Somewhere else was an adequate description, there was not much else to say about the twenty by twenty foot space that he found himself in. He was still soaked, the water pooling beneath him as he took in his surroundings. Grey walls, no windows, no doors. It was as if he was in a void. The only thing of note was a small book sitting in the middle of the room.
He approached it and picked it up.
* You have picked up the book: How To Grow Your Dungeon
* Knowledge has been absorbed into your interface. It can then be accessed with the thought "Manage Dungeon"
Opening the book he was overwhelmed by both the immediate options and the potential for what this could become:
____________
Overall Features:
Time compression - Increase the time flow inside the dungeon, less time passes in the real world
- Level 0: No time Compression
Essence Density - Increase the amount of ambient essence inside the dungeon by one rank per level of this feature
- Level 0: No increase in Essence Density
Rate of healing - Increase how quickly wounds heal when inside the dungeon
- Level 0: Wounds heal at normal rate
Dimensional Storage - Store and retrieve items from outside the dungeon by thinking "Store ITEM" and "Retrieve ITEM"
- Level 0: 5x5x5ft storage space
Essence Absorption - Absorb energy from the environment instead of from your soul (energy is absorbed from soul as it is obtained, thus cannot reduce cultivation level automatically but will severely hamper growth rate)
- Level 0: No absorption
Body Forification - The growth of the dungeon will have strengthening effects on the body, so that it is capable of containing the power of the sould and the dungeon, this is in addition to meridian fortification. Feeding essence cores of high level beasts has a small chance of granting a stat boost related to the beasts highest attribute
- Level 0: No forification
Rooms:
Smithy - Craft weapons and armor
Alchemist station - Craft potions and poisons
Clothier Station - Create clothes
Bedroom - better sleep
Bathroom - automatically fertilizes the garden
Kitchen
Bath house
Training hall - Focus on fighting forms and cultivation technique, analyze the techniques of cultivators you have absorbed
Monster pit - Pit yourself against simulations of deadly beasts and monsters you have fought before
Library - Store and retrieve knowledge, increase mental skills
Medical Ward - Heal faster and receive life support
Resource Growth:
Mine Shaft - contains ore, but risk of monsters
Garden - Grow spiritual herbs
Forest - High quality wood and plant material, risk of beasts
How it works
Can have certain tasks automated, but only up to the skill level of the soul dungeon
All materials that are taken out have to have been brought in or be derivative of things that were brought in. Alternatively, resources from the forest and mines can be used and brought outside the dungeon if you survive a night fighting against monsters that scale to your level
When the soul dungeon earns or cultivates essence, (100% - rate of essence absorption) of it goes to the dungeon
Dungeon grows much more slowly that humans and need much more essence
Every level needs 10 times as much essence
Dungeon essence can be used to cultivate and increase personal level, but only up to the level of essence density in the dungeon
This provides near infinite growth potential but also incredibly slow progression
Essence attacks hitting dungeon soul do Essence Absorption less damage and that energy is consumed to grow dungeon
Feeding the Soul dungeon with Beast cores can increase it's rank and also provide boosts to your body
The cost of a Level 1 upgrade is 100 Essence (You are in a unique position of being able to improve your dungeon from within your dungeon. Usually adventurers provide energy to the dungeon and vice versa, as both an adventurer and a dungeon there is a feedback loop that you can take advantage of, but it will require you to cultivate a lot)
- A free upgrade is also granted for each rank advancement of the dungeon
- each upgrade past level 1 cost that many times more (Level 5 costs 500)
____________
And he gets to choose 3 upgrades, so at least this wont always be just an empty grey box.
The upgrades he decided on were the kitchen, Essence Density, and Rate of Healing.
He is stuck in the wilderness surrounded by beasts and monsters far more powerful that himself, and he feels this will give him the greatest chance of survival. He need to have a source of food and water at all times so he chose the kitchen. It will only make food with his level of cooking skill which at one point means that he will be eating a lot of terrible tasting food, but it will help him stay alive. He chose the Essence density upgrade so that he can cultivate inside the dungeon, up to one rank above the current rank of the dungeon. So even now he can feel that there is energy around him that he can pull in which could get him to F-1. Finally he chose the increased rate of healing, he will be fighting a lot in the near future and he doesn't even have clothes yet... he will be getting hurt a lot.
* Level 1 Kitchen:
* Automatically prepare a portion of a random food with your cooking skill
*
* Level 1 Essence Density:
* The dungeon will have an Essence Density of Dungeon Rank + 1
* Current Essence Density: F-1
*
* Level 1 Rate of Healing:
* All wounds heal 50% faster while inside the dungeon
Satisfied with his choices, he closed his menus to see how the place has changed. On one wall there was now an opening into another room. It contained a table with a single chair with a place setting already arranged and a small kitchenette at the back. Everything was still gray... He'd have to look through the menus and see if there is anything he can do to liven the place up.
As he sat down in the chair, a silver dome appeared over the plate. Lifting it up, he saw a full plate of food that looked... well it looked edible.
* Food generated:
* Boiled chicken with boiled potatoes
* A hardy meal for an adventurer, the seasonings available to a level one cook: salt
*
* Drink Generated:
* Water
Slightly annoyed by the bland food but used to this type of fare, he dug in. Honestly with the state he was in mentally right now he probably couldn't have appreciated better food anyway.
When he was finished Matias walked to the corner of the room and curled up on the ground. As much as he appreciated having three free perks for the dungeon, he wished he could have also chosen the bedroom. He decided that as soon as he could he would like to get the first level of each available upgrade. Unfortunately each upgrade costs 100 Essence and he doesn't have a single Essence to his name.
He fell into the blissfully dreamless void of unconsciousness.