Dan’s plan was to make the original layout of the dungeon first and then do the entire split space thing at the end or even after the adventurers came in. The truth was that even with the generous discount from the Chaos Mother, it would still cost him a good chunk of mana to keep a hundred instances of the dungeon running. Then, when he added the expenses for the other various enchantments he was planning to make, Dan would not have enough total mana to keep the dungeon running smoothly. So, sadly, he would probably have to tone the dungeon instances down to three dozen or so.

  Luckily, he could control the number of adventurers entering the dungeon by limiting how many of them got the quest to do the dungeon at a time. In fact, as he thought about the mana issue, Dan sent a request to the World Crystal. He knew the entity had tried its best when creating the system Dan was using, but much like how Dan knew that things would certainly go sideways when adventurers entered his dungeon. The World Crystals creation was being put to the test as Dan explored its multi-faced capabilities. As such, Dan wondered if the daily mana upkeep from enchantments was too much and if instead, he could pay the upkeep monthly.

  So, instead of a big lump sum, he could make various payments. He would still pay the same total amount of mana, but it would be spread out throughout the month. That way, Dan could have some more leeway with his mana.

  Ultimately, the World Crystal said it was too soon for such an adjustment, and it would depend on how much mana he gained from adventurers. After all, if he had to spend his total mana pool as a one-time daily payment and he got enough mana for that payment within an hour or two, there wouldn’t be an issue. Hearing the response, Dan couldn’t be mad because it was the same problem he was facing. The fact was that they both needed to see how their creations reacted to adventurers before they could make any real changes. Plus, it's not like they had-had to change too many aspects so far. There had been a few tweaks here and there, but otherwise, everything was still running smoothly.

  With that particular set of chatter aside, Dan got back to work. He would still leave the dungeon splitting to the very, very last minute, but he was good to go on creating the actual dungeon itself.

  The mini-dungeon wasn’t going to be anything special, even if Dan was going to place it in a different area. So far, the Green Skin Territory had been split into three areas, one for each camp. Dan had purposely arranged their borders in such a manner so that they interacted with each other while still leaving a chunk of the area to the southeastern part of that zone completely unclaimed. That area would be relatively neutral, with only beasts roaming around. And it was in this area where Dan was planning to put the dungeon entrance.

  Furthermore, since the area was neutral, it would be a perfect spot for adventurers to reunite if they fell apart during the last boss fight of the Green Skin Territory. Also, it was important for Dan to have a neutral ground where adventurers could interact without the pressure of being attacked by enemy patrols. It also gave them pause and prevented them from engaging each other in combat unless they really wanted to.

  The dungeon entrance itself was going to be tucked away between some hills, and it wouldn’t be that hard to find. Also, Dan didn’t plan to make a big deal out of entering the mini-dungeon. Adventurers could simply walk through, and if they had teamed up, they would appear in the same instance as their party members. Now, how did Dan plan to make that happen? Well, system soul nonsense. Adventurers had to have a mutual agreement for the system to make them party members. This was something the system checked via adventurer memory and soul magic to absolutely make sure there was no funny business because the last thing Dan wanted was for his instance to be used as some dumb assassination spot.

  Inside the dungeon, adventurers wouldn’t find much. Dan worked to make a multi-cave system containing a total of five separate caves. Dan made the caves barebones with some rocks and a few other hiding places to help adventurers gain some cover. Aside from that, he strived to make them look as realistic as possible.

  After walking into the dungeon, adventurers would find themselves in a teleporter tucked away in a corner of the smallest cave. This small spot was also surrounded by a domed shield. The shield would disperse as soon as any adventurer attacked the creatures within the first cave or when they moved outside its area, even by the smallest margin. However, while inside the dome, they would essentially be ignored by monsters, even if they were in the middle of casting a spell.

  The first cave was small but would still give adventurers some room to maneuver. However, they wouldn’t get too much room; otherwise, the monsters in this first cave wouldn’t pose much of a threat since this first cave was going to be home to melee monsters and the first themed creature of the mini-dungeon.

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  ?? Monster Statblock ??

  Rank: Low D Rank.

  Name: Solar Gorilla.

  Type: Beast.

  Size: Medium.

  Hierarchy: Minion.

  Mind: Intelligent.

  Arcane Mana: 150/150.

  Arcane Mana Regen: +8 Per Minute.

  Pure Arcane Mana: 75/75.

  Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +4 Per Minute.

  Abilities: 6.

  Evocation Affinity. Abjuration Affinity. Conjuration Affinity. Body Enhancement - Strength. Solar Armor. Solar Fists.

  Innate Abilities: 2.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Strength. Mental Resistance.

  Respawn Timer: 2 Hours.

  Respawn Cost: 26 Mana.

  Creation Cost: 53 Mana.

  ??

  The gorilla’s name sounded fancy, and so did its abilities, but they were rather basic and were just copies of what he had given his Earthen Fist Gorillas, except they were sun theme. It did mean they dealt damage differently since this particular sun theme was more about burning and, to some extent, explosions.

  Looks wise, the Solar Gorilla had dark golden fur, which varied in intensity throughout its body, the brightest spot being its back.

  Once adventurers defeated the gorillas, they could move deeper into the dungeon. Dan separated each cave by making a long tunnel connecting each one. Of course, they didn’t need to defeat all the gorillas before moving forward, but if they didn’t, they would get a rude surprise.

  The second cave Dan made was much larger and lengthy. He had created it in such a manner because right after coming from a melee fight, adventurers would be thrown against some ranged fighters. So, it was best to give his monster plenty of range to give them plenty of time to shoot incoming adventurers.

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  ?? Monster Statblock ??

  Rank: Low D Rank.

  Name: Moon Snake.

  Type: Beast.

  Size: Small.

  Hierarchy: Minion.

  Mind: Intelligent.

  Arcane Mana: 150/150.

  Arcane Mana Regen: +8 Per Minute.

  Pure Arcane Mana: 75/75.

  Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +4 Per Minute.

  Abilities: 6.

  Evocation Affinity. Abjuration Affinity. Conjuration Affinity. Body Enhancement - Speed. Moon Beam. Crescent Blade.

  Innate Abilities: 5.

  Night Vision. Slither. Stealth. Venomous. Mental Resistance.

  Respawn Timer: 2 Hours.

  Respawn Cost: 26 Mana.

  Creation Cost: 52 Mana.

  ??

  Per their name, the snakes were moon-themed and had silvery scales to help them match their theme. The other thing that helped them stay in the theme was their abilities. Though they could still bite adventurers, Dan had made them for the purpose of range combat. Their Moon Beam would be their main ability, letting them shoot either one-offs or one constant beam. Meanwhile, their Crescent Blade ability was a fun one Dan had thrown in, which would make the snakes assume a boomerang position and then summon a spectral blade around their bodies, making them look like a crescent-glowing moon.

  After the snakes, the next cave adventurers went to would still be rather large, but the space would be more evenly distributed instead of attempting to make a firing range shaped cave.

  In this next cave, adventurers would find the next themed monster and possibly the most dangerous of the three.

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  ?? Monster Statblock ??

  Rank: Low D Rank.

  Name: Star Butterfly.

  Type: Beast.

  Size: Tiny.

  Hierarchy: Minion.

  Mind: Intelligent.

  Arcane Mana: 150/150.

  Arcane Mana Regen: +8 Per Minute.

  Pure Arcane Mana: 75/75.

  Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +4 Per Minute.

  Abilities: 7.

  Evocation Affinity. Abjuration Affinity. Conjuration Affinity. Body Enhancement - Speed. Shooting Star. Explosive Meteor. Star Pollen.

  Innate Abilities: 3.

  Flight. Antennae. Mental Resistance.

  Respawn Timer: 2 Hours.

  Respawn Cost: 27 Mana.

  Creation Cost: 55 Mana.

  ??

  The butterflies had two different looks to them. One was completely black with tiny white sparkling sprinkles on it like he had done for Hoot, his owl boss. The other would be completely white and have black spots on them. They would have the same abilities, except for a minor detail, adventurers would totally love.

  Regarding the abilities of the butterflies. Star Pollen let the butterflies spread pollen around as they flew. The ability used about as much mana as the butterfly regenerated, so the longer adventurers took to enter their cave, the more dangerous the fight would get. This was because the pollen was a harmful agent that did small amounts of damage to magical shields while applying a slowing effect on adventurers whose skin it came in contact with. And though Dan had made sure to make it so the effect didn’t scale infinitely, it would still be very powerful.

  The other two prominent skills of the butterfly were a combo pairing.

  Shooting Star gave the butterfly a huge increase in movement, even if it was only in a straight line, and they couldn’t stop after starting it. The ability was meant to be used to get close to adventurers, whereupon, at the end of the skill or on contact, Explosive Meteor would go off. Of course, the Explosive Meteor ability caused a small but powerful explosion around the butterfly.

  So, when all of the butterfly's abilities combined, they worked to make an adventurer vulnerable by either slowing them down or bringing down their shield faster. Then, the butterflies would get close before unleashing their damaging explosion. And since Dan planned to fill the room rather nicely with the insects, it would be a very dangerous aerial minefield.

  The fourth room of the mini-dungeon was another large cave that Dan had shaped like a very bumpy cone. He had made the cave in that particular shape in order to give his monsters and the adventurers plenty of room to maneuver. That was important because the fourth room would combine all the monsters from the previous caves for a final combined fight before the adventurers got to the boss room.

  After defeating the combination room, adventurers could proceed to the boss room, which Dan made plenty big by making it the size of the two previous caves combined. At first Dan had thought he was going overboard with the size, but after creating the boss, he knew adventurers would need plenty of room to fight the monster.

  As for the boss itself, well, he knew some might be able to figure out what it was, but many more would still be surprised by it. Either way, Dan was looking forward to seeing his creation in battle.