Lucas actually liked the idea. “Alright then. So, we need something that dwells in a forest, and then we have the spider, Saba’a, for the underground people already. It sounds like the dungeon will be shaping up well.” He opened up his menu and checked the forty total points that he had to allocate now that his dungeon was ranked Level 2. “I guess now we just need to go check the forums and see which monster best fits these criteria.”

“I also—”

Katie tried talking again, but this time, when Nick opened his mouth to talk over the incredibly soft-spoken young woman, Lucas shot him with a Chain Lightning.

“What the heck?!” Nick yelled, still managing to interrupt Katie. “That was uncalled for.”

“Did you not see Katie trying to talk?” Lucas asked.

“Oh.”

“You did, didn’t you? She’s part of this group too, so why don’t you just stay quiet and listen to what she has to say? All of you.” Lucas said, putting his foot down and leaving the room silent for Katie to speak.

Katie’s face went from white to red under the eyes of everyone turning to look at her.

“Go on. It’s okay,” Lucas encouraged.

“Well . . . I . . . I would like a water boss,” she said.

“Huh?” Lucas was so caught off guard that he grunted the sound before he could catch himself. And he wasn’t the only one with this reaction.

“I can’t remember anyone ever liking water dungeons in video games,” Nick said.

“But . . .” Katie protested weakly. “I just . . . I hate that every dungeon except the two racial ones on the mainland . . . They are all without water. Completely. It’s cruel to my people,” she said. “To a Mere, the water is like home, and like a sportsman, we yearn for the home court advantage just once. If your dungeon had that, I bet every Mere would come to it.”

Lucas blinked. She has a point. Everyone else fell silent, presumably deep in thought, so Lucas took the opportunity to pull up the map of his territory.

With the amount of forest around his manor, sticking a suitable monster among the trees was a great idea, but it wouldn’t be that unique. There were dozens of beast-based dungeons on the mainland. But there were no water dungeons. Ever. Even if Mere didn’t comprise a large percentage of players, there would still be several who might be interested in a watery environment if he could design it well.

“But still . . . Underwater?” Nick groaned.

“I like it,” Lucas said. “But we don’t have the path at the moment to handle an aquatic monster for the dungeon, nor the points to handle three paths.”