The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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That was boring. A few snippy comments and the trio teleported out of there. It was the smart decision, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't very entertaining. The curses and grumblings of 'Vert' were enjoyable enough, though. Learnt some new ones there.
They didn't last as long as Haythem's party, and due to an entirely different reason. Haythem and his party members were cautious and wary, preparing adequately before each dive into the flooded sections. Vert's men were less disciplined, a couple of bare-chested men often jumped right into the water without hesitation. If I were on earth I'd have called them adrenaline junkies, chasing that next rush.
Since I seemed to have been transported to a kind of fantasy world, I'll call them Berserkers instead. I'll call them Rock and Boulder. Their intelligence and survival instincts seem to be about that level. They'd probably have died a few times over already if they hadn't possessed a rather quick healing factor. It wasn't as quick as someone like Wolverine, or Deadpool, but ten minutes after receiving a cut, it was gone.
Instead of using healing potions on them, the rest of the party seemed to fight around them. If they got too injured, they would be pulled from the fight to heal while the more conventional swordsmen filled the gaps.
Speaking of; it was all swords and crossbows and daggers. Those seamen had pistols when they found me, but it seemed they were only used by normal humans. Perhaps gunpowder weapons became ineffective against Guilders or monsters after a certain point? Perhaps not to the point of being bulletproof but some Golds should have the perception, reflexes and reaction speed to dodge, if only barely moving out of the way.
Or maybe they're not heavily researched. Magic-enhanced guns sound dangerous. Research on them could even be restricted now that I think about it. Might upset the whole dynamic they've got going on here.
Mental Note: Figure out Manatech Guns.
Anyway, back to the delve. I need to stop going on tangents.
The group continued to putz around the second floor, encountering larger and larger groups of fish. At about two-thirds of the numbers that destroyed Isid's party they decided they had pushed their luck enough and left. Their decision may have had something to do with their potions supplies running low and one of the Rogues losing a hand.
Successive Gold parties had equally as much luck. It was actually a bit of a surprise; I had expected at least one of them to find the boss room.
Then, the first Platinum party delved.
There were only two of those, led by the set of fraternal twins Matha and Litan Gorge. From what I'd overheard last night they weren't the most popular people in the guild, though respected for their capability in spite of their atrocious manner and personalities.
Litan, the male twin, entered first. His part was composed of a healer, a water mage, a tank, a crossbowman/rogue and Litan himself. Their armor was intricately carved and enchanted, their weapons were sharp and enchanted with extra effects I hadn't yet seen. The tank's tower shield seemed to produce an energy barrier, which could be extended out into a half-dome. I'll call him Sherman, since I wasn't sure on his name.
The Golds and Platinums seemed to understand, where the silvers had not, that speaking in an intelligent dungeon wasn't much advised, and used hand-signals most of the time out of combat, which led to a revived practice of nicknaming unnamed Guilders.
Much like Isid and her party, the group plowed through the first floor easily. Their equipment, strength and with the use of tactics my Crabs and I had no experience in defending against were the main reasons.
In their fight against the Crab Knight, I pulled out all the stops.
He used his oversized core to great effect, throwing fire magic all over the place by slashing his sword-pincer. Unfortunately he was countered by the water mage in the party more often than not, dousing the flames before they could do much damage.
Sherman was also able to take most of the Knight's strikes head-on, while Litan himself and the crossbowman were the main damage-dealers.
Hm. The man with the crossbow and the water mage need nicknames. I don't want to just call them something stupid... I'll think of something.
After a brief break carving out it's core and collecting the mana water, they moved on. Litan looked disappointed it was only a single bottle's worth, but I'd adjusted the depth of the pool to that amount on purpose. Didn't want them getting too big of a reward.
Their first encounter on the second floor ended as I expected it too. The water mage was too OP for this level. Given the humidity of the third floor and the damp earth of my fourth, they might remain effective until the fifth, or even the sixth. Perhaps a Desert level at some point...
The number of monsters they fought began at a much higher point than the Golds, leading them to make the decision to abandon the delve when the healer began taking injuries.
The next party was one of the Silver parties.
It really confused me, since I expected the other sibling to take the slot. Time for a little spying.
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Outside the Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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Matha sat, reclined on a chair in the shade, enjoying the fresh sea breeze rolling onto the beach. This Island was rather idyllic, so as her brother was currently delving the local dungeon, she rested. She wasn't worried about her twin. He was plenty tough enough to survive all their previous trials, this new one would prove no different.
She was proven right as he emerged from the exit pavilion little over an hour later. He joined her on a similar seat, the rest of his party mingling with hers. He sighed and relaxed into the comfy seat, closing his baby blue eyes.
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"Tough?" She questioned, opening her own mana-touched orange eyes.
"Decently." He replied. "The first floor should be no problem for those of our level. The second is on somewhat of a timer, encountering more and more monsters the longer you're there." He raised a hand into the air and snapped his fingers. A somewhat disgruntled party member of his brought over a scroll and passed it to his waiting hand. She didn't know the man's name and didn't care to learn.
Litan unfurled the scroll, displaying a copy of the map the local guild has been compiling of the second floor. Flooded tunnels had been marked in blue ink, half-flooded sections were also marked. It was an impressive maze. Many paths turned back on themselves, or crossed other sections. She noted a half-dozen tunnels that could potentially lead to an exit. Matha rolled the scroll back up and handed it off to her friend Tisa.
"Well, I guess we better get in line." She sighed, eyeing the four parties currently waiting their turn. It wasn't worth antagonizing all those parties and the local guild by bypassing the line. Beyond that, there was zero chance any of these people would be able to make it to the core before them. There was literally no point in butting in.
So, she stood from her chair and strode to the line, the rest of her party following along obediently.
Four hours later, she finally reached the front of the line. With the setting sun, it was likely they would be the last party of the day. After signing the entry requirement forms and waiting a whole hour more, her party was finally granted access to the dungeon as the last rays of the sun touched the beach.
The first floor was as easy as her brother had told her it was. The Crabs, while numerous, weren't tough enough to defeat her nor smart enough to outwit her. The Floor Guardian was a bit more of a challenge. Unlike her brother, her party did not have a water mage.
Her party was composed of her childhood playmate Tisa, her two bodyguards Halter and Wrec, a rogue named Daltan they'd recently brought onto the team and herself, a fire mage.
Wrec and Halter took the majority of the Guardian's attention, while Tisa put her crossbow to good use defeating the smaller monsters. Matha herself was occupied making sure the Guardian's fire magic didn't catch on any of her team. Daltan proved his usefulness by getting the final blow, driving his rapier into the soft tissue the eye stalks emerge from.
When on the second floor, they used the map to great effect. Tisa was an able guide, directing them to unexplored sections quickly. The first few ended up putting them back on to the explored parts, but that only helped in narrowing down the correct path. A dead end later, and there was only one more tunnel to explore.
The fish monsters were effective, she'd give the dungeon that. The multiple schools of all types that guarded that final flooded tunnel were relentless. Matha deemed it lucky she had experience using her magic underwater. Going beyond fire itself, she directed pure heat into the water ahead of her, keeping it from affecting her party behind her.
The water boiled, cooking the fish before they could get close enough to do too much damage. It was too bad that using her magic this way drained her much faster than using fire. With this many monsters though, it was needed. The Guardian was likely a variant of one of the normal monsters, and hopefully by removing all these ones easily they could enter the fight relatively fresh.
After pushing past the floating corpses Matha and her team finally made it to the final room of the second floor. Hopefully. If this passage just led to another maze underneath the first she would be incredibly upset.
When they entered the large, cylindrical room occupied by a large red fish with massive teeth, she was relieved. There was the risk it could have been a different species entirely. The walls were made of stone, intricately carved with the sharp-lettered language of the dungeon's old masters. there were designs and stories in the stone, images of fish and some lizard-like monsters. On the other side of the room was a circular indentation below what looked like a vent, similar to the ones in the first floor guardian's arena.
The moment the Guardian rushed them, more fish started emerging from darkened holes in the walls. This fight certainly wasn't going to be easy.
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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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These Platinums weren't stupid. Unlike the Silvers and Golds, the male twin had procured a map of my maze the sister used to navigate and find unexplored tunnels. I was going to need to implement a way to move the maze soon, to prevent people just rushing the boss room.
That trick the female twin showed off, using fire magic to boil water. It inspired me. Tomorrow, my maze would include traps that boiled the water in a section of tunnel. Only one or two though.
The boss fight was intense. Every party member was occupied fighting the adds. Sanguina kept back, letting her subjects fight in her stead. With Matha having used most of her magic in the entrance tunnel, she was much less useful. The two knights were forced to defend her in her mostly-helpless state. The woman with the crossbow and the rapier wielder were the most effective fighters, though it wasn't enough. There were too many fish.
The man with the rapier was the first to abandon the fight. After taking a bad shock from the edge of a Lightning Snapper's cloud, the twitching man activated his teleport and abandoned the fight.
Now a fighter down, Matha appeared incensed. Already on the ropes, the party were talking more and more injuries. Everyone left had at least one electrical burn, a dozen shallow cuts and more than a few gouges in their armor or flesh. As one, the group grabbed for their crystals and escaped.
Sanguina would survive another day.
The fallout on the surface was impressive. Dalton, the rapier wielder, found himself on the receiving end of every threat under the sun and kicked from the party. If he hadn't left the island by tomorrow, I would be very surprised.
And so ended the second day of constant delvers.
The Crabs performed their role well, making sure no Silver parties had the resources or willingness to explore past the Crab Knight.
The Fish also did excellent; No Gold party had found Sanguina. The one Platinum party that did were repelled with prejudice.
The fifth floor was coming along well, and I had finished carving out the rooms. A few of those rooms held experiments that I hoped would work out. The fourth floor was fine; the rats continued to commit genocide on themselves in order to grow. A few dozen of the rats were about twice the size of the normal rats, with elongated limbs and a tendency for bipedalism. Sharpened claws and tougher hides were also widespread beyond the larger specimens. The larger rats were predominantly female, which made sense given that even normal sized female rats were bigger than males.
The Kobolds both were joyful and anxious; joyful they would soon participate in my defense and anxious that they wouldn't be up to the task. As such the normal villagers were preparing for a party to make it to the third floor any day now. The mini-bosses practiced against each other while the Drake-Kin was brought to the jungle floor to practice his skills against the mini-bosses, since they were the closest thing to humans I had.
They were decently strong. I was hoping their intelligence, use of magic and tactics would prove decisive in future battles. I didn't want them to be pushovers. The Drake-kin, I evolved slightly more by granting him more mana, pushing it to enhancing his physique and speed.
The moon high overhead and the Guilders resting, I focused on the fifth floor. I needed to speed up.
I might have less time than I expected.
The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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As the final party of the day teleported out of the dungeon, it was with no small amount of relief on my part. The last two days had been full-on.
These guilders are relentless. Again and again they delve my first and second floors, despite losing an average of three of their number a day. Mostly Silver, but one Gold was lost to the fish. He was a swordsman, and his core seemed to lack an elemental inclination. I put it to the side with the rest, for later experimentation.
They haven't wavered in their resolve. At first I thought that I must have miscalculated the value of the bounty placed on me. Ten thousand gold coins certainly sounds like a lot, considering these people use the standard fantasy copper, silver and gold coin currency.
But it's more than that, and it took me a few days and a half-dozen more sets of memories to understand why.
I'm a challenge to these people.
Being a Guilder isn't a safe and easy life. They jeopardize life and limb every day in pursuit of personal strength, wealth, or even something as nebulous as fame. All of them, to a one, are made aware of the statistics of their occupation before joining, yet they join anyway.
There's something about the people here, or maybe it's the magic literally floating around in the air. Perhaps it's narrative causality. Either way, Guilders are just built different, beyond their physical abilities. In pursuit of their goals, anything considered obstacle is conceptualized as a challenge. Something to overcome, to beat into the dirt and take its lunch money.
Conquered dungeons are normally safe options for increasing their experience and skills; an environment controlled by a dungeon master and where the difficulty curve is carefully considered. It works, to a point. With their lives never truly in danger, guilders can only grow so fast. After reaching Silver rank, their growth slows. At this point some grow lax, often leading to early graves when they come up against an unexpected threat. Golds who push their limits by seeking tests of skill and strength are the ones who grow the fastest.
Wild dungeons are less challenging than I initially expected; pumping out hordes of barely-improved animals that prove little threat in the face of a party of Golds. There was the very real possibility of danger in older wild dungeons, as they gained in sentience and capability, but even their monsters and defenses were laughable in comparison to mine.
In the end, it's the lost dungeons which provide the greatest challenge for an up-and-coming guilder. Intelligent, lethal in their defense and often possessing a true hatred for their previous oppressors. Some were so much so, that they remained free for decades, killing hundreds or thousands of guilders. These were regarded as 'Grindstones'. Yes, a hundred may die in pursuit of glory, but it was often considered worth the loss to get a dozen Platinums in return for those hundred dead Golds.
I can kinda see the reasoning. Platinums are plainly superior in terms of physicality. Magically, they were also far and away better than Golds.
There were currently no active Grindstones on record. At least, until I became well-known and with the number of deaths associated with me growing daily that designation was a foregone conclusion. According to correspondence Neo received today, dozens of parties were expected to begin their trip to the island within a week; drawn by the challenge I represent. The bounty was practically a bonus for them.
So, as Neo began scrambling to have more accommodation built in a short as time as possible, I began excavating the sixth floor. The fifth wasn't yet fully developed, but the caverns were excavated and a couple of my experiments panned out. All that was left was populating the floor.
The sixth, I felt, needed to be a significant departure from the previous five.
Well. I am under a volcanic island. Perhaps it's time to start digging towards the magma chamber, rather than out under the ocean. It should be safe enough. The volcano is active, its crater lake boiling with toxic gasses is evidence enough of that.
Yes. Lava lakes, rivers and lavafalls. Extreme heat is the name of the game. The layout though... hmmm. This requires careful thought.
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Port Medea, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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Layla Losat wandered down the main thoroughfare of the little island port. With access to the dungeon cut off for the night she finally had time to relax before needing to retire to her rooms.
The docks had expanded again, she noted. Another warehouse had been erected to shelter their goods from the elements. Another two taverns had been built, to accommodate their large guilder population and their various habits. She turned right at the main square, towards the incline that led to the hill above the dungeon.
As she walked up the dirt path, sounds of nature replaced the quiet bustle of the town. She could hear the stream somewhere to her left, winding down the rocky hill. Most of the trees near the town had been cut down already, for lumber, though larger specimens had been left alone. One, she noticed, had a small altar. Upon the altar lay berries, fruits and edible roots; harvested from the local jungle.
She stopped and placed a handful of nuts from her pocket in a basket. She bowed towards the towering tree, an obvious shrine to the Goddess of Nature, and prayed. Thank you for your bounty, Goddess Kaisha; through your efforts are my people sustained.
A few minutes later she left, continuing her journey. It wasn't long before she reached the small outlook. Though she couldn't appreciate the view in the same way as others might, it was still spectacular to her. The sky was awash with mana, streams and brooks flowing steadily together, meeting at the river that poured straight into the opening below her.
She took a deep breath, finding the cool evening air soothing in her chest. She remained there a time, enjoying the peace and quiet.
Eventually, she heard the heavy footsteps of Felin approaching. He stopped at her side and looked out, though his eyes were unable to perceive the enormous amount of mana passing a dozen meters off the cliff's edge.
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Layla sighed.
"News, Felin?" She questioned, turning to face her friend. He grunted in response.
"Should have a couple of bunkhouses up by the end of the week, more in two. Won't be the most desirable of places to live, but better than sleeping out in the cold." Felin took a long breath. "I wonder where we'd be if you hadn't taken this job," he mused quietly.
"We'd probably still be here." She stated. "But as delvers, rather than administrators." Felin snorted.
"Those Platinums, the Gorge twins. They don't respect your authority," he informed her. "It's only the threat of your grandfather and the greater guild coming down on them that prevents them from just running roughshod over this place." Layla sighed again.
"I'm not surprised. I'm not a Platinum. Not yet. Maybe a few months delving this dungeon could change that but I don't have the time." It really was a shame, too. Until she could get someone else to take over her position she was stuck with the job. They stayed there a while longer, before turning and wandering back down the path.
There was plenty of work to do tomorrow. They needed the rest.
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The Guardian's Arena, The Second Floor, The Dungeon
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Litan thrust one last time.
Connection.
Exultation.
He'd done it.
It had taken three attempts, but finally the second Guardian was dead. He jerked his sword sideways, slicing the head of the large blood-red fish right off. The other fish in the room paused, then evacuated down the tunnels they'd entered from. Soon the flooded arena was empty of life bar him and his party.
He sheathed his sword and grabbed the monster's body before it could float too far away. A minute later, he wretched the monsters' core from its remains. The spherical manacore was decently large; half the size of his clenched fist. He thought he saw a faint red tint to the crystal, though that could just be the blood tinting the water around him. His bodyguards remained stoic in the face of their success. His other two party members, his childhood friends swam over to pat his back. He was sure that if they weren't underwater, they'd be praising him.
With a rumble, the door to the next part of the dungeon opened, rolling sideways to reveal a tunnel. The spiral staircase beyond was much like the one after the first floor, though its flooded nature meant they needed to swim down it rather than walk. At the bottom, they swam through a doorway which led to another staircase, this one leading upwards where they could see light beaming through the water's surface.
The party surfaced, pulling themselves onto the dry ground to spend a few minutes recovering from the fight. The tunnel beyond the room was filled with light, a shade that matched sunlight perfectly. Rested and ready to continue, the group entered the tunnel.
The floor, walls and roof were covered in plants; fruiting vines and grass painted the stone walls green. Litan picked a fruit that looked ripe. It had a reddish and pitted skin. He wasn't willing to take a bite, but he was sure someone on the surface would be willing to test its edibility for him.
The overgrown tunnel wasn't long. Soon, Litan and his party stood just outside the threshold of the third floor.
It was... breathtaking.
They came out halfway up a cliff, a narrow path winding down the rocky slope before them. The vista was dominated by trees, the same species as the ones on the island above but with their size multiplied significantly. The jungle rustled and shifted in a false wind, accompanied by buzzing, chirping noise produced by what must be an entire ecosystem, all contained within a single cavern. Set into the roof of a cavern, an enormous mana-light larger than those of the first floor sat. It produced enough light to mimic the sun in this small space, Litan could make out a track across the roof it likely followed.
This would be an entirely different experience, compared to the previous floors.
"This dungeon... is truly unique," he stated. His words were echoed by his companions.
"Yeah...", "You got that right.", "Man, I hate the jungle.", "Deal with it, wimp."
They trekked down the rocky path, soon finding themselves deep in the jungle. The noise was almost deafening. The droning insects, the rustling leaves above and the distant roar of a fast-moving river all combining to drown them in noise. There were no set paths through the undergrowth, and Litan found himself using his master-forged sword to clear a path more often than he would prefer.
Much like a jungle on the surface, the climate was hot and sticky. Under his armor Litan began to sweat just to cool off. Perhaps a cooling enchantment was in order...
All members of the party were hyperaware; their enhanced senses focused the slightest disturbances in their surroundings. It would be all to easy for a group of monsters to ambush them here.
For ten minutes they traveled like this. The noise only increased.
Litan called the party to a halt as they approached a clearing. He peered through the foliage.
What he saw was astounding and worrying in equal measures.
A huge mound of dirt was piled up in the center of the clearing. At least ten feet tall, and covered in ants.
And not just normal ants. Each ant was a hundred times the size of their normal cousins, and there were hundreds of thousands of the creatures. He observed half a dozen thick lines spreading out from the anthill, with ants moving in both directions. The returnees carried gathered food; which was often as terrifying a concept as the ants themselves. Enormous wasps, spiders, beetles and bees. Slowly, it dawned on him.
These were the monsters.
He was sure, if they searched, they'd discover enormous hives of bees and wasps. Those foot-long spiders likely littered the jungle. They were lucky they hadn't encountered any to be honest.
He turned to his allies, making the hand symbols to signal a quiet retreat. They moved quickly and as silently as possible. After what he judged an appropriate distance, he began to speak.
"We are incredibly unprepared for this floor," he informed them. "We'll do a bit more exploration, but at the slightest hint of danger activate your crystals. I'd prefer you alive to delve another day." He received solemn nods in response.
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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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The first party to ever make it to my third floor. This is a milestone.
Their attitudes were just as I wanted; paranoid and constantly alert. It's a bit disappointing they discovered the ants and reasoned that the real danger of this floor was its ecosystem so early, but there wasn't much I could have done about that. It does give the Kobolds a bit more protection in obscurity so I won't complain too much.
Speaking of, the Litan and his party had been shadowed by a group of Kobold Villagers the second they stepped into the jungle. High in the canopy, the kobolds had constructed a series of platforms and ropes, for quick deployment across the floor.
I ordered them to hold back and observe. These are the enemy, I explained, the kobolds' greatest weapon is that the humans don't know they exist. If they attack and even a single human escapes, that weapon is lost.
They accepted my orders and reasoning, bowing to my greater wisdom. It was still a little disturbing to be considered the god of a whole species, even if that species was only a few hundred members strong. Thankfully they were quiet and private in their worship, rather than the great celebrations the crabs threw every night.
The Platinums explored the third floor for another half hour. They discovered the river and eradicated a small spider nest in that time. Not that any nest of foot-wide spiders could be considered 'small'. By the time they decided to return to the surface the people there had been concerned, since they'd been down here for more than two hours already.
That they had explored my third floor was the news of the day, spreading at the speed of gossip. Details of the floor spread almost as fast. Arguments on the monsters raged. Most dismissed the claim the insects were the main danger, convinced that they had yet to encounter the floors true monsters. These people seemed to be ones that had less experience with jungle environments.
They'd soon learn not to underestimate insects.
The Drunken Delver, Phenoc Colony, Medea Island
Four Days Later
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Haythem Linus growled in anger and slammed his flagon of beer on the table. They had delved the dungeon for the third time today, and been forced to teleport out of the fight with the guardian for the second time. Frustrated, they had retreated to one of the three taverns in the little village to let out a little steam.
"Our party is too small," he finally spoke. Bertram and Flasa looked up from their own drinks at his outburst, the grimaces on their faces all the he needed to know that they agreed.
"There are too many monsters for us to handle, especially underwater." Flasa added. "If it was just the Guardian, the fight would be over quickly. I guess that's the point, though." she finished, weakly. Bertram spoke next, a thoughtful expression on his normally carefree face.
"I wonder," he began, "the dungeon is going through so many monsters to keep us out of the third floor. The drain on its mana must be significant to create so many of them so often." Haythem hummed in thought.
"I would say the same about the first floor," he agreed. "The dungeon must realize the crabs aren't enough to keep us out. The Platinums can reliably get past the second floor now, too. Perhaps soon we will only encounter a token force on the first and second, in order for it to focus on stronger defenses on the third," He reasoned.
"Sounds like a dream." Bertram said, his eyes staring into the middle distance. "I've had enough of Crabs and Fish. Though a floor full of insects isn't exactly appealing either."
Haythem shook his head.
"It's all just speculation. For all we know it judges the mana it expends worth it, to keep us from going deeper." He raised his flagon, gulped down the final few mouthfuls, then set it aside. He leaned forwards, putting more weight on his elbows.
"Flasa, keep an ear out for any smaller parties that have a similar problem. Bertram, you make contact with them and organize a meeting." He looked between his oldest friends as realization turned to eagerness in their eyes.
"We're getting a raid together."
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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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The Platinum parties breaking through into the third floor was incredibly motivational for the Silvers and Golds. Every party who delves fights with a determination that is almost scary to observe. I mean, I understand why they are this way. They had been delving me for more than half a week, with the Platinums stuck on my second floor. Someone finally making progress, even if it is only their strongest fighters, emboldened the rest of them.
It can be done, they thought. If we try hard enough, we can do it too.
In this newly invigorated atmosphere, disparate parties began to group up. From what I understood this wasn't something done often. It would be too easy for one group to betray and turn on the rest, either leaving them in an area too dangerous for them to fight alone or by killing them directly.
There is a reason the party system existed, after all. Your party was your family, your party was your life. The shield that diverted blows, the sword that skewers enemy. A shield that could be trusted to block a deadly blow, a sword that you could trust implicitly would never turn on your back.
However, when multiple parties did join forces, their combined power could overcome challenges that alone would destroy them.
The day after Litan reached my third floor, three silver parties joined forces. I upped the number of crabs they fought, a force more than triple what they would have encountered alone. Squires outflanked them, yet still found themselves slain. Brawlers occupied their tanks, yet those tanks overcame them. Assassins were killed mid-lunge, or before they could even start to attack. The newly rechristened Combustion Crabs found themselves the main target of archers and mages.
It wasn't as though the guilders made it through unscathed. Every guilder bore cuts and bruises; the remnants of larger slices and broken bones healed as much as they could be by potions. As a combined group of fifteen Silvers, they overcame my Crab Knight easily.
I hadn't anticipated such a large number of guilders all fighting him at once, after all. Even the extra monsters I sent into the fight failed to provide much in the way of help. The raid confidently descended the stairs to become the first Silver Rank Guilders to reach the second floor.
Here, they followed the map distributed by the guild to head directly to the Boss's arena. Unlike the Platinums, they did not possess the requisite strength to fight through the hundreds of fish that defended that hallway. They were turned back, minus three members.
In the end, I fought against half-a-dozen raids. The golds, at least, were still fighting as parties. The Platinums didn't delve that day. My spies showed they were preparing equipment and planning a longer delve.
That night, I finished the prep for a feature I had long intended for the second floor. With deceptive smoothness the walls shifted, spun and retreated. New traps were implemented beyond just pit-and-spike traps. Some hallways were enchanted to seal themselves when two humans had passed, effectively splitting parties. If they were quick enough they could dodge it, but it would be too fast for most silvers. About half the intersections were enchanted to change every hour, switching up the maze on the fly and making the solution completely random for each party who delved.
More dangerous traps were rare; but effective. One hallway was enchanted to activate when at least two humans, but no more than five, were within it at once. It would then proceed to incinerate anything within. A fire mage, or water mage could probably save themselves and one or two others. The unprepared would likely die.
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A bit more confusing might be my decision to lower the sheer number of fish monsters on the floor, and the number of crab monsters the guilders would encounter on the first. Instead of a customized number, every party who delved would encounter enough monsters to stop a five man party of silvers.
In the end, it was a question of mana and upkeep. My Crabs were no longer effective; dying by the hundreds every day. The fish, while effective, were slaughtered by the Platinums, now that they had enough practice fighting them. It was a huge drain on my mana and actually slowed down construction of the sixth floor because so much was spent spawning and raising more monsters. Not enough actually made it to my core to be useful.
I always knew I'd be performing a fighting retreat; it was an inevitable consequence of my new strategy. Namely; not overwhelming every guilder who delved meaned they gained knowledge and experience in fighting my monsters. All in an effort to prevent a harsher response. Each time they delved, the guilders were more effective at killing my monsters. I'd already had to increase the number of crabs a silver party would encounter, to stop them at the boss. The second floor's new configuration should be a more consistent roadblock; even if the monsters were more of a distraction.
I also lowered the intelligence of the newest and subsequent generations of crabs. The Crab Knight would retain Intelligence; they couldn't fight effectively otherwise.
It wasn't something I did lightly, but... I was starting to feel bad for them. They were almost sapient; like primitive humans having just discovered fire. Their entire existence was my first floor and their destiny was to die in futile defense of that floor. Like a unfeeling deity, I had consigned them to that life.
The most intelligent living crabs were moved, leaving their decidedly non-sentient offspring behind. I brought them down to a set of chambers next to, but separate from, the fifth floor. There they could exist peacefully and develop their existence. I'd make a floor they could live in later.
The fish, I started creating a large chamber for. A huge, completely flooded, underground space. It would have many small connections to the reef outside. Here, the monstrous fish would live in competition, with the basic fish either evolving into monsters on their own because of the mana density in the water or becoming food for the monsters. This space had tunnels that cycled water into the various parts of my dungeon. Too small for a human to traverse, with the water flow itself acting as deterrent most of the time, but easily large enough for my fish.
The next day, when the first raid of silvers encountered the much lessened and diminished crabs they were wary. After fighting the Crab Knight, this time a female, they were put a little at ease. Their first steps down a familiar path turned their confidence into confusion, then unease. Over the course of the day many became separated from their parties. Others found themselves trapped in flooded corridors where they had to fight off fish until they either teleported out or died.
Two unlucky men were incinerated, having been wandering the maze after being separated from their raid.
With this new element of chaos, the first raid of Golds on the floor found themselves stuck. They attempted, again and again, to find a way through. The Platinums stayed out of the dungeon, waiting to figure out the new mechanics of the second floor.
It was at the end of the third day that the golds stumbled across the boss room.
With the diminished numbers of fish and the increased numbers of Guilders, they pushed through easily, slaying my comparatively enhanced boss. The Bloodfish Sovereign these days was larger and meaner than Sanguina had been, boasting thicker scales and increased muscle strength. He put up a tough fight, but was inevitably killed. He did take a Gold with him, so it wasn't a total loss.
The Gold raid continued onto the third floor, where they decided to split up. Normally I would call this a bad idea, but none of these groups trusted each other enough to keep the raid together. Their goal had been to pass the Bloodfish Sovereign, but beyond that they were still in competition. Only one group would be able to claim my core, in the end.
Personally, I was trying my best to avoid that outcome.
But that encounter is far off, if it ever happens.
More currently, the Kobolds found an isolated party of four and decided to attempt an ambush.
The ambushers included ten Kobold Villagers armed with crude stone clubs and axes, the Shamans of Fire Tribe and Lighting Tribe, as well as six Kobold Villagers armed with short bows.
They were in the branches above the party; who were making a poor attempt at stealth. The Kobolds Villagers were a small, hunched monster. I might have mistaken them for particularly buff Goblins if not for their lizard-like snouts, molten gold irises and scaled skin the colour of dried blood. The Shamans had a more upright posture and refined facial features; draped in primitive robes and fishbone charms. Where they had developed this fashion sense, I had no idea.
In order to preserve the Kobolds' anonymity the ambush had to be sudden and overwhelming. None of the Guilders could be allowed the chance to grab for their teleport crystals.
The plan, therefore, was relatively simple.
The archers would fire from above, aiming more to separate the guilders than going for an immediate kill. They weren't yet accurate enough to do more than that. Maybe with more practice and better bows. Simultaneously, the warriors would jump down with weapons raised. These would strike the stumbling and confused humans, if not outright kill them.
The two Shamans would then join. The Lightning Shaman with her stave would direct bolts down at important targets, such as the group's healer. As a side effect, the bolts should be disorienting to the rest of the humans. The bright light would blind them and the sound of thunder would be going off in their ears, after all. The Fire Shaman would throw bolts of fire at the others, even as the Villagers below whaled on the now confused, divided, concussed and flaming guilders.
The plan proceeded perfectly.
One man almost reached his crystal, but a well-aimed axe throw to the back of his head stopped that.
And so, I had another four corpses to experiment with. I had the Kobolds collect the mana-cores and throw the meat to the fish in the river. The skeletons and cores were taken down to my experimentation rooms on the fifth floor. I'd probably need to move those south soon.
Also, the Fourth floor wasn't exactly up the same standards I'd set for the other floors. A winding set of dirt and rock tunnels filled with rats, compared to ruin-filled jungle and an intricately carved and elaborate maze. I'd need to spend a few days getting it up to snuff. It'd slow work on the sixth, but my perfectionism carried over from my last life and it was bugging me, despite my instincts telling my to just dig deeper.
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The Drunken Delver, Port Medea, Medea Island
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Matha Gorge was simultaneously pleased and vexed about this new development. Vexed that the dungeon had apparently re-activated long-dormant traps and mechanisms, and pleased that it had stymied the golds and silvers who had been making progress.
Her and her brother would be the ones to shatter the core. They had greater reason than these bloodhounds that followed the scent and promise of gold.
She did worry a while of the Raid the Golds had cobbled together. Thankfully it seems one of the groups was lost to the dungeon. Most of the Golds thought that the lost party had been killed by another on the third floor, after the raid had dispersed. In the end it didn't matter, since just the fact that they were in-fighting all but assured her that another Raid was all but impossible for them.
"Sister, I think we're ready." Litan stated, looking over all the equipment they had commissioned from a capable Magesmith on the mainland. Insect-repelling, temperature-regulating and waterproof. They didn't have much in the way of defense, besides the high-quality monster leather and mana-infused metals. Their reflexes should be protection enough.
"Yes, brother. I think we are. Tomorrow, as a Raid?" She questioned, to his nod. She hummed, pleased. This dungeon was tricky. But it would fall.
They all had before.
This one was no different.
The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
The Next Day
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The day began as normal; utterly confused Silver and Gold parties stumbling through my maze.
With the reduction in difficulty on the first floor, a party of silvers could make it through mostly unscathed, further crowding the second floor. And it was indeed getting crowded; by focusing more on the 'maze' part of the floor and lessening the threat posed by the fish the guilders spent much longer stumbling around. Even with parties entering every hour, they often hung around for five or six hours before the attrition from the remaining fish caught up with them. By now they knew better than to spread out too far from each other, lest they get split up, though it did make it harder to find the correct hallway.
The fourth group to enter my halls today was a raid; composed of the two Platinum parties who had been making significant progress before the changes to the Flooded Labyrinth.
Both Litan and Matha were full Platinums, nearing the same level of power as Isid and Jerrad. Their party members weren't quite up there with them. I would, tentatively, call them entry-level Platinums. From what I'm sensing they likely only reached that level recently, though long enough ago to acclimate to their new level of power.
They passed through the Starlit Caverns without any trouble. It was a waste of resources at this point to just throw crabs at these people when they couldn't do more than be killed immediately. They fought the Crab Knight, of course. Unfortunately, they've fought this boss enough that they know how it moves, they know its weaknesses and how to kill it quickly.
Upon moving to the second floor, they were confronted with my new and improved maze. They stuck together, preventing the traps that would split them from being effective. There were too many of them to set off the incinerator trap; not that anyone realizes it even exists yet. After an hour from their entering the dungeon, a new party of Golds entered and the intersections shifted. Parts that were previously hallways were now dead ends. Corners led in different directions. T intersections cut off one avenue at random.
Essentially, they had to rewrite their maps. There were only two locations that mattered in this maze; the entrance and exit. While the passageways leading from one to the other changed, they stayed immobile. Not that anyone has found the exit to confirm this yet.
Determined not to give up, they once again searched the maze, finding the exit before the next shift. I really need to figure out a more effective trap to split these raids up.
They fought the improved Bloodfish Sovereign and its guards. They took about twenty minutes to wear down the fish monsters enough to get in a killing blow. Tired, they quickly moved through the exit to the flooded stairwell. They rested in the entrance hall to the third floor, much like Litan and his party had done before.
Hm. Perhaps a timer set to make the back wall push inwards, to force them out into the jungle after a minute or two. Yes. A shorter timer the larger the party, linked to this wall. Maybe add some spikes, to really motivate them. I need to wait for these loiterers to leave, but they won't get such a restful stop next time.
I alerted a few new monsters I'd added to the floor that they had company. They spread their wings and left their dens, ready to hunt.
What? You think I'd expose my barely-trained kobold villagers to these elite guilders? They need much, much more practice before they're ready for more than a party of Silvers, or a couple of Golds.
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The Third Floor, The Dungeon, Medea Island
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Litan walked confidently into the jungle that filled the third floor. His party, his twin, and her party all kept their eyes open and scanning the brush. Just because they had yet to encounter larger monsters doesn't mean there isn't any.
His eyes searched for the signs he'd left. After a minute he couldn't identify even one. He cursed. The path he'd cut through the undergrowth last time had been overrun with fresh vines and bushes already, perhaps thicker too. So, they needed to take a different path. Following their secondary plan, they cut around the edge of the jungle rather than risk becoming lost in its depths. With the sheer rock wall to their right and the menacing jungle to their left, they walked.
"I'm glad for this armor," Matha commented, her burning eyes sweeping for movement. "This kind of humidity is hell on my hair." She finished, to some light chuckles. Litan smiled affectionately. His twin always knew how to raise the mood.
"Happy to accommodate you, sister mine." He said. "I'm sure you're appreciating the insect-repelling enchantments right now."
"Oh yes, indeed." she smirked, a little vindictive. "No damn, dirty insect will get the drop on me now!" Ah, yes. That revulsion still had its hold on her.
They kept moving, the sameness of the trees and rock making it hard to tell how far they'd actually traveled, or how long it took. The dull roar of a raging river had been getting louder as they walked. Spying an abnormality, Litan called a stop.
Another thin track like the one they'd descended snaked up the rocky wall, leading up to what looked like a cave. A small amount of water washed down to the side of the trail, originating from the cave itself. Litan waved his bodyguards up first. The goat-track was relatively stable, though there were points where the rock crumbled away under their feet. When they'd reached the top, the rest of the raid followed in twos.
Gathered just within the cave, Matha summoned a flame to light the black tunnel. Litan had expected a natural-looking cave but what the orange light revealed was an intricately carved square room, with scenes carved into the walls of the ruins. His bodyguards and Matha's all brought out torches for Matha to light, brightening the room further. The water came from a slow drip, seeping from a crack in the roof of the room down a stalagmite and stalactite pair.
One of their number, Matha's friend, traced a section of the wall covered in text. If they could decipher the language of these people, perhaps more secrets of this dungeon could be revealed. On the back wall of the room, there was a broken section of wall. Bricks lay at the foot of the opening, the dust that covered them hinting that this wasn't a new feature. All four bodyguards moved through first.
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The passage beyond proved to be narrow and winding. At one point they had to duck under a large section of rock, through a space barely large enough to admit their armored forms.
They emerged into a circular cavern. This was more like what Litan would have expected from a natural cave. A light shined from a hole in the roof of the cave. The walls were covered in pictograms, much like what their ancient ancestors drew in their caves. Some seemed to depict a series of figures worshiping a gem.
As soon as the last man in the raid, Litan's childhood friend Stema, passed through the entrance things got interesting. A series of sconces built into the walls lit up in a teal light, the colour matching that of the pictographic gem. They prepared as a section of the wall pulled away, revealing another passage. From this passage strode a monster. It resembled a bipedal lizard wielding a mace and shield, covered in ill-fitting leathers. Likely taken from dead Guilders, Litan realized.
The reddish-brown scaled lizardman raised its snout to the roof and let out a brief roar in challenge.
It posed no threat, Litan realized, as his sword removed i's head. Looking away from your enemies and revealing a weak spot in one move. Stupid.
The cave the monster had emerged from had closed behind it. The stone looked too thick to break through anyway. Stema took the lizard's weapon and put it in his pack. It was only right to return the weapons of the found dead to their party members.
The monster's core was fascinating.
To a casual glance, it seemed a normal manacore, drawn from any monster of the hundreds of dungeons in the world. on closer inspection, it seemed to have two dull nubs, growing on opposite sides of the sphere.
The implications... were severe.
Litan put it away before any others in the party could see.
"So, was that the Guardian?" Matha's friend Jessine asked. His sister shook her head and motioned to the room with her hand.
"If it was, the dungeon would have granted access to its fourth floor. No, this wasn't the guardian. It was too easy." She frowned and drummed her fingers on her stave. "Likely, these are the monsters that populate this floor. Perhaps we need to seek them out to progress, rather than them blocking our way."
"What, so we need to find more of these things? Child's play. If they're all set up like this one was we should be done by sunset!" Polit boasted. He was Litan's other friend in his party. He didn't learn the names of his bodyguards. They were sworn to die in defense of him. Becoming too attached was counter-productive.
"It won't be that easy." Litan cautioned. "This dungeon seems to have been designed as a training ground. At least, these early floors look to be made that way. The first floor tests teamwork, fighting against multiple opponents and singular, overwhelming enemies. The second tests logic, your sense of direction and ability to fight underwater. From what I've gathered this floor seems to test endurance and ability to fight armed opponents." He explained.
"The jungle seems designed to exhaust those who explore it. The humidity, the exertion of cutting through the undergrowth as well as fighting off all those insects. I would imagine these," He motioned to the dead lizard monster, "these are scattered over the floor. Combat trials. If we pass enough, perhaps the Guardian will be revealed." His words were met with quiet agreement.
They turned and left. They had a fair amount of work to do.
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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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That was disappointing. The Kobold Warrior was cut down in seconds, before it could react. That needs to be fixed. I quickly empowered the other mini-bosses, focusing on their strength and reflexes. They need to at least be a challenge.
Matha, Litan, Isid and Jerrads early failures against the second floor must have blinded me a bit to how strong Platinums really are. Underwater really is a poor environment to fight in, requiring some time to really adjust to. After all, they had been totally unchallenged by more than a hundred crabs. I really should have focused more on that as a measure of their strength.
Along with the growth and improvements, I passed along every memory I had gained of fighting armed opponents to the mini-bosses. Hopefully they would have time to practice their new skills.
The Platinums continued around the border of the jungle. Mental note, make that harder to do.
Soon they found the river. They seemed awed at the waterfall which fed the white-water rapids. Not finding an easy path across, they decided to follow the river. They reasoned that there had to be a point they could cross.
They were technically right if you counted the large, unsecured moss-covered log about two-thirds of the way down the river.
Unfortunately, they seem to have underestimated how immense this cavern is. They only made it half-way down the log by the time the artificial sun 'set'. Darkness descended quickly on the floor. The pure dark of a cave, unlit by the pale, reflected light of a moon. The lights they raised in response were beacons in the night.
Bulky feline forms stalked them on the ground.
Bright orange and yellow feathers drifted from the higher branches.
They set up camp in a clearing, bordered on one side by the river and by jungle on the other three. At least three raid members were on watch at all times. For hours, I did nothing. More and more monsters arrived, completely surrounding the guilders.
The men on watch were extremely paranoid by this point. They had been hearing hoots, trills, low growls and breaking sticks all night. Straining their senses fully for so long was obviously exhausting, and it was as they approached a change in the watch that I struck.
Six dozen Tigers approached the guilders, who had let the allure of sleep distract them from their watch. The tigers had been mutated from a pair of cats I'd stolen from the town. These new monsters were multi-colored. Some mimicked the tigers of my old world, their striped forms clad in white, orange and black. Others were a little more... out there. Red with blue stripes, Purple with orange stripes and a couple of Green with brown stripes. Just as examples. The shadows around them jumped and shifted, revealing the shadow magic I had imbued them with.
That's right. I've figured out shadow magic. It's a little abstract, but if light can be produced by mana, then why can't it be removed?
From above, a flock of Phoenix descended. Enormous birds, with the largest having a ten foot wingspan, their plumage in the traditional colors of the mythical birds. Like their namesakes, they could light themselves on fire. I hadn't figured out how to make them immortal, but all the monsters participating in this attack had already produced at least one more generation of monsters.
In concert to the roar of the Tigers, the Phoenix dove, launching fire at the occupied tents with each pass. The Guilders within were driven out, having been sleeping in their armor. As their tents burned, Matha turned a new wave of fire from the raid. Litan raised his sword in defense of his sister, as did the others in the party.
The night was one of slaughter.
By the time half the empowered tigers had been slain, a score of phoenix lay dead. The groups' archers were too accurate for the birds to dodge.
My plan was coming together. The Platinums were distracted. Silently approaching from below, insects swarmed. There was a force that repelled them from approaching the Guilders, likely the enchanted armor.
When one of the swordsmen threw himself in the way of a tiger leaping for Litans back, his armor was rent by the hard and extremely sharp claws. His armor flashed in a pink light, glowing runes revealing themselves for a split second before fading away just as quickly. Just like that, the enchantment was broken.
Millipedes, spiders, ants and more swarmed the unprotected man. He screamed as deadly, paralytic and necrotic poisons were injected through bites and stings. He reached for his teleport crystal, but a group of wasps had already made off with it.
He would have no respite.
The Third Floor, The Dungeon, Medea Island
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Litan jerked away from his screaming bodyguard as the man stumbled around, flailing wildly. He stared in horror as the man was consumed by an enormous swarm of insects. His bodyguard tripped, falling to the jungle floor. He attempted to roll. It didn't help. More and more insects covered him, looking more and more like a shifting mound of black sand. His screams became muffled, then abruptly cut off.
He was dead.
Litan had no time to do more than acknowledge his sacrifice and move on. More of these large feline monsters were approaching him and the firebirds above kept up their diving attacks. As he had expected, the insects truly were the main threat of the floor. These other monsters were designed to create weaknesses and openings for the insects to swarm and overwhelm.
He hadn't been sure about camping in the dungeon, especially when they had so little information on the third floor. It had seemed safe enough with the insect repelling enchantments on their armor and no obvious monsters making themselves known. Well, message received.
Don't expect to find respite in the darkness of the night.
They fought valiantly. Matha kept diverting the flaming passes of the firebirds, while the two guilders with crossbows continued to pepper the irritating birds with arrows. Litan himself and the other five melee fighters kept the large furred monstrosities away from the more vulnerable of their group. The number of monsters never seemed to change, despite the piles of them that were growing in a circle around the raiders.
Litan, in a moment of relaxation between attacks, caught sight of the mound of insects covering his previous bodyguard. It had begun to collapse, streams of flying insects rising to surround them while the ground-bound did similarly. They had left behind nothing but stark white bones and a glowing core.
He could hear the multiple swarms of insects flying around them better than he could see them, in the darkness of the dungeon. The chittering and skittering of the multi-legged monsters surrounded them. Waiting for an opportunity.
He wouldn't give them one.
"Retreat!" He shouted, "Activate your Crystals!"
All around him lights flashed, the activation of their teleport crystals as noticeable as ever. He reached for his own crystal and managed to activate it just as three of the monsters pounced at him. A second before they would have reached him he was abruptly somewhere else.
Around him both his party and Mathas' had collapsed to the ground, reveling in the safety of the exit pavilion. A minute later a group of guilders rushed into the tent with them, composed mostly of healers.
Once they were satisfied none of them were injured, the second type of guilder that entered led them off to the debrief rooms.
Litan and Matha were seated in the same room, soon joined by the Guildmistress herself and her assistant. Despite the late hour, the extremely pale woman hid the signs of tiredness well. Likely, she had been woken to meet with them.
"We'll keep this brief, as I'm sure you wish to retire to your quarters." She began, pulling out scribing tools and parchment from a bag as she spoke. "A basic overview of your delve will suffice for now. I would also request a more in-depth report from each of you, to be completed before your next delve." She started.
"I suppose that would be acceptable." His sister replied. Litan raised an eyebrow at her. The glance she returned was all the answer he needed. He began with the second floor, as there was nothing worth noting about the first.
"The second floor's layout changes proved annoying, but unable to keep us from the Guardians arena. Despite its newly shifting nature, the exit to that maze hadn't changed location in comparison to the entrance." He informed her.
"We began exploration of the third floor by hugging the outer wall of the cavern, instead of diving into the jungle. We came upon a path leading to a cave, set some ways up the cavern wall. Inside we fought a monster. It resembled a large lizard, though fully bipedal and equipped with stolen weapons and armor." The Guildmistress' assistant frowned at that news, taking notes of his own even as the woman transcribed Litans words.
"It had red-brown scales, tough but not tough enough to resist my blade by any means." He relayed. "There was no contest. It foolishly exposed its neck and I took advantage of the opportunity before the fight began." He didn't mention the monsters abnormal core. He would perform his own investigation and experiments on it.
"We continued around the edge of the cavern until reaching a waterfall and river. It was quite fast-moving, white with foam. We followed the river into the jungle until nightfall. Or at least, we assumed it was night. The Dungeon seems to have a mechanism that mimics the sky above, as its sun-simulacrum 'set' after a time. With 'night' falling, we made the decision to set up camp." The Guildmistress interrupted him there.
"Why did you make that decision?" She inquired. "Would it not be more appropriate to return and next time, delve earlier in the day?" Matha snorted.
"There is far too long a waiting list to guarantee an early delve." She informed the woman, who should really know this. "It was easier to set up a camp and stay on the third in order to continue exploration tomorrow. How were we to know the dungeon would take such exception to our presence?" She sneered at the woman. Litan placed a hand on her shoulder, wordlessly conveying to be cautious.
"A few hours into the night," he said, "the dungeon attacked with an endless wave of two kinds of monsters. A large feline with incredibly sharp claws and a powerful pounce. The second was a bird wreathed in flames. My sister's attention was occupied protecting us from bombardment by those firebirds. After a time, one of the feline monsters destroyed a part of the enchanted armor worn by one of my party members. With the enchantments keeping the insect swarms away broken, he was overwhelmed and consumed."
"My condolences for your loss." The Guildmistress commented with a softened tone. They sat in silence for a long moment before Litan finished his story.
"I judged the risk that another of us would be similarly overwhelmed too great, and called for a retreat." The assistant nodded, obviously approving of his tactics. In his head Litan sneered at the man, even as outwardly he remained impassive.
"Thank you for your cooperation." The Guildmistress stated as she packed up her tools. "I'm sure you're more than ready to retire to your rooms, so I won't keep you any longer."
Though he frowned at the implied dismissal, Litan and his sister took the opportunity to leave the room and meet the rest of their parties.
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They had more planning to do.
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The Dungeon, Medea Island, Kalenic Sea
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The Tigers and Phoenix performed their roles perfectly!
I knew that just throwing bodies at the Platinums wouldn't be very effective, but as a method to create exploitable weaknesses they worked beautifully. It's true that even having them takes away from my original idea of an almost purely environmentally hazardous floor, but it was necessary. Yes, I could have used the Kobolds, but they're my trump card. Just having generic monsters on the floor will make the guilders feel at ease.
Hopefully they take the hint that I don't want them in my dungeon after dark and that, if they stay, they should be prepared to defend themselves.
The remaining tigers I spread out evenly through the jungle in pairs, assigning them 'territories' and granting them protected shelters the delvers shouldn't be able to access. Go forth and multiply!
The phoenix flocks dispersed similarly, though in a more communal way than the independent felines. Groups of seven to fifteen phoenix nested together for mutual protection.
The Kobolds quickly adapted to their new neighbors in the treetops. Some even took the majestic birds as companions. The fire shaman was especially fascinated with the firebirds, just as the largest female phoenix was interested in her.
The various mini-bosses were adapting to their new strength and reflexes quickly. I pushed another wave of mana at them all, this time aimed at improving strength of their bones and the resilience of their scales without compromising on their flexibility. The result was almost metallic.
In other news, I've finally stuck Lava! Or at least I've gotten pretty close. It occurred to me, as the rock I dug through rapidly increased in temperature, that as this was an active volcano there should be a huge amount of pressure building up in the magma chamber. If I just casually poked a hole in the wall I'd likely find my entire dungeon destroyed by the force of the volcano erupting through me!
Slowly, I reinforced the rock between the magma chamber and my dungeon. I'm just going to have to settle for 'fake' lava. It's not really fake but it feels like cheating to not take it from the very real volcano right there.
By the time morning came I'd made steady progress. The Silvers still remained stuck on the second floor, unable to remain for long enough to find the exit despite knowing its relative location. A raid party of Golds made it past the Bloodfish Sovereign after some trouble, though weren't able to explore much of the third floor thanks to my new monsters. The tigers proved adept enough at defending their territories, and indiscriminate firebombing from the phoenix against unprepared guilders feels... Not wrong, exactly... Unfair, maybe?
Eh. They'll adapt.
The Platinums did not delve me that day. My spies tell me they've begun preparation for their next delve, but are waiting for the Golds to gather more information on the third floor first.
And explore they did. On the second day post-platinum raid, all the delving Gold parties formed up into two raid groups. They spent the majority of the day combing the jungle and fighting off sudden monster attacks. It wasn't until an hour in that a party found another 'Combat trial'.
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The Third Floor, The Dungeon, Medea Island
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Haythem swatted yet another mosquito. The damn things were out in force today. Looking back at the cave halfway up the cavern wall, he frowned. The path looked very narrow and the crumbly sandstone it was carved into seemed treacherous. He glanced up at the rustling treetops above him, wary for a flash of orange feathers. It looked like the perfect place for an ambush.
"The Platinums didn't think much of these 'Combat Trials'," He started, getting the attention of the other two members of his party. "But that doesn't mean it won't be dangerous for us. We don't often get the chance to fight armed opponents, so be careful." His friends nodded, and they carefully advanced.
A few minutes later they had scaled the path easily. No ambush, no part of the path broke under their feet. Instead of feeling relieved all it did was make Haythem more paranoid.
Bertram summoned another sprite to light their way. The little fellows were certainly useful, even if you needed to be a mage to summon them. Under the light of the semi-sentient mana-being they advanced past the ruins in the entrance and down a dark hallway. Unlike what had been in the Platinums report, this one was fully excavated. The walls were fully clad in old brick, the floor cobbled. After a minute of walking the tunnel began to brighten.
Soon, they passed through an archway and entered into an arena-like circular room. The roof was raised high into a dome, the center of which was an circular opening through which light illuminated the entire room.
Behind them, a thick slab of stone slammed downward over the archway to block their retreat. On the other side of the room, another slab was raised simultaneously. From it emerged one of the described lizard monsters. Haythem squinted at the creature. He had seen something like it before, he would swear on his parents gravestones. The robed lizard raised a one-handed staff, topped with a pointed mana crystal and let loose a bolt of deep blue lightning.
Bertram had moved the second the monster raised its staff, forming a barrier of light to block the strangely off-color lightning. Flasa countered with half-a-dozen rapidly fired bolts from her crossbow. The creature waved its off-hand in a circle, forming a teal dome of mana around itself which flashed at each collision, then faded from view.
Haythems' thoughts spun around his head like an out-of-control cart. The mana crystal on the staff was, most likely, a Guilders mana core. it was a desecration, one found almost exclusively in Lost dungeons. The most common school of thought was that to spite their former enslavers they would rip the core from their bodies and use them to craft weapons. Haythem didn't believe that. He believed the dungeons were inspired by observing humans doing the same with their monsters and mimicked them.
Did the core belong to one of those ancient humans who had once conquered this place? Or was it a more recent acquisition?
"Haythem!" Bertram shouted in the midst of trading bolts with the monster to test its shield. "Think later, fight now!" Haythem shook his head to clear it. His eyes locked on the lizard, newly focused.
"Advance!" He ordered. "We won't be able to kill it from over here." Bertram ran forwards, stopped firing bolts and reinforced his light-barrier. Haythem and Flasa ducked behind the shield as well, when the monster started firing more bolts of blue lighting at them. Bertram flinched with each impact on his shield.
As they closed in, the monster retreated. At least, until its back was against the wall. It growled at them and attempted to duck sideways, Haythem rushed forwards, his enchanted sword already in motion. As he cut diagonally across the creatures arm, which it had raised in defense, he was shocked that his sword stopped upon impacting the monsters bones. He abandoned the sword and ducked under a retaliatory swing of the monsters staff.
That was when Flasa stepped in. The woman reached and snatched the staff right from the monsters grasping claw.
"Get Clear!" Bertram shouted. Haythem threw themselves backwards, rolling into a standing position and drawing his spare sword in a single motion. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Flasa do similarly, brandishing the stolen staff in her left hand and a dagger in the other.
In the next moment, Bertrams' eyes erupted with the fury of the god of justice. Rays of furious light crossed the distance to the monster instantaneously. The monster had hastily re-cast its barrier spell, which had been so effective against the precious mana-bolts and crossbow bolts. It proved less so against Bertrams' clerical spell.
It was moments like this that Haythem was reminded of the power in dedicating yourself to a single god, even if he had refused that path.
The furious orange light destroyed the lizards shield in seconds, where it pierced twin holes in the monsters' skull. Bertram ended the spell, breathing heavily, and the monster fell.
They had won.