Vacancies

The new day brought another 13MP as well as 39DP thanks to Violet's kodama foraging a black walnut and some repeats. This brought Violet up to 50DP, which wasn't enough for any useful upgrades. So, she chose to set it aside for now.

Instead, Violet walked to her garden meadow room and spent 10MP to apply lavender and chamomile for her bees. They'd be useful for the adventurers and they were some of the only herbs that had flowers to pollinate. While more normal herbs like peppermint or mint might not be too bad to add later on, it was more important to ensure honey production was stable first.

Violet headed to the wildflower room, feeling bored. She hoped that Gregory and Henry would show up today. They had only shown up once in the last week and Violet felt a bit disappointed by it. Henry seemed like he had a good bit of potential as a swordsman and Violet enjoyed cheering him on. Plus, David and Gregory were the closest thing Violet had to friends. They weren't really as close as friends usually were, but they consistently showed up and spent time in her dungeon, which was better than Violet could say about anyone else.

In order to pass the time, Violet decided to pull up her [Missions] tab. She was hopeful that there would be new missions that she could easily complete.

[Missions:

Origin: System

Status: Incomplete

Info: Place first trap

Reward: Unlock a new [Critter] option

Origin: System

Status: Incomplete

Info: Complete a boss room

Reward: Unlock a new [Critter] option

Origin: System

Status: Incomplete

Info: Complete half of the first floor

Reward: Unlock a new [Critter] option

Origin: System

Status: Incomplete

Info: Complete the first floor

Reward: Unlock a new [Critter] option

Origin: System

Status: Incomplete

Info: Unlock the second floor

Reward: Unlock a new [Critter] option

Origin: System

Status: Incomplete

Info: Unlock [Critters] from five different phyla.

Reward: Unlock a new [Critter] option

Origin: System

Status: Incomplete

Info: Unlock ten [Critters]

Reward: Unlock a new [Critter] option]

While there were in fact new missions to look over, Violet was disappointed to see there were none she could easily complete today. The one she was closest to finishing next would have to be either the one requiring her to unlock a [Critter] from five different phylums or the one requiring her to complete half of the first floor. The boss room one wouldn't take too terribly long either, but Violet just wasn't sure what she wanted to use as a boss monster yet. That wasn't even to mention the fact that she had yet to figure out if there was any special way she had to go about creating a boss monster.

Thus far, Violet had three different types of [Critters] unlocked. There was the koi fish, the jade tree frog, and then the bumblebees. All three were from different phylums, so she would only have to continue to select [Critters] from new types of phylums two more times in order to get the reward for it. It wasn't like Violet needed any specific [Critters] right now, so she was fine with this.

As for the completion of half of the first floor, Violet already had a good chunk of space used up. Right now, she was somewhere between a quarter and a third way through building the first floor. This had required nearly two weeks to complete, which wasn't too bad considering she was expected to spend the rest of eternity working on the dungeon. However, it also felt like the first big hurdle she needed to get past before she could properly start working on the dungeon.

The requirements for unlocking the second floor were supposed to be using up half the space on her current floor, building a boss room, and saving up enough dungeon points to unlock the upgrade. While Violet had no idea what would be required for the other two requirements, she still couldn't help but feel like they'd be easier to achieve than filling her first floor with useful rooms.

While Violet was contemplating all of this, Elivyre and Diva entered the dungeon once more. The last few days had been filled with busy work as she contacted her father and building contractors to get things set up for her new shop. However, now she would have to wait quite a while before she could do anything else.

It would take a few months for the shop to be built, even once the builders got out here and started their work. That left Elivyre in the rather awkward position of needing to find suitable housing and a way to run her business in the meantime. No innkeeper in their right mind would allow Elivyre to keep a cauldron and other alchemist tools in an inn room. It would be too much of a fire hazard and they couldn't afford the risk of scaring off their other potential patrons.

As such, Elivyre had talked the town leader into letting her rent a recently abandoned home near the outskirts of town. Some of the locals had started to pack up their things and leave for other towns where it would be safer. They weren't equipped to handle the influx of free-roaming [Monsters] and any other consequences the new dungeon would cause. They were only weak commoners with very little ability to fight back.

This was a rather common occurrence when it came to new dungeons. Cities would form near the dungeon with sturdy defensive walls, capable guards, and a bustling marketplace, but the locals who lived here now would have to make the hard choice of staying or leaving for safety. Neither choice was really ideal since they both had their drawbacks.

Dungeons processed the aether in the air and the new safety measures implemented would make it safer for those in the city. However, it would take a while for things to be built and things would be more dangerous in the meantime. Even once things were built, there was no way to know just how dangerous the area would end up being until it was too late. The dungeon could be relatively harmless or it could make life quite difficult.

Powerful free-roaming [Monsters] like ogres and wyverns tended to cause quite a bit of destruction and were not easily put down without powerful high-ranking adventurers to counteract them. Unless the local dungeon was worth the trouble, though, it would be difficult to convince high-ranking adventurers to move in and protect the regular citizens on a daily basis.

There was also the matter of just how much trouble the dungeons themselves could cause. Some of the contracted [Monsters] could kill and kidnap people while others just caused disturbances. Spiders and ghosts had a tendency to creep people out and very few people wanted to live with such creatures on a regular basis. That wasn't even to mention the fact that a corrupted or damaged dungeon core could cause an entire city to die from a plague overnight.

Still, it also wasn't easy for those who lived further away from dungeons either. Without a dungeon to process the aether in the air, there were very few places safe enough for people to live. Even then, that didn't guarantee no one would develop aether poisoning and end up dying a rather slow and painful death. Since alchemists and healers tended to gravitate towards dungeons and cities where their craft was more appreciated, it also meant it was difficult for those with aether poisoning to get treatment.

Still, regardless of what Elivyre thought of the matter, she couldn't deny that she was benefitting from the locals leaving. It meant that she could rent an empty house and set up shop, buying herbs and selling potions to the adventurers drawn to the dungeon. However, Elivyre also needed to know just how common the herbs in the dungeon were so she could set proper prices for them. That was why she was here now. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to gather some of her own ingredients so that she could increase her profit.