The Wanderer's Rebirth: Other Paths

The rest of the day passed without incident, allowing him to experiment with the Dungeon tab of his Status without interruption.

He found two things that he’d somehow missed. The first was a reset option for a level of a dungeon. It would allow him to reclaim a portion of mana spent on that level in exchange for erasing said level. The second was an option that allowed him to reclaim an entire dungeon, though that option also had two sub options in it.

The first sub option was like erasing a level, but for the whole dungeon. The second sub option allowed him to reclaim the Dungeon Core. It would still destroy the dungeon, but allowed him to claim the Core and thus give him something to use for later. Which, really, was the best option overall, especially if he was out exploring and found another random dungeon.

He wasn’t sure if Dungeon Cores were useful for anything else besides creating a new dungeon, but he figured that he had plenty of time to find out.

Anyways, the second option combined with the second sub option also allowed him to choose whether-or-not he wanted to also claim the natural resources of the dungeon when he claimed the Core. Which was awesome. It did say though, that the denizens of the dungeon would be left alone. Which meant that if the dungeon had produced hostile entities that they’d stick around until slain. Or they died from mana attrition, either one.

He found that mana attrition was an interesting thing as he looked it up. It seemed that if a dungeon denizen didn’t return to an area of high mana concentration from time to time that it would eventually die. Which made capturing and keeping dungeon monsters less practical than he’d thought, since he’d been considering doing that for the girls to help them level up.

So, not wanting to travel for an hour each way, he decided to reclaim the dungeon core for his first dungeon. Well, his only dungeon, but it was his first dungeon. So, he clicked on the [Reclaim Dungeon] option, then the [Reclaim Core] option and smiled when the Dungeon Core appeared in his inventory, but blinked when he saw that it was listed in his Cores section. It was listed as a Grade SSS Crystal Core, though.

He took it out of his inventory and found that it was the same size as the original Dungeon Core that had melted into his hand in the goblin dungeon. Though, this one was a bit clearer, making it look a bit like a slightly clouded quartz crystal, though spherical in shape.

Shrugging, he returned it to his Inventory and checked on the other resources now listed there. He’d received almost two hundred [Glow Crystals], and almost as many [Glow ‘Shrooms], [Glow Moss], [Marrow Roots], and [Bloodwort Grass]. He only got 32 [Blue Yarrow], whatever that was. But seeing as how there was comparatively less of it than the other stuff, he supposed it might be more valuable than the other stuff.

He shrugged again, not really caring too much beyond wondering how to properly preserve the organic materials if he needed to clear out his Inventory. There wouldn’t be much of a point in taking it out of his Inventory if it would just rot, after all.

Maybe Ella would know something, being a dwarf and all… he thought, then chided himself for profiling. Who knew if she’d even lived underground before being caught and turned into a slave?

Then he shook his head and got up. Now wasn’t the time to worry about that. Deciding to clear out the construction materials in his Inventory, he made his way to the basement and unloaded all of the stone and wood and metal he’d been keeping there. Now that he knew that he could easily make the stuff with [True Creation] or [Summon: All], he wouldn’t have to worry about keeping it all on hand.

He then made his way west, towards the edge of his property. Well, to where the current wall was. He’d need to make a new wall later, maybe next week. Ultimately, it really didn’t matter when he did, but he’d get to it eventually.

Once he arrived at the wall, he looked around a bit before deciding on a spot, then got to work excavating the site for the new dungeon that he wanted to create. He smiled when the foxes showed up to watch. He still didn’t know why they hung around him like they did, but was oddly thankful for the company.

The first level of the dungeon wound up being roughly 100m x 100m. It took him a little while to remove all of the earth, but as he did, he summoned stone to line the floor, walls, and ceiling to keep everything from just caving in right away. He also made the first level a good seven metres tall, just in case.

He then wondered how he’d decorate. He wasn’t terribly creative when it came to decorating, though. Maybe he’d just keep to one theme here since the place was really just going to be a training ground for his people. Which meant that he could probably make the layout easier for them to navigate….

With that in mind, he created the main stairwell of the place as one continuous stairwell. Well, continuous in the sense that it resembled the stairwells that you’d find in any modern skyrise back on Earth, though much, much wider. Each set of stairs was four metres wide and ten metres long… diagonally. Anyways, they were fairly large, which would allow for anyone to retreat without having to trample on their peers to escape if they needed to.

He also installed a dead man’s switch that would collapse the stairwell at the top, just in case the denizens got out of hand. Safety first!

The second level was much like the first, but he decided to make the height of that level a good ten metres this time, and increased the area to 120m x 120m. He also noticed that the soil had much more rock and clay this far down. In fact, it was almost exclusively stone and clay now.

The third level got expanded again, going to 150m x 150m x 15m. By this point, he was going through stone, which was somewhat profitable for him as it was all that Moss Stone that Celys had claimed was both valuable and rare. After filling his inventory with the stuff, he decided to leave for the night.

Incidentally, he’d found that the maximum size of block that he could store in his Inventory was a five-metre cube, making them much easier to store away. He also found that the individual slots in his inventory could accommodate ten thousand units of one thing. Which meant that he now had eleven of his inventory slots filled with Moss Stone, clay, and earth; the vast majority of that being Moss Stone.

He idly wondered how much he could get for selling so much Moss Stone, then discarded that thought. He didn’t want to crash the market, after all.

Then he pulled up his Inventory again and wondered if there was a way to get more slots. He’d talked with Avi about that before, but now that he could make enchanted items, he wondered if he could absorb/assimilate a storage item to expand his storage….

“Hey, Avi?”

‘Yes, Joram?’

“Do you think I could make storage items now?”

‘Sure, why not?’

“Then, do you think that I could use those items to expand my Inventory?”

‘I don’t know. But wouldn’t it just be easier to make your own ‘Stuff Space’ that Altaea had and used?’ she asked raising one delicate and perfectly arched eyebrow at him.

“I can do that now?” he asked, taken off guard by her words.

‘Well, you just have to use [Genesis], or one of its variants, and a stack of Dust Crystals…. Well, I guess you’d have to set up a ritual circle to do it since you don’t have anyone here to help do that for you. But yes, that’s entirely possible to do,’ she said with a smile, throwing him for a bit of a loop.

Nodding, he made his way back to the surface deep in thought. He was finally pulled out of his thoughts by Asami as she dusted off his clothing.

“What?” he asked, looking around to see that he’d wandered back to the house already.

“What’s got your head in the clouds?” Asami asked, tilting her head to the side as she stared up at him.

“Ah, just thinking about storage options,” he said with a smile that he couldn’t stop when he saw just how cute she looked tilting her head like that.

“Well, you’ll need to come back down to the ground for a bit. You need to speak with those merchants, and especially that book guy,” she said, pointing towards the camped caravan.

“Right,” he said, remembering the book guy.

Joram then quickly made a pair of astral constructs- horses this time- and had them follow him to one of the empty wagons he’d gotten with the girls. After hitching the astral constructs to it, he had them follow him while Asami walked with him at his side.

It went quickly enough, all things considered. The books had been stacked back into crates, which he opened and went through to make sure that everything was in order before paying the guy. All told, it cost him twenty-three gold coins and fifty-two silver coins. Not too shabby, really. He then received that night’s payment, then bid them a good night before retreating to his house for the night.

After having the astral constructs, the humanoid models, put the crates of books into the library, he headed off to his room with Asami by his side. Once inside his room, he noticed the three gals standing beside the door and suppressed a sigh when he also noticed how annoyed Myra looked from where she sat on the bed- their bed.

He closed the door, used [Cleanse] to tidy up, then addressed the proverbial elephant in the room.

“So, what’s going on here?” he asked lightly, hoping that he’d get to bed sometime in the next hour….

“They’re here,” Myra said. Just that, as though it was the highest crime for them to be in the room….

Well, it might very well have been for all he knew.

He looked over at the three gals and raised an eyebrow that had them fidgeting within moments, then Fyrellia finally glanced over at the extra bed, and it clicked.

“Ah, do you perhaps want to have a bed like that for yourselves?” he asked, nodding towards the second bed.

Astonishingly, the three of them blushed before reluctantly nodding.

“Well…” Fyrellia started, then stopped when Arise elbowed her in the hip.

‘Oh, that’s cute,’ Avi said, smiling from his side.

“Oh, that’s cute,” Asami said from his other side, nearly knocking him over at the repeated words. “Do you just want to sleep in here with us?” she asked with a mischievous smile on her face that caused Myra to nearly choke.

He saw Fyrellia and Qyress start to nod before shying away from Myra’s wrath while Arise sniffed and looked away.

Is that one a tsundere? He wondered, then shook his head as Myra started expounding on how inappropriate it would be for them to continue sleeping in the same room as them.

He gave her a flat look that caused her to clamp her mouth shut surprisingly quickly.

“If they just want a new bed, that’s fine. Heck, the beds in the new apartment are just as comfortable, so that’s not a problem,” he said, noticing slight fidgeting from the three gals as he said that. “But if they just want to be closer, then that’s also fine since they’re not insisting on sleeping in the same bed as me,” he finished, watching their individual reactions to his words.

Asami didn’t seem to care, but he did notice a… competitive glint in her eyes that had him wondering if she hadn’t given up on copulating with him.

Myra’s expression was a complicated mix of embarrassment, frustration, and annoyance. He was pretty sure that she liked him romantically, but no idea if, one: she’d realized it yet, or two: just how far it went for her. If it was him, then insisting on sleeping with someone he liked meant that he wanted much more than just cuddle time with that person.

Then there were the three gals to consider.

He was reasonably sure that none of them had unreasonably fallen for his amazing manliness…. OK, that was going a bit too far, but the point stood.

Arise was almost standoffish in how she interacted with him, aloof and guarded at the same time. Qyress seemed to be… casual about everything, not really bothered by much. Though, he did notice that she seemed to hide a shy side behind that casual façade. Then Fyrellia’s obvious glances and outright staring fit in disturbingly well with what he knew about succubae.

Though, right now, all three of them seemed pretty nervous, all things considered. He wasn’t sure if it was because of some unwritten rule that he wasn’t aware of or if they feared what he’d say. Well, whatever it was, he’d probably have to resort to something like [Read Mind] to actually know, but he didn’t want to do that. Privacy was a thing, after all.

“Well, if you want to sleep in that bed, that’s fine,” he said, noticing Myra’s agitation as he spoke. “But please, stick to that bed,” he finished with a shake of his head as he went over to the screened-off corner of his room to get changed for bed.

With how long anything he made stuck around, he no longer had to remake his clothing every day. Instead, the duration of the creations now seemed to by measured in days per manifester level…. Which he suspected being higher than his Class level. Making a mental note to check on that later, he stepped out from behind the screen to see the five women exchanging looks between them.

“What’s up?” he asked, not wanting the awkward atmosphere to last longer than it absolutely had to.

Myra sniffed, then took his place behind the screen and got changed. Asami shrugged, then joined Myra. The three gals stood there awkwardly, occasionally glancing over at the change screen.

Sighing, he used [True Creation] to make them a screen of their own, along with pajamas for each of them. It wasn’t hard since he’d already gotten their measurements beforehand. It was just weird to have to include wings into the designs, though he’d long since gotten used to taking tails into account when making things.

Looking happy, the three of them quickly grabbed their clothing and slipped behind the screen as he stepped over to his bed and got in. Thus sprawled, he started meditating to avoid paying attention to his [Touchsight] even before Myra finished changing. He’d have to start turning that off when it came time for people to change….

Once he was done renewing his mind and body, he turned his attention to his additional Minds. M2 had started helping M3 with studying the archive of knowledge in his head while M4 continued churning out Dust Crystals like a champ.

Satisfied with their progress, he turned his attention to dungeons. He willed his Status screen into being and looked through it for a bit before navigating to the Dungeon tab. He hadn’t installed the Dungeon Core in the new dungeon yet, so he couldn’t start adding things to it just yet. But he could plan things out. So, he did.

*Day 5*

Today, he’d waited for everyone to get up before getting ready for the day. Mostly because he’d been immersed in dungeon planning, but also because he knew that if he started a new project that he’d likely forget to go to the promised lessons after breakfast.

Which went surprisingly well, all things considered. For one, most of the women of Kirkwall attended the cooking lesson, surprising him greatly. In fact, all of the girls attended, even the three gals. It was oddly pleasing to have them want to learn from him.

He first started with the basics of using everything in the kitchen, from the ovens to the hot plates to the fridges all the way to the mixing bowls. He’d added a couple of those huge mixing machines you’d see in a small bakery, so he made sure to teach them the proper handling methods for those.

Out of everyone there, it was the women of Kirkwall that seemed the most impressed with the mixers as they gushed about how much time and effort it would save when preparing dough.

After that, he briefly went into cooking theory, having to hobble together some terms while just using English ones for others because the word didn’t exist in Common. After that was done, he went over with the gardeners to the first greenhouse and started the lesson there.

It was pretty straightforward, all told. Planting what seeds how deep, how much water, sun, and warmth for each plant or crop. He even covered what each plant’s preferred soil type was, getting confused looks from the girls, but an approving nod from Shae’ra.

During the lesson, he’d learned that Shae’ra was actually a [Druid]. Level 31, at that! After that, he included her more and more in the lesson until he pretty much had her teaching the girls instead, only answering questions about things she didn’t know regarding the foreign plants when they came up.

Happy that things had turned out so well, he quickly checked on Ella and how she was doing and found that Fyrellia had joined her in the brewery.