Foiled Plans

Avorn and Camellia once more returned to Violet's dungeon. However, while they were more familiar with the dungeon's layout, they still were not very eager to complete the challenges. The number of rooms in the dungeon had made it clear that the dungeon was developed enough that it wouldn't be long before the dungeon would have a second-floor.

At that point in time, it was likely that the adventurer's guild would start properly investing in the town and the dungeon would likely become much busier. That meant that now was the best time for Avorn and Camellia to farm experience by killing the weak slimes on the first-floor. They, currently, didn't have very much competition for using the dungeon and didn't have to worry about how long it would take for the [Monsters] to respawn or whether someone else would get impatient about getting a turn to use the dungeon room.

When a dungeon became too busy, it was common etiquette to not spend too much time in any one room before moving on and to allow those who arrived first to have their turn without being hindered. That didn't stop some adventurers from abusing their strength or numbers to camp in a room and farm the [Monsters] and resources within anyhow, but that was a different matter.

Still, usually, the dungeon floor would end up emptying eventually. The dungeon resources in a room wouldn't reset without the room being empty for a set amount of time, unlike the [Monsters] which would respawn regardless of whether the room was preoccupied or not. As such, it was common for the lower floors of a dungeon to empty at night. Only the higher floor where more heavily geared adventurers, who planned to climb the dungeon tower as high as they could, would camp out would still have adventurers on them after a certain point in the day. Even then, most adventurers tried to avoid remaining on the topmost floor for too long to avoid upsetting the dungeon master.

Regardless, Avorn and Camellia planned to use this golden opportunity for what it was and they were only going to farm experience and collect resources today. As their main tribute for the day, they had brought cattails that had been gathered from a nearby river while they were washing their clothes and bathing early that morning. However, they had also been sure to bring some watercress for the tribute well so they could safely take a break when needed. The watercress was everywhere so it was simple to grab some and store it for later.

As they were still both only d-rank adventurers, it was still possible to level up while fighting weak beginner [Monsters] like slimes. However, it certainly still took a good couple of hours just to gain a single level. Slimes were considered f-rank [Monsters] and were some of the weakest, even amongst beginner [Monsters]. So, they were easier to defeat, but they also only gave a small handful of experience, regardless of whether they were a specialized type of slime or a basic slime.

Still, they both felt quite satisfied as they left the dungeon with their bags full of herbs, flowers, and fruits. Most of their harvest would be sold to the locals and the merchants who were beginning to set up shop in town. However, some of the herbs and fruits would also be saved for their own uses. Avorn enjoyed having fresh herbs to cook with and Camellia had a bit of a sweet tooth, so it was always nice to have them on hand as well.

After the most recent party left, Violet quickly got back to work on her new boss room. All 50 points of mana were used to finish the azalea hedge maze. 100 MP was a lot to build a maze, but Violet quite liked the size of her boss room and felt the investment was well worth it. It felt more like a challenge room right now, since there was only a hedge maze, but that was fine since it would only be a short while longer before it could be used as a proper boss room.

Not long after that, another party visited the dungeon. As Violet needed something to do while she waited for whoever was in her dungeon to leave, she decided to familiarize herself with the path through her new boss room. It wouldn't be very helpful if she got lost every time she tried to leave her dungeon core room or vice versa. While she could check the dungeon map at any time to figure out where she was, it was still better to be able to know where she was going just off of memory.

Tobias's party was once more back to explore the dungeon. This time, they had brought unscented lye bar soap and a plain wooden comb. Scented bar soaps were slightly more expensive and had to be bought at specialty shops, but the plain sort tended to be cheaper and more common since almost anyone could make it. As for the combs, there were nice, engraved, ivory combs that the nobility liked to use, but they were hardly suitable for a tribute meant to cover a single dungeon trip.

As their party had begun to notice new rooms appearing in the dungeon, they had decided to take the day off from attempting challenges. Since they had yet to submit the map to the adventurer's guild, they didn't have to worry about any problems arising. The dungeon accords couldn't stop a navigator from exploring the dungeons and having their mental map automatically updated as they went.

So, the rules had to be followed in a more complicated manner. The maps would be commissioned once a year by the adventurer's guild and then only the person who had been commissioned that year to map that specific dungeon had the right to sell the dungeon maps. So long as they didn't submit the map to the adventurer's guild, they would still be free and clear to update the map.

It was only slightly surprising that there still weren't any [Traps] in the dungeon, nor any rooms that locked you in until a challenge was completed. Since Violet had stated that the dungeon would never have any [Traps] anywhere but directly outside the dungeon core room, they knew there was a possibility that she was telling the truth. It was also possible that she was lying or trying to trick them somehow, but it did make the new rooms on the already relatively safe first-floor rather unsurprising.

The new challenges were a bit frustrating to discover. Having more challenges was good since the dungeon would be considered more valuable and they would get paid more for the information they provided, but it also meant they'd be stuck here longer. Tobias's party had yet to even complete the first challenge in this dungeon since the two they had been working on were too difficult. The slime challenge was easier with the new sacks, but they were still having problems with the slimes hiding in the rabbit holes.

It took several hours to thoroughly explore the dungeon and get it mapped. It didn't help that they ended up getting lost in a rather large maze full of nothing but azalea flowers either. This time, they avoided going into the dungeon core room since it was still clear where it was on the map from the last time they had entered. Some of the hallways had changed their locations as the previous hallway that led from the hay meadow to the dungeon core room had been removed, but the dungeon core room was always in the center of the dungeon, so they didn't need to find it again.

Violet groaned in annoyance after Tobias's party finally left her dungeon. She remembered them, they were the ones who did the dungeon mapping. That was likely to defeat the purpose of having a maze for anyone who bought their maps. She had ducked into the dungeon core room when she sensed their party getting close to the new boss room, not really feeling like dealing with visitors right now. However, she had heard their voices and recognized them due to the impressions they had made the last time they had met.

Well, she also had her improved memory to thank, which had made memorizing the maze layout much easier than anticipated. It was still difficult to get used to the strange way her memory worked after bonding with the dungeon core and becoming a dungeon master. Having select memories be hazy while everything else could be recalled in nearly perfect detail was difficult to adjust to. It was like Violet was living in a different body and mind due to the subtle changes she had undergone after being reincarnated into this world.

With the dungeon points from both Avorn's and Tobias's parties, Violet now had a total of 220 DP. That combined with her 50 MP meant that she was now free to spend some points on research for her new boss room.

"I'd like to research apple trees in the apple blossom stage. Preferably ones where the apple blossom petals can fall and leave a flower petal path on the ground below."

Violet wasn't sure if it was necessary to be so specific or if it even made a difference in how the tree would function. However, she much preferred to be safe than sorry.

[Would you like to spend 20 DP to research apple blossom trees using [Item] apple tree?

Yes or No?]

Violet selected the [Yes] option and then immediately built five apple blossom trees for 50 MP. She didn't bother walking through the maze to do so, but chose to use the construction view instead. As it wasn't necessary to physically be in the room or nearby to build anything, Violet could instantly build everything. However, it made her feel more comfortable to summon the item while nearby and to be able to see everything was laid out the way she wanted it in person.

Violet supposed it made sense she didn't need to be in a specific place to build things. She was connected to the dungeon and dungeon core and it wasn't like she was physically placing the item. She was just choosing what to summon and where, which could easily be done anywhere within the dungeon.