly coughs “We’re still linked little pebble. It’s ok to think I talk to much but I’m doing it for your benefit.”

Oh no! I forgot the mind link. Quick, act cool and don’t acknowledge anything. Focus on building, just building.

I’m once again at the map portion of the building process and place the room so it connects to the hallway in my lower left with its top right corner. That way the room expands to the left and I have plenty of space between where my two new rooms will be. I’ll use that later. Instead of just confirming the placement and starting the expansion though I try to copy the room while still being in the map part. To my amazement, it works. I guess I’m starting to get the hang of this. Soon I’ll not need any help at all. I place the new room just like the previous one only connecting to the bottom right hallway this time. Once I’m happy I confirm and I feel the energy, or mana I guess, flow out of me. It takes a while for the two rooms to form but when they finally do, I get a message from the system.

“That means you can make a room narrow and low in one part and wide and tall in another little pebble. Same with hallways. But remember that you can’t make something so low people have to crawl or so narrow they can’t get passed it.”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s the way it is. You’ve made rooms with just mana when anyone not a dungeon core would have to spend hard work to do the same and spend far longer doing it. Why can’t I use my mana the same way? It’s just the way it is. We’re different and there are some things I can’t do, just like there are some things you can’t do. Even if you do have the power to create life. No point complaining about it and just move on.”

“Ok, I guess I have enough mana for a hallway. Let's try the drawing option.”

“That reminds me. I should’ve been telling you names this whole time. Oh well, we didn’t lose much time. Try to not focus on anything I say from now on. You don’t need to actually pay attention to learn them. Your mind will naturally learn all that’s said inside your dungeon. When you get low mana I will give you some more. I might not be able to help later on but as you’re only a one floor dungeon I can manage with a few mana potions.”

Lilly told me to ignore her. Guess I can focus on expanding then. I don’t know how but I can see my new rooms as if I were there but while it was still expanding I couldn’t. Must be one of those other things that just are. I add a hallway to the new room on the left and draw it in a curve from the middle of the back wall towards the spot I left empty between my new two rooms. I make the ending of the corridor as narrow as I can which turns out to be about 1,2 meters wide. The cost turns out to be 27 mana and I accept.

Mana flows out of me again and just as quickly a wave of new mana entering me. I see Lilly drinking something from a blue bottle. That must be the mana potion she talked about. I get back to expanding as I copy what I did to the left side to the right only this time I make the end point of the hallway a bit wider than normal at 4 meters. Aside from a few extra mana it seems to work.

Next, I build a room that connects with my two new corridors on opposite sides of the room. This room is far larger than the other two I built. 25 meters long, 6 meters wide and 3 meters in height. At 135 mana just to build it almost drains away all my mana when I confirm it but Lilly did say she wanted a few larger rooms and that I should just focus on expanding. Before Lilly get a chance to refill my mana supply a blue box pops up.

Multiple rooms detected further away from the entrance compared to your current 'Core room'. Do you wish to move your core?

Note: The closer your core is to the entrance, the more vulnerable you are.

You can delay moving your core pending further expansion for a day. Do you wish to move now or delay?

Move now/Delay

I barely finish reading until more mana flows into me again. Guess that settles it. Delay the move, expand more. I make another hallway but one that does turn a corner after a bit before continuing further. I connect it to my room on the left. That means my left room now has 3 ways to enter or exit the room just like Lilly suggested. Ha! My designs are so advanced. Everyone that comes into my dungeon will marvel at it. To shake things up a bit I make an arching hallway connected to the room on the right. Yes, no longer will I copy everything I build on both sides. That is beneath my dignity as a very advanced dungeon... well, I won’t copy things too much.

I make two more smaller rooms that look more round then the square rooms I made in the past. Each a little different though. The one on the left feels more like the hallway opened up into another wider hallway and the one of the right side is not very long but it stretches to the sides from the perspective of entering the room. Both of them are fairly large in size so I decide to count them both as large rooms. Again, I almost run out of mana and after a while more mana flows into me. I’m curious to see how much mana I have now so I check my status.

250 mana. Well that’s certainly a long way from when I was born. I could even summon 10 fairies right now if I wanted to. No time for that though, I’m really starting to enjoy building. I wonder how far I can expand?

I make a hallway for the new rooms going further back on my map but arching towards the center again. At each end I make a circle shaped room. I remember something about not mirroring my rooms anymore so I adjust one of the rooms to have a 5 centimeters higher ceiling then the other. Perfection.

Next, I decide to let me daring side come out and play. I want to connect my first large room that’s in the center right behind my core room and connect it to both of my new circular rooms. I begin to draw a hallway and then in a moment of inspiration I split the hallway so that adventures can decide to go either right or left. Each of them ending up in my new rooms. From there I decide to bring both paths together again in another large room. My fourth big one if I’m keeping track correctly. I make two zig-zag hallways that ends close together almost down what I refer to as my center line on the map. There I decide to spend my remaining mana on the large room. As I confirm building this final room, I remember that I maybe shouldn’t have used all my mana making the room as I swiftly black out.

I wake up with pain radiating throughout my entire core. It’s not as bad as when I was transported here but that’s not saying much, I can’t imagine pain being worse than that.

“Lilly, why didn’t you warn me not to spend all my mana? I feel terrible.”

“Some things children are better off experiencing rather than being told about. You might have not believed me if I told you and deplete your mana anyway just to see if what I told you was true and then what was the point of me warning you? I’m only here to help you, not tell you all the secrets of the world. I only have one more mana potion with me so try to finish up your floor. Aside from your Core room at the end remember you need to have room for your floor boss. Fiona, Buttercup, Tirel, Winde...”

She’s back to reciting names so I guess I won’t get an apology. I quickly tune her out but not before I hear a few names. Buttercup? Sounds nice. I wonder how I will get my name? Lilly did say I should finish up so back to work. I check and see that I now have 375 mana to work with. I resist the urge start using granite when building, for now. Have to save something special for the boss room after all.

Since both paths have now come together again, I consider just ending my floor here but I still have a third of my map left to go deeper into the mountain. The map hasn’t really moved since I started so I guess it’s what I have to work with for this floor. Wasting a third of it seems bad but Lilly did say to wrap it up.

I come up with a compromise with myself. I make two hallways that stretches all the way to the edges of my map on either side and then make two small rooms but I design the rooms so that you won’t be to spot where the hallways leading out of them are. Then I make hallways turn back towards to the center line of my map but ending halfway so they both open up into yet another small room. I’m starting to worry that Lilly will start telling me I’m wasting time so I just leave them simple rectangles before designing a hallway between the small rooms but veers off in the middle into what will be my final room before the boss. It’s not too big but it works. Then I make a very short hallway into what I plan to be the only room I make out of granite. Before I build it I better make sure I have enough mana though.

“Lilly, can I get a refill please. I’m almost done.”

I don’t wait for an answer. I might be forced to hear more strange names like Fiona. What sort of name is that? No, Buttercup is so much better.

After I feel Lilly give me more mana, I quickly design a large room made of granite. I sigh with regret as I see that even with the increased cost of granite it’s only about 10% more than if I built with common stone. Well either way I spend 280 mana finishing it and then I just add a small room I intend to use as my Core room connected in the back.

“Lilly, I’m done.”

“Well you did very well. Let’s see, you now have 18 hallways, 10 small rooms, 4 big rooms, a boss room and your Core room in the back. Not the best I’ve ever seen but certainly much better than a new core would be able to manage. You might not be totally useless little pebble.”

“Hey! What do you mean it’s not the best? I worked really hard you know and what do you mean useless?” I got really upset with Lilly for calling me useless. I’ve done so well and I even did what she wanted me too even though I really wanted to pick Elementals as my starting race. Yes, I didn’t really want fairies, they like telling you what to do too much. So annoying.

“Now, now, calm down and let the system know you’re done building out your first floor. That will let you move your core to your new room and assign of your rooms as a ‘Boss room’. You’ll still be able to modify your rooms but you won’t be able to add hallways or rooms anymore.”

I grumble about nagging fairies in my thought and I don’t really care that she can hear it as I look around in my construction menu. I find it at the bottom after a while. Apparently, I had unlocked a ‘View floor’ option after building a few rooms without me noticing. The ‘Finalize design’ was in the corner of that map.

Floor 1 finalized. Designate your 'Floor Boss' room.

The map returned and I could highlight the room I wanted the boss to be in. I selected my big granite room.

Floor boss room designated. Based on the layout of your floor the system has determined the room furthest away from the entrance.

The map returns and the small room behind my floor boss is highlighted.

Accept as new Core room?Yes/No

I select 'Yes' obviously and then the pain came back. The horrible transporting kind of pain.