As if in response to Serenity’s thoughts, Collapsing Labyrinth (timed) was one of the options. If this was anything like the similar self-destroying floors Serenity had seen before, there would be more than enough time to get out; he’d carried allies through similar levels as Vengeance. It would shake a bit and a few things would fall, but if you kept moving that was all you’d see. If you stopped, the shaking would get worse and more would fall from the ceiling; that would often happen during a fight. Serenity had never seen the collapse actually happen to a tunnel he was in, but he knew there were several more increasing stages of warning and environmental danger before that was a real threat.
The one thing he had done was watch from outside the collapse area to see what would happen. It would get worse and worse until the way you came from was no longer even remotely passable. Sometimes that was where it stopped but other times the area continued to shake; Serenity suspected that depended on the backstory of the collapse. This one would probably stop, since the collapse was probably induced by the enemies on the surface.
Simply because the terrain was difficult didn’t mean there weren’t monsters. They should be similar to what came before, so Serenity picked many of the same creatures, but when he saw the Stonewyrm he couldn’t leave it out. It wasn’t a true dragon relative, despite its name; it was actually a stone elemental relative of the snake-variant Rock Tunneler. If he could have, he’d have made it the level’s boss monster, but if there was a boss monster on a collapsing floor, it was the monster’s death throes or some kind of contingency that made the floor collapse.
On second thought, that sounded great. Could he adjust it so that the collapse didn’t start until after they fought the Stonewyrm and make it a boss?
[Floor 5 Map design/theme: Tunnel Escape. Terrain: Tunnels of A’Atla. Collapsing Labyrinth (triggered). Common Enemies: Rock Tunnelers (varied), Stonewalk Elementals, Crystal Elemental (basic and mana absorbing), Miniboss: Stonewyrm (elemental). No boss. Recommended Tier: 6]
Close enough.
The nexus felt better than it had before, at least if “standing on an unstable surface” was better than “being whipped around by the wind.” Serenity still didn’t like it. Would one more level do, or would he need two? He was pretty sure it wouldn’t be more than that.
Where to place the next level was a little harder; clearly, it needed to be above ground, but where? He kind of wanted to save the mountain terrain in case there was another level, but having the tunnel open into the mountains was definitely the easiest way to make it make sense.
Yeah, that was what he’d do.
The next step was to pick monsters. Demons seemed like the best choice; he’d used a lot of snakes and elementals in the tunnels while sort of establishing that the surface was the demons’ territory. He should lean back into that by picking a wide variety of demons.
The list of demons was very, very long. Serenity stopped counting at thirty entries and that was less than halfway. He didn’t need anywhere close to that many; three or four options was really enough to make good encounters.
On the other hand, mountains were large and a wide variety of enemies could be fun. Different bands of demons would make a challenge that wasn’t all that common but it would also be good practice for higher-Tier dungeons. Just as importantly, it would be very large with a lot of monsters if he picked them all and found the right sort of Special Feature; that might help anchor the Nexus. He wasn’t certain it would, really, but he knew it wouldn’t hurt.
When he got to Special Features, it was once again obvious what to pick: the Hunt. A Dungeon Hunt was perfect for a large area with a lot of different monsters; each part would get a notification of their goal, which was usually a list of monsters to kill but could be something to find and either protect, recover, or steal. In this case, it would be monsters to kill; Serenity wasn’t taking the time to set up a more involved scenario. Once they completed the goal, they’d finish the level.
Serenity wasn’t surprised when the Dungeon System had him choose miniboss options instead of bosses. They’d probably all be out at the same time, but the goal of a level like this wasn’t a single big fight; it was resource management, whether that meant sneaking past everything except the target or targets or killing everything to avoid surprises. Both were viable strategies.
Both options gave him some ideas for the next floor, too, assuming there was one.
[Floor 6 Map design/theme: Demon Hunt. Terrain: Mountains of A’Atla. Open exploration / hunt. Common enemies: Demons (various). Minibosses: Greater Demons of Pain, Wrath, Longing, Anxiety, Frustration, Obsession, Envy, Pride, Ecstasy, Misery, Nausea, Horror, Exhaustion, Disgust, Alienation, and Doubt. Recommended Tier: 7]
It was still difficult to believe that he was creating a dungeon, never mind one that was higher Tier than the planet he was on. On the other hand, this was at Gaia’s request and she knew more about what she was doing than he did.
The Nexus was far more stable than even before that floor; it wasn’t solid, but it felt good enough. Serenity expected the last floor to be created like the others and was a little surprised when a new, slightly different prompt appeared.
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[Create a final Dungeon Boss floor?]
There was no reason to say no to the request; after all, a floor with whoever was behind the demons that were hunted was the natural continuation. It also meant that this would be the last floor; the only thing after the Dungeon Boss would be the Dungeon Core. Most people would never see it unless he put the core on display, because most people wouldn’t look for it.
[Dungeon Boss Encounter. Terrain: Mountains of A’Atla (same terrain as Floor 6). Mass Rumble / Remnants. Multistage encounter. Monsters: Snakes, Elementals, Demons. Boss: Demon Lord or Dungeon Lord Echo. Recommended Tier: 8 to 15]
It didn’t give him any options? What?
What was with that Tier range? Some of it was definitely the Mass Rumble / Remnants note; that meant that if you left any monsters behind you while you cleared at least the last level and possibly the entire dungeon they’d interrupt at some point during the boss battle. Fights like that required preparation or additional Tiers; Serenity had always assumed they were intended to be handled on-Tier by being safe and clearing everything out. The level notes seemed to indicate that he was probably correct.
The Tier range was still too wide. Was that why it gave two possible bosses? And was the “Dungeon Lord Echo” what he thought it was? Was it using him as a boss?
It was flattering that the dungeon thought he could be a reasonable challenge for a Tier Fifteen group of delvers but, even with the assistance of everything in the dungeon, Serenity knew he wasn’t. Oh, if he were sneaky and prepared he might get a few hits in but that was all.
At least, that was all unless he decided he just wanted to kill them. If he just wanted to kill them, the limits were how much time he had to prepare and the strength of the ley line nexus. That … was probably why it had assigned Tier Fifteen, wasn’t it? He couldn’t fight anyone that strong; he could only kill them. That made the fight all about how long he and his monsters could delay the delvers.
Serenity shivered. It was all too easy to fall into the habits of the Final Reaper, even now. The dungeon’s boss wouldn’t be trying to save his own life; he didn’t need to go that far. The only case he could think of where that would be worthwhile was if the party was trying to kill the dungeon. Even then, Serenity wasn’t certain he’d actually be able to cast the ritual he was thinking of. He might if he thought they were a risk to A’Atla’s nexus but simply for a copy of himself it didn’t seem right.
Admittedly, if that theoretical party of Tier Fifteens did enter a Tier Eight dungeon, they were probably not there for a good reason. That wasn’t always true; sometimes you got stuck in an area where there wasn’t an on-level dungeon. Serenity was pretty sure some places regularly had inspectors check on dungeons for one reason or another. That was still an insanely wide power gap.
[Emergency dungeon instantiation complete]
[Thank you for your help, Dungeon Lord]
Serenity felt like he blinked and he was standing in the pouring down rain on the muddy mountain of World Core crystal. It looked completely different; first of all, it was no longer muddy. That had all disappeared, even from the cracks and crevices. It was probably blindingly brilliant in the sunlight.
Second, he wasn’t standing on a mountain so much as a clearly laid out path that led from the base of the mountain up and around the side to the door that was directly behind him. The slope curved around the mountain in a series of long switchbacks that led from the city ruins in the distance up the side of the mountain. It was all part of the dungeon, even though you weren’t actually able to challenge the dungeon until you opened the door.
A quick tap on the “door” brought up the dungeon’s description.
[Dungeon: The Hidden Threat]
[The Hidden Threat dungeon was created in a time of need to preserve the land it sits on, but that is not the entire purpose of its existence. It is designed to teach some of the less common dungeon features]
[Status: Active]
[Tier: Eight]
[Type: Area, Hidden Encounters]
[Maximum capacity per group: N/A - Non-instanced]
[Availability: All encounters available]
Serenity blinked at that. Non-instanced dungeons that weren’t field dungeons were unusual; Aki’s openworld area was non-instanced but the lower levels she’d established were instanced. It allowed her to limit the number of people who entered to avoid trivializing the encounters.
Oh, of course; that was the reason it wasn’t instanced. How was a high-Tier dungeon going to get cleared if it was instanced? It wasn’t. A high-Tier dungeon that allowed unlimited participation and partial clears that could be built on, however, definitely could be cleared by Earth’s population. It could probably eventually be cleared by people at Tier Zero if there were enough of them and they had modern Earth weapons (and enough ammunition). It wouldn’t be a good choice for their health, but it was possible.
It was good to see that the Dungeon Voice had thought of that. Serenity would have to remember it; it was a good choice.
[Thank you. It was in response to your concern. The dungeon is almost entirely your design]
Serenity was still trying to gather his thoughts when the Dungeon Voice said something that threw them into complete disarray.
[I have been holding back a message for you, but now that the dungeon is complete I can hold it no longer]
[Evolution requirements met for two evolutions: Demon Lord of Wrath or Demonic Dungeon Lord. A combined evolution, Demonic Dungeon Lord of Wrath has been unlocked. Select your desired evolution]
The last message was in a completely mechanical voice that Serenity had heard only a few times before - generally when he evolved. The thing was, he wasn’t due for an evolution; he hadn’t pushed his Core any higher. A quick glance at his Status told him that his memory was correct: he was still at 88% on his Core. His Path had finished since the last time he looked at it.
On second thought, that shouldn’t have been a surprise. His current Path was Dungeon Deity and what was more in line with that Path than creating a dungeon in an emergency?