The dryad stood at the back of the dungeon's city cave and watched as the rock floor slowly sank in a circular area four paces across. She was about to protest that the area was far too small, when she realized that the hollow was widening considerably towards the bottom.

A few duskgnomes watched with interest at first, but wandered off after a while. Ulmenglanz, on the other hand, stayed with the patience of an oak until the hole was finished. Selvara flew up and took a look down as well. She nodded in satisfaction and then flew to the pot with the dryad tree. She dug both hands into the ground up to her wrists. Ulmenglanz hurried to her and watched anxiously at what she was doing. The dungeon fairy smiled reassuringly at her: "The tree has a powerful magical aura that Malvorik can't work in. But he still needs a sample of the potting soil so he can copy it."

With both hands, she lifted out some of the heavy black humus soil and flew a little to the side. On the way, it began to shimmer around her hands and the earth disappeared.

A little later, the hole began to fill up. Again, the dryad watched with interest. In the end, a hole exactly the size of the clay pot remained free in the middle.

<Dear Princess Ulmenglanz, you can now plant your tree.>

She looked up at the ceiling in amusement: "You don't have to be so formal. Ulmenglanz will do."

She called a few of the duskgnomes over to help her carry the pot next to the hole and then carefully replanted the tree. Ulmenglanz stepped back. The tree now stood alone in the middle of an area of bare ground. All around it, bare gray rocky ground stretched out in all directions. She crouched down and stroked the ground with her hand.

<Wait, don't worry. It won't stay that way. You mentioned that you have seeds of all forest plants in the seed box. May I absorb them? Then I can recreate all these plants here.>

"Can you recreate the box when we leave your dungeon again?"

<That will cost a lot of mana, but yes, of course I'll do that. But I can't yet copy the stasis spell on the box. I haven't been able to learn it through analysis yet either. It's quite tricky. Level 3 or rather 4.>

"I didn't know there was a spell on the box."

<There's a spell that freezes time inside the box. So the seeds last forever. However, as soon as someone opens the box, the magic disappears.>

The dryad loosened the leather straps and flipped up the lid. The contents were hidden for a moment by a reflective surface, then the magic dissolved with a sparkle and numerous pouches and bags became visible.

Malvorik did not hesitate for a second to acquire such a variety of new patterns. The contents sank together as he absorbed one container after another.

<Phenomenal. These seeds must have been magically enhanced somehow. They're practically the essence of their respective plants. I learned every pattern perfectly straight away. It wasn't just plant seeds in there either. I also have a few butterfly pupae, beetle eggs, a wasp nest and... what's this...>

"What did you find?"

<A small beehive. A few larvae, a queen bee, some worker bees, honeycombs full of honey and honeycombs with a different substance. Similar to honey, but with a higher magical potential and a higher degree of purity.>

"Royal jelly. When the worker bees feed this to a larva, it grows into a new queen."

<I've heard of this before. It's a very rare and expensive ingredient for some alchemical healing potions. There are also a few uses in chimera crafting. I just got a bunch of new animal samples. Let's see if I can use a vicious swarm of bees as a trap. I'll start with a single bee first.>

A very small pentagram with a stylized bee in the middle formed as an engraving in the stone floor. The lines filled with luminous energy, then it flashed and a single bee appeared. Selvara carefully flew back a little: "Wait! That's a normal bee!"

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<Are you allergic to bee stings?>

"No, you're a chimera dungeon. As such, you lost the ability to control common animals and insects, even if you create them."

The heart crystal shimmered, while Malvorik tried to give the bee orders. Then he gave up. <True. I can't even feel the bee, let alone control it.>

The dryad princess held out her hand and the bee flew up to settle on her palm. "Don't worry, it won't hurt you or your fairy."

Malvorik did not answer. Another pentagram appeared next to the first. Insects appeared above both pentagrams. Selvara flew close enough to recognize a wasp and a bee. Below both, a white, honey-like mass appeared on the ground. Both insects settled down and ate. A circle formed around both pentagrams. The insects lit up and were drawn towards each other in jerks. Where they met, they disappeared in a whirling knot of light. More wasps and bees appeared above the pentagrams and were immediately drawn into the vortex of light. Small flashes of lightning flashed out.

The dryad watched patiently while Malvorik worked. Occasionally, more insects or parts of insects appeared and were added to the vortex. The little dungeon fairy had meanwhile sat down on her shoulder and leaned against the dryad's head. At last, the vortex of light went out with a final flare. In its place, a fist-sized insect that looked mostly like a wasp became visible. Its body was covered in a jumbled pattern of black and yellow spots. Four wings protruded like those of a dragonfly. The sting was clearly visible and disproportionately large compared to bees or wasps. It looked menacing, especially when it bent its long hind body forward.

<I'm going to change the pattern. It looks pretty awful. I think a solid black would be more elegant. The almost black shade of dungeon stone would be best. That way, it will be practically invisible in the dungeon.>

Selvara and the dryad backed away. Selvara didn't take her eyes off the little monster: "What exactly did you just make?"

<That, my friends, is a besp. A chimera made from a bee and a wasp. Fed with royal jelly, to further increase its size. Then I added more wasps and bees to get more mass. When I tried to make them even bigger, I got an error message. Probably for the best. I would need something with magical flying abilities as the normal aerodynamics would no longer work. Even with four wings. I've increased the amount of venom glands and the sting is much denser and harder than normal wasps. I have of course removed the barbs, which cause bees to tear out their stinger along with their guts.>

The dryad stepped a little closer and inspected the new chimera: "Good proportions. The length of the legs fits. The wing size also seems correct to me, but you can only really tell when it's moving. Let her fly."

Selvara flew closer to Ulmenglanz and kept the dryad between herself and the besp, which shot off with a shrill whirring sound. After a lap around the room, she flew a few spirals and even a loop. Ulmenglanz nodded with satisfaction: "Faster and more agile than I expected. But pretty loud."

<I was afraid of that. I hate that sound. I have a spell for a stationary area of silence, but nothing movable. I really need to spend some time in the spell workshop. If I massively reduce the area of effect, I'm sure I can get a movable variant. Then I can give the besp silence as a magical ability. Otherwise, I'll try a weakened variant of Shock Grasp. Maybe as a passive ability when it's hit by an opponent.>

Selvara waited until the besp landed on the ground again, before coming out from behind the dryad, "That thing is scary, but is it really strong enough for a level 1 monster?"

Malvorik briefly studied the information that the world voice gave him about the chimera:

<A swarm of six Bespen counts as a single level 1 monster. Against invaders without armor, that's pretty overpowered, but even leather armor should be pretty good protection. With metal armor, they have to target gaps, which becomes difficult with a dive attack. Overall, that seems pretty fair to me.>

The three of them studied the new dungeon monster for a while, looking for ways to improve it, until even Selvara admitted that Malvorik had done a really good job here.

Princess Ulmenglanz carefully checked once again whether her tree felt comfortable in its new place. She stroked the bark, examined the leaves and felt the earth. She lifted some of it up, smelled it and rubbed it between her fingers. She nodded in agreement. "Now we just need some water."

<I'm already on it. Just a moment...>

Malvorik directed water into fine channels in the cave ceiling and a light drizzle fell from above.

Ulmenglanz caught some water with her hand and tasted it. "Acceptable, but a little too many minerals and too strong an affinity for ore."

<I have tapped into an underground river, just like for the other water sources in my dungeon.>

Ulmenglanz wrinkled his nose: "Are there no other sources of water? Something more direct from the surface?"

<I could also tap water from the sewer system...>

"I don't think that will be necessary. This will do."

The dryad gave him precise instructions on the quantity and frequency with which he should water. She stepped back a little and looked up at the stone sky. Countless tiny stars shone there, illuminating the underground chamber. She spread her arms and tried to feel the light. In vain. She wearily lowered her arms. "Malvorik, can you show me the way up? I desperately need some sunlight."

<I have created lots of crystals with light spells. Thanks to my Sanctuary special skill, they produce real sunlight. You don't need to go upstairs.>

"I know. I can survive here. But it doesn't feel like real sunlight."

<Well, then of course I'll be happy to show you the way up. But I must warn you. It's quite long and circuitous.>

"No problem."

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