The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Vitmori POV

Well, with Jack on the way back to us, I ought to focus on my main project. Essentially I want to create a greenhouse for myself up in my mountain, though I'll be honest when I say I've never personally managed one; I only know what I do know thanks to books and listening to farmers who wanted to talk about their crops.

Admittedly I'm actually anxious about this project since it's not something I can just build, kill or otherwise destroy. Even with magic, something like a plant will take time and care. First, I pick two of the rooms I carved out and pour more energy into smoothing the walls, floors, and ceiling. Once the rooms were neat and cleaned up, I carved out a rectangle that was somewhat smaller than the overall floor space and then dug down about a foot and a half of even more stone to make room for the soil.

I looked over the two greenhouse rooms as I considered the next steps. Next, I go ahead and mulch the scrap wood of the leftover tree I had from making the training equipment earlier, along with a whole tree from my personal collection. It was pretty fun imagining as I put this tree through a wood chipper, though what I did to achieve the effect wasn't as complicated as I thought. Still, it did cost a bit of mana. I went ahead and spread the mulched trees along the bottom of the stone garden beds, providing a layer of future nutrients that should feed whatever crops grow here. Afterward, I began filling the stone holes with the soil I pulled from outside when I was building the longhouse, and to my surprise, I noticed that some kinds of worms, grubs and other insects managed to survive within my storage and are still writhing around in the freshly poured out soil. If what I remember is correct, these critters should be mainly beneficial to what needs to be done in the soil.

Finally, I take a look at the gypsum I harvested, which, while it is an excellent source of sulfur and calcium that will no doubt be extremely useful for more destructive projects, it's that very same sulfur and calcium that I want for my crops that will definitely nourish and develop them even further. After crushing some of the gypsum I have into fine sandy grains, I mix it into the middle layer of the soil before looking around in what is still a very dark room. I needed some light that also emitted warmth; luckily, I had already figured that little trick out. While I could settle for a plain yellow ball of light, some reading I remember explained that the best shade of light was a sort of pinkish purple. The exact reasons are lost on me; however, it's one of those little trivia details that stick due to the oddities of the information that makes me commit to this color as I conjure up lighting that wouldn't feel out of place in some kind of love hotel.

All in all, I feel like my greenhouses are ready; what I need now is a secure water source. While I could probably conjure it out of my mana, I would prefer to use water from a natural source. As it stands, I currently don't have or haven't reached a natural spring in my mountain, and I could probably pull water from the river into my storage using Jack or any of the others. While I may have been concerned about chemical contamination out of free-flowing and unfiltered water, I have a good reason to feel that the level of pollution is nowhere near that of my world, which should make that water significantly safer to use with less filtering for crop use in particular.

I'm considering what else I could do when I sense Jack flitting into my core room with some of his crewbirds, so I shift my attention around to see him setting down a red bundle filled with chunks of vegetables, fruits, and leafy crops. I can't exactly say they're leafy greens since there are a lot of odd colors that scientifically don't make sense to me. The other five crewbirds present chunks of smaller fruits, and one even shows off something that looks like some kind of red wheat grains.

'Hmm… Alright, good work Jack; thank you very much for your efforts.' I enthuse, focusing on him before these otherworldly crops entirely consume my focus.

Jack beams, fluttering his wings with pride as he looks up to my core. "It was my pleasure Vitmori; send me on more jobs like these; it was quite fun sneaking about like that." He raved as he bowed in his particular way, with one wing out and another to his chest as he then used his wind magic to pull his bandana back to himself and carefully tie it up again.

'If you're this successful already, I'll definitely have to consider it.' I express cheerfully to him. 'In the meantime, you're dismissed. Feel free to rest before returning to your duties.' With that he flits off with his crewbirds as I summon Frisby over. The rodent scurried over from the burrow and up before my core curiously before noticing the fruits, grains, and vegetables with wide eyes. 'Alright, Frisby, I need you to taste all of this and tell me about them.' I instructed as she looked over to me with a curious flick of her ear.

"T-taste? Are you sure? Such a grand feast is too much for a humble servant like myself." She said deferentially, I could practically see her salivate at the sight, but she was already backing off almost anxiously as her little feet pitter-patter on the stone.

I can't help but mentally smile at how reserved she was; it was kind of cute in a way, though I made sure to sound as encouraging as possible as I spoke to her again. 'No, no, it's fine. I need your help to taste all of these. You have the best sense of taste of all my beasts, and you're one of the few who can eat plants and vegetables without trouble and be able to judge them properly.' I explained as best I could so she could be appropriately motivated.

Her hesitancy was still apparent, but her ears twitched adorably while I explained the logic behind my decision and how useful and needed she was in this situation. Still somewhat anxious, she stepped forward and sniffed at what looked like a chunk of some kind of blue pumpkin.

I watched as she seemed to sample everything, savoring and enjoying every morsel she portioned out for herself as if it may have been her last. It almost made me wish I still had a mouth after watching her move from one crop to the next. Afterward, she sat back on her haunches, cleaning her whiskers before patting her plump belly. 'So, how did they taste?' I asked her curiously.

Frisby looked up at me, a ratty smile on her face as she squeaked out gently. "Delicious, it was all delicious!" She gushed happily.

I sit there a bit, waiting for her to expand on that a little more. When she fails to do so, I probe a little more. 'You… Do you have anything else to say? Like how did it taste, is anything bitter? Sweet? Sour? Maybe even savory?'

She's hesitant again, rubbing her whiskers anxiously as she looks over at my core before looking to the ground again. "I was supposed to be tasting for all that, then?" She said softly, almost as if talking to herself.

I sighed to myself but couldn't help but mentally shrug. 'It looks like we had a disconnect somewhere, but don't worry, you did just fine, Frisby.' I expressed kindly as she nodded somewhat anxiously still.