It's quite boring to wait for the DP to build up so I've gone back to playing with mana. I'm now able to control my amorphous blob of mana that surround my core to a greater extent. I think this could work as an extension of my body!
I've managed to create a limb using it, well limb might be generous, more like whiplike tentacle. Makes climbing possible. Not that I'll be doing that mind you. My last fall was quite traumatic.
I move over to the entrance of the crevice. The gateway to my kingdom. I sense the border extending ever so slightly now that I'm close. Hmm.
I control some mana and push it against the invisible boundary that marks the extent of my territory.
Immediately, I feel the mana level in the dungeon dropping but I don't stop. I've already seen the fruits of this endeavor. A small patch of the connected cave has suddenly been included in my senses.
Haha! Expansion! I push forth with my mana to claim more land! I keep going until some of the glowshrooms start sputtering and going a little dim. Oops...
The mana deficit is soon restored but I can feel that the density has dropped considerably. But it was worth it. I now have an additional patch of land, I'd estimate I've added an additional 20% of my previous floor area. So not much.
The new territory is rather bare compared to what I already have decorated. No pine needles, no mulch, no bugs, no mushrooms. I decide blueberries are the way to go so I just need to wait for my DP to increase...
This has brought up another issue. Although it gives me 100% control of my dungeon's development, if I need to manually buy and place every single plant, prop and creature it's going to be exhausting to manage things once I've grown even a little. Even now things stagnate if I'm not focused.
Pulling up my menu I start searching for a solution. After scrolling through submenus and looking at settings for a while I think I've realized one of the issues. Creature natural reproduction and plant propagation is by default set to minimum.
What does that mean? Well for one thing the ant queen is slacking! I'm not mad though, I get why it's set to that. Probably some noob dungeon core couldn't provide enough food so all their mana got drained until they could only helplessly watch as their kingdom crumbled due to a failing economy. Well not me! I got berries.
I increase the rate of reproduction back to normal. My passive mana income slows ever so slightly but that's fine. My increased area of influence seems to have bumped the generation up a level anyway.
Time flows by slowly
Swoosh, I send another small amount of mana to batter the boundary like a wave crashing on a rock. With each wave a few centimeters are added to the dungeon. It's slow work, but much more sustainable than forcing it all at once.
Puff! A glowshroom suddenly releases a cloud of spores. They glitter with light like tiny stars as they scatter through the dungeon. Controlling some mana I gently send them towards my new front yard.
I wait for the results but nothing happens. Rolling over for a closer look it seems they are growing but at a much slower pace than when I buy them. I focus my mana on one willing it to grow.
Immediate effects! It's like under a time acceleration spell. Just a few minutes and it's already got a softly glowing cap.
I realize another issue, and quickly buy pine needles, leaves and other organic matter.
I notice some new items in the shop.
Huh? Oh right! My scavenging crew!
-Long grass: grass, but longer.
-Green grass: grass, but greener.
-Mana grass: grass, but magical.
I see the ants finally succeeded in bringing something good.
-Fly: 5 varieties of small flying bugs compiled for convenience.
-Moth: not quite a butterfly.
Ah, spiders doing their job. Good.
-Dung beetle: nature's cleanup crew.
-Oats: a commonly grown grain.
Now these look better.
I buy a bit of everything, gotta build a thriving ecosystem. Looking at my dungeon it seems a bit wild and chaotic but that's just how I want it.
I continue investing all my mana into expanding. Wave after wave of mana pushes the boundary outwards. I will conquer this cave!
Hmm? I feel a faint tickle in my perception. Like small spots at the edge of my vision that I can't focus on and disappear after just a second.
Woosh! I send out another wave. There it is again!... and it's gone...
I try it again. There it is. Seems connected to when I send out my mana.
It's getting stronger, enough that I can feel where it's coming from. I focus on the closest one as I push my mana to expand again. It's growing!
I roll over to the edge of my domain. My senses tell me that the source is just outside the boundary. I gather my mana and compress it this time instead of just letting it ebb and flow. Then I shoot it towards the source of that strange feeling.
Almost immediately a small patch of ground is added to my vision. It's separate from my dungeon, yet part of it. Like a small island off the coast. At the center of the "island" is a tiny glowshroom just starting to grow.
It's all clear now! The spores are helping me colonize this cave!!
Based on my theory, I buy a glowshroom and place it right at the border. Time to optimize it!
Size, decrease, height, decrease, flavor, decrease, number of caps reduce to 1, growth speed, increase, propagation speed, increase, nutritional value, almost nothing.
I do a few more changes like change the cap into a ball, change the color to blue, and set it to puff out a single spore from the top every 10 minutes. This should give it time to absorb enough mana to keep pumping out spores a few times before rotting.
Basically, I've created self propagating trash. it looks like a blueberry on a toothpick. It glows faintly for a second before launching a spore. I call it the colonizer-shroom. It's dirt cheap! I buy 20.
Focusing on feeding my spore launchers mana, I watch as they work their magic. 1, 2, 3, splat ok we lost a few, 4, splat, 5, splat the last one melts into the ground.
With my careful manipulation, all the spores are sent out of the dungeon. It's just a matter of time before the cave is mine!