With all the energy he had collected from the dozen would-be adventurers, Orion immediately began further expansions of his home.
New Blueprints unlocked New abilities unlocked Employee Capacity raised Dungeon Miner Granted> "Oh great. More things for people to come loot, trash, use and destroy. Dungeon Miner? What the hell is a Dungeon Miner?" "Huh. Ok, that's kinda cool. He helps me expand without burning all my energy at once, and brings me raw resources to remake into materials and biomass. Awesome. Abilities?" -Form Wisp
"Hmmmm, biomass I like, adventurers, not so much. At least, not until I've made my home an absolute deathtrap no one can cross without my permission.
"Well, time to put this Miner to good use then. Dig, boy, dig!"
<----------Orion's PoV---------->
My Dungeon was shaping up nicely. I managed to completely alter the layout of the Dungeon, filling in useless spaces with leftover rocks, pulling my energy back, and expanding elsewhere.
I had changed the layout entirely, and had four other floor plans to swap to when the mood struck, or if humans caught on.
The entrance remained firmly fixed, as did my beautiful front yard. With a few additions. Brass spike traps in the bushes, and trick ladders near the trees. 25 kilos of pressure and the ladder snapped shut like a bear trap. Clever, eh?
My chickens now numbered a dozen, and they wandered the grassy sections around the trees. Their coop was now a single, solid piece of wood. No more makeshift bridge to cross the pit trap.
And the pit trap! Bronze tipped stakes, and a poisonous snake in the bottom. Took 6 weeks for my fox to manage to catch it without dying of a poisonous bite before arriving back in the dungeon, but it was totally worth it. New creature blueprint, and venoms available to coat all my traps.
The front door was now solid brass, with an ornamental grill on the front. The original ornament Martin gave me now adorns the top of my sign. Try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to recycle it or throw it away. May it remind me that humans only want to use me.
Inside, a long winding hallway, with a crudely fashioned brass axe. Honestly, it's not much sharper than before, but it is smaller and faster. I guess that works. A half dozen meters down the hallway, and you've got the, what did Martin call it? The safety room?
The brass oven and stove were a far cry better than my old stone brick one, and brass pipes were imbedded into the walls, providing water throughout the living space and washroom. The furniture was all brass now, and would stay that way until another enterprising crafter showed me how to make something better.
Lifers to the left, Combats to the right, just like before, but now, there was a middle path. I called it "The Last Treasure Hunt."
A narrow hallway, near to pitch black, filled with venomous traps, pit falls, rock drops, and spears. At the end, a solid brass door secure enough to take a siege ram without breaking, and no key, just a strange lock in the center that must be picked. Inside? I tried to put in nothing, but the system gave me the sensation of an angry swarm of hornets living on my face. Instead, it's a wheel. You spin it, I give you what it says. Don't ask me what's on the wheel, the system gave it as a "random reward" for making the hallway.
The lifers side has many improvements. A loom, full-sized forge, carvers bench, stonemasons table, merchants account books, a full herb garden, and an alchemy set. It's a pretty great space. Room enough for 6 people to work, if they don't mind the noise.
The combats? Giant battle arena, and a smaller training ground. I keep enough biomass on reserve to spawn a few different beasts, or even a goblin horde. The biggest problem I have is my system is only level three. I don't have any finished craft products, utility products or combat creatures on file unless I assimilate their biomass, or have a detailed study on their anatomy and behaviour.
But my home is impressive, I will say that. The chicken feather stuffed bed looks amazing, and maybe one day I'll have the ability to lie in it. The wisp says it's comfy. That's something at least.