Hopping Critters

"Before we leave, do you have a preference on what sort of tribute you would like to have, Violet?"

Theodore looked a bit calmer now that the issue at hand had been resolved. Violet thought the question over for a bit before replying

"Well, I have bees who can produce honey, but I don't have any honey in my [Base Resources]. It would be nice if I could add that to the list."

Theodore nodded before pointing to David

"He can take care of that. Anything in your dungeon that is removed from the dungeon is no longer recognized as property of the dungeon. So, all he will need to do is harvest some, leave the dungeon, and then return to leave it as tribute. Is there anything else you want?"

Violet smiled as she easily replied

"Well, I could also use some eggs."

Theodore laughed amusedly as he noted

"You sure seem to like collecting culinary ingredients and plants, huh? What are you planning on doing with all of this?"

Violet smiled alongside Theodore, feeling better with his company as she answered

"Well, I need rewards for any challenges I set up. I've already got a reward in mind for my first challenge, but I'll need more ingredients for any future rewards I want to set up."

Theodore looked thoughtful as he asked

"Is that what that room I passed by earlier was? I've not seen a puzzle like that before, but I'm sure it will make for an interesting addition to your dungeon. Challenges are certainly a good way to encourage adventurers to spend more time in your dungeon. I noticed you have two other rooms branching off from your puzzle room, what do you have in those?"

Violet shook her head as she answered

"I just wanted to use my mana up before going to bed last night, so I just built two small hallways and one small rectangle room. The other hallway is a dead-end. I didn't put anything in the room yet. I'm thinking I'll just work on setting some rooms up first before I start working on filling them in. Now that more people have been visiting, I don't have much time to build in the daytime. Luckily, I do get some downtime at night, though."

Theodore pursed his lips in concern as he cautioned

"Well, it's good that you are getting some time to rest, but don't let your guard down too much. It isn't like it is impossible for people or [Monsters] to come in at night as well."

Theodore and David left not long after that. With another full mana pool, Violet quickly switched into building mode. Last night, she had absorbed the iron sword and gotten it as an [Item] alongside some iron as a [Base Resource]. That had brought her total to 42DP, which was immediately reduced to 30DP after she set the iced carrot bread as a reward for her slime-themed jigsaw puzzle.

Violet had gained another 13MP regen for the day, but it was now up to 50MP after David and Theodore's visit. Violet quickly built another two rooms, bringing her down to 2MP, and then exited the building mode, grabbing the wall for support. She was slowly getting used to the sensation of switching back and forth, but it was still certainly disorienting.

As Violet had yet to accept her mission reward, she did so now.

"Please accept the reward for the challenge mission."

[Would you like to receive the reward now?

Yes or No?]

Violet selected the [Yes] option, bringing up the next system prompt

[Please select one of the following options to be randomly awarded a [Critter] from:

-Echinodermata

-Chordata - Mammalia

-Chordata - Amphibia]

Violet wasn't really sure what the first option was, but she wanted to play it safe for once. The last two choices were pretty clearly mammals and amphibians. However, mammals was a rather large group of animals and Violet wasn't sure what the system would classify as cute. She could end up with a platypus or something else equally weird and Violet just didn't feel like dealing with that right now. Instead, she decided to go with the safer option.

"I'll go with the [Chordata - Amphibia] option."

[Randomizing options...]

[New [Critter] option unlocked!

Jade Tree Frog (2MP)

Behaves the same as a normal jade tree frog. Poor combat skills, excellent jumping skills. Is safe to consume.]

Violet wasn't sure what to think about the frog being labeled as safe to consume. She certainly wasn't planning on eating any frogs she created. The type of frog was certainly not one that Violet had heard of before, but the name made it sound rather nice. The mana cost wasn't bad either so Violet assumed it wouldn't be a bad option for a future pond-themed room. Violet felt it might be better to get some more fish options before making one, though. Would be kind of boring if she only had koi fish and jade tree frogs.

Soon there was the feeling of someone entering the dungeon again, but, just as quickly, it was gone again. Violet checked her menus and noted that she now had chicken eggs listed as a new [Item] and eggs as a new [Base Resource]. She also now had a total of 139DP since she also had pine cones, beebalm flowers, and 4 repeat [Items] from her kodama foraging the day before.

Violet had to assume the kodama was venturing out further than before as time went on or else it wouldn't make sense for it to be finding so many new varieties of plants. That likely accounted for the number of repeats as well since it would likely end up tired from the initial longer trip and end up taking shorter ones later on. Violet honestly wasn't sure if it was better to suggest the kodama just make fewer trips and only bring back new [Items] or if she should just be grateful for its efforts, so she was just letting it make its own choices for now.

Violet walked around her dungeon, checking out her new rooms. She now had two rooms to either side of the slime jigsaw puzzle room for a total of four entrances in the room. There was also a room in between the slime jigsaw puzzle room and the dungeon core room. That made for a total of five rooms in her dungeon, which made Violet feel quite happy. While most of them were empty, her plan to make a more complex setup in her dungeon was starting to take form and it would only be a short while longer before it would all look like a real dungeon.