Muste was beginning to get mildly frustrated due to a number of complications in his grand plans for the dungeon and it's operation. For one, building more chambers and hallways proved difficult, with the dungeon itself seemingly resisting attempts to mould it. He hypothesized that because the Crystal of Authority has been split into separate Shards, and with the holders of the Shards having different views and motives, the power of dominion over the dungeon itself was divided and weakened. Still, some progress was made, though his attempts to fulfill the Oracle's requests were futile, the Core Room refusing to comply to the blueprints. In the end, the upper management settled on carving unholy symbols and records of their achievements, which pleased Muste. He just wished his tentacles looked less like a weird, fleshy beard in the hieroglyphs. He enchanted the carvings with a minor illusion to give them small motion, giving life to the core room's atmosphere.

Another point of resistance was with his magical studies. Though he failed to understand the artifacts they had, he gained enough of an understanding to deduce that their power came from a uniform, infallible source, and that they could always be used exactly as previously determined, with no deviation aside from the various forms given by the Polymorphing artifact. The illusory walls, another point of study, were controllable by Kleine, allowing them to be moved or created according the the core's limitations. Small victories, but the illithid took every one he could.

As he was pondering on the types of magical traps that could be made and excavating the dungeon, Zoppy would occasionally offer trade in various little knick-knacks she would have. And just as promised, Muste would continue to trade in enchanted items: not only feathers, but also other small animal parts, like a rabbitt's foot, a fox tail, and so on. Any pieces of bread would continue to be converted to new loaves, and eventually a small stream was found in the wilderness, allowing him to use Purify Water to create drinkable water in bone cups and buckets. However, he wished to build a proper well and piping to provide water throughout the dungeon for various purposes. Something to add to his numerous designs.

The monotony of their everyday life came to an end when Zogi came up to him in the midst of his work, having made proposals for the dungeon's development trajectory. The illithid raised a curious eyebrow, followed by facial tentacles curling into a shape resembling a smile. "Ah, is that so, Zogi? Truth be told, I had not noticed." He tapped his chin with a hand tentacle. "A chamber dedicated to flora and agriculture would not only improve employee well-being, it would also provide a handy source of components for my research. I have been intending to survey the adventurer camp anyway, so we could also begin procuring the requested materials. Zogi, you are a reliable and hard-working employee. Thank you." He left the bed, and made a tour of the dungeon. "Would anyone like to accompany me to procure items for a dungeon-grown Grove?" He asked the other monsters.