The next morning, I woke up and opened my newly required shop.

Upon doing so, I learned its amazing feature.

Not only did I learn that it was possible to level up the Abyss and Palace through the shop using materials and Dungeon Points, but I also found out I could buy a map of the Abyss which can be upgraded later.

I have to find pieces of the map, but luckily there was a map piece detector for a low price.

I'll leave the adventure for map pieces for another time, for now I want to get this free upgrade for the palace.

The palace will get a new building, a new area, a new look based on what I've been focusing on, and a few more rooms. 

I pressed the upgrade button and immediately got a warning screen.

 

Warning Message

Text: Danger! All occupants must leave the premises, upgrade in progress!

 

Everyone came running from where ever upon the shaking of the palace.

"What the...!" Arin shouts.

"Don't question it, let's step out for a bit, the palace is getting upgraded." I told them.

We all leave the palace and waited.

Right before our eyes a tower attached itself to the right side of the palace.

"Hey, there's something going on below!" Aria points to an area below the cliff and a few meters away.

As if by magic, something was forming and taking shape.

A large five by five meter area appeared with an open fenced area.

Not only that a building appeared next to it and some training items.

I already knew that this was the training area that I thought about yesterday.

To think it came so easily in the free upgrade.

 

Message 

Text: Upgrade completed! Reached Level 2 of the Palace: New additions included:

1. Female Servants' quarters
2. Canteen
3. Seamstress Office
4. Tower
5. Training Area
6. Knights' Quarters
7. Butler's Quarters
8. Additional Room added in the Tower

 

Upgrades include:

1. Servants' Quarters to Male Servants' Quarters
2. Bigger Kitchen

 

"Let's head back inside to check out the palace's new upgrade." I tell them.

I hope I didn't have to explain to them the reason why things were done this way and how it was happening.

It's a long explanation that I did not want to go into.

I was glad to see that we were slowly moving up, but we still had a long way to go.

I'm still considered the weakest among dungeon masters and my own people.

I don't plan to stay this way for long though, now that I have rested well for today, tomorrow I'll begin the next quest.

I was actually looking forward to discovering a mine.

When I played the game in my past life, I wasn't able to acquire any mines, I had to make money the hard way.

At the time I had no clue how many resources I had near me.

If it's anything like the game version, then I already know where three of the well-hidden and best mines are located.

These same three mines also have a couple of the much-needed map pieces.

I know this thanks to a certain hero who discovered the mine in a dungeon not so far from this Abyss.

If I remember correctly, it's a Lesser Dungeon that was hard even for the hero to clear.

I'll tackle that one last, since, to my knowledge it'll be worth the raid.

It's always best to save the best place for last.

The mine that I want to head to first, just so happens to be buried hear deep in the Abyss.

I also know that if I go any lower here there's a ferocious beast even worse than I can imagine.

I have no clue what kind of monster it is, since I never lived that long to find out.

"Um, My lady, can I have a moment of your time?" Urial asked quietly coming up behind me.

I turned to face her, her  dark brown cheeks redder than usual.

"What is it?" I asked her.

She played with a strand of her red hair while looking down at the floor.

I was already aware of her shy nature.

Since she's one of the new arrivals, it was to be expected.

Though, with her it's much more severe.

Makes me wonder what hell she went through other than starving and wandering around out in this world.

"I just want to be clear, I am to follow Sir Croxias and learn about dark magic, right?" She asked her voice soft and unsure.

"That's right, is there something bothering you?" I asked.

She nods slightly," um...well...you see. The thing is..."

Before she could finish what she had to say, Croxias came from the newly formed hall that led to the tower holding serval vials.

"There you are, girl. Come test these." He orders.

Urial's eyes went huge and she furiously shakes her head, then quickly dives behind me before peeking around at Croxias.

"I see, so is this about that?" I asked pointing at Croxias.

Croxias pauses and wags his finger, "to actually dare use our Lady as a shield in this situation. As my new apprentice, it's your job to try my new potions." Croxias says.

Again, Urial shakes her head and points at her head in exasperation. I can kind of guess what happened.

I didn't really notice, since this was my first time really seeing her.

I mean her hair was out of place, it didn't match well with the tone of her dark skin.

Dark elves weren't usually the type to grow hair that bright in the first place, unless they are a mixed race.

This is rare, though.

"My Lady!" Kobi came bursting through the palace door, I can't wait to upgrade the entrance, it's kind of bland here.

That's beside the point, it seems that today I'll be extra busy.

"Kobi?" I asked.

"I apologize, is My Lady busy?" He asked staring from Croxias to Urial.

I stepped aside and watched as Croxias dragged a very relentless Urial by the color back up to his tower.

I wish her good luck.

I made my way over to the throne and took a seat.

"Is there something up, Kobi?" I asked.

"Actually, I had a request." He started.

He showed me what he was carrying, it was a large paper with neat and tidy drawing.

"This is a map that I drew up after taking a look around the Abyss.

When did he even do that?

"Well, I didn't get to do much, I made a few discoveries while doing so." He pointed to the map and smiled.

"If I can take a gander on what I think I discovered, this tunnel may lead to a possible new discovery." He says.

"Oh? And I'm guessing this leads up to the request you mentioned?" I asked.

He jabs a thumb at himself and puffs out his small chest, "exactly, I thought that as a dwarf, discovering mines should be my job, I would like to be the one to dig farther into the Abyss." He admits.

Honestly, this was right on time.

"And what makes you sure that the mine is in that specific direction?" I asked.

He gave me an all-knowing look, "as a dwarf, it's easy to guess a topography of an area. Like the hardness of dirt or even signs of a mine cart track that is barely noticeable. If I went, I'd be sure to track this mine down within two days." He tells me.

I nod, well it made perfect sense.

And the place he pointed out, definitely looked like the direction that I remembered that mine to be in. 

"I accept your request. Only if you agree to take Pesia along." I pointed out.

"Actually, My Lady...." Pesia says coming in right at that moment, followed by the new knight recruit.

Pesia pushed Hovis forward slightly, the skinny, dark elf stumbled forward a bit while holding a newly made short sword made by Kobi.

"This guy should be enough for this trip. I've been training him since he got here, the guy may look weak, but he's pretty impressive. I think to get in more training, he should take on this guard quest." Pesia says.

Hovis looked extremely nervous, he quickly bows at Kobi while fumbling a bit with his sword, "ah! please take care of me!" He says lifting his head back up.

Hovis frowns, but kept his mouth shut, "well, if it's Lady Pesia, then I have no choice but to drag him along with me." He says with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

With that the task to discover a mine was set in motion.

The day was still quite long.

So, I decided to make note on what I should singlehandedly focus on while Kobi searched for a mine.