Crafting Room

He took one of the cuts of lynx meat and set it carefully on a flat stone near the fire, adjusting it so the heat would cook slowly without burning. The smell of singed fat began to drift through the cave.

Grashok picked up a leftover bone from the carcass and tossed it across to the cub. The pup snapped it up eagerly, tail wagging as it settled down to gnaw.

With the cub occupied, Grashok opened his dungeon management menu. The familiar grid appeared before his eyes, and he scrolled through the long list of construction options. There were more choices than he had realised earlier.

Dungeon Construction Menu:

Torture Chamber

Armoury

Barracks

Library

Alchemy Lab

Treasure Vault

Minion Quarters (Various)

Training Grounds

Crafting Room

He paused at the Crafting Room option. The lynx attack had shown him the limits of bare strength—his own and the cub’s alike. Without tools and weapons, every fight was a risk and every resource hard to claim. Proper gear wasn’t an advantage; it was a necessity if they were to gather and endure. With the scraps of wood, bits of ore, and the occasional rare material he had collected, he could finally begin making what they needed instead of scraping by with whatever he found.

Resolute, he selected the Crafting Room option. A confirmation message appeared

Crafting Room (Basic)

Cost:

Wood: 5

Stone: 10

Ore: 2

Grashok checked his inventory and saw that he just had enough resources. Excitement flared. With a nod of determination, he pressed the Accept button. Instantly, the layout for the new room appeared, an empty frame of glowing lines in the dirt connected to one of the arches off the main entrance hall.

But nothing came for free, and there was no builder who would materialise to do the work for him. Another pop-up appeared.

Crafting Room Construction Started!

Time Remaining: 1 hour

Penalties: Tool Penalty (-50%), Skill Penalty (-30%), Dexterity Penalty (-20%)

Estimated Time: 2 hours

Grashok groaned at the penalties. Without proper tools or skill, everything would take longer. Resigned, he picked up a nearby rock and began tapping at the glowing frame, the sound of stone against stone echoing in the cavern.

With each strike, the progress bar crept forward in his vision. Two hours, he thought. Manageable.

The cub padded over at first, sniffing at the glowing frame and pawing at the dirt with a playful yip. For a moment it seemed fascinated, circling Grashok’s work and tilting its head at the sound of stone striking stone. But the novelty soon wore off. With a huff, it wandered back to the fire, curling up in the warmth and leaving him to the dull rhythm of the task.

The slow crawl of the bar was almost hypnotic. Occasionally, another penalty flashed as his improvised tool chipped or slipped, but he kept going. Tap after tap. Hours passed until the glowing lines solidified, the dirt and stone shifting in response to his effort.

A faint hum filled the air as the room took shape.

Crafting Room Completed!

Basic Stone Hammer added to inventory.

Basic Crafting Bench added to dungeon.

A sigh of relief escaped him as the final notification appeared. The space was rough‑hewn, with a splintered wooden bench, but it was a start. With tools in hand, new possibilities opened before him.

His dungeon was growing.