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Chapter 91

  With each passing month, the chaos caused by Naomi slowly subsided. She also stopped thinking of ways to contribute to the war effort. Instead, she concentrated on her private studies and projects. Of course, she still helped when asked. Whether fulfilling an order for parts needed to be built or serving as a consultant. However, she never forced her own solution to the problems they faced, or she spotted, but instead she tried to give a hint.

  “Are you sure this will work?”

  “The measurements look off. Are you sure you want this that way?”

  Those sentences and similar ones prompt the Grand Forge Master to swear profusely and threaten to strangle the person responsible for the mistake. Those mistakes were inevitable. None of them ever built something like that. Progress was rapid, however, and by the end of winter or the beginning of spring, they should have completed the construction of the three elephant golems.

  Naomi also observed something peculiar. People are to be happier despite the amount of work everyone has.

  “I don’t understand that.” She told the Juthar, Grand Priest of the Sun. “I added more work for everyone and made everything even more complicated. Paladins destroy golems constantly to gather the necessary metal. Adventurers try not to damage the golems during combat, which is difficult to do. Even the sun elves almost took up residence on the fourteenth floor to learn to cope with the cold. And yet you all are happy. I feel it. My dungeon feels it. So why?”

  “Because you, Dungeon Mistress, give us hope. You give us a way to help with the war.” He answered. “Right now, we have winter, and we can’t go there to help with the war effort. And the paladins have their orders and must wait. But we want to go there regardless. We just can’t. But we can send those elephants of yours. We can repair golems from your dungeon and send them as we were sending swords and shields. And we shouldn't forget about the other work of Grand Master Unroh. Yes, it’s a lot of work. But it’s also a work that will help defeat necromancers.”

  “Oh.”

  Finally, after waiting half a year, Naomi got enough mana to build a fifteenth floor. In any other dungeon, if she checks it, by asking adventurers and the grand priest, it will be a floor with the bare minimum of necessary facilities. Return ring, arena where the champion of the floor will be waiting for adventurers, maybe a warehouse with simple supplies. Other dungeon masters concentrated their efforts on creating a proper champion. The rest of the floor was usually neglected. It wasn’t entirely the wrong approach. Why spend time and mana on something that will be rarely seen, especially for the deeper floors? But for Naomi, it was a wasted opportunity. She also promised to use real animals whenever possible, and a safe floor was the best for this purpose. Naomi could create a space where they live unbothered, and people could observe and learn about them, too.

  “But what to choose this time?” She mused in her workshop.

  “Definitely something fun,” Tabitha said after appearing beside her.

  “Fun?”

  “Yes. People are worried about the invasion, so you should give them something to play. Even if only some of them will reach this floor, you should reward them for that.”

  “Hmm. What entertainment do people in the north have?”

  “The same as everyone else. Singing, drinking, dancing. Kids like to throw snow on each other, and some sometimes build small castles and play around them.”

  “Other dungeon masters don’t introduce anything involved with snow? For example, skiing or ice skating?”

  “I heard about the first thing, and I think someone tried to build them. Never heard about the second one.”

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  “Then let’s do it. I will show everyone that you can have a lot of fun in the north, too.” Naomi decided.

  “I can’t wait to see!” Goddess of fun laughed.

  Naomi at first created a floor similar to the thirteenth floor, but covered in snow. It gives her a lot of space for what she was planning. The entrance will be through one of the columns supporting the ceiling. In the middle of the floor, between stone columns, will be a whole resort for people to stay. For now, adventurers will need to do everything themself, but maybe someday someone will rent it like Lisusa did with the tavern on the fifth floor. The building was built around the mine hall, where adventurers could eat, drink, and sing. But after that, Naomi started to be creative. Around the building, she created a few open-air hot baths. Some were spacious and could accommodate several people at once. Others were small, just enough for a couple. Tall walls ensure privacy, but not obscure admiring auroras by night. Hot water was distributed by pipes made from brass. The source of hot water was a geothermal vent in the cave under the building. The heat of steam was also used for heating the building. There were fireplaces in every room, too. But now no one will need to wake up in the middle of the night to add some firewood to them.

  Naomi also built a small workshop supplied with steam. It wasn’t used only for heating the place but also for bending the wood. On Earth, it was a forgotten method of making the skis. Wood exposed to hot steam can be easily bent. And will remain bent after cooling. Naomi had to find a way to properly attach her boots without using the complicated set of screws, springs, and other things found on modern skis, but she found a way. It was all about properly carving the plank, leaving a thick place in the middle. Skates were easier to make. It was an iron blade attached to the plank with a set of leather straps to firmly attach it to the boots.

  In another building, also heated by steam, she designed a kennel and a place for sleds. In this world, there weren't dogs like huskies to pull the sleds. Instead, people here were using domesticated wolves, so Naomi did the same.

  Now she needed a place for all of this. The building was located on a small hill, high enough for recreational skiing or learning to ski. The floor was covered with forest, and people could move around on sleds and skis, using the maze of paths. Naomi hid tokens along the roads that adventurers could use to win prizes. Every time they decide to look for them, they will receive a map with the locations of the tokens. In her opinion, an obstacle course would be a better choice than a race. Dogs, or actually wolves, like running, and animals will have plenty of opportunity for that, but she doesn’t want to push them too far.

  Naomi also placed a big frozen lake. On the shore was a log cabin with rooms to stay. And on the lake, she prepared tents made from thick fabric and with iron stoves to keep them warm. Next to each of them were placed tools to crack the ice and fishing rods.

  The other half of the lake she reserved for skating.

  Finally, ot the far end of the floor, she created an enormous cave where the guardian of the floor will be. She chose the golem bear, but made it as big as the crab golem from the tenth floor. It wasn’t just an open arena. She added stone columns and boulders, which could be helpful as hiding places, but also constituted obstacles for adventurers.

  At the end, she summoned every animal that lived in the north. So there were arctic hares, foxes, wolves, and reindeer. Small animals such as stoats, weasels, and lemmings can be seen running around on the ground, hiding from snow owls. Naomi set up feed stations filled with hay and vegetables to ensure all the creatures had ample food. It also does not forget about predators, although it does not forbid animals from hunting each other.

  After a few cosmetic changes, such as adding two snow forts for snowball fights, she confirmed the creation of the floor.

  “Please, show me how to use all of that. I can feel so much fun hidden in them.” The Goddess of fun was bouncing excitedly, holding skies and skates.

  “Of course, goddess.” Naomi smiled. “I’m not an expert in using them, so I will need to train a little myself before I start teaching adventurers.”

  Both of them spent a whole day skiing and skating. Naomi, as a kid, was doing that a lot because her grandparents lived in Alaska. Whenever there was an occasion, her parents would take her there, and then both grandparents would teach her everything about the Arctic. And they know a lot, probably everything, because they were Inuit. Soon, after a few falls, she remembered everything she learned in her childhood, and by the end of the day, she moved with confidence on the skies or skated. Unlike her, the goddess understood everything after the short demonstration and was soon in full show-off mode.

  “Thank you, sister!” She shouted, hugging her. “We need to teach people how to make them and use them.”

  “I already prepared that, Goddess.” Naomi smiled. “In the workshop, I left everything needed to build them. Even an advanced carpenter should be able to build them. The same goes for skates. Any blacksmith can make the blades from a piece of scrap metal. I think in the next month or two, the first adventurers will arrive here, and they will find it.”

  “Like always, sister. You are thinking about everything.”

  “I try, goddess.” Naomi smiled.

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