Huh?

  Valen stared at the message. The fact that he got one extra point of Mana Regeneration was honestly amazing considering how small the plant was. However, it looked like a lot of the Mana was being taken up to allow the plant to grow in such an inhospitable place. But, if he could fix the substitute problems, then he would be getting five extra Mana every hour, instead of only one.

  But, how? As Valen wondered these, he looked through his Skills. He eventually came to the skill [Corruption], and a Spell he gained from it:

  This solved one of the issues. Using it, he was able to change the ground from hard stony mud to fertile soil. Unfortunately, he couldn't control how wet the ground was, so he couldn't solve the water issue with this spell. Still, he found it took a really long time to do this. So, he ended up spawning a couple dozen more plants which considerably raised his Mana Reg., though he discovered something interesting well doing this. The plants all gave him all of the Mana in one big pool every hour, which he guessed was why it was called a "Mana Tax." He made a note in the future that he would have to be careful as if expended all the Mana he would have to wait for the next "payday" of Mana.

  He found that he currently didn't have anything which would allow him to solve the water or sunlight issue. So, he searched through the [Skill Store], which was a sort of internal store that allowed one to purchase new skills at the cost of Skill Points, though in Valen's case it was apparently Dungeon Points.

  And, to his relief, he found one almost immediately:

  The Manastones solved the other two issues, and would definitely solve future ones. While Valen did groan at the cost of the stones, he knew it was worth it. He created a Lightstone in the ceiling of the cave, which unlike the floor he had hardened in firm mud, as he didn't know how deep down he was and how much support he would need. It shone down on the plants, eliminating the Sunlight Substitute.

  Then, he created a couple Waterstones, which dampened the soil. It took a little work to make sure they wouldn't over saturate the soil, but he eventually figured it out.

  Now getting a lot more Mana that before, he was able to extend his Influence to thirty yards in less than a month, while creating more plants along the way. He formed new tunnels and caverns, while also following the natural ones. He finally reached the surface and was surprised to find he was apparently located at the base of a small mountain with a forest outside him.

  Now that Valen had found the surface, he decided it was time to see if he could create any monsters. However, he was a surprised when he opened the [Create Monsters] Skill and found he had to make a choice.

  The lack of a Mana Tax was unfortunate, but the fact they could breed and save him Mana was nice. Valen wondered what it meant by "Race," but he found out when he was given his options.

  Valen read through each of them and ended up deciding less on what he wanted and more on what he didn't want.

  Valen was, despite his desire for vengeance, a Druid.

  As such, he wanted to make a Dungeon that focused on Nature. Due to this, the Blackbloods, who he remembered being smelly brutes who lived in the deserts and plains, were out. The Beastkin was an obvious choice, as they were like animals and would make good defenders and caretakers for his Dungeon. Daemons used a lot of fire, so they were out, which left Constructs. Valen didn't really know that much about any of them, though he had once seen an inactive Iron Golem, and he knew that Bubble Slimes were known to infest sewer systems.

  Now, when he looked at the [Create Monster] Skill, he could now select either [Beastkin] or [Constructs], which each opened different windows:

  Valen was surprised by the number of options. When it had said that there was a massive difference between male Beastkin and female Beastkin, he had expected them to be that different. He was also a little shocked at the cost. Well, he could easily afford enough of them, he realized he would have to constantly make new ones, and that he wouldn't get much back from them. He also noted how their stats were far closer to what he remembered from his previous life.

  After going over them and making a few mental notes, he looked through the [Constructs]:

  From what Valen could tell, Constructs were the sort of Monsters who were very easy to kill one way, but nearly impossible to kill any other way.

  After making sure he had enough Mana, Valen made sure he ha enough space, and made his first Monster: