Book of the Dungeon Maker

by Nathan Valerio

  “No,” I declined since I would lose the ability to distribute this exp.

  I opened up the minion page next to see their levels.

  Common Wooden Puppet: Level 8

  Common Wooden Puppet: Level 8

  Common Wooden Puppet: Level 7

  Common Wooden Puppet: Level 7

  Common Wooden Puppet (Beast): Level 5

  Common Wooden Puppet (Beast): Level 5

  Common Wooden Puppet (Beast): Level 5

  Common Wooden Farmer Puppet: Level 1

  Common Wooden Farmer Puppet: Level 1

  Common Wooden Farmer Puppet: Level 1

  The halberd and spear user were in the lead and it seemed the ones I wanted as beasts had the most trouble due to the posture but still got kills in. I should probably make an obstacle course for them to train in. The next few puppets I would definitely need to dedicate to craftsmen. I needed tool makers and those I could set up to build new types of rooms.

  It also seemed the farmers finally officially evolved into farmers. Was it the new hoe? Maybe it was, maybe not, but since the requirements were met their planting root skill rose and they automatically gained the skill farming which gave them access to my knowledge of farming and it seemed they were producing fertilizer and spreading it as well as tilling the fields while they grew the crops and herbs.

  In all, I had a good day's work. The last thing we did was turn toward the river and head to the goblin encampment where we found less than 50 goblins remaining and easily killed them off, placed a dungeon dump them, and got a bit more exp.

  Chapter 17

  I sat at a table eating dinner with the girls while tossing up three small crystal marbles.

  On the far table was a bleach pale man who looked our way.

  In front of me was once more a similar screen that could change how I did things.

  You are about to use a dungeon maker low grade exp Crystal. For what do you wish to use the exp for?

  Level up Base Level

  Level up Skill Level

  Upgrade Minion

  Upgrade Layout

  Upgrade Rooms

  Upgrade Traps

  Upgrade Vegetation

  “Ace, what are you doing? Also put those things away,” Charlotte said a bit worried.

  “Charlotte, what do you know about the leading wolf of the gray wolf pack?” I asked.

  She sat down eating and humming while gathering her thoughts.

  “If I am not wrong, it's considered a type of spirit. It is said to be several hundred years old, but it requires one of the most mysterious flowers in the world to keep his strength. It’s called the moonlight azure bloom. It's a very unique flower that grows solely off of mana, but it only blooms under direct moonlight from a full moon. It releases a unique type of mana when it blooms and it aids in gray wolves in evolving but they don’t become silver wolves. I don’t exactly know what they become but soon after about 30% of the wolf pack would vanish,” Charlotte explained.

  “So, it follows the logic we know…” I said.

  “Mn, silver wolves always seem to accompany a rare flower. How do you plan on actually getting it or attracting the boss?” Misaki asked.

  “Oh that isn’t a problem, Ace just needs to make an appropriate boss room that can feed moonlight into the room. As long as the room or dungeon is filled with moonlight then it will soon be drawn in,” Charlotte said.

  “That's a tall order, well let's get the room done with, let's see dirt floor, grass along the sides, big stone center back for a bed for the wolf, room should be 24 x 24 x 10 and plant some random trees on the edges. Ground should be fertile and the room filled with a bit extra mana then the rest. Does that seem about right?” I said.

  “How big is 24 x 24 meters?” Charlotte asked.

  “If you put three of the current rooms I have next to each other in three rows that would be the size more or less,” I said.

  “That is a large room, you can even make a small trade plaza in such a place. Anyway, that is an appropriate size for a boss room. As for the details, it seems fine,” Charlotte said.

  “Don’t forget the moonlight,” Misaki said.

  “How do we get that effect?” I asked.

  “Well runes I guess... maybe? I did hear once that during the night of a full moon, moonstone gemstones glow as bright even if they are stored away without contact to the moonlight,” Charlotte said.

  “Are they expensive?” I asked.

  “Not overly so, 25 silver for a palm sized gemstone. 5 silver coins for an unrefined gemstone,” Charlotte said.

  “Wow, I did not expect for it to be cheap to such a degree,” Misaki said.

  “It’s not cheap, 25 silver is 2,500 copper coins. In our world’s international currency that makes it 2,500 dollars for one gemstone,” I said.

  “Oh I see, I'm also sure this doesn't take into account the various varieties,” Misaki said.

  “Moonstones aren't that rare, when polished it does make a beautiful gem but in truth only the category of rainbow moonstone is considered valuable with unrefined gemstones costing 50 gold coins and refined ones varying by craftsmanship,” Charlotte said and looked around before moving her shirt aside for a moment and pulling out a gem that was very beautiful with a blue color and wispy cloud like rock formation as well as some green and orange mixed in. The gem looked like glass that had captured pure moonlight inside and split its colors a bit to show them off.

  She quickly hid the stone and looked around carefully.

  “The reason gems aren't rare is because of the earth mana veins. These are locations where earth mana is abundant is where minerals are gathered. The mana naturally regenerates the earth with minerals so when metals are exhausted we just need to collapse the tunnels and let the land rest. Earth mana veins are one type of vein, they are all part of what is called the Great Dragon’s Veins that exist below the ground,” Charlotte said.

  “I'm sure I will need these stones to finish the room. I will also need to get trees and shrubs from the forest and gather dirt. How long until the full moon?” I asked.

  “Maybe four days, I have not looked but the mana gathering around the moonstone usually warns me,” she said.

  “Then let's do this, you girls return to the adventurers branch and report the goblin mission as complete and get the reward. I will remain and gather the materials needed for all the rest while you girls get a few moonstones,” I said.

  “That is fine with me,” Misaki said.

  Charlotte nodded as well.

  With that set, I pressed upgrade room.

  Which Room would you like to Upgrade?

  Wooden room

  With only one option I pressed it.

  How would you like to upgrade this room?

  Change appearance

  Change material

  Branch to new type of room

  I hit the third option.

  What type of room do you wish to branch this room to?

  Boss room

  Large room

  Similar sized room with different purpose

  I hit boss room and it told me to specify the details. The pages flipped and a room drawing appeared on the new page.

  The drawing was modifiable.

  I changed the size of the room first, changed the materials of the floor, raised the ceiling, added moonstones to the ceiling making it look like stars in the night sky. Then adding a large stone on the middle back area followed by adding trees, grass, weeds, fruit bushes and flowers, some herbs, and so on.

  It took roughly an hour of discussing with the others before we finally finished designing the room.

  This room was designed as a boss room, as it was created by payment of exp stones the room construction shall be automatic. Only one wooden room can be converted to the boss room.

  Time until room is built, please supply vegetation as there is a lack of several varieties.

  Moonstones will expend more time and mana to complete the room. />
  Estimated time until room complete. 7:00:00:00 if construction materials are supplied the time will decrease.

  Would you like to begin?

  “Yes,” I said and one exp crystal glowed and entered the book.

  “Good, seven days. I can decrease this time by getting materials but to generate the moonstone will take the longest,” I said.

  “Then let’s get going Charlotte-sama,” Misaki said.

  Charlotte followed while I stood up.

  We walked out while I took a look at the man that tried to attack.

  He looked down frowning, but I didn't mind him and left.

  We left the town and split up.

  First, I summoned the three new puppets and ordered them to focus on crafting equipment and to start an experiment.

  “I will designate a location where you must bury equipment. Once they are buried learn nature molding then mix that skill into the equipment. Also craft some tools, axes, shovels,” I said and sent back the three new puppets.

  Craftsmen are important so I needed to set up a base workforce. I also wondered what other crafts skills there were.

  Walking into the woods, I walked deeper into the woods and soon reached the goblin camp.

  The huts were made of timber like a log cabin.

  Yeah, I really was going to do it. Putting the pen on the log cabin, “Archive material.”

  The runes spread around the walls and soon they burst into light. I obtained over 50 logs in one go.

  The boss room walls were set to be dirt like the corridors, that made wood a necessity to set up the inner portions. I archived another hut to have surplus.

  “Now I need dirt,” I said and exited the village. I saw a small mound on the west side of the village.

  Looking inside the village and how flat the land was I figured they must have flattened the land.

  I walked until the edge.

  “Archive material.”

  Dirt is ever present around everything. Please designate where you want to take dirt.

  “Archive the small dirt hill in front of me,” I said.

  The pen glowed and two lines spread in opposite directions and circled the mound. When it connected, the circle widened on its own until it reached the flattest land.

  Next, runes spread out and soon the hill burst into particles of light.

  In one sitting I acquired around several tons of dirt.

  “This is a really good method for flattening land for construction,” I said to myself.

  “Designate material to boss room construction,” I said.

  Dirt and wood materials present supplying construction materials to new room construction.

  Wood and dirt demand satisfied. Time until construction completion 4:15:23:45

  “Two and a half day speed up, not bad. I now need bushes and grass, trees as well,” I muttered.

  I walked around and archived still planted trees and after taking around 20 as well as 45 bushes, I met the demand for vegetation dropping the time by two more days.

  Going to the water's edge I found lots of rocks but after searching I found several decent rocks and archive them dealing with the wolf’s stone bed problem. Now only a day and a half before the room would be complete.

  “Guess all that's left now is the moonstones. Oh right, with two crystals maybe I can upgrade mana drop flower into something similar to the moonlight flower the wolves like,” I muttered.

  I returned to the empty goblin village and sat in its center and opened the upgrade for the vegetation.

  I then pressed the mana drop flower.

  Evolutionary options for the mana drop flower

  Mana Flow Blossom

  Heavenly Light Mana Drop Flower

  Mana Blossom

  Self made flower

  I was really surprised by the fact that last option existed.

  I pressed it and read the main features.

  “Flower that grows off mana in the air and earth and blossoms only under the light of the full moon.”

  Features correspond with existing flower, moonlight azure blossom. Would you like to evolve a pair of mana drop flowers into moonlight azure blossoms?

  Warning, due to the very nature of this plant, the necessary mana needed for this evolution will use all exp crystals and all stored mana to produce and will incur a -500 to the mana regeneration of Book of the Dungeon Maker for each flower planted for two hours.

  “Holy shit! This is a fucking high demand flower. No wonder that damn mutt needs to keep moving around searching for good spots to plant this thing in, the fucking flower sucks the area dry,” I cursed.

  Before accepting I summoned the guardian out of precautions since I had no idea how this would affect my skills and summons. Finally, I accepted and the two exp crystals instantly vanished and the book visibly dulled from its normal white cover.

  I opened and found no dots in the still open dungeon. Even the farm dungeon wasn't working. The mana regeneration was zeroed by the transformation, no it was five hundred negative since it was two flowers.

  This boss was seriously needy but at least I could harvest a rare plant due to it

  “Great, it seem I can't use my skills until the book finishes making the plants,” I muttered.

  I sent the guardian out to patrol the village just to keep animals out. With the free time available until the girls returned, since we promised to meet there, I pulled out a wooden carving knife I got from the puppets and looking around I found some wood and took a stick back to where I was before and began killing time trying to sculpt.

  I did mention I was a NEET right, so obviously I know the benefits of being a sculptor. Hey if I figured out the moon rune I could play around as that class. The moonlight blade was OP like hell since it ignored defenses.

  For the next hour, I made several parts, and when I noticed I had a hand sized wooden puppet but the marionette kind found on earth.

  “I really am fixed on puppets huh...” I muttered.

  “Well, what do we have here?” a loud voice called out.

  I turned to look and found that adventurer guy and the four others from his, party plus eight more grunts. If I remembered correctly, they had around twenty grunts. I sure cleaned up.

  “You guys need something?” I asked just before a prompt saying I gained the sculpting skill and it mixed with my crafter skill.

  “Yeah, your head!” the leader shouted. “Once we kill you we will wait for those bitches and teach them a lesson. You were a really lucky brat for surviving that dungeon but your luck's run out,” the leader shouted.

  “Boss, let's not forget that rainbow moonstone one of the girls had, I bet she is loaded or from some rich ass family,” another man said.

  “Heh, that little stone will let us all retire and this goblin village is a good place to make a base and hire some peasants to work the fishing business making us richer. But first, I want to torture this fucker until he cries for his mama!” the leader shouted with a vicious grin on his face.

  They pulled out their swords and all grinned as well with the mage already chanting to catch me.

  “Guardian, front and center!” I shouted.

  BOOM!

  Hearing my shout, the guardian jumped over several huts before landing five meters in front of me with a loud bang.

  Obviously, even with his bulky size you couldn’t underestimate him at full strength. After all, he personally said his strength was on par with a boss monster from the 50th floor of a dungeon. It goes to show his own power, and because he didn’t need to think much he could use my rune knowledge in attacks more efficiently than I could.

  All the men ready to run at me stopped and even stumbled. After all the power behind the jump and his weight, which couldn’t be any less than two or three tons, caused quite a strong tremor that even shook the nearby houses let alone the men standing some 15 meters away.

  I, who was sitting down, only felt the powerful vibrations and had no worries though it was
a shock how he decided to appear.

  “Boss… that’s the thing that was guarding the gathering point in the dungeon!” one man shouted.

  “What the fuck is that thing doing here?” the boss replied.

  “Oh, you guys know about him, heh, it seems I don’t need to introduce you then, I will make it short and simple. This is a Level 75 dungeon guardian puppet that I have bound to myself through my class. Take care. Now guardian, besides the boss and those of the six upper ranked members of their group, kill the grunts,” I said simply.

  “Yes Master!” he said and gripped the sword on his back and pulled it out.

  With the longsword in hand the already pale men lost all fighting spirit when they heard level 75.

  “It’s a middle B rank monster! RUN!” one man said.

  All the men ran and I wondered what they meant by B rank. I knew the adventurer ranking went from F to A then S to SSS. Could it be a level system for monster as well? If level 10 was E rank then 25 D, 40 C, 75 B. I needed to check that, I remembered there was quest requirement so I think the lower ranks of adventurers is just by contribution but other ranks probably required strength.

  With the men running, the guardian gave only a quick push off the ground, that left many cracks and lifted up dirt, and soon reached the first one.

  “Make sure to bring back the upper ranked men,” I shouted.

  With one swing the man was split in half and the shock wave from the hit reaching the ground caused a quake and sent a shock wave at the other men.

  My jaw dropped as I watched, I really didn’t expect him to be that powerful. Since I had him tank he didn’t attack much but could take several goblins each hit but he was held back. I never expected him to possess such a degree of power.