Adam looked at his fungal pot. There, inside it, were his blindness curing mushrooms. He took out a knife from his bag, which hung on his chest, and began cutting the mushrooms.
He had always wondered if he couldn't do something more with the mushrooms. Like, if he replanted them near the pool, would they survive? Would they become altered? Adam took a cutting of a mushroom and placed it in his bag.
The pool was mana rich, a result of all the mana rich corpses lying close to it. Constantine had told him that it was the cemetery that had birthed Adam. And, since most of the people buried inside were Naga, he had become that, too.
Adam took pride in the fact that he could cover the graves with herbs and flowers. He didn't know the Naga and dragons buried in this forest, but he was sure that they would appreciate him bringing life to their graves.
Next, Adam went to the brighter patches of the cave and collected some snowdrop bulbs. There were a lot in this area and Aurora, one of his many undead protectors, liked it when he brought her flowers.
For the dragon to be given the opportunity to look after a flower so beautiful as the snowdrop, so delicate and akin to a treasure, was quite a feat. But Adam was certain that Aurora would gently warm the soil with her breath and she would, even gentler, carve out a patch for her newest flower.
He passed by the mint. It did well in the cave, Constantine having had broken a patch off the roof to let the sunlight through. Adam bent down and began taking some close clusters.
Mint needed to be replanted every so often. If there was too much of the stuff in an area, the soil would be sucked dry of all of its minerals. Granted, that was the truth for all plants.
Adam moved to the entrance of the cave and slithered as far as the barrier that bound him to the cave allowed. It was hard finding a patch that didn't have any plants on it, but, after a bit of searching, Adam found it.
Normal dungeons didn't do all this manually. They used mana and monsters and, and this was a thing that Adam couldn't understand, most of them used plants not to help people, but for defense.
The young dungeon core was unable to imagine a life where he didn't share his plants with the people who were in need. They, in turn, gave him new plants, despite not knowing it.
As Adam was planting the mint, he heard footsteps. Constantine was moving towards him with their spare shovel.
"Need help?" The necromancer used the shovel as a walking stick and looked down where Adam was kneeling with a small hoe.
"We are not going to upturn it. Didn't you find the spare hoe?"
Constantine rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well, I didn't know what you wanted to do today. So, I took the shovel. It is March. A good time for upturning soil," Adam nodded and pointed at a spot that was a bit away from where he could go.
"You can make a herbal patch over there. And can you please get me some chives from the market? I read in a book that it is good against bugs," Constantine nodded and went to dig.
Adam always liked getting new herbs. As soon as he imprinted his mana on them, or, even, their seeds, his dungeon grounds extended to the place where the new herbs were planted.
"So, I have been thinking. There is an underground river, is there not?" Adam asked as he worked.
"Sure, there is. And the underground hot spring that feeds the pool," Adam wiped his forehead with the back of his hand before continuing after hearing Constantine's confirmation.
"Could you perhaps make a small pond? I want to have it for water lilies. They will keep the pond cool, even in the summer, and we can also have some sage inside. I liked the dried one you brought last market day, but I would like to try growing myself some fresh ones. And drying some of it," Constantine hummed. A pond would require a couple of months of digging, or Aurora digging for a day.
"I'll get Aurora to do it," Constantine said as he dug. "Anything else?"
"Do you think I should have a boss mob?" Adam appeared thoughtful. The danger that adventurers could come back too close for comfort.
"You have me. I have the cemetery. What would you even use as a mob?"
Adam finished planting the last of the mint and stood up. He had dirt under his nails and was sweaty, but that was just a sign of a job well done.
"I was thinking maybe an animated mushroom?" Constantine sighed. Of course, Adam would try with a plant.
"Adam, if you want mobs, I think you should try animals. Something that will complement your dungeon. Bugs, mainly," Adam shuddered. He hated bugs. Well, apart from worms. Those were good for his plants' health. Maybe bees were good too, he had to give them that.
"Can't I create something cute?" Adam sounded like a child and Constantine chuckled. And, to think, the Naga had tried to flirt with him just an hour before.
"Look, as long as it doesn't cause chaos to your ecosystem, I don't see the harm. You can create moles to build tunnels you can fill with potatoes, so you can expand your dungeon. Or you can make bugs and have them take care of the flowers and herbs. But, for everything that is holy, don't go with animated plants. That is unnatural, Adam," Constantine fished with a shake of his head.
Adam nodded.
He didn't like bugs, but he could see them pollinating his flowers and replanting his herbs. A dog sized dung beetle could push the clumps of soil around, and a hive of bees could protect his entrance. The possibilities were limitless.
But, first, he needed to catch some bugs and evolve them.