Zion eventually settled on a ten-percent Mimic chance.
Anything higher felt excessive for a hidden chest that adventurers were already going out of their way to find, while anything lower barely seemed worth paying the additional activation cost.
Ten percent meant most people would still receive the reward they expected, but every so often someone would discover that the treasure they had spent half the floor searching for had teeth.
That seemed fair.
Zion confirmed the setting and closed the Hidden Cache menu before taking one final look across Floor 2.
The sulfur field stretched from the entrance to the newly completed boss chamber, its branching paths broken by yellow mineral formations, steaming vents, shallow pools, and narrow passages where pale slimes waited along the walls and ceiling.
Farther ahead, the Tidepool Basilisk rested mostly submerged inside one of the larger sulfur pools, only the ridges along its back visible above the cloudy water.
Everything was finally in place.
He opened the floor status again.
[Floor 2]
[Terrain: Sulfur Field]
[Monster Population: Lesser Slime]
[Traps: Mana Leech Crystal]
[Treasure: Hidden Cache]
[Floor Boss: Tidepool Basilisk]
[Status: Complete]
[Activate Floor 2?]
“Yes.”
The moment he confirmed it, pale light spread through the entire floor.
He had seen something similar when Floor 1 became functional, but this time the reaction was more complex.
The light moved through the terrain first, tracing the sulfur deposits and shallow pools before spreading into the monsters themselves.
Several notifications appeared.
[Floor ecology evaluated.]
[No dominant Theme detected.]
[Compatible environmental interactions discovered.]
Zion focused more closely.
That made sense.
The sheep had belonged naturally to the pasture, and everything on Floor 1 had worked together strongly enough to form the Sheep Pasture theme.
The slimes had no preferred terrain at all, so he hadn’t expected the same kind of bonus.
The system continued.
[Sulfur Field environmental influence detected.]
[Acidic monster affinity detected.]
[Compatible mutation available.]
[Lesser Slime → Lesser Acid Slime]
Zion read the notifications with growing interest.
“Mutation?
Something like that is possible?”
Across the floor, the slimes began to change.
Their pale green-yellow bodies deepened slightly in color until they nearly matched the sulfur-stained stone beneath them.
Small bubbles formed beneath their translucent surfaces, and every so often a thick droplet separated from the bottom of one and struck the ground.
The stone hissed.
He immediately opened the updated monster information.
[Lesser Acid Slime]
[Rank: F]
[Threat: Very Low]
[High Resistance: Piercing Damage]
[Moderate Resistance: Slashing Damage]
[Weakness: Fire]
[Surface Adhesion]
[Acid Secretion: Occasionally releases corrosive droplets capable of damaging exposed equipment and unprotected skin.]
The slimes hadn’t suddenly become powerful, but Zion didn’t need them to.
They also didn’t lose their resistances, which was what he was slightly worried about.
They were already difficult for many physical fighters to kill efficiently, and now simply standing too close to one carried an extra risk.
More importantly, their new coloring made them even harder to see.
Zion turned his attention toward one of the ceiling slimes and nearly lost track of it despite knowing exactly where he’d placed it.
Its translucent body had changed toward the same yellow-green shade as the surrounding sulfur deposits, leaving only the occasional ripple across its surface to reveal that anything was there.
“Oh, that’s great.
Even I can barely see it.”
Another notification appeared before he could finish admiring them.
[Floor Boss environmental adaptation detected.]
[Tidepool Basilisk has adapted to Sulfur Field.]
[New Trait: Sulfur Camouflage]
The basilisk emerged from one of the pools.
Its blue-gray scales were gone.
In their place was a mottled mixture of pale yellow, green, and dark mineral brown that mirrored the stone surrounding the pool.
Even the fins along its back had dulled until they resembled jagged sulfur formations whenever the creature remained still.
Zion watched it crawl onto a rock shelf and settle against the wall.
Within seconds, it became difficult to distinguish from the terrain.
He was beginning to like Floor 2 very much.
There had been no formal theme bonus, but the environment had still changed the monsters living inside it.
The sulfur didn’t need to be the slimes’ preferred terrain to matter.
It only needed to interact with traits they already had.
He made a mental note not to treat the compatibility menus like strict instructions anymore.
Before moving on, he still needed to deal with the boss reward.
Floor 1 had already taught him what happened when adventurers fought through an entire floor and received nothing.
It also taught him what happened when he became too generous.
Floor 2 needed something slightly better than the pasture without becoming another hundred-gold advertisement.
He opened the reward catalog and created a second loot table.
This time, he didn’t sort exclusively by cheapest.
The ordinary rewards started slightly above those available from the Horned Ram, with better healing items, reinforced equipment, small crafting materials, and a few pieces of low-grade enchanted gear included at very low percentages.
He looked through the enchanted items for a moment before lowering their chances again.
Very low percentages.
The pendant had taught him respect for percentages.
[Floor 2 Boss Loot Table created.]
[Average Reward Grade: Common+]
[Rare Reward Chance: 2%]
Zion considered increasing it, then decided two percent was enough for now.
A rare reward should be exciting because it was rare.
If he started handing them out every few clears, he’d only create another expensive problem for himself.
Satisfied, he confirmed the table.
[Floor 2 fully activated.]
[Access unlocked upon successful completion of Floor 1.]
The doors behind the barn shifted.
A dark passage now continued beyond the barn, descending gradually toward the sulfur field below.
He barely had time to admire it before he realized one of the active parties was approaching the Horned Ram.
Gareth’s group.
Zion shifted his attention toward their instance and found June standing near the barn entrance while Gareth moved ahead with his shield raised.
Mara and Elias had already taken their usual positions behind him.
They had become noticeably better at the fight.
The Horned Ram still forced them to move carefully, but they no longer wasted attacks against Woolen Guard or let Call the Flock catch them by surprise.
Gareth redirected the ram’s charges instead of absorbing them directly, while Mara attacked the same vulnerable areas they’d discovered on previous runs.
Elias conserved far more mana than he had during their first clear.
Zion watched with interest as the fight progressed.
They were learning his floor faster than he could change it.
The Horned Ram eventually collapsed beneath a combined attack from Gareth and Mara, disappearing into white smoke as the familiar notification appeared.
[Floor 1 cleared.]
[Clear Essence acquired: 100]
The Boss Drop Chest materialized near the rear wall.
Mara hurried toward it.
“Please be another necklace.”
Elias laughed.
“You’re going to be disappointed.”
She opened the chest and pulled out a small bottle filled with red liquid.
Her shoulders dropped.
“A healing draught.”
June smiled, shaking her head at Mara.
“We’ll use it.”
“That’s not the point.”
Zion felt no guilt whatsoever.
The draught had cost eight essence.
Before the argument could continue, stone moved behind them.
All four adventurers turned.
The rear wall of the barn slowly opened, revealing the passage beyond.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Mara forgot about the healing draught entirely.
“There’s another floor.”
Elias stepped closer to the opening.
“That wasn’t here yesterday.”
“No,” Gareth said.
“It definitely wasn’t.”
June smiled as she looked into the descending passage.
“It must have finished expanding.”
Their excitement pleased Zion considerably more than he expected.
He’d spent hours shaping every section of Floor 2, and now someone was finally going to see it.
Mara was already moving toward the opening.
Then the smell reached them.
She stopped, her entire face changing.
“Oh, gods.”
Elias covered his nose with one hand.
“What is that?”
June took one cautious breath and immediately regretted it.
“Sulfur, I think.”
Mara stared into the passage.
“The next floor smells like that?”
Zion felt slightly vindicated.
The smell was working.
Gareth stepped closer to the entrance and looked down into the dim yellow-green light below.
He remained there for several seconds before checking something Zion couldn’t see.
“We don’t have time.”
Mara looked at him.
“What?”
“We said we’d be back before evening.”
“But we just found a new floor.”
“And we have no idea how long it is.”
Elias glanced toward the passage, clearly reluctant to leave.
“He’s right.
If it’s anything like the first floor was on our initial run, going in without enough time would be stupid.”
June nodded, agreeing.
“We can always come back tomorrow.”
Zion couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Tomorrow?
Floor 2 was finished now.
The slimes were waiting.
The basilisk was waiting.
He had even made the treasure chest occasionally bite people.
Mara looked into the passage one more time before reluctantly turning away.
“Fine.
Tomorrow.”
The party walked toward the dungeon exit.
Zion watched them leave with growing disbelief.
He’d spent hundreds of essence building an entire floor specifically so adventurers could enter it, and the first people to unlock the entrance had looked inside, complained about the smell, and gone home.
For a moment, he deeply regretted giving the sulfur odor so much credit.
Then he checked his essence balance.
They said they would come back tomorrow.
That meant another entry reward, another Floor 1 clear, and eventually a Floor 2 clear if they managed it.
Zion decided he could tolerate waiting.
He shifted his attention back toward the remaining Floor 1 instances.
There were noticeably fewer now that evening had arrived, though several parties were still moving through the pasture.
One group had triggered Pack Mentality near the creek, while another was fighting carefully around the hills after losing one member earlier.
The day had generated more combat information than Zion knew what to do with.
It had also generated something else.
He opened the dungeon inventory.
The list had grown considerably.
[Straight Iron Sword]
[Worn Buckler]
[Minor Healing Draught x3]
[Leather Boots]
[Short Bow]
[Iron Arrow Bundle x4]
[Coin Pouch]
[Travel Cloak]
[Cracked Staff]
[Common Dagger x2]
The list continued well beyond what he expected.
Every adventurer defeated on the protected floor had left behind unsecured equipment, and after nearly an entire day of constant traffic, Zion had accumulated a small collection of weapons, armor, supplies, and miscellaneous belongings.
He’d been too busy watching the battles to notice how quickly it was growing.
He selected the iron sword.
[Dungeon Inventory Item]
[Options:]
[Assign to Reward Chest]
[Remove]
That was it.
He selected the buckler.
The same two options appeared.
Zion frowned and continued checking several items, but none offered anything more useful.
Apparently, he could take equipment dropped by defeated adventurers and place it directly into one of his treasure chests, which at least meant he wouldn’t need to purchase every reward from the store.
“Well I guess that’s cool.”
It was also disappointingly limited.
He looked through the growing inventory again.
Some of the equipment was damaged, several pieces were cheap, and a few items looked barely worth putting into even the Floor 1 chest.
There had to be something better he could do with all of it.
For now, though, the system allowed him to give it back.