Naomi wakes up late in the afternoon. After getting ready, she checked her latest floor to see if everything worked as planned. Then she goes to Moss and Ivy to show them she is alright after a week of working. Only then did she exit the dungeon.

  ''Good day, Dungeon Mistress,'' said Pinera, who was waiting for adventurers to help them with extra healing.

  ''Good day, priestess'' Naomi smiled.

  ''I see you're feeling better. However, not entirely. You don’t smile like before.''

  ''Don’t worry. It's like growing up, I think. I just lost some of my childhood innocence.''

  ''Most likely,'' The priestess agrees ''However, if you need to talk,k I’m to your disposition.''

  ''Thank you. Guild master in his tent?''

  ''Probably. It's the first day of the new floor. He had some work with reports.''

  ''Thank you again.''

  In the adventurers' guild tent, the Guild Master was reading reports or other documents. Next to him sits Paoli, who happily munches some fruits.

  ''Dungeon Mistress. Good to see you back and well'' Lucius stands immediately.

  ''Good afternoon. I’m feeling better. Once again, thank you for helping me, especially you, Miss'' Naomi bowed in the direction of Paoli, who didn't know what to do.

  ''No problem, Dungeon Mistress,'' She replied after a moment. ''You can call me by my name. I'm Paoli. I’m just an adventurer and not some noble miss.'' She smiled, embarrassed.

  ''Thank you once again, Paoli,'' Naomi beamed ''Guild Master, I want to ask how my second floor is.

  ''It’s good, Dungeon Mistress,'' he answered ''Like usual, it takes some time to find the proper way to deal with your rats. However, they don't pose any special threat.''

  ''They are fine, especially no blood part. Mistress, you had no idea how much work it is to clean everything,'' interrupted Paoli.

  ''So that is good, yes?''

  ''It has some unexpected advantages. Good day, Dungeon Mistress,'' said Juntar, entering the tent.

  ''good day, Grand Priest. Also, thank you'' Naomi answered ''And unexpected advantages?

  ''This world is beautiful and full of wonders. However, dangers and bloodshed are part of it too. Like you, Dungeon Mistress witnessed a week ago.''

  ''I did.''

  ''Many of us follow the path of warriors. We fight against dangers and protect everyone. However, our strength and willpower are finite. With time, sometimes we can’t fight anymore. It happens because of how gruesome that path is. Many find a way to follow the path. They become city guards and teachers, for example. Some can’t. The call of the path is too strong for them to settle down. But in your halls, they probably could follow their path.''

  ''Yes. That is unexpected, indeed,'' Naomi answered. ''Worth trying, but in my opinion, blood is only part of the problem. Danger also could be part of it.

  ''We will see. Even if we help just a few people, it still will be a victory.

  ''I guess. And some downsides?'' Asked Naomi.

  ''Food!'' Paoli shouted.

  ''Food?''

  ''Yes. Usually, adventurers harvest edible parts from slain animals for later use or use on the spot when they are deep, and adventurers need to spend days exploring the floor.

  ''And I don’t have anything living there,'' Naomi sighed. ''I can’t change much for this floor. On the next one, I can add a few things. I need to think about the fourth floor.

  ''Thank you for your consideration, Dungeon Mistress,'' Said Lucius.

  ''I heard right! The most annoying dungeon mistress is here!'' To the tent barge, the Grand Forge Master. ''I don’t know if I should hug you or strangle you, Mistress.''

  ''I don’t mind hugs, but what happened?''

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  ''Your golems happened! I can't wait for the news to spread. At last, someone kicked things to move. The last fifty years have been so boring.''

  ''Oh. I was worried that something bad happened. And I think that things change all the time. Only some inventions are spectacular, but most are only improvements of existing ideas.''

  ''Small changes, yes.'' Agrees Eriser. ''However, most of them are about quality. Sometimes, someone tries something new. But when they fail, they give up. And scholars mostly think about new things without trying them.''

  ''Really?''

  ''Do you know about the creation of this world?'' Asked a minotaur priest.

  ''Yes, I read it,'' Naomi answered.

  ''So, as you know, gods created elves at the beginning. They were guardians, caretakers, and companions of gods back then. Gods, like usual, created them perfectly to fit that role. Long-lived and with easy access to mana, however, elves also don’t feel the need to change much of anything. They obviously can adapt to things that are happening in the world. They aren’t immune to the flow of time. At that time, it wasn't a problem. Then, new races start appearing. Dwarfs, beastmen, humans, and things get complicated.''

  ''Yes. Back then, gods interacted with elves directly.'' Naomi smiled, remembering that paragraph in the scroll.

  ''Interact directly, that's the good one.'' Laugh, dwarven grand priest. ''They were just fucking. That is the reason we dwarfs are calling The Smith our god ancestor. He is.''

  ''Yes.'' Continued Jathur. ''The appearance of new races and tensions between them was one of the reasons that gods stopped showing in our world. Because everyone has a drop of elven blood in his or her veins, we all have this feeling that why change things that work. We all prefer good and tested methods over new and unknown.''

  ''And that is why gods needed us, dungeon cores. To inspire, push, maybe even force you.'' Naomi understood.

  ''And it’s needed right now even more than ever. Twisted gods in the north need to be banished, and with the old methods, we can’t do it.'' Nod minotaur priest.

  ''And now you, Dungeon Mistress, not only pushed us but kicked us in our lazy asses!'' Laughed, dwarven grand priest ''It will take me a year to rebuild and understand your array. But you know it is a little sloppy if I can say.''

  ''You can because it is.'' Naomi laughed. ''I cram together everything I needed for this magic array work. I bet that it works mostly because dungeon magic smoothed the worst parts and mistakes. Even The Smith said it was sloppy work.

  ''Don’t worry about him. He is always harsh with his appraisal. Without that, no one will do anything new, even improving quality.'' Shrugs Eriser.

  ''I don't mind it. Indeed, these golem rats are barely working. And I got a new skill anyway. Thanks to that,t I discovered my true path.'' She showed her path to both priests.

  ''Congratulation.'' Said Jathur.

  ''Damn. We need a proper tavern. Those kinds of things should be celebrated with lots of alcohol.'' Eriser said. ''You are the first one. Oh, you should add a depiction of your job on the walls in the shrine.''

  ''I should? There are depictions of artificers already, and I must admit it's a little embarrassing.''

  ''You should. You are not an artificer, even if both jobs share many similarities. And for you, Dungeon Mistress, it will be a proper way to show your gratitude to your patron god for recognizing your effort.'' Explained the dwarven priest.

  ''Understood,'' Naomi answered. ''Before I go and start planning and building the next floor, besides food, does anyone need something else?''

  ''For now, we think we have everything.'' Answered the Guild master.

  ''Good thinking with food. A little change is welcome,'' Said the dwarf priest. ''I lack proper forge. But it takes time before we build something serious outside. For now, I need mana stones for my traveling forge, and I can get them from your golems.''

  ''The Commander of Paladins also doesn't mention lack of supplies.'' Confirm Jathur.

  ''Great. Thank you all once again. I will be busy for a few days building a new floor. However, if something important happens, please tell my snakes. They will inform me.''

  ''If I can suggest. You could use your champion, Mistress. I understand keeping him hidden, but they are usually almost like a person. it could be easier to communicate.'' Said the minotaur priest.

  ''Oh. But Moss, the big and light-colored snake, is my champion.'' Laugh Naomi. ''And indeed, he is clever.''

  ''But you have two of them? You can have two champions? Right?'' Asked a shocked Paoli.

  ''No, to my knowledge. Ive, the second one, is normal of their kind and his mate. I summoned her because Moss will be lonely without company, and I'm rather busy.''

  ''No wonder The Lady is also your patron goddess,'' Nod minotaur.

  The next morning, Naomi started working on her third floor. This time, it will be a maze of caves. Dark, damp, and only with some glowing mushrooms for dim lighting. But it wasn't a natural cave created by water through eons. Under rock formations typical of any cave, here and there, you could see hand-carved stone blocks and unrecognizable metal scrap. True to her words, she added animal life to cold tunnels and caverns. Small insects crawling and hiding on walls and fissures, or bats sleeping on the ceiling. She also instructed them to run or hide if they spotted the adventurers. For that, she prepared a lot of hiding spots. Naomi knows that some of them will die anyway. One stray fireball can kill a lot of her creatures. She wasn’t happy about this but hoped that adventurers would be busy enough with her golem spiders and they would not bother her denizens of caves. She also didn't forget about the promise about food. Only mushrooms grow in caves, so she chose the most common edible or healthy ones. Something more she will add on the next floor.

  ''Now it's time for spiders.'' She smiled. First, she searched for a typical tarantula-like spider and enlarged its body to one meter. It was a decent size for now to pack and hide all necessary machinery inside without some serious miniaturization and enchantments. She would do it, but now, it wasn’t necessary. Building a body and making it move similarly to real spiders takes Naomi two days. Changing the controlling array to fit the spider body and improving it takes two more days.

  ''It lacks something,'' Naomi said, observing her newest creation from every angle. Then she remembered. ''It’s obvious. Spiders produce cobwebs. So how do I do that? I don’t need them to build a spider’s web because you will hunt on the floor. And you don’t need spider silk to hang from the ceiling. Let's see what spiders also do with silk.'' Almost immediately, she found her answer. ''That will be a surprise.'' - she smiled and got to work. After a whole day of work and final tests, she confirms that everything is ready.