The Dangerously Cute Dungeon [A Dungeon Core LitRPG]

1.5 Mysterious Kodama

After Theodore dropped off his tribute, Violet checked her system notifications and mana levels. Much as Theodore had warned, Violet's mana was full, but there was no going over the maximum level of mana. Still, having full mana was quite useful as Violet would be able to make a good number of improvements thanks to this good fortune.

Theodore ended up dropping off some grass, a clover, a white clover flower, a dandelion, and an acorn as tribute. This led to system notifications that noted that Violet had gained 125 DP for adding five new [Base Resources] to the system and another fifty for adding new [Items] to the system. Exploring her menu some more, Violet discovered that the [Base Resources] seemed to be listed under the [Research] and that she could use her DP to research new [Items] and upgrades using the [Base Resources] available to her.

Meanwhile, the [Items] were listed under her [Construction] menu and Violet would be able to add the grass, clover, and flowers to her flower meadow as room features to improve the way it looked as well as add new harvestable resources for adventurers. The grass and clover cost 1 MP per 100 Square Units to apply to a room while the dandelions and white clover flowers cost 2 MP for the same amount of space. Violet wanted to upgrade the room to look nicer, so she went ahead and spent the 12 MP to apply all four of the options.

While the room had already had grass and dandelions, after applying them as room features, the effect on the room was much better. The grass was more vibrant and healthy while the dandelions were larger and more abundant. Combined with the occasional patch of clover and white clover flowers, the room seemed more natural and far more beautiful.

The acorn was more of a summonable [Item] where she would only get a single acorn to materialize for 1 MP and she would have to decide where to place it. This did not appeal to Violet at all as it seemed like a waste of mana. Luckily, though, she was able to figure out that she could spend 10 DP to research the acorn and ended up with a placeable oak tree that cost 5 MP each to place.

After placing the oak tree, Violet checked her [Monsters] section again and was pleased to find that the kodama now appeared to be able to be summoned. Violet glanced at her mana and was happy to see she still had 33 MP left. While the price was a bit steep, it was still easy for Violet to spend the 30 MP to summon a kodama now that she knew just how useful they could be.

A portal appeared before Violet and she was surprised as she watched the small creature step out of it. Violet wasn't sure if she should categorize the creature as cute or as nightmare fuel. The creature wore nothing and was an entirely white creature with only black holes for a mouth and eyes. There were no other notable features at all and the creature was a bit unsettling to look at. Still, the roundness of its features and its small stature did give it a somewhat endearing look.

The spirit looked at Violet as if waiting for orders, but soon wandered off toward the tree when it was left to its own devices for too long. Violet smiled as she noted how benign the creature seemed while resting under the tree. Violet couldn't help but once more speak to the air as she commented

"Well, love, it isn't quite the children we want, but maybe we still have a chance at being parents of a sort. Such adorable [Monsters] are bound to need some love, after all."

As it seemed unlikely that there would be adventurers right away, Violet had to set aside building for the day. Instead, she planned to send her new kodama out to forage for resources while she played around with her menu some more and made plans for what to do the next day when she would, hopefully, have enough mana to make some more, albeit minor, improvements.

"Hey, sweetie? Do you think you could go forage outside the dungeon for me? If you could just bring back some useful plants for me, I'd appreciate it. You don't have to fight anything and it is okay if you have to come back because you feel unsafe, but I'd like you to help me out, if you think you can handle it."

The kodama stared at Violet before making a soft rattling sound as it rotated its head. Violet found the sight quite unnerving but was relieved when she saw the small creature scamper off towards the entrance of the dungeon. She hoped it would stay safe out there and she could make a dungeon spawner for it soon.

Violet was unsure if she could make a dungeon spawner with what she had, but she would certainly try. She opened the [Research] panel and looked at the options available. However, she wasn't quite sure what she was looking at, so she tried asking

"How do I research [Monster] spawners?"

Would you like to begin research on [Monster] spawners? Requires 100 DP.

Yes

No

Violet frowned as she saw the expensive price, but she still selected [Yes]. However, she was sorely disappointed with the results. For 100 DP, the first spawner option only allowed for 25 MP total in respawn costs to be converted and it cost 25 MP for each spawner that she wanted to create. As the kodama cost 30 MP just to summon one of them, it would be impossible to set a spawn for it with such a low-grade spawner. So, Violet pulled up the research option for the spawners again.

Would you like to begin research on [Monster] spawners? Requires 200 DP.

Yes

No

However, it wouldn't be possible to do any further research for the spawners, for now, it would seem. Violet only had 75 DP left to spend and that wasn't nearly enough to do more research, so she would have to wait for her kodama to return.

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