Forgetful Old Man

A new day, another 13MP regenerated. Violet had to wonder if she would feel more excited when that number became 25MP each day or if she'd still feel like it was so little. If she regularly had people on her first floor and they no longer rushed to leave it since she had a second floor, it was likely that she'd have a lot more mana than she knew what to do with.

Although, that certainly would cause other problems. If she unlocked her second floor too quickly then she might not easily get a chance to build new rooms on the first floor again. Violet might even have to camp on her own first floor so she could jump at the first chance to build new rooms on it. She didn't exactly want to leave all of her floors half-built for all of eternity.

Violet sighed, deciding it would be best to ask Theodore about what to do about such issues when it came time. Surely protocols had to have been developed for such issues by now. There were plenty of older dungeons, from what Violet had heard. Violet finished walking to the garden meadow room. Looking at her cute jade tree frog jumping out of the well to greet her, she smiled.

"Don't worry little one, it's time. I'm going to get you some friends today."

Violet soon summoned another four jade tree frogs, taking up the last 8MP of space on the 50MP spawner in the room. Some of the [Critters] really were quite cheap. Save for the queen bumblebees, all of them had cost less than 2MP each. Of course, the queen bumblebee was a rare exception that was able to create new bees and run their own hives.

Most [Critters], much like [Monsters] could not breed and give birth. It was one of the downsides of being considered a dungeon creature. They could have semi-immortality and a safer environment, but they could never have families. Violet supposed she could sympathize with such feelings. Now that she had lost her husband, she would never have a family either.

The best she could hope for was the chance to help the next generation of adventurers in this world. By creating a more balanced dungeon that slowly scaled from being safe enough that even children could easily traverse the first floor without worry to a super deadly and challenging twenty-fifth floor. Violet did have to worry about her own safety, eventually. A few sword skills were hardly going to be enough when faced with more dangerous [Monsters] and adventurers.

Violet went to look at what her kodama had brought back the previous day when her menu closed on her. Other than seeing she now had creeping charlie and a total of 123DP, she didn't get the chance to see much else. It certainly was inconvenient having one's menus cease to function every time an adventurer walked into the dungeon. Usually Violet didn't have her menus open when people showed up, so it wasn't a reliable sign that adventurers had shown up. However, that didn't matter if it still kept her from opening it until they left.

Oh well, Violet would wait and see if they would make it to the dungeon core room. If they tried to get too close, she'd scare them off, but there was no point in interrupting every adventurer who showed up. Even if it was a monster, it was unlikely they'd make it very far. At worst, Violet would have to enter the depths of the slime parkour pool to attempt to kill the zombies. Maybe it would be a good chance to test if she actually needed to breathe? It wasn't like she required sleep or food, so it was clear that she didn't have to live by the same standards as most living things.

Ricard grumbled as he entered the dungeon with the others. He wasn't happy about being in a dungeon. He hadn't stepped inside one for his entire life and he didn't think now was the time to change that. His old bones and aching joints protested at every step and he was sure he was likely to lose his life today.

"Oh, quit your grumbling!"

Arthur scolded. Ricard looked at him and their other companion, Galileo. They were all old farmers with nothing more than farming tools at their disposal. They weren't fit to be in a dungeon.

"Why are we even here again?"

Galileo asked. Arthur patted the man on the back, earning a groan of protest, as he explained

"Is your memory failing you again, old man? We're here to see if this dungeon is truly as safe as they say it is. Can't have our grandchildren going off and dying before us, but it would be a wasted opportunity to just avoid the unknown."

Ricard sighed as he recalled the conversation they had had the night before. They were now here on this suicide mission merely because they couldn't stand the idea of the youngest members of their families dying all for the mere chance at discovering they had a class of their own. A life of adventuring was already dangerous enough, but it was even worse for those who had no way of knowing if they even had a class without risking their lives in the dungeons.

Ricard and his friends had agreed to go check on things on behalf of the entire town. If they made it back, then the others would know it was safe enough to take their chances. However, if the dungeon killed them all, then they would know it wasn't nearly as innocent as it seemed. None of them expected to make it out alive, expecting their weathered bodies to slow them down too much and for them to easily be defeated by even the weakest of [Monsters].

However, none of them were prepared for what they found within the dungeon.

"What is that blue thing? Why isn't it... attacking us?"

Galileo asked. Ricard looked at Arthur expectantly. He was the youngest of their group and had always enjoyed listening to the adventurers as they told their stories at the local tavern.

"I think I heard it was something called a... slime? I don't know why it isn't attacking us, though. Most adventurers just tell about how they defeated tough opponents like goblins or orcs. I've only heard a few adventurers recently grumbling about how weak the [Monsters] are here."

Ricard nodded his head as he stepped forward to face off against the slime. He wasn't one for words and much preferred to live quietly. However, he knew what his role was in this dungeon. He was here to live or die, based merely on luck and the dungeon master's whims. There was no point in standing around when he could get to work on trying to defeat the slime.

Sensing an opponent, the slime bounced towards Ricard. However, it still didn't use any dangerous attacks, even as Ricard thrust his pitchfork forward. By chance, one of the prongs hit the magic core with enough force that the slime popped on impact and immediately dissolved. Ricard looked around bewildered, but was soon reassured as Arthur came up to him, congratulating

"Nice! You managed to take it out! I wonder if there are any others around here?"

They didn't find any other [Monsters] in that room. The kodama knew better than to be discovered. Anytime [Monsters] or people came along, it was always quick to hide. It really wasn't sure how that one group had found it, but it wasn't really something the kodama wanted to hold onto either.

The group of three elderly farmers continued to move through the dungeon, slowly making their way forward. Through some luck, they managed to go through the door to the left and found themselves in the floodplains meadow next. Thanks to the slimes being more interested in hiding than engaging them in combat, their biggest struggle was crossing the river. However, even that wasn't a huge deal. The water remained still and it wasn't a very wide river, so it wasn't very dangerous. The only threat the river could offer was the potential for one of them to catch a cold, but the warm sun made the water warm and made it so their clothes could slowly evaporate the water.

"It's almost a shame we aren't here to harvest the resources. Those berry bushes and apple trees looked heavy with fruit. Outside of those who can traverse the dungeons to collect the fruit themselves, it's rare to come across such nice, fresh fruit. I think a few of the locals have their own apple, pear, or orange trees, but berry bushes definitely don't grow around here."

Arthur mused. Ricard merely nodded in acknowledgment, but said nothing. Meanwhile, Galileo looked out of it. Their poor friend was only lucid half of the time and often struggled with his memory. It was likely better for them to return, but they had already come so far and it seemed like it would be better to continue. Besides, his friend had seemed willing enough the night before, so it wasn't like it was his right to question his friend's right to throw himself to his death. It wasn't like he was any better off when it came to his suicidal decision.