Returning Home
The day after the herb gathering quest, Smaug and Rainha made the trek back to their dungeons. When they reached Rainha's tree they noticed a few other adventurers so they waited around as if they were taking a rest before entering the dungeon. Once the coast was clear Rainha went in and teleported to her core. While Smaug packed up and left for his dungeon.
He kept in touch with Rainha via player messages and learned two things. Firstly Rainha got to her core safely no one saw her or anything. Secondly, the bell-skirt very much was available. Not only that but it worked differently from any other thing someone could buy, in that the plants cost 100DP to plant a couple wherever, however they would (if possible) keep themselves populated much like their wild and natural counterpoints. Meaning unlike their monsters which couldn't naturally procreate within the dungeon, as long as they properly took care of these plants they would have an endless supply of free plants that they don't have to pay DP for, something the adventures would appreciate greatly.
After walking and being careful of monsters, Smaug eventually found his way to his own [Smoke Keep Caverns]. By now it was late, and everyone who wasn't stuck inside had gone home. Once Smaug stepped inside, he felt a rush of energy enter his body. Curing it off a level of exhaustion and hunger he hadn't even noticed.
"I missed this. Not needing to eat or sleep is way different and feels way better than just not being tired or hungry."
[while you were away:
9 sunsets have passed had passed: + 3600 DP
Many adventures were consumed by your dark depths + 2000
Some monsters were consumed by your dungeon + 1000
You have imprisoned many parties + 3000 DP
Many monsters were killed and replaced (based on previous commands and habits) - 2500
Keeping your prisoners alive (based on previous commands) - 250 DP
Total: 6,850 DP gained]
"Wait what? Hold on people fell for my telportation traps? YES! And they are just PRINTING DP!" I knew that was a good idea. Wait! That means they got to floor 2. How far have adventures gotten?"
[As far as floor 2, not many people are aware of the teleportation traps yet so no one has been able to get out due to underestimating the obvious tripwires and arrow traps. Concrete information on the second floor is yet to leave the dungeon.]
"Mwahaha, that is perfect. If I can keep abusing this, I can probably make a killing before the disturbance causes someone strong to check it out. This still is only a new dungeon, I don't imagine they think much of what it's capable of. I doubt they see many intelligent dungeon masters like me."
"Ah yes, I almost forgot. The whole reason I came back. I want to plant copious amounts of bell-skirt, I will part with 10,000 DP to plant 100 units. Spread it around where the cave wall meets the ground randomly but only where the adventurers can reach. Now I have one question, can I influence the bell-skirt to reproduce faster?"
[yes, for 1,000 DP (1/10th the total value for all of the targeted plants) you can increase the growth rate and reproduction rate of all bell-skirts by 50% for 24 hours. This will also apply to any bell-skirt that germinates due to this process.]
"Cool I'll do that, but is there anything I need to do to make the environment more habitable?"
[No, the bell-skirt present will grow to its most mature possible state as is.]
"That's good to know, now what is my DP at now?
[Current DP: 131,540 DP]
"That's quite the amount. But with that, I could make my 4th floor. Since I have just used the throne room, I might as well go back to the cave aesthetic. But I'll make all the tunnels bigger. And also alter their color to be more brown, rather than dark grey like the stone at the beginning of the dungeon. I'll buy five large cave systems for now and this dungeon will be more maze-like like and while there will be dead ends, I'll have a lot of loops. And maybe a couple of small cave systems to tack on the edges where I can shove a majority of my monsters to act as nests or dens."
[floor 4 cost: 2500 DP]
[enviorment cost: 3000]
"Ok, first I want more traps, so far I have used very few that weren't used in a way to distract you. I want almost invisible tripwires that trip you right into spike bits and flame throwers disguised as wholes in the ceiling. The stalag tights and stalagmites can even hide arrow traps."
[trap cost: 2500]
Now, I will fill the entire thing with sparsely populated kobolds. But I want a bunch of evolved ones too. So some mages, archers, commanders, and a couple assassins. Then I'll put in some wyverns and dragonlings. System tell them to wander around and to treat the dens on the edges of the floor as lounging spots while the monsters must remain vigilant everywhere else with no rest or eating. They aren't allowed even eat anything given to them at random based on their efforts without traveling to a den first."
[order received, basic floor script created. All monsters summoned on this floor will have this behavior ingrained into their habits automatically.]
"Convienient and perfect."
[moster cost: 3000]
"I can handle that, but first to check my DP before putting in treasure."
[Current DP: 120,540 DP]
"That should be perfect. I think I'll start using standard-level chests for this floor. Just a couple of them with their maximum of 5 spots each to randomly appear. But these guys also holp upwards of a silver coin worth of stuff, maybe I can pay off my debt with Rainha with these things."
[Treasure cost: 1500]
"Okay, now the entire floor is done, I've been logged in for only an in-game week, so I can spend a bit lazing about in my dungeon, maybe funneling resources towards my next level up, and thus floor. Then I can get my first major mini-boss and maybe upgrade Sca'Bla to a kobold king or something. Who knows, maybe do a bit of micro-managing. I can always definitely talk to Rainha when I'm bored."
After completely overhauling his dungeon, Smaug decided to take it easy for a while. He had no real plans other than to return to the guild soon and get his rank up. So he decided to spend his downtime where food and sleep weren't an issue so he didn't have to spend any money on living.
Meanwhile, deep underground. The black crystal containing the black flame had grown much larger and was starting to emit its ominous grey light. The cave it was in had since grown a whole lot, creating a tunnel towards the surface, inside of which was a sprawling cave system that almost seemed to spiral downwards towards the crystal. That is when an ominous voice spoke out:
"Soon, my plans against that puny lower being will be complete. The dragon born who stole my face and territory for his personal gain. I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!"