Alexander always hated this part, while he didn't consider himself miserly by any means, trying to make a limited resource stretch and reach what it needed to supply was always a rough situation. Especially so in the dungeon, the higher tier upgrades cost alot, and while remaining merits was not a pittance to have left over, the higher tier monsters would cost much of that number. Worse still was the time dilation. He needed to get back to Colter not in a few hours but in a few minutes.
If he waited hours, months would go by out there, his precious built reputation would slip and he'd have to start over. With so much to do and so little time he was feeling the pressure. Rubbing his face he thought of his original plan, then smiled to himself. The workshop would have to wait. First was a Tier two graveyard, only this he expanded to fill the large cavern of level two. Next was the library and tavern, both these structures he put in the divide between levels, essentially making a way point between the two areas. The treasury he attached to the wall of the core room where it would be best protected.
Staring at the display layout of his adjusted dungeon he accepted the changes, looking at the notifications as they popped up.
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Dungeon Level two has become a large graveyard Tier two, continue?
Large graveyard upgrade placed. Undead of tiers one, two and three will naturally appear here when corpses rot into the soil, the more corpses present the greater chance the room will become a negative energy field.
A library has been constructed, do you wish to begin researching anything?
Available research topics include: Smithing, Leatherworking, Death Spells, Blood Spells, Necromancy, Swordsmanship.
A tavern has been created. Your living minions and hirelings will congregate here to relax, due to close proximity of the food supply the tavern has upgraded to an inn, humanoid minions may use this as a barracks.
A treasury has been constructed, the wealth of your dungeon is stored here. Normal minions and hirelings of Tier three or higher will demand wages or rewards for service, if funds are unavailable they may rebel.
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Alexander sighed, the upgrades were nice bonuses, but the true test was to come when they would actually be of use. As for the graveyard, all his skeletal minions were moved to the next level, the hoplite would serve as the boss while the captain would be an alright roaming mini boss. The skeletal porters were busy carrying the corpses from the first level to the graveyard, but the graveyard would be their home too. As for the first level, the goblin commander and his knights would guard the stairs to the next level while the kobolds, goblins and orcs would serve as roaming encounters.
Looking to the library he stationed Shank there, while initially the thought of a pig in a library might sound stupid it really was the best place to put the self important guardian. As for research, he had Shank focus on Leatherworking, if he could upgrade a goblin or kobold to a crafter position they might be able to produce armor for the first level more cheaply. Closing the windows Alexander exhaled and rubbed his tired eyes. There was so much to do and time, wether outside or inside, seemed ever against him.
Glancing around for Laytalya he crossed the core room to his bed chamber, watching the woman stretched across his bed like a self satisfied cat. Rolling around on the warm clean sheets like the silken bed sheets were completely foreign and sinfully decadent. "Time to go Laytalya."
The swordswoman stretched, arching her back as she gave a restricted groan of delight, "Five more minutes...?"
Alexander sighed dropping his face into his palm, time was precious and his companion was content to roll around in his bed like a feline. Grumbling he walked over grabbing Laytalya by her ankle, with a squeal he hauled her to the edge of the mattress. Glancing over her dark shoulder a mischievous smile crossed her full dark lips as she raised her full leather clad bottom and wiggled for his viewing pleasure. Still he was having none of it, they needed to head back.
Squatting down he pulled the protesting woman off the bed and slung her unceremoniously over a shoulder. Laytalya gave a gasp of surprise as Alexander seemed stronger than he looked, so easily hoisting her and carrying her off like a sack of potatoes. Dangling over his shoulder she kicked her legs, wriggling back and forth in his grip trying to struggle free of his rather undignified way of carrying her out. Still, his grip was tight and almost getting a boot heel to the face, he reached up and gave her chubby rump a slap, "Be good Laytalya we have to go, we can play back at the inn."
The return trip through the dungeon was interesting for Alexander, the large cavern was now a mist enshrouded graveyard, visibility was only about eight or ten feet before the thin fog made things indistinct. Unlike Laytalya's cavern, this graveyard used piles of tombstones and large memorials rather than rock croppings to break lines of sight. Headstones dotted the earthen ground and his skeletal minions could now and then be seen patrolling the unholy grounds.
It truly was shaping up into an impressive dungeon, or at least he thought so. The first level would need more creatures now that the undead were on the graveyard patrol but other than adding more kobolds and orcs he really didn't see anyone in his homeland getting past the goblin commander and his boys. They had so readily betrayed a Hero path they were ultimately doomed to pay the price for their narrow thinking. Exhaling as he carried Laytalya back out into the domain of Tress before setting her down, with a smile.
While he had enjoyed the compromising position she had been in, she was naturally less than thrilled, stalking off in a huff leaving Alexander standing outside his dungeon door with a waning playful smile. Glancing to the side he saw the eyes of the skeletal abomination peeking from the loose soil near by. He had wondered where the thing had made off to, but it was in fact, doing its assignment. Just it tended to stay half submerged in the loose soil until it encountered trouble.
Still it seemed to be watching the interaction with a bit of mirth, laughing to itself somehow that he had been abandoned by his woman. Glaring at the undead thing Alexander dashed after Laytalya to catch up leaving the abomination to return to its sneaky patrolling and quiet mirth. Nearby Laytalya was leaning against a rock pouting, she looked briefly at Alexander before turning her head and walking off... making all of five feet before her toe hooked a tree root and she fell with a squeal. Spitting some grass from her lips she snapped her attention to Alexander, who rather than laughing at her fall was reaching down to help her up.
Inside Alexander was pissing himself. She had flounced off all tsundere and what did she get? A face full of dirt. He was dying laughing inside his heart, but he did his best to remain looking like he wasn't taking great pleasure in her having to get helped up by him. "Not a word." She muttered softly as he pulled her up and let her dust herself off. Alexander pinched his lips and nodded watching Laytalya glare at him and sigh. "So why the rush Master? Tress isn't going anywhere..."
Alexander shook his head motioning to the portal behind, "In fact it might, you may not have noticed but its several hours later than when we went in yet we were only there for an hour at most. My dungeon moves slower than the world around it, you could very well stay inside for a year and likely come out to a changed Era. We simply cannot do such, to keep my realm hidden I need to establish myself and hold title to the land, only once I fortify the land will I feel secure in retreating there for any length of time."
Laytalya blinked looking strangely at Alexander before looking to the sky in shock, "You're not shitting me... your dungeon has time difference?!"
Alexander nodded lightly, "I tried to take the land by force originally but Tress wiped out my original holdings. No, I have to secure the area from this side and time before I retreat inside. I also have to work quickly, while I am a young man currently one of my goals requires I remain such. I cannot meet her in the future if I've wasted all my life out here while she remains a youthful maiden inside there. Thus my urgency, the more time wasted out here means I risk returning an aged old fart to her side."
Laytalya narrowed her eyes, "Her?"
Alexander sighed, the girls voice was tinged with jealousy, and he could hardly blame her. Few would want to be the stand in for a man pining for the girlfriend locked in time. Though in this case it would be hard to call her even that! After all, in truth she may only see him in such a light due to their childhood. He could not know her feelings since when she returned to his side she was already near death. Blowing away his negative thoughts he nodded at Laytalya, "A childhood love. We walked apart and when next I saw her she was teetering on the edge of death. The dungeon is healing her but at the same time it locks her to that time frame. To grow up out here and return to a youthful crush, it will be doomed all too easy. Imagine yourself, a few years inside you would remain the beauty you are now... but your man is out here and ages potentially decades... can you say that love will endure? I would think not."
Was love so shallow? Of course not! But it would be hard pressed to call what was between Alexander and Thersea as "love". Right now Alexander loved her as much as any childhood romance could, alot of it was physical attraction compiled with years of history... the majority of which was conflicting. For youths and teens to say love and hate could easily be interchanged would not be an exaggeration. Even for Alex having twenty one years on top of his current sixteen, made him no soothsayer in the art of love, one could even call Thersea his first crush that stood a chance of blossoming into a romance. The fact he was so out of control over the dungeons time dilation made him even more obsessive.
One could argue the seeds were there, after all she had tried to offer herself to him but he quickly shed this fact as being more of Death's mind games, would she really have offered herself up so readily had his spectral antagonist not done something to cloud her judgement? No, Alexander couldn't say for sure either way and would not leave it to chance. This, in itself, was providing Death with endless amusement, truth told, he had done nothing to the girl, it had been the young heroine's own fragile self esteem that had cracked at that moment, but this was a fact he'd leave for Thersea to explain down the road, for now he was content to watch Alex stew in his own misconceptions.
Laytalya, meanwhile, was listening as Alexander's worries slipped from his lips. A slight frown crossed her ebony lips watching this formerly strong dungeon lord crumbling around the edges as youthful insecurities and trying to shoulder the universal fate of two people crushed his small frame. Sighing to herself she snapped Alexander out of his panic by dragging him forward burying his face against her chest and stroking his hair, "Shhh, shut up Master." No one would ever accuse Laytalya about being empathic or even very astute but as one who valued herself rather strongly she was about to slug the guy. She was in his arms just the night prior for fucks sake! He's worried about his young love dumping him cause he might get older? What's the girl gonna do when she finds out she's been riding Alexander every chance she got? Yup, she might be a bit disgusted that he was getting worked up over some childhood love but she had him here and now, she'd be with him not her, let's see who ends up being his consort bitch!