*CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!*
A steady rhythm echoed through the forge. Flames, sparks, metal, and water all revibrated from the sound of the hammer hitting the anvil. It's like a scene taken straight out of a fantasy novel. Except...
"Die, die, die, die..." - Flint
Except for the constant cursing by the blacksmith.
"Ehm, you okay?" - Garami
"HUUUUUH? ...GAAAHHH!! B-B-Boss, I didn't see you!!" - Flint
Why is he reacting as if the Grim Reaper decided to visit? Note to self, next time we get a new member, do not let Revi rundown our previous exploits. She loves adding too much...drama to the stories.
"Calm down, soldier. I just wanted to check how you're faring." - Garami
It's only been a day since Flint joined but he didn't waste time to prove his worth for the Guild..., is that the right thing to say? He did spring out of the Hotel yesterday after officially joining the Guild, only taking Iron with him as a guide, and shut himself into the "Wrath's Forge". Err, that's the blacksmith facility I added to the 2nd floor as part of the "Crafter Floor" project I have going on there.
Looking over the forge, I'd say..., he's being "productive", if nothing else. The whole shop's flooded with what looks like experimental weapons and armor. Like the "Glutton Kitchen" before, the "Wrath's Forge" can craft some sick items, blacksmith articles in this case, and distribute them across the Dungeon, either as "power-ups" for the monsters or as treasures to place in the various Treasure Chest facilities. I should start considering adding some of them sooner or later.
"I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine!!" shouted Flint while having red eyes and dark circles, most likely originating from a serious case of lack of sleep.
"No, that's far from looking fine!" - Garami
"Mr. Solrah, you are in dire need of rest! Listen to your fairy doctor!" - Bloom
When did you become a doctor? Or create that nurse cosplay? Hmm, when I was busy using the "Weaving Workshop" before? Okay.
"Ehm...you might be...right..." replied Flint while swaying on his feet. Get yourself together, man! I summoned a Skeleton and had him try to support Flint. "Trying" is the word here. Not used to my necromancy yet, Flint freaked out and fell into the pit of coal used for the forge.
"Don't tell me you've been doing an all-nighter!?" - Garami
"Y-you got me..." said Flint while hesitantly accepting #1's hand after hearing Bloom's explanation about our bony friend.
"Did you not come here after being chased by a gigantic dragon? Take five, or rather, three days off." - Garami
"Guh...!? B-but then I won't be in time to the Battle-thingy-!" - Flint
"And that's the point. That Fire Dragon guy's already got a beef with you, irrational it might be. No need to stir that hot pot any further than he already does on his own." - Garami
Plus I'd feel bad forcing Flint into a small war where he could lose his life, resurrection or not. We in the Nightmare Voyagers don't play by such sweatshop rules.
More importantly, it seems Flint here's a little too gungho-ed about this battle than any of us. Even if the Fire Dragon's power was several bazillion times his own, nobody's going to endure such irrational behavior as what Flint had to tolerate and not develop a grudge or ten. Some of the newest weapons he's made seem a little "curse sword-ish" even. Mira might like them, but as the Guild Master, I have to set my foot when it comes to some lines that shouldn't be crossed.
"...Okay then. I'll go and get some sleep..." - Flint
"Don't forget about dinner! Revi is trying to develop a delicious scorpion steak today!" - Bloom
"...Maybe food before bed." - Flint
Leaving those words behind, Flint exited the forge and shambled his way to the Kitchen. To be safe, I ordered one of the Goblins nearby (using my recently purchased replacement Dungeon Terminal) to act as an escort for the poor Lizardman.
"Wow. Master, I think this is the first time I have ever seen you act as a proper Guild Master." - Bloom
"That's not what being a Guild Master is about. That was closer to being a caretaker." - Garami
"What is the difference? At least for a Guild with these members." - Bloom
"...Point taken. But for now, let's have Flint focus on recovering rather than the Dungeon Battle." - Garami
"Shall we not take his thoughts into account when developing the Dungeon?" - Bloom
Asking him about his ideas regarding the development of the Dungeon for the battle was the real purpose I stuck my head into this scorching workshop, buuuuut...
"After seeing that, are you heartless enough to ask for him to use his brain even more?" - Garami
"Not really, no. But Master is Master, so I wanted to double-check." - Bloom
Why you little... Whatever. Let's return to the hotel. Everyone else should have been gathered there by now.
---
Later, at the "Forgotten Royal Hotel I":
"What, only you two here?" - Garami
I was a little disappointed over only seeing Mira and Alf waiting for me at the hotel's lobby. The former was busy fluffing the space polar bear that Alf had tamed on our last adventure. Heh. I'd take a giant cat over a bear any day of the week. ...This is completely unrelated, but I think I'll be looking more into Alf's request regarding a fishing pond after this Battle business is taken care of. Yeah, just on a whim. Nothing special about that line of thought at all. None at all.
"I think Iron said something about going over the Dungeon's floors again. Something about refreshing his memories over the floors' placement and construct." - Mira
Oh, right. Iron did stay at Oasis Town all this time. He's probably wanting to get a good grip on the local environment for the upcoming battle.
"I overheard Noire talking about wanting to play hookey about something. Now I know the answer." - Alf
Th-that damned angel... These "Dungeon development meetings" aren't mandatory, but I wish these people put at least some passion into this project. Flint and Revi are excused though. The former's reasons are obvious, while the latter is because she wanted to upgrade the Kitchen's menu with as healthy food as possible so that the Dungeon monsters could perform at 120% if not more.
"*Sigh*, whatever. We only need people who are motivated here for these meetings. Even fluffball here's better than that narcissistic... Hold on a second. What is this guy's name?" - Garami
I pointed at the fluffball who only crocked his head at my question with eyes emptied of all thoughts. Or maybe they're too occupied with what to have for dinner. Revi did complain about him eating up most of the pantry last night.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
"His name......?" - Alf
"Wha-!? Haven't you given it any thought!?" - Garami
"Oh, woooow. Alf, you're the wooooorst." - Mira
"Shut it. I just never had the time to think about a name." - Alf
"And what's your excuse for the time we spent riding the Marauder back home?" - Mira
"Getting cooked by the sun." - Alf
"Alf, INNOCENT!!" - Garami
"Damn it! I forgot the jury's completely based toward albinoism stuff!!" - Mira
"Okay, enough fooling around. I can't get into the meeting when we got this problem not solved." - Garami
"Says the girl who hasn't even named her Dungeon yet." - Mira
GUH-!? A-a-a critical hit...
"Hmm...Bloom? What was this child's race called again?" - Alf
"Yeees~. This bear is from the Polaursa Kumacub species~." - Bloom
"In that case... How about 'Polaris'?" - Alf
Seriously? Naming him after the North Star?
"Hey, that doesn't sound bad." - Mira
"I like it as well." - Bloom
...Right. No North Stars on a planet far away from Earth.
"Fine, fine. Polaris can stay as Polaris. Moving on, what are your opinions on the plans for this stuff?" - Garami
I finished my question by stomping on one of the four chests of pirate loot that we had stored in the middle of the lobby. Except for the large chest we used as bait-, *cough*, as the bet to inspire the Fire Dragon to agree with the Dungeon Battle, Mira's rewards from the Grey Park are going to become a great boon for the Dungeon.
"I sincerely and respectfully disagree with this act of barbarism!!" - Mira
"And I veto that objection. Give it up, Mira. Otherwise, we'll all have to meet the Grim Reaper in three days." - Alf
Mira rejected the idea once more, yet Alf stomped that complaint down with enough force to rival the meteorite that struck the park where our mountain of treasure originated from. Said idea goes out on using the Dungeon's "Item Sacrifice" function to convert these valuables into DP, then use it to enhance the Dungeon's defenses by a vast amount.
When the Fire Dragon accepted the Dungeon Battle, he included the condition of having the Battle start four days after yesterday. That means three days' worth of DP generation. Dungeons requires 10 hours to recover 100% of its DP limit, so that's 72 hours, aka over 7 fully charged DP gauges. Include the time from the day we met the Dragon plus the few hours before the gong rings on the 4th day and we might even reach 9 full charges.
What caught our attention was that the Dragon was the one to ask for this delay. He must have something in mind with all that DP. With that in mind, expanding the Dungeon and its natural DP recovery limit is of utmost importance. Hence why I'm willing to sacrifice Mira's hard-earned treasures, excluding the chest that is being used for the Dragon's price if he's to win the Battle.
Oh, and we mustn't forget about the small chest that contained those three Skill Orbs. They're probably a replacement for any Extra Skills Mira might have won if she challenged that pirate Trial Ground using proper Extra Medals. Defeating a "giant diamond hermit pirate crab"...thing...should be worth at least that. Aaaand the crate was filled to the brim with cloth rolls. Those, along with any duds from the Skill Orbs, are prime materials for upgrading my Nightmare Outfit. Guild Master priviligies~.
"*Grr*..., fiiiine. But I want a private facility like Revi's and Flint's for the trouble!" - Mira
"Say what now?" - Garami
"She must be talking about the Glutton Kitchen and Wrath's Forge." - Alf
Can those be considered "private facilities"? Well, the duo sure loves spending time in there, a little too much in Flint's case...
"Fine. But you have to wait until after the Battle's done and over with. And having to wait until we have a free slot for whatever you want. Those are my sole conditions." - Garami
"Yippie! Now, let's go and get some dragon steak!" - Mira
"*Cough*, there is still the matter regarding a certain fishing pond..." - Alf
"LATER! Anyway, just to confirm, there are no other objections to spending this stuff to add more floors to the Dungeon?" - Garami
Dungeon Battles are a competition between Dungeons, but that doesn't mean you have to take the real Dungeon Core of the opponent's lair. A "Dummy Core" is instead placed on a designated floor that will be treated as one of the Battle's clear goals.
Other options for winning include making the opponent surrender, defeating all their monsters and mercenaries, or if a winner ain't settled before the time limit, then the side with the most progress through the opponent's Dungeon and/or has the most forces remaining will win.
Both the time limit and the floor where the Dummy Core is placed are decided on before the battle starts, but the Fire Dragon said he's fine with whatever limits we decide on. The only thing he wanted was that three days delay and that his Dungeon only went to the 5th floor so he couldn't accept a challenge that exceeded that number.
"None here." - Alf
"Ugh..., none...here...*COUGH*!!" - Mira
Don't cough up blood all of a sudden! You're getting stains on the lobby floor!
"In that case, the conversion will start after the last object for this meeting: investigating the Skill Orbs." - Garami
"What shall we do?" asked Alf while opening the chest containing the orbs. "Shall we have you test them out again?"
"What other way do we have?" I asked rhetorically, knowing that nobody here had forgotten that Skill Orbs refused to tell people about what type of skills they granted unless you used them once. Seeing as nobody else had anything to say about the case, I started activating the left-most Orb.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Skill Orb: Crab] activated.
ERROR. No acquirable skills found. Skill Orb activation failed.
HUH?! "Activation failed"!? Is that a thing?! And what even is a "Skill Orb: Crab"?! Tch, then how about this one?
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Skill Orb: Pirate] activated.
ERROR. No acquirable skills found. Skill Orb activation failed.
"Again!?" - Garami
"What's wrong? Are you only getting duds?" - Mira
"If it only was that easy!" - Garami
That "Crab" Orb I sort of understand. It probably contains only skills that crab-type species can get. But how did I fail with "Pirate"?! Can only people with a specific "pirate" class use this thing? What a bust! Last Orb, don't disappoint me now! Or else!
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Skill Orb: Octopus] activated.
You have acquired the skill: [Oily Octopus' Embrace Lv.1].
Ehm...okay...? What in the ****ing world is this?
Skill: Oily Octopus' Embrace Skill Type: Magic Skill Tier: 3 Attribute: Oil Effect:
* Creates octopus tentacles of various sizes and shapes that can be used to trap any targets the user designates.
* The strength of the tentacles depends on the user's Oil-type Element skill.
* A [Skill Level] number of tentacle(s) is treated as one set that requires 1 LP and a Leadership skill group slot to be deployed.
* Any target held by the summoned tentacles will continuously be inflicted with Oil-based [Sealing] ailments.
"...Yeah. They're all duds." - Garami
If this thing needs an [Oil Element] skill, then it's worthless to me. Couldn't I get some octopi-related camouflage or poison tentacles instead? What a bogus Orb!
"Wow. You look just like me when I ended up broke at the casinos." - Mira
"That's a problem on its own. Never go into a casino...! You want a casino for that personal facility thing, don't you!" - Alf
"Yeah, she's not getting that. Anything else is fine, just not a casino." - Garami
"OH, COME OOOOOON!!" - Mira
Let's keep the losses due to gambling to a minimum. And that reminds me that I have to start building the Dungeon. We can't leave that match to pure luck. As for the Orbs..., if nobody else wants these skills, they can go into the converter along with the extra treasures. More DP for me~. Let's hope it's enough...