While the map making zombie went about its business, I lounged in the depths of the dungeon. Mana slowly accumulated in my reservoirs, and I wondered what to do with it. Some of it I was using to passively feed the slime. I didn’t want it to get hungry and start complaining. That still left a fair bit to use however. What could I do with it?

Renovations was one. Even though all the slimes were dead, I still fashioned out that room for them. I converted the mana into water and filled the crater in the middle of the fourth-floor room. It was like a large pool, something to swim in, but I wanted to keep myself busy and not play around. On my personal floor, I continued to use mana to create other quality of life objects: a work desk, some dressers, changes of clothes. The tasks quickly drained my mana, leaving me empty.

As normal, mana trickled back in. It was a continuous process as there was no upper limit of the mana I can hold. If it wasn’t expended, it would just keep accumulating. One thing I forgot to investigate was where the mana was being drawn from. Understanding what the dungeon was absorbing mana from could be useful in managing the area so that there aren't any side effects.

I made myself comfortable and opened up my dungeon senses. Using my expanded awareness, I measured and tracked the flow of mana in the area. The dungeon was absorbing trickles of mana from the surface – that much was for sure. However, a massive stream of mana was not coming from above but from below. Another worrisome thing to write in my journal. Mana and magic were far outside my sphere of knowledge; I didn’t even begin to know enough to explain this. I blocked my dungeon senses. If I didn’t acknowledge it, it wouldn’t be a problem. Maybe.

I toyed around what to do with my last bits of saved up mana. There wasn’t anything immediate that warranted its use, so I decided to pump it into me. Much like how I could supposedly use it to feed and power up the slime, I figured I could use it to make myself stronger. Did it work? I wasn’t so sure. Nothing felt out of the ordinary – a little bit more energetic at the least. In terms of powers or abilities, nothing stood out. There was nothing yet anyways. It was worthwhile to continue it, just in case there was a payoff.

There was not much to do for now. Nice and peaceful. I wondered how long it would last. Between those adventures and knights, I had a feeling they wouldn’t be the last visitors I would get. I spent the rest of my time observing the zombie.

It was making progress. A little slow, however. The map, which it looked at from time-to-time, was slowly being filled. From what I could understand, the area was lush and varied. Most of it was dense forests, but there were large open fields and rocky hills, especially closer to the ocean. It was valuable land. There could be minerals and metals in the caves, plenty of wood to use for construction, and open fields to build and farm on. There was a lot some entrepreneur could do with it.

The sun was setting and night was approaching – but it was hard to tell that from the zombie’s perspective. Death had weakened some of its senses, his vision a bit gray and unfocused. However, it wasn’t enough to be a cause for concern. I relaxed, watching the zombie make its slow progress.

For a few days, I maintained this schedule: feed the slime mana, feed myself mana, and then watch the zombie. Sometimes, metal slime gave me trouble, seemingly annoyed I was spending time looking over the zombie knight. A quick scolding always put it down. I felt bad neglecting the slime, but other things had to take priority, especially if the zombie found something worthwhile.

It did find several cave systems in the area. If I ever had to expand, they could be key points I could safely move to should the need arise. However, the zombie knight discovered a village north from the dungeon along the ocean. The skeleton hid in a hill overlooking it and I surveyed it. The village was large and developed. It had proper wooden houses, gravel roads. Nowhere near close to a town, but it was respectable. The important note that it wasn’t a human village, but an elf one.

Not too out of the ordinary: elves tend to stay away from large urban centers, partially for cultural reasons and partially because of hostility from humans. In recent times, relations between humans and other races have been poor, particularly so in Hevagrain. There was a lot of politics and issues and reasons for it, enough to write books on.

I didn’t personally have any problems with the people; as long as we all respected each other, I didn’t care. I had the knight carefully map out this area in particular. The elf village were something like a neighbor. More reason for me to make sure the dungeon doesn’t get out of control. Any trouble I caused would most certainly spill over to them. Another issue for me to worry about and document in my journal. However, as long as I didn’t cause any unneeded attention, there shouldn’t be any issues.

I recorded the zombie's progress and made notes in my journal before returning to my quiet observation.