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The Guild Hall, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
After the Delve
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It was all rather quiet after the second group ran my first floor. The leaderless first group left the day after, with Meser glaring at the entrance to my dungeon until I was too far away to see. It was a little creepy and foreboding, not gonna lie. It was made worse because the Crab Knight absorbed half of Rorgas's mana, leaving me a bit in the dark with regards to his life.
One of many siblings, lived a comfortable life, struck out with his sister to make a name for himself. The memories were lacking in details and names, which I assume went to the now-deceased Crab Knight.
Shaking off that tingling down a spine that doesn't even exist, I turned my mental eyes back to my dungeon.
The crabs had performed well, but I felt that they were being brushed aside by guilders too easily. There should be no "easy" floors in my dungeon. The obvious answer was to give them the ability to use magic but I felt that was a bad idea. To do that I would need to invest a lot more mana into them, upping the size of their cores and impressing how to use magic into each of their minds individually. Making my first level trash mobs have such a high start-up cost wasn't desirable.
So, when quality was out of reach, quantity was just as applicable.
I'd already experienced this myself, throwing waves and waves of crabs at the parties delving me. If I made every crab just a little better, then that adds up to a whole lot better. I upped the toughness of my crab's shells, grew them another few inches and increased their brain sizes by more than enough to perform group tactics without me needed to be an intermediary.
By extension their worship of myself and their veneration of the Chosen Crab Knight increased tenfold, along with the spontaneous generation of a language.
I might have made them too intelligent.
Or, maybe just intelligent enough. They were obviously happy to throw themselves at my enemies. Like ants; 'For the Core' and all that baloney.
I increased the size of their breeding rooms and tunnels, where they formed their own communities. I let them take care of their own breeding, lowering their reproductive numbers from thousands per breeding to a couple of dozen, and the growth rate to a week. I'll tweak this over the next few weeks to make sure there are always enough crabs to defend the floor and a sizeable helping in reserve.
It's strange. I've made three floors and two have species with basic sentience.
The stalactite traps I enchanted, making 'pressure plates' of mana under the sand to detect humans. Once triggered, it would release a stalactite 'glued' to the ceiling by mana. I'd still need to replace the traps, but no longer needed to trigger them manually. With this, my first floor went from micro-managing hell to largely hands-off. All I needed to do was empower the bosses and replace traps, now.
Anyway! That's enough of that. To the second floor!
The fish hadn't been tested yet, though that would likely change soon. I'll look for parts of the maze to improve, traps to tweak and monsters that could use a tune-up. The third floor was much the same. It's untested monsters and environment giving me very little data with which to change it.
Logically, the only thing to do now was keep digging.
I had the perfect animal to monsterize, and an appropriate theme for this floor.
How does "The Skaven Warren" work, for a maze-like set of hobbit-sized tunnels filled with giant, vicious rats?
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Medea Island "Port," Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
Three Days Later.
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"Welcome to Medea." Layla said, inclining her head at the Guilders disembarking the ship. "We've been waiting eagerly since we heard you were coming." The first man off the groaning gangplank, a veritable mountain of muscle and metal, stared down at her with a hurt look on his face.
"Ah! Little Layla! You wound me with such a cold greeting," he said as he kneeled, a smile gracing his handsome face. He opened his arms wide. Layla's serious expression melted into a happy smile.
"It's good to see you, uncle." She said, hugging the man for all he was worth. Behind him, someone cleared their throat.
"Get out of the way, you big lump. Let me greet my niece," a woman said, tone indignant. Laughing, her uncle Jerrad Losat stood and moved aside to reveal another albino lady gliding down the gangplank. Her eyes were, like Layla's, covered by a black silk blindfold. Layla curtsied to her aunt.
"Aunt Isid. It's lovely to meet you again." She said. Isid smiled daintily down at the younger and slightly shorter girl.
"Oh none of that, dear." She insisted, waving a hand through the air. "There is a time for formality, and a time to disregard it. If I didn't believe that I wouldn't have married this one." Isid ignored her husband's sudden outcry. Three other Guilders joined her aunt and uncle on the pier.
"These are our current party members." She continued. "Lieza is a lightning mage; Platinum, like Jerrad and I." Layla shook hands with the woman, whose mana rushed and sparked through and around her body without rest.
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"This is Lione, our ranged expert and Ferai, a cleric of Unna." Layla shook hands with the man covered in monster leathers, then bowed to the man in robes. "I assume you have rooms prepared?" Isid finished.
"Of course," Layla answered. "Though our little colony lacks much, they at least made a basic guild hall a priority." A short walk down the pier and along the beach's edge had them reach the wooden structure. Before they entered, Isid stopped, turning to face the dungeon's entrance. Layla likewise stopped, and joined her aunt.
The dungeon's manastream had increased noticeably in size in the last few days, in speed and width both. Privately, Layla wondered what the dungeon could be using all that mana for. Many things, she knew. Some potentially good for them, and others too horrible to contemplate. Hopefully, no one would push the dungeon enough that if felt it needed to... remove them all as a threat.
Layla had also thought briefly on the nature of dungeons herself, not long ago. Why did they tolerate Guilders delving them? What were they getting out of it? With the amount of mana they absorbed, surely they could create whatever they wanted... Another mystery not even the many dungeon masters across the kingdoms of this world had discovered the answer to.
"That unearthly light..." Jerrad mused, her uncle having joined the woman in their observation. "That would be the large mana-lights? How did you describe them in your report... 'on the verge of explosion at all times, held back only by an unknown force' I believe?" Layla nodded.
"Indeed. It was... most unsettling to observe," she admitted. "But enough of that. Let's get you all settled. A proper briefing can wait until tomorrow. Our cook has quickly become adept at utilizing the local fish in a great assortment of ways." She bragged, leading them into the hall.
They had a wonderful evening. Isid inquired of Layla's progression in her abilities. (Satisfactory, thank you). Felin was goaded into an arm wrestling competition with her uncle. (Which he lost, terribly).
It was the next morning when they all found themselves in her office, going over all the information they had on the dungeon; it's layout, monsters and recent behavior.
"You've really only explored the first floor? I thought you would have reached the fourth by now," Jerrad exclaimed. Layla sighed at her uncle.
"It's a Lost Dungeon. Age unknown, tending towards Ancient. We have no clue how intelligent it is, or how it would react to us going deeper. It tried its best to kill Felin and I when we first delved it, and it did kill one of our party members. Since then, it's seemed content to let us run the first floor, take the manawater, then leave. If we had attempted deeper it might not have been so benevolent." She explained, then frowned. "To be honest, I'm not sure if anyone ranked less than platinum would survive exploring a floor for the first time."
Jerrad reached over and gently clapped his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, little lady. We'll be just fine." Layla gave him a smile but inwardly, she wondered.
"I think we're as prepared as we could be," Isid suddenly declared. "Let's go."
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This new group was no joke.
They pushed through my crabs easily, even when I resorted to the wave method. Speaking of, they made special note of that.
"Wave attacks. The dungeon is worried about us." Isid stated offhandedly, when they'd defeated the latest wave.
Hm. Maybe a little. I don't know how they'll fare against my next three floors. Hopefully they're as thrown by the layout and monsters as I think they should be.
They handily defeated the Crab Knight, expecting his fire magic and prepared for it. They took its core, filled a flask with mana-water, then proceeded down the staircase.
The first foray into my labyrinth had them follow the mana-flow through the maze. This path was completely dry, and took them ten minutes to find themselves back at the staircase. Isid frowned.
"It's layered and twisted the manastream through the maze." Jerrad nodded. The second attempt followed the right-hand rule. This time, the path took them through a flooded tunnel. They stopped at the edge of the water, staring down at the black water as it reflected the light of their torches.
Jerrad took point. He waded into the water, down the steady incline. It was only when he reached the point where it evened off that I struck.
He had heavy metal armor and full coverage. This in mind, I pointed a group of Bloodfish his way. The big, red, sharp-toothed fish struck quick and fast. They struck not his armor, but the visible straps. In one bite, the thin leather was pierced and ripped away. At the first impact, Jerrod knew something was wrong and began wading out of the black, churning water. The fish struck another three times before he finally made it out of the water.
The rest of the party watched, blinking in astonishment, as Jerrod's waist and leg armor came apart, falling to the wet stone.
"I think there are monsters in the water." He stated, ignoring that he now stood in his under-clothes.
"You think?" Isid drawled, sardonically. "Fish, or something else sea-going with sharp teeth. The dungeon is directing them, given they targeted the straps. It's a warning. 'I could have just killed you, but I only removed your armor.'" She took a breath. "Well, we wouldn't be Guilders if we folded at the first sign of danger. Lieza, shock the water, then ward us from the lightning."
The mage obliged, a stream of electricity leaping from her outstretched hand into the water. My fish died in the dozens, though the ones who survived snuck off to the breeding pools, now possessing a very mild resistance to electricity.
With Isid holding an actual mage-light under the water, coincidentally showing me how it should work, the group moved on. None of them harvested the fish for Cores, though they hadn't for the basic crab monster either.
Passing through this waist-deep tunnel, they continued on. Several more shallow tunnels followed. All were electrified before they waded through, and the survivors were bundled off to breed and experiment with.
They passed the first fully submerged tunnel with ease, though they looked miserable, soaked through as they were.
It was when they found themselves back at the staircase that Isid's calm cracked, even if slightly. Another attempt, this time following the left-handed method. This time they went through more flooded and half-flooded tunnels than dry. Dripping wet, exhausted and out of patience, for the third time they wandered back into the entrance room.
"This is incredibly... frustrating." She growled, through clenched teeth. "The one who designed this maze; the dungeon or it's old masters, knew common methods to navigate them. They made sure that we couldn't just rush through. We're going to have to explore every tunnel and passage in this dammed maze." She stood there a moment, breathing heavily after her rant. A few seconds later she was rather more composed.
"Let's get out of here. We need to better prepare for this new challenge," she stated. That sounded good to me. If they had to leave and come back, then I had more time to adjust the fish and maybe move the walls to mess with them. Each of the party members reached into a pocket, or pouch, then disappeared in a flash of light.
Teleportation? How interesting. Something to figure out later. Absently, I noticed the party appear outside my dungeon, in cordoned-off area that must have been created for this purpose.
My mind was already racing with ways to bolster my second floor monsters. First things first, let's figure out how to make them not all die the moment someone casts sparks at the water.
Outside the Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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Layla was informed the moment her relatives and their party had returned and she quickly set her paperwork aside to go out and meet them.
On the way down the short path, she noted that the waterfall pouring off the cliff had ceased. Most likely, Medean's men had diverted the river down towards the valley where they could make better use of it. When she caught sight of the party she almost burst into laughter. Thankfully, she was able to hold her composure, despite her relatively prim and proper aunt looking like a drowned rat and her uncle practically naked from the waist down. Though it certainly wasn't ideal, they had just returned from a potentially deadly situation with what seemed like no injuries.
Setting her expression, she approached.
"Aunt Isid, Uncle Jerrad. Lieza, Lione, Ferai. Perhaps it would be best to return to your rooms and compose yourselves before we have the debriefing." She suggested, wary of the furious expression on her Aunt's face. Isid gave a jerky nod, still breathing heavily, and they all bundled into the guild hall.
It took another hour until they had all gathered in what Layla was calling the 'Dungeon Room'. In this room she had collated every scrap of data they had on the dungeon and it's monsters. She was particularly interested in the strange rune-like script and iconography. Little hints at a fallen civilization. A table in the center of the room was covered in notes and reports, her own and from the other delvers. Off to the side, she had started collating the data into a book. It would only cover the first floor, but she had a feeling each floor would need it's own tome in the end.
The members of her aunt's party all collapsed into chairs around the table. The scribe she'd organized was prepared to transcribe the meeting, though she'd ask them all to submit their own reports later. They might remember an important detail after a good night's rest.
"I feel like the first floor wouldn't have been a problem for you, but did you have anything to say about it before we get to the second?" She prompted. Jerrad cleared his throat and sat forwards.
"The dungeon sent wave attacks at us, obviously worried and trying everything it could. We didn't take the cores, since that would have taken too long, but we did take the core from the big one. Has anyone taken a corpse out of the dungeon to test if they're edible? Good quality monster meat is hard to find. Some nobles really enjoy crustacean, you know." She shook her head.
"It's not been practical to try, yet. If the delvers are focused on hauling out monster corpses, they'll be vulnerable to ambush. Teleporting the corpses out would be more efficient and safer, but you're the only group with teleport crystals on the island." She said. "We'll try to get at least one corpse out to test it. Could end up being a valuable export." Jerrad nodded.
"The second floor was a maze, half-flooded by salt water." He explained. "Following common methods of navigating mazes leads you back to the center, where the stairs to the first floor are." Isid leaned forward.
"The monsters were fish. The first thing we knew about them was Jerrad's little wardrobe mishap." She commented, her humor obviously returned after time to de-stress.
"He lacked any other wounds, though that could be attributed to the full coverage of his armor rather than any mercy on the dungeon's part." She continued, more seriously. "Teeth sharp enough to tear the leather straps, fast enough for several passes in the five seconds it took for him to get back out of the water. Lieza shocked the water, and with my mage light under the water I got a good look at them.
"Three different monsters, based on the cores in three of the fish. There were dozens of fish in the water, most of which were possibly food for the monsters. One with the size and teeth to cut Jerrad's armor off, one that looked normal and a more numerous one that looked like an arrowhead."
"At least half the maze is submerged, partially or fully." Lieza piped up. "It made it real easy to shock the water and deal with the fish." Layla winced a bit at that.
"I have mentioned that the dungeon learns magic, or at least re-learns it, from watching us? Herna, the fire mage who died on my initial delve, cast a fireball at the crab guardian and it gained the ability to use fire magic." She informed them, to a barrage of curses.
"We assume it has modified it's monsters for lightning resistance, then? Or created a monster that uses lightning?" Layla shook her head.
"One of the parties that regularly delves it has a lightning mage and we haven't seen any new monsters yet. It might change the fish, given the lightning was such a huge weakness." She said. "We really have no way to know."
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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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Oh, I totally made electric eels. Man, it's so much easier to spy on these meetings through cracks in the walls when I can actually understand what they're saying.
Anyway. yes. Electric eels. Not really. I made the Sharpscale's scales more metallic and conductive, then taught the fish how to push out lightning mana. After the fish had shed it's scales, the area around it became highly conductive, even more so than water normally is. Then, in a flash, electricity arced within the silvery cloud under the water.
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With every other fish in my dungeon, I did the opposite. Their scales all become more insulative, building on the 'resistance' I'd observed in survivors of Lieza's lightning spells. I made sure Sanguina was doubly insulated, not that I expected them to use lightning spells when fully submerged themselves. That took most of last night.
Afterwards, I spent some time thinking about how the humans perceived me.
They believe that I'm an incredibly old dungeon. Specifically, a dungeon which has been 'conquered' then killed it's enslavers. They expect me to have rare or valuable resources that they can use, they keep attributing abnormalities to things I learnt from them. So, let's run with it. If they see things they expect to see, it'll distract from the things they don't expect. Especially when they're expecting the unexpected.
Did that make sense? I think it did.
To keep the theme/deception going, I added some Romanesque ruins through the jungle. Mostly free-standing columns or platforms half-overgrown with vegetation. The fourth floor didn't get this treatment, but then again that's not what it's about.
The fourth floor is a warren, with the largest tunnels just short enough to make a grown man stoop at all times. There were plenty of smaller tunnels, some big enough to crawl through and others too small to do more than stick an arm through. It was these tunnels that led to the rats' breeding grounds. This was of course, the normal-sized rats. This floor had no regular animals. Every rat was a monster, and I had decided not to interfere in their development in order to see what happens.
I thought I'd probably just end up with giant rats, but I wasn't going to modify them directly.
The delvers would enter on one edge of the warren, then have to crawl their way all the way through the tunnels with minimal room to move and fight. The entire time they'd be surrounded by rats that desperately wanted to eat them.
The first floor was a warning, a gatekeeper. What posed no threat to the prepared would kill those who assumed it would be easy. The second floor was a closed door, which only those extremely prepared could pass. The third floor was an exercise in frustration, with no clear exit it should take a while to figure it out if they ever do. Hopefully all but the most determined would give up, at least until the method to pass it became well known.
My fourth floor was a true deathtrap, created to stall further progress by the delvers for as long as possible. I wanted as many floors between the surface and my core as possible. Four floors just didn't seem like enough, and the fourth should keep them back enough to make some breathing room.
After this next delve, I'd get started on the fifth floor.
When Isid's party approached the entrance once again, I gave them my full attention.
They passed through it easily enough, even with the wave attacks. They fought over the increasingly large piles of crabs as I threw more of the monsters at them than I had ever done before. By the time I'd exhausted my reserves, they were sweaty and breathing heavily.
"That was... rough. It definitely doesn't like that we're trying to go deeper," Lione commented. He walked around, pulling bolts from the many, many corpses that surrounded them. "How many was this? A couple of hundred?" Isid nodded.
"That sounds right, though I wasn't exactly counting," she replied. After that, they fought the crab knight. This time wasn't like the last, when they murdered him easily. This time he used fire magic extensively, sending out waves of flames with every slash of his pincer. They still took him down and collected his extra-large core, but it was a hard fight.
When they moved down into the second floor, they were once again confronted by the four exits leading from the room. With a twist.
I'd increased the water level, rising it enough that It sat an inch above the floor they stood on. Multiple layers of defense in action, here!
"This makes things more complicated." Lieza said, frowning. "I can't use my spells here, unless you want to get shocked."
They explored carefully, and when they found themselves going deeper they pulled out their first bit of prepared equipment. Each party member pulled out a metallic mask they placed over their mouths. They'd used them before, but it wasn't as important. Mostly because they'd already killed the monsters.
This metal mask let them breath under the water, while some mage lights illuminated the dark water. Their first look at the flooded tunnel was of ten Bloodfish, a large school of Arrowfish and a smaller school of Sharpscales. In seconds, the battle had begun
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The "Lost" Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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Jerrad pulled himself out of the water, covered in cuts and burns. His armor was warped and dented, rips and tears littered the tarnished metal. Isid followed seconds later, her leather armor and porcelain white skin likewise ruined. They scurried away from the water, desperate to escape. A glance back at the black, roiling waters revealed nothing. Seconds later Lione burst from the water, screaming in pain and struggling to keep his head above the water. In the next instant Jerrad was there, pulling the injured rogue to the shore.
Isid collapsed in his arms, having exhausted all her mana. Lione was lacking his left leg below the knee, ending in a bloody and torn stump. He wasn't screaming anymore, but a quick check proved he was just unconscious, not dead.
Lieza never surfaced. Ferai's blond locks never poked above the water.
After waiting a minute, just in case, Jerrad activated their teleport crystals and squinted his eyes at the suddenly blinding light of the surface. They were out. Out of that deathtrap.
Dazed, he recalled the fight. At least, as much of it as he could. The fish had rushed them, not letting them get their bearings. The fish shaped like arrowheads sliced into their skin, the large red ones slamming them with their bulk and tearing armor to pieces. The silver fish, burst into a sharp, silvery cloud. Then they released lightning into the cloud, contained but still dangerous. Just as they had feared, the dungeon had learned, or remembered, how to use lightning mana.
They'd fought, because that is what they do. That's their job. But there were too many fish, and...
Lieza was overwhelmed by the arrow-like fish. Ferai had been shocked into paralysis. Lione had lost a leg to the red and black fish. He and Isid had been the only ones to make it out of the water without major injury.
This dungeon was incredibly dangerous, quick to adapt to change and vicious in it's defense. Yet... oddly restrained. It could have thrown many more monsters at them than it had. Jerrad recalled that while they were engaged by at least a dozen of the monsters, dozens more held back. Almost like they were waiting their turn.
The healers closed their wounds, and smoothed over their burn scars. Lione recovered his leg, but had a distant look that heralded wounds the healers couldn't fix.
Jerrad sighed, running a hand across his now unblemished cheek. He had a report to write.
The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
Moments after the Delve.
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I...
I may have gone a little overboard.
After seeing them mow through the crabs, even when they were full-on trying their best to murder the party, I'd kind of just assumed they'd do the same with the fish. they were smaller, weaker and needed numbers to make up the difference.
I completely disregarded the fact they were at a huge disadvantage.
They were underwater, which severely restricted their movement.
Lieza couldn't use her most devastating spells, which removed the easiest method to clear the monsters.
Lione couldn't effectively fight dozens of fish with just his daggers, given his bow wouldn't really work well underwater.
Ferai was a healer, and couldn't exactly fight with his Morningstar underwater. It just wasn't designed for it.
Isid and Jerrad were similar, being unable to move or fight normally.
They put up a decent fight, as much as they could have at least. A sword swing there by Jerrad cut a Bloodfish in twain. Dual mana-blades from Isid shredded a couple of the Arrowfish swarming her. Lieza bore a small dagger, obviously her fallback weapon. She skewered a Sharpscale that attempted to shock her and failed to do any damage past her lightning resistance.
Lione, slashing with his twin daggers, increased flexibility and reaction time had racked up the most kills.
Ferai, as explained, had much less luck. In the minute they were fighting he had failed to smash a single fish with his large, bulky spiked ball-on-a-chain.
One by one, they succumbed to the fish.
Lieza was first. Given how the Sharpscales couldn't do much to her I sent a school of Arrowfish at her. With disturbing ease they cut through her robes and sliced her to ribbons. She didn't have time to reach for her teleport crystal; within seconds the blade-headed fish had cut her throat and tendons. She either drowned on her own blood or bled to death. I couldn't tell.
Not having actually meant to kill them, I hastily ordered the other fish to back off a bit, but the order came seconds too late to save Ferai. He had gotten surrounded by a dozen Sharpscales, who's combined Spark spells and conductive scales hid him in a cloud of lightning. now dead weight, he drifted down out of the cloud to the corridor floor.
Lione had lost a leg to the Bloodfish. His leather armor had been cut clean off there, and the fish were feasting on the severed leg.
Jerrad and Isid escaped to the surface, cut bruised and burned but without major injuries. Lione managed to get to the surface while the Bloodfish were distracted with his leg, giving Jerrad time to pull him out of the water. They disappeared in a flash of light, leaving me with some enhanced monsters and two floating corpses.
Well... At least some good will come from this fiasco.
While the guilder's mana drifted into the manastream and started on it's journey to my core, I had a group of Kobolds collect the corpses. They stripped them of their armor and weapons, collected their manacores, then threw the bodies to the fish. The bones would make good decorations.
Yes. I'm distracting myself from my lack of reaction by focusing on something positive. Let me have a quiet breakdown later.
The manacores were interesting. Shaped like a ellipse, the little gems were tucked away between the heart and spine. A similar location to my monster's but a different shape; my monsters all had perfectly spherical cores. They were... fascinating.
Lieza's core discharged electricity when mana was pushed into it. Ferai's core radiated a gentle yellow light that I assume is some kind of healing magic. What made their cores different from each other? I had no idea.
A quick bit of biological manipulation gave me two Shaman Kobold mini-bosses with gnarled wooden staves, with the ellipsoid cores clenched at one end by a wooden Kobold hand. My Fire Shaman looked disappointed, so I gave her wooden stave holding an obsidian orb. While the Fire Shaman would remain a mini-boss, my new healer and lightning mage expy quickly took up leadership roles in the two Kobold tree-top villages.
Hopefully they could learn how to produce the spells on their own, or I'd learn from the mana even now traversing the third floor, but my new Staff of Healing and Staff of Sparks are good enough substitutes for now.
Their robes and metal weapons were distributed between the mini-bosses, each getting at least one bit of the under armor the two mages had worn. My 'Floor Guardian' Mushu was given Ferai's Morningstar. It was a bit of a departure from his pincer-sword, but a far stronger weapon. He seemed to like it, given how he was swinging it about and smashing it into rocks.
The Teleport crystals were... strange. I had absolutely no idea how the mana in the tiny crystal warped space-time to transport the person holding it. I also felt like I wouldn't figure it out for a while.
The bones I spread about the second floor.
Alright.
No avoiding it now.
What the hell is going on with my morals?!
I feel no guilt from killing the humans. That at least, I sort of understand. I wouldn't be able to properly defend myself from their grubby little hands if I wasn't willing to kill them. Wait. That seems... Wrong. The new lord of the island, Medean, told the Guilders I wasn't to be conquered. I mean, they could just disregard it and enslave me anyhow... I could at least give them the benefit of the doubt? But they couldn't be trusted...
Fucking damn it! Dungeon Instincts. That's what it is. Has to be.
It's time to face the facts. I'm not a human anymore, if I ever was one. I'm a dungeon core with the full, unadulterated mind, memories and sapience of a human. I don't know if my old life was real, or if it was all a dream, but that doesn't matter.
I'm a Dungeon Core, with the soul of a human.
When thinking of the humans entering my dungeon my first instinct is to protect myself and kill them, to shield myself from all and sundry who would shackle or destroy me. That's the dungeon's instincts. It's not a bad thing, these instincts have likely kept many dungeons alive and free over however long we've existed.
After the initial murderous instincts comes the curiosity. This is an entirely different world. The names and language, the political entities and the fact mana is real. Who are these people, how have they survived if the world is covered by dungeons like me? The answer is that no dungeon is like me, but that's obvious. I want to learn more of these people. This desire doesn't really conflict with the instincts, given killing invaders would give me memories and knowledge.
Beyond the curiosity is the desire to interact with these people, this fully coming from my human side. It's... probably a bad idea to actually talk to them. They would try to conquer me even harder, in order to study what made me different. My dungeon instincts abhor that outcome. The thought of being conquered feels like death to me. So, a second option is needed.
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In the end, I decide that since they'll be delving me anyway, I might as well craft beautiful landscapes and intricate designs, all for the goal of eliciting an awed breath, or a whispered comment of beauty from those who manage to delve deep enough. It's not a conversation, but in it's own way... I feel like that will be enough for me.
In order for that to occur though, they have to actually make it to these floors.
With a new goal, I make plans for a staged retreat. Keeping at least two floors between myself and the humans at minimum feels doable, though more is preferable. Concepts for floor themes and transitions fly through my mind. Idly, I started hollowing out space for the fifth floor. This wasn't going to be a true floor, with all the monsters, traps and puzzles that entails... more of a transitional one.
In short, I want to show off, but I'm deathly afraid of letting people too close...
Do I have social anxiety?
Oh look, the guilder's mana has reached my core! A distraction from introspection! Time for some tasty knowledge. I wanna know how to make my monsters throw lightning!
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Layla's Office, The Guild Hall, Medea Island
Four Days Later
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Layla was collapsed forward on her desk, her face buried on her crossed arms. She'd just spent the night trying to figure out what she was going to do. The dungeon was dangerous, incredibly so. It was willing to let people run the first floor and leave, but enter with the intention of going deeper and it threw everything it had at you. With deadly intent.
Somehow, it knew when you were intending to go deeper. The round-the-clock guard hadn't reported any monsters leaving the dungeon, so foreknowledge was out. It couldn't be reading their minds... could it? No. Dungeons lost control of their mana around humans. It would need to make a connection somehow, and there's no evidence of that. Their party and Isid's hadn't said anything out loud about attempting to go deeper. As far as she was aware the sibling's party hadn't either... but the girl was so distraught, she might have said something off-hand but forgotten.
Was it... reading their intentions through body language? It's the only possibility left. That implies a heavy familiarity with humans, which is expected, but even picking up their intention to go deeper from the moment you walk in is too extraordinary.
In the end, it just knows.
On her desk was all the necessary paperwork to restrict access to the dungeon. All those below Gold were forbidden from delving. All those at Gold were restricted to 'Safe' levels, assuming the dungeon lets people delve floors that have already been cleared once. Platinum ranked adventurers were allowed to attempt to delve deeper, with sufficient planning and information. The same applied for all those above Platinum, rare as they were. All it needed was her signature.
The problem was the parties who had been regularly delving the dungeon's first floor so far were only gold ranked because of the party's leaders. The rest of them were still silver. Layla, Felin, Horat and Deval were the only Gold guilders on the island, after the two visiting parties left. Sure, Horat and Deval's parties had done well on the first floor so far, but if any of them decided to attempt the next floor they'd be decimated.
Layla sat up, leaning back in her chair. It was a hard decision, not one to make lightly. She had too much responsibility now to just delve into the dungeon every day. A glance out her office window revealed the supposedly fantastic view; The beautiful black sand beach was grey and lifeless to her mana-sight. The sparkling and warm water pulsed with mana, full of life. The clear blue skies were also grey, but dominated by the great river of mana pouring into the dungeon's entrance. And there, on the horizon, a fleet of ships approached.
With a sigh, Layla pushed the paperwork off to the side. When they had more Gold ranked, or if the Silvers reached their next milestone, then she would revisit it. For now, they just didn't have the manpower.
She tidied her desk, collating the reports her aunt and uncle had written with the previous accounts of the second floor. Her mostly-complete record of the first floor joined them in her desk. She placed the large bottle of mana-infused ink carefully into a separate drawer. Thank the Gods Isid had brought some more, she wouldn't be able to write a damn thing without it. Idly, she made a mental note to order more from the mainland. All paperwork that passed her desk had to be written in it for her to do her job, and their stocks were never full.
The next hour she spent in the Dungeon Room, updating information and naming the new monsters. She was interrupted by Felin, who spoke in his usual curt manner.
"Whole bunch of Guilders just pulled into port." He rasped, handing over a report from the newly-established port authority. A glance at the mana-inked writing enlightened her. A whole dozen Silver, five Gold and two Platinum parties, some almost a dozen Guilders strong, had just walked off that fleet of merchant ships.
"Did they say why?" She asked, trying to keep her cool. Her mind was racing with possibilities. Mostly about how they would house and feed so many Guilders, especially the higher ranked ones which would expect better quality accommodation.
"A bounty on the Dungeon." He said, a serious cast to his features. "Ten thousand gold to the party that shatters the core." At that, she froze.
Ten. Thousand. Gold. Pieces. That's...
"That's Insane." She started, off balance. "Who would throw away so much money over a dungeon!?"
He waved a piece of parchment, which unfortunately wasn't written in mana-ink. Luckily, Felin knew to read it out for her.
"By order of the Grand Duke Plaised, for the murder of his second son." Layla took a deep, calming breath.
"That party who left a week ago, the boy who died and left his sister behind, correct? They never gave their last names." She guessed. Felin shrugged.
Ultimately there was nothing they could have done about that, it didn't matter where you came from, if you took the oath you were a Guilder. Many who joined were trying to escape something or someone. Some didn't want their family names behind them in some misguided sense of honor and fair play. An applicant only had to give one name, but it had to be the name they were given at birth. Lie-detecting artifacts were used liberally in that sense.
Layla sprung into action.
"Ask Isid and Jerrard if Horat and Dival can use their Teleport crystals to get some crab meat from the dungeon. We're going to have to test it's edibility first, but it's the most bountiful source of meat on the island.
"Organize tents for the Silvers. The Platinums can take the spare rooms in the guild hall, though they'll have to share. Those new houses near the Hall, knock on a couple of doors and ask if we can rent the buildings for a few weeks. We'll give them fair compensation for the use of their new homes." Felin nodded and left. Layla ran her long, thin fingers through her hair.
If she wasn't albino, this job would have given her grey hairs long before her time.
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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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The ships filled with Guilders pulling in to port gave me a terrible feeling, even before I overheard their reasons for being here.
A bounty.
Someone had put a bounty on me.
For Murder of all things!
Isn't it implicit that you risk your life when delving dungeons? Why the sudden hate? I haven't killed that many people... Kurt, Kale, Herna, Rorgas, Lione, Lieza, Ferai...
Rorgas.
It had to have been his sister. She ran home and told on me to her father, who put out a ridiculously high bounty on me if the response is this... enormous.
I guess I'm going to get a few guests in the very near future.
Guests that want to murder me for money.
I think I'm justified in upping the reproductive rates of my crabs.
I watched through dozens of seagulls and scores of rats as the Guilders settled in for the night. The two parties who delved my first floor regularly were given orders to kill my crabs, then use the teleport crystals to escape with the bodies.
it was certainly... odd. Then they tried cooking the things and it turned out my crabs are delicious. It's a little disturbing to me that they're eating my barely-sentient crabs, but their numbers had been replaced and then some by the next morning, so it wasn't a huge loss.
I also decided The Crabs were long overdue a new breed. I took a Brawler base, added eastern-dragon-like moustache-tendrils and a larger-than-normal mana core. It's pincers grew hollow tubes from which it could blast fire like a flamethrower.
All that was left was a name...
I'm drawing a blank.
Bah, it'll come to me.
I set it up so a few dozen of these would be sprinkled amongst the defenders.
Thus, my crabs now had a ranged option.
There was much rejoicing among their primitive tribes. Speaking of, I did feel a little bad at how many of them were being thrown into the meat grinder. I'd created them with that goal in mind, but it was more unsettling now they were intelligent enough to have a religion.
There were a few things that made me hesitate to reduce that intelligence though; The first was that they actually desired to spend their lives in service to me and the second was a reduction in capability would make them less effective, causing more deaths.
It blew my mind a little, that they would be so devoted as to throw themselves at the humans invading their home, fully knowing that they would probably die.
Tomorrow, when the first of these new parties began their delve, they would be my first line of defense and they were proud of that fact.
Willing to die for the Core, their Creator. Their God.
...I kind of feel bad for these humans. They had no idea just how hard delving me was going to be.
The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
The Next Day
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The sun dawned like always, though there was no brilliant sunrise to observe; the usually clear blue sky was obscured by thick cloud cover. The entrance to my dungeon was crowded with parties prepared to enter. Some temporary shelters had been constructed to keep the heat off, while the visiting Guilders waited for their turn.
Some of the local Guilders had been recruited to perform guard duty. They kept fights from breaking out, kept parties from 'jumping the line' and made sure no one could sneak in early.
I'd learned plenty about the guild from the people I've 'eaten' but the small things like this always seem overlooked. According to the Guild's charter there was a waiting period imposed between parties delving into dungeons. It was only an hour, but that apparently was enough time for most dungeons to get at least a few monsters in the way of the next invaders.
This rule came about because any sooner than that, and there would be complaints of more experienced parties clearing all the monsters, not leaving any for the rest of them. It's fascinating to me, since it implied that humans get something out of killing monsters just as monsters get something out of killing humans. Humans did seem to 'absorb' a monster's mana the same a monster would theirs, but the amount was tiny in comparison. Perhaps a fifth of the monster's mana was absorbed, while the rest returned to my dungeon.
They might only be able to absorb certain 'parts' of a monster, maybe parts that could be considered 'purer', where the rest was unusable. Either way, all the 'higher tier' Guilders I've observed so far have larger manacores. Likely from the sheer number of monsters they've killed.
I digress.
The 'sunrise' was more a constant lightening of the cloud cover, though at some point an invisible line was crossed and the guards let the first party through. These men and woman were a well-mixed party, self-professed to be Silver ranked. Three close-combat specialists, two rogues, two combat mages and one healer. Every party had been given a hastily written primer on my dungeon that included what monsters to expect, their capabilities and a vague layout to expect. This party was no different in that respect.
They entered cautiously, obviously expecting a wave of crabs to rush them in an attempt to overwhelm and kill them all.
Well, I lived to defy expectations.
They encountered around seven "squads" of crabs on their way through the dungeon. All but the last lacked the new breed of monster. Each fight was intense, the Crabs proving they weren't just trash mobs to be brushed aside. The party accumulated cuts and bruises, easily healed by their resident priest.
It was when they reached the fourth cavern that I had them confronted by two squads of Brawlers and Squires, and one single... Flamer? Eh. It kind of works, but doesn't quite feel right. I'd kept her hidden behind a rock formation while the human party engaged the crab squads. It was only when they were fully committed to the fight that I brought her out.
You see, the two normal squads came from the direction of the Boss Arena, acting as obvious obstacles. With the party having reason to suspect a trap or ambush, the Flamer came around from behind their back line and got within a dozen yards of their healer. Pointing both pincers at the man, she poured fire mana into the small chambers near the joint. The fire mana converted into a teal fire within these chambers and an expression of will forced a plume of flame to erupt from the barrel of each pincer.
I'd tested their range extensively over the night, which showed in the Flamer's stream of fire engulfing the healer. The very edges of the flames turning orange and dissipating just past the man. He screamed, of course, as a man on fire is expected to do. That distraction cost one man his arm, sliced off by the Squire he'd been dueling. A second swordsman had a couple of ribs broken by a Brawler. One of their rogues found his left achilleas' tendon sliced by a newly revealed Crabssassin.
With their healer on fire, two of their melee fighters with major wounds and a limping rogue, the second rogue panicked and grabbed his teleport crystal. The white flash prompted the rest of the party to grab for their own crystals, with the burning healer the last one to disappear. These guys were certainly prepared to run at the first sign of real resistance, weren't they? At least they weren't suicidal or too overconfident.
I dispersed the Flamers I'd created last night, assigning one to every other squad. I also re-arranged the squads so that the further in a party managed to reach, the more crabs they would encounter at once.
The next party, also silver, fought their way all the way to the boss arena. Now forewarned of the Flamer and reminded of the Crabssassins, they were prepared and watchful. The Crab Knight was also ordered to 'go easy' on the party. Just difficult enough to push them; to challenge their skills. She was very accommodating, accepting of the limitations though not exactly understanding why.
Why. Isn't that the million dollar question.
The first floor, by virtue of being the first floor, was going to see the most traffic of any of my floors. Higher 'Ranked' parties would plow through them almost without trouble, as observed in Isid's party. I threw hundreds of Crabs at those five, and they just breezed through them. I got lucky in ambushing them on the second floor.
So, knowing that this would continue as long as people delved me, I had to plan.
Throwing a wave of monsters at every party who entered would take a huge amount of mana and attention to manage, for little potential gain. By sending squads at them on the first floor I could potentially lower their estimation of the difficulty now, and could have them slip up on the deeper floors. It also meant I could get a more accurate estimation on a party's overall strength and ability.
This particular party was somewhat strong, though they certainly struggled against the Crab Knight even if she wasn't using fire magic. They managed to down her in the end, though there were enough injuries and close calls that they decided to call it quits for this delve. They took the boss's core and filled a bottle with water, then teleported out.
The next group seemed a little more competent. Maybe they'd actually make it past the first floor? I make sure to up the number of monsters
Moving the majority of my attention away from the first floor, I focused on the excavation of my fifth. It was coming along nicely. Gull? Could you get me some fungus? Thanks, you're a good bird.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
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Outside the Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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Layla watched as the second group let into the dungeon appeared on the teleport pad. It wasn't a sophisticated pad like the one at her grandfather's guild; more just a cleared out space with a redirection enchantment to catch anyone teleporting out of the dungeon.
"These ones seem to have fared better than the last" She commented to Felin. The two had set up under a marque near the pad to keep an eye on the proceedings and receive the after-action reports that everyone who delved from today onwards was expected to give. This wasn't explicitly something they had to do according to the guild's charter, but she could put entry conditions on the dungeon, as the local Guildmistress.
That promotion had come through. She wasn't very happy. She didn't feel like she'd earned the position. Though, it had worked out in her favor in this instance.
Most Guildmasters added one or two, normally minimum rank requirements. On dungeons where not much was known, like this one, it was almost expected a report condition would be added.
The six party members were each directed to sit down in front of a scribe, who took their reports and questioned them extensively. All in all, they seemed rather more put-together than the last group. Layla winced at her memory of the swordsman without an arm, and the healer who appeared from the teleport on fire.
She really wasn't surprised the dungeon had bred a fire-magic using monster. After her aunt Isid's report on the fish that harnessed lightning in underwater clouds on the second floor, she knew a monster that harnessed fire in some way would appear.
She turned to the medical pavilion, erected after that first party's return. A group of healers were working over the injured there. They should all be returned to full strength soon, though she was sure the memories would leave a deeper scar.
It was ten minutes later that the next party was admitted entry and a half-dozen reports found their way to her hands. She read them quickly, skimming the earlier sections. Hmm. "The dungeon's done something weird again." She quietly commented to Felin, who grunted questioningly.
"After it tested its new monster against that first party, it spread them out through the dungeon. No wave attacks, which is the weird part. It seems to think the Silvers don't merit the same response. It's... oddly reasonable, in that regard. They encountered just enough monsters to challenge them and, after fighting the Guardian, they made the right decision; to return immediately." Too many young Guilders lost themselves in the dreams of riches and fame, often leading them to make dumb decisions that got them killed.
"Conserving its strength?" Felin asked, his rasping voice thoughtful. Layla turned the concept over in her head for a few seconds, worrying her lip.
"Possibly. Following that thought, the dungeon knows how many Guilders are out here and that they want to delve today, intent on killing it. Conserving your strength makes sense in that context." She turned to address Felin directly. "If you were going into a tournament and had to fight ten people in a row, you'd do your best not to overexert yourself, right?"
He nodded with a grunt, frown lines decorating his weathered forehead. Layla continued, more thinking out loud than anything else.
"So, it's defending against the weaker parties with the minimum number of monsters possible. Just enough to dissuade the Silvers from delving further. It knows there are Guilders who will carve though its first floor like a scythe through wheat, as my Aunt and Uncle's party showed." Here, she started speculating a bit.
"If the next party comes back, only having finished the first floor, we know it's scaling its difficulty to the strength of the party. That's the part which confuses me the most, and also shows the most intelligence out of all this. It could have just overwhelmed them with monsters at the start, killing them and ending a future threat before they could get strong enough to delve deeper. But it isn't doing that.
"It's letting them leave. Scarred and injured yes, but alive and mostly whole. For a Lost Dungeon, that just doesn't make sense. They're proven to be exponentially more lethal the deeper you go; more and more desperate in their defense with the intelligence to turn that desperation into lethality." She shook her head, nursing a growing headache at her left temple with her thumb.
"If it wasn't for the obvious architecture and runes we found, I would doubt we have a Lost dungeon on our hands." She concluded. Felin grunted.
"At least this job wont be boring," he said, eyeing the line of parties waiting their turn. Layla frowned at her friend, who was leaning back in his chair, completely relaxed. Glancing back down at the reports already scattered on her desk, she had an idea.
"It sounds like I'm not giving you enough work to do," she said, slyly. She collected the reports that had been spread across the desk and handed the pile of papers to him. "Here, take these back to the dungeon room. Oh! Could you bring me a drink when you come back? Something fruity. Thanks, Felin." She turned from his bewildered expression, desperately trying to keep a straight face.
He grunted, stood, and left. It was only when he had entered the guild building she let herself giggle. That look on his face!
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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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As the sun set on an exceptionally long day, the last silver party teleported out of the dungeon after facing the Crab Knight. Out on the beach a party had broken out, and looked like it would rage well into the moonlit night. It was mostly the Silvers comparing kill counts and swapping stories, though there were a few Golds in there listening in for anything that would give them an edge tomorrow. It may seem macabre at first, but they certainly had a reason to party.
Only a couple of them had died, in the end.
It was certainly tempting to kill more of them; My instincts were screaming at me to kill them all through the day. I mean, it would have been the quick and dirty solution, but not the best one. Just killing everyone who entered would most likely end in some super powerful Guilders being called in to deal with the impossibly difficult dungeon.
Yes, these ones wanted to kill me too, but they weren't yet up to the challenge. Killing too many of them too quickly would dissuade the weaker guilders, but then I'd end up dealing with Gold or Platinum guilders exclusively.
Lower tier guilders would take up an hourly time-slot and were unlikely to pass the first or second floor. That will prevent parties who could penetrate farther from delving more often. Overall safer, in the end. With more breathing time between the delves of tougher guilders.
As the beach party raged on, I was also listening in to a dozen conversations through my little rat and seagull spies.
The general attitude of the Gold and Platinum parties was that the Silvers weren't trying hard enough. They thought that because of the dozen Silver ranked parties that had delved me yesterday, not one made the risky decision to delve further than the first floor boss. They listened as the Silvers recounted my monsters' weaknesses and tactics they found that worked, forming their own strategies with that information.
I already knew the Golds would be able to pass through my first floor mostly without trouble. There was just a quatifiable difference between Silvers and Golds.
Silvers were tougher than normal humans, that's for sure. Stronger, faster... but it wasn't much stronger. Not much faster. I'd call them peak human, or just past that. Golds were in superhuman territory, reacting quicker, lifting more than their muscles should allow them, swinging with more explosive speed and momentum.
If Golds were low-superhuman, Platinums were high-superhuman. They were Golds dialed up to seven at minimum, ten at the highest.
A Copper Rank does exist; they're Guilders who haven't started training, just started training, or are unaware of their potential. A normal human with a core, basically.
The memories I'd gained were unclear on the rank beyond Platinum. They all agreed that it existed, but they must be vanishingly rare.
I'd be using the Wave strategy tomorrow. Not because I thought it would work, but because it would hopefully drain their mana and potions supplies enough that after exploring the second floor they would give up to return another day.
All through the night, my dungeon prepared.
The Crabs welcomed new members to their community, praising my name and re-devoting themselves to my defense.
The Fish fought amongst themselves. Turns out they can eat each other and gain 'experience' the same way they would if they'd killed a human. It was vastly less, but noticeable.
The Kobolds formed a third Village, this one headed by the first Shaman who could harness Lightning mana.
The Rats did as the fish did. Collectively and independently judging that the strong would survive. The weak would be food for the strong.
The Fifth floor expanded deeper under the island.
The Guild Hall, Phenoc Colony, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
Later That Night
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Haythem Linus was a man without many scruples. It was practically a necessity, as the life of a gold ranked Guilder was fraught with danger. Often they were given jobs that should have been given to Platinums, but none could be contacted or the job was time-sensitive. Silvers weren't strong enough to survive most jobs the guild was called on to handle, relegating them to Dungeons where they could hone their skills and gain strength from the monsters there.
As such, Golds were the problem-solvers. Wild dungeon pumping out monsters into the surrounding farmland? Golds were called on to solve the problem. Mana mutant absorbed a huge chunk of mana and is terrorizing the countryside? Golds. Someone puts out a bounty, though? Then the Platinums come out to collect it, in order to keep their wealthy lifestyles.
Haythem glared across the crowded bar at the two Platinum parties. The Golds did all the work, accepting every job they were given. They did it to become Platinums too, yes, but that still didn't change the fact the Platinums didn't do anything unless there was big money on the line. Money that the Golds needed to climb the ranks.
He soon found his glare interrupted, a wooden mug shoved in front of his face.
"Glaring at them isn't going to do shit, Haythem. Drink. Don't want to go out without one last drink, right?" The voice of his old friend Bertram joked. He grabbed the mug from his pale, blond friend. In one movement he tilted it back and downed most of the half-decent swill they called beer on this island. He heard the man pull out the chair beside him and fall heavily into it.
Wiping the foam from the brown hairs on his lip, he turned to Bertram and stared at the Mistan man. The eyes that stared back at him burned a bright, shining yellow, betraying the mana that filled his body.
"I cannot fire light from my eyes, unlike you. So yes, It will do nothing," he placed the mug heavily on the table. "Those parties are led by Matha and Litan Gorge. Their father is one of the counts under Duke Medean. They have no need of money. They have no need to collect this bounty. Why are they here?"
Bert shrugged, the robes he wore shifting as he did.
"As far as I can tell, they aren't exactly pleased to be here. This island has none of the comforts they are accustomed to. The food lacks depth of mana. Their rooms are less than lavish. The servants are minimal and not bound to follow their orders," he pointed as he spoke; at the food on their table, the wood-construction bar around them and the homely women serving as barmaids.
Haythem snorted, swirling the beer in his mug.
"They consider anything less than silk bedsheets and willing courtesans a hardship," he smirked. He followed the cruel smile with a frown. "If they don't wish to be here, they must have been contracted. Someone has paid for their service, or otherwise gained it, and wants this dungeon dead. Could have been Plaised himself, wanting to ensure there was at least one Platinum party here," he mused.
"Who cares," drawled the third member of their trio. "From the stories I've gotten out of the local Guilders this dungeon is more dangerous the higher the tier of the party. A Platinum party delved a few days before we turned up and lost two members on the second floor," she finished, sliding into the last seat of their small table.
Flasa was a smaller woman, clad in leathers from the steel-spiked tips of her boots to the cowl that shadowed her face in the candlelight of the room. Haythem himself was armored in enchanted steel. Like all their armor, the materials that made it up had been obtained from mana-rich areas or monsters. They had made the decision long ago to reinvest most of their gold into their equipment. The number of times their armor and weapons had saved their lives made it worth every coin.
Haythem shrugged.
"If it kills them, it kills them. Just means less competition," he stated. He downed the last of his beer. "Tell us, Flasa. What have you learned?"
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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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Unlike the day before, the sun rose on a clear sky. The moment the sun had fully crested the horizon, the first Gold party was granted entry.
These five men and women were the first to encounter waves of my crabs. As expected, they pushed through with minimal injuries and without having expended their potions or exhausted their healer. To be clear, I was counting a 'wave' as four or more squads of crabs all rushing the party at once.
This party encountered one in the entrance cavern, two in the second cavern, three in the third cavern and four just before the boss room. The biggest difference was that the Crab Knight had been joined by two Flamers and two Squires every two minutes. The fight was made much more difficult with these extra monsters, tying up party members who then couldn't fight the boss himself.
They'd still managed to get past the monsters in the end, collecting the cores and mana-water before trotting down the stairs to the labyrinth.
They had obviously prepared for a water level. Like Isid's party they each carried a breathing mask, enchanted to let them breath underwater. Their mage, a lightning mage, had immediately cast the strongest lighting wards he could on the party members. All the members of the party drew either spears, tridents or rapiers from their bags.
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The bags which were bigger on the inside. I'd very much like to study that.
Unlike with Isid's party, I didn't send more than a dozen fish at them at once. That was a mistake, borne from overestimating their capabilities.
The first encounter on the second floor was two Bloodfish, a Lightning Snapper and four Arrowfish. The Bloodfish were large targets, and found themselves quickly skewered on tridents despite their speed. The Snapper's shock was as ineffective as I had expected, given the protective spells the mage had cast. The Arrowfish were the most effective, surprisingly.
Their smaller size and speed let them dodge most attacks, trading cuts more often than not. They were smaller and weaker individually, however. A few well-placed cuts was all it took to end them.
The second encounter was weighted more heavily to the Arrowfish. They had explored a dozen hallways, two half-flooded and all having at least an inch of water covering the stone floor. Like the first time, the party had descended into fully-flooded hallway prepared for a fight.
More than a dozen Arrowfish waited. Three Bloodfish held back, with not a single Lightning Snapper in sight.
I was distracted just as the fight began by a second party starting their delve. Had it been an hour already?
This group was a trio. They where also much stronger in general than the first party. If I had to judge, they were three-quarters of the way to Platinum, while the first ones were only a quarter into Gold tier.
While the larger group navigated the second floor, encountering larger and larger schools of monsters, the trio bulldozed their way through the first. The Mage had an element I hadn't encountered yet. Light; given the literal laser eyes he showed off. Just its presence gave me so much information. There were more esoteric 'elements' than just fire, water, wind and earth. That was kind-of confirmed by Lightning, but manipulating electrons makes more sense than manipulating photons. Then again, it's the movement of electrons between energy levels that produces and absorbs photons so it kind of makes sense.
The Knight and Rogue of their party embodied their archetypes fairly well. The Rogue used a seemingly infinite number of throwing darts at range, with a short sword for close range. She was a small woman, clad in leather armor that was tough enough to tank a full-strength swing from a Squire. The blow only cut the leather, rather than actually disarming her. Probably left a hell of a bruise though, given the way she shifted to her left hand afterwards. Ambidextrous, huh?
The Knight was a bulwark of shining metal. His claymore proved plenty sharp and tough enough to cleave my crabs' armor with ease. His magnificent beard poked out the bottom of the full-face helm. There were no eye-holes in the helmet so I assume it was enchanted to let him see through.
At about the same time the larger party decided the resistance was getting a bit too strong for their liking and teleported out, the Trio had killed my boss and were descending into the second floor.
The mage conjured a ball of light, which hovered in the air above them. It seemed to have some rudimental intelligence, as it bobbed and weaved seeming without input from him. It could be controlled mentally, sending orders in the mana he's supplying to the tiny thing.
Like with the other party I slowly ramped up the monsters they encountered. The Mage's Laser Eyes were incredibly effective underwater. The beams pierced straight through the water and burned swathes of fish at once. An hour after they began their delve, they were still exploring the second floor. A third party entered on the hour and passed through the first floor quickly, leading to the first time two parties had met within my dungeon.
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The Second Floor, The Dungeon, Medea Island
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Haythem was frustrated. They had been walking and swimming through this maze of almost identical tunnels for more than an hour. He would swear on his mother's grave they had passed this intersection at least twice already!
He squinted at the wall, glaring at the marking he had made the last time they'd passed through. A tap on the shoulder from Flasa caught his attention, the hand-signs she used soured his mood even further. As impossible as it seemed.
Party ahead. Intent unknown. Requesting Orders. She signed in a code they had invented between the three of them. Bertram cursed under his breath, the light from his summoned Sprite dimming down just enough for them to see each other. Haythem frowned in thought. Now that he focused, he could hear the other party splashing their way down towards them from a flooded corridor they'd already explored. He signed back quickly.
Meeting. On Guard. Discover Intent. Escape. He ordered. The other two nodded. After making sure their weapons were on display and within reach, Bertram raised the brightness of his Sprite in time for another light to turn the corner.
The three watched as the party of six approached them.
Haythem recognized most of them from the previous night's festivities. They had also been spread through the event, gleaning nuggets of insight into the dungeon from the increasingly inebriated Silvers. The leader he knew rather well. Vert was a man prone to boasting. What did he boast about? Anything and everything he believed worth boasting about.
Wrestling a mutant bear with his bare hands, sleeping his way through the daughters of an entire town in the western region before being chased off, reaching Gold rank below the average age. That last one was often thrown about. It wasn't like he was exceedingly young like some noble scions ended up being. However for a man from a common background, Haythem grudgingly admitted to himself, he was talented.
"Haythem! Is that you?" Vert exclaimed loudly, his voice grating to Haythem's ears. "I though for sure you would have left already. You are not the bravest of men, after all." His tone became more derisive the longer he spoke.
"This Dungeon is devious." Haythem responded, keeping his disdain for the man carefully veiled. "It leads us in circles. The darkness and water does well to disorient and mislead us." He eyed Vert's party members. Like his own, their weapons were on display; ready to be drawn at a moments notice. This was a fight he and his companions would lose, if it came to blows.
"In fact, I believe we've explored enough for today." Haythem declared, bringing a hand behind his back and making the symbol for 'Escape'. "Good luck to you Vert. In this dungeon, you're going to need it."
In the next moment all three activated their crystals in concert.
They appeared in the tent set up around the teleport anchor. Healers approached quickly but were waved off when shown the trio had no life threatening injuries and that they had taken potions for their smaller wounds. The bureaucrats that descended upon them afterwards were more difficult to avoid.
They were separated and made to relay their experiences; focusing on the monster, layout and anything else important they had encountered on the second floor. The guild's lack of information on that floor was obvious, if they were this desperate for anything they could learn.
Within a half-hour of leaving the dungeon the three found themselves at another desk, sitting before the Guildmistress of the Island. She was a very high Gold rank, as far as Haythem could judge. More powerful than him by a decent margin. The unnervingly alabaster skin and black silk blindfold she bore, along with the equally-strong man sat next to her, lent weight to her appointment.
"Thank you for your time this morning. I am Layla Losat, the Guildmistress of Medea Island. This Is Felin, my assistant." She said, waving a hand at the man, who grunted in acknowledgement.
"I've skimmed your reports, but I'd like to hear it from your own mouths." She leant forwards on her elbows, resting her mouth on her clasped fists. He could imagine the eyes behind the blindfold staring at each of them in turn. "Please, tell me of the second floor."