The Dangerously Cute Dungeon [A Dungeon Core LitRPG]

Countermeasures

Showing up, late as usual, was Theodore. Violet wasn't even sure if he would have been able to actually help out with the recent invasion, but it still seemed more than a little ironic to have him show up immediately after she was done dispatching of the intruders. Deciding not to bother wasting any time, she made her way towards him. Theodore looked a bit frazzled as he said

"Sorry, I'm late. I was visiting one of the larger dungeons I work with today and I can't exactly leave in the middle of visiting another dungeon to visit yours. I'm guessing you've already gotten around to figuring things out by now, huh?"

Violet just nodded in response. Theodore sighed as he continued

"Well, I'm here now, so let's go ahead and go over everything we need to. First, congratulations on unlocking your second floor. How are you feeling about it, so far?"

Violet wasn't sure such idle talk was really what they should be focusing on right now. However, she decided that it would be best to humor Theodore first and then worry about the recent events afterward. So, she put on a bright smile as she replied

"I'm excited to be able to build at a more comfortable pace now. It'll be nice not to feel rushed to finish building rooms so that I don't lose my chance before the next adventurer or intruder can enter the dungeon. However, I'm a bit unsure of how quickly the dungeon traffic will pick up or if the winter weather will cause the dungeon's progress to stall too much."

Theodore nodded as he replied

"That's about what I expected from you. Don't worry too much, everything will work out in the end. You can always take a break from building and just relax for a while, if you need to. It doesn't actually matter if you spend all of the mana the dungeon has right away. You should take some time to just enjoy your life and focus on pursuing some worthwhile hobbies.

Anyways, what sort of floor theme did you end up being offered? Which one did you choose?"

Violet pursed her lips, trying to remember what all had been offered, before replying

"Well, I had an option for grasslands, an enchanted forest, and a mushroom cave. None of them listed monsters with the options, though, which was different from the first time it happened."

Theodore frowned, nodding as he replied

"I'm afraid that confirms it. You've definitely been hard-locked into the cute theme you initially wanted. All of the floor themes were either generic or had the potential for building nice scenery and it would seem the [Monsters] are likely going to be the same regardless of which floor theme you choose.

Did you get anything more useful for combat this time? I know you were disappointed by the slimes and contracted [Monsters] you got last time."

Violet beamed as she excitedly explained

"Yes! Actually, I got some horned rabbits called al-mi'raj for my summonable [Monster] this time. They can't be evolved into anything, but they've already got better stats than most of my slime variations. For summons, I've got some mushroom dudes called myconid and some pixies. The pixies seem to be a mixture of the will-o'wisp's and kodama's traits since they play tricks on adventurers and are supposed to be worker monsters who would usually care for their environment."

Theodore's eyes went wide as he said

"Wow! That's actually really good! The pixies should be able to help with your desire for socialization as well since they can communicate and are fairly bright, even if they are troublemakers. 

It's definitely a relief to see you'll be able to have some better defenses too. Although, from what I've been hearing, apparently your boss [Monster] is quite impressive. Some of the adventurers recently reported to the adventurer's guild that the level of danger in the rest of the dungeon versus the boss room was vastly different. As your assigned dungeon diplomat, I tend to end up being filled in on anything relating to your dungeon, but that doesn't mean I have to interfere unless it's an actual problem.