Respawn, Forest

'She is not yet gone.'

Lan felt apologetic for just sending his companions into combat as if it was a game as if they were an NPC. He didn't consider the fact that they were actual living beings, and unlike some mob, they had feelings and emotions. Hence, Tag was pretty much depressed after the death of his life companion.

While death may be commonplace in his domain, Lan would not let his friends die.

Still, he had predicted the possibility of such an outcome as Nacht was inexperienced in combat against humans, and as such he had already memorized the 'blueprint' of Nacht's body.

Soon mana started to converge near Tag, not startling him in the least, on the contrary, he looked toward the swirling mass with expectation.

Flesh made of mana emerged, fur darker than the night covering it. Red eyes remained hidden behind the closed eyelids. A Heart Core was pulsing inside of the chest, shadow mana being generated inside of it, suffusing the body through the newly built Mana Circuit.

But it remained still as it was without a soul. Though Lan was quick to fix that.

He directed the Nacht's soul into her new body, merging them flawlessly.

Soon, her eyes opened, once again burning in the dark.

She remembered her battle, her failure, her death. Nacht remembered the grievous howl of her companion in her final moments. As such, upon seeing him once again, she immediately nuzzled close in a display of affection.

Lan was observing this all the while. He was genuinely happy to see them back together and relieved that Nacht retained her memories. That was good for two reasons.

The first is the fact that Nacht remained Nacht and not some other Shadow Wolf. The second reason is the retention of memories. She would grow with every battle, gaining experience and wisdom. 

That would probably be the same for every respawned creature, allowing them to gain strength and descend further.

Also, her reconstructed body was the same as before she went into battle, with the exception of Shadow Mana, as Lan wasn't attuned to it. However, Shadow Mana was engraved into the structure of Nacht's Heart Core, allowing her to regenerate it from nothing, not losing her precious affinity.

This also meant that if Lan updated his records of Beast Blueprints or 'Beast Patterns', his Guardians could 'level up' by retaining the mana gathered during the period before the respawn in the form of a bigger Heart Core, which got bigger with the accumulation of mana.

Still this whole 'raid' taught Lan some things as well.

The overall strength of the Entrance Chamber was lacking, with Beasts being easily overpowered by humans, and not inflicting any severe wounds on the party. Only the Floor Guardian could present some form of challenge.

While it was expected of the 'tutorial level' with the smallest concentration of mana, it was still disappointing. However, the party was well-coordinated and versatile. Lan estimated that any unprepared human without a party could easily perish here.

The second thing that concerned him was the fact that his bossroom didn't possess any doors. The invaders could come and go as they pleased, even running away from the battle. Meanwhile, in any standard RPG game, it was a battle to the death, either the attacker or the boss died.

Lan had no idea how to create such a door though, so he put it down on his to-do list.

The fact remained that the human party escaped, and humans usually lived in communities.

'In conclusion, they are very likely, no, certain to report my location to their settlement. And they will either avoid my domain... Or try to destroy me. They might have even been sent specifically to find me... I need to be prepared.'

Lan concluded that his defenses were still lacking, the Entrance Chamber being largely irrelevant, and other Chamber and Floor not even possessing a boss chamber at all.

Not having any ideas for further reinforcement of the Entrance Chamber, Lan turned his gaze to the Second Chamber, which was largely empty after being expanded to 300x300 meter size.

However, Lan realized something.

'What's the use of all that space if the enemy can just walk through all that without nary an obstacle, straight to the tunnel down? While it does give ample living space for the flora and fauna, it doesn't give much protection...'

Suddenly Lan got an idea.

'...Mazes... Forests... Labyrinths... Got it!'

The idea was to make the entire Chamber covered in a dense forest, which would be hard to navigate, the central pillar's light only providing minuscule illumination under all the leaves and branches, the pillar itself not being visible.

Amidst all that, there would be an obvious path, but it would wind through the whole chamber, not being straightforward in the slightest. It would lead through territories of various Beasts and even Monsters, forcing the enemy to engage in battles should they follow the path.

And if they didn't follow it, they would have to navigate the forest with their own skill.

However after Lan recalled the primary method of navigation all invaders, be they human or beast, this whole idea could turn for naught.

That issue was the navigation using the flow of mana. As the passage leading downward naturally leaked stronger mana, the direction of it was quite obvious.

'Ugh... What a pain, a bunch of cheaters, the lot of them... But if they follow the flow of mana... What if I disrupt it somehow?'

Following this line of thought, Lan began thinking of solutions to the problem.

'Theoretically, if they follow the dense mana, what if the passage downward wasn't the place where it was densest?.. What if there were points of concentrated mana all around? They would not know which one to follow!'

Closing in on the solution, Lan continued to think of what he could make to do so. The answer was quite obvious actually.

'Mana Crystals!'

Indeed, Mana Crystals were basically mana extremely concentrated in a material. However, within them lay another issue.

'What will prevent Beasts and invaders from just removing and stealing them? How do I conceal or protect them in a way that they fulfill their purpose?'

Lan then recalled how humans spoke of the Mana Crystal 'Lamps' in the ceiling, how they were bright and unreachable.

'Lamps... Moths... A lamp? A Lamp!'

Yet another inspiration struck Lan.

Mana Crystals were not just containers of mana, they further absorbed and dispersed mana of the same type, kind of like a magnet. As a consequence, they attracted Beasts and Monsters with their mana.

As was shown with Remy (The Earth-evolved mouse), they tried to take possession of them and then stayed near them with the purpose of absorbing said mana.

So, if the crystals were impossible to remove the Mana Crystal, then the Beast or Monster would settle near it, making it an excellent Beast lure! Also, they would be 'visible' to anyone attuned to mana. So, if Lan placed them along the path he would make, then he would kill two birds with one stone, creating a 'Moth Lamp'.

Still, the question of the exact structure remained unsolved. Just putting them in the ground or some pillar would make them easily recoverable. So, the holder of the Mana Crystal must have regenerative properties, which usually means it is alive.

Lan glanced around the whole second Chamber, which, to be honest looked more like a Floor due to its size. He scanned the living beings inside of it. The fauna wasn't suitable to be a 'lamp post', as it was mobile. So it had to be Flora, or in other words a plant.

And what plant is big, tough, and possibly tall? A tree.

So, Lan looked through the available trees. There were various broadleaf and coniferous trees, making a mixed forest. Lan wasn't picky when he looked for trees to plant.

There were tall pines, mighty oaks, and even maples.

Still, among them stood out a single birch. Somehow it was the only one of its kind down here, standing out with its white bark among all other trees.

The choice for a 'lamp post was quite obvious in his mind. The 'Lamp post' should 'illuminate' the path by standing out amidst both the mana flow and visually. Its appearance stood out already, all that remained was to get a Mana Crystal inside of it.

'But... Am I just supposed to shove it inside somehow? That won't work... Bah, I haven't even made the path itself, why am I concerned with this already? Don't put the food before the bowl.'

So Lan began to plan out the winding path, fully exploiting the space provided by the Chamber.

First of all, why should there be a single path? There could be multiple. They would twist through the forest, intersecting in some places, evoking a feeling of uncertainty. And while they may be mapped out by humans later on, they would fulfill their purpose for now.

Lan settled on two paths, one leading to the left, and another leading to the right. The left one would lead the traveler through the left side of the Chamber obviously. Lan planned to cover that part with high pine trees, the traveler not being able to see past the nearby walls of wood. It would also leave plenty of space for ambushes.

Lan immediately began to work on it before planning out the second one so that the idea did not fade from his head (though it was physically incapable of doing so).

He controlled a current of mana that grabbed the seeds of perpetually blooming trees. The perpetual bloom was yet another effect of Life Mana. The seeds were carried to the leftmost fringes of the Chamber, and there they sprouted. They quickly gained in height, their roots spreading through and cracking the ground.

The newly grown trees soon bloomed as well, and Lan then planted the seeds from them, shortening the distance conveniently. However, Lan carefully avoided the mentally planned-out path and clusters of already-grown vegetation.

Not long after, the whole left side of the Chamber was covered in a thick pine forest with a path clear of any trees, with an occasional clearing along the path as well.

Those clearings were part of the path as well, Lan would plant the 'Lamp Posts' there, also providing space for battle.

Before making any, he wanted to finish the right Path as well though.

The right side would be covered with dense broadleaf trees. Although it would not restrict vision in the same way as the left side, the trees being less numerous, instead they would restrict light.

The trees on the right would be planted in such a dense way that the right side would be in a perpetual state of near-complete darkness. A haven for animals with night vision. 

Only the 'Lamp Post' clearings would be somewhat free of them, allowing some light to pass through, adding another incentive for the traveler to follow the path.

Lan then executed the plan, this time planting various oaks and maples. They were more spaced out due to their thicker trunks and broader branches.

Once again they quickly sprouted up instead of decades of growth. But they didn't completely 'cover the sky' with their branches. So Lan filled up the gaps where he miscalculated, and soon the right side of the Chamber was covered in near-darkness.

As Lan was mentally wiping his sweat (though it didn't take all that much effort), Lan noticed that vegetation in the central hundred meters now seemed lacking in comparison to the forests around the Paths.

It also allowed travelers easy access if they just tried to follow the middle.

'That won't do, I wouldn't want my work to be for naught now, would I?'

To prevent easy navigation, Lan planted additional bushes and trees, filling in the gaps that were now apparent.

The result was a dense mixed forest that was covered in shadows and you couldn't see far either. A mix of both sides.

However, yet again he left space for the Paths as well. They would intersect in the clearing around the Central Pillar, which seemingly provided a respite, but due to the big Mana Crystal in the pillar itself, it also lured in Beasts.

The paths then split yet again, each going into the opposite type of forest if the traveler didn't switch to another. They were shorter compared to the first half though, and they intersected and converged into a single path not far from the tunnel leading down. 

However, before the boss room itself, Lan planned out one last trick.

In the middle of that converged path, there would also be a 'lamp post'. A series of them by the sides of the path, causing the invader to be constantly attacked.

However for now Lan had the places for 'lamp posts', but not 'lamp posts' themselves.

'Let's get building now, shall we?'