It was midday and Mark was relaxing after a morning of working on inscriptions when the alarm sounded. Mark hurriedly pulled up his tactical map from the corner of his vision. Besides for the numerous blue dots indicating allies and the gray dots for the gnomes there was nothing out of place. Mark sat there stumped for a few seconds before pulling up the notification that had appeared at near the same time.
[Notice: Adventurers have entered your dungeon. No dungeon modifications or additions can be made while the dungeon is being challenged.]
What the? Mark thought as he hurriedly swapped to the inner dungeon tactical map screen. His view quickly honed in on the 10 red dots at the floor's entrance. Mark felt immediate relief at only seeing 10 diminutive skeletons. They certainly did not seem like a big threat. After viewing their status. Mark confirmed they weren’t.
Pygmy Skeleton (51/333) (conscript) Power lvl: 0.4 Morale: ---
After a quick reference to the encyclopedia, Mark was even more sure that the pygmies were not a threat. Units that entered the dungeon as adventurers or through the other entrance received a 25% increase to their power level. Since the pygmies only had a power level of 0.4, then they likely had a starting power level equivalent to that of the green goblins.
Still he could hardly feel relief in the current situation. It had taken a month, but someone had found the other entrance to their dungeon. Their dungeon settlement defenses were effectively circumnavigated through this second random entrance. It was definitely something that had fallen to the wayside in his list of priorities, after facing full scale assaults on their main dungeon settlement.
The 25% increase to these pygmies might not affect things overly much, but for stronger units it would be a significant boost. Currently 10 units might be the max another dungeon could send into the dungeon, but they could do it continuously. As soon as one adventuring squad was wiped out, they could just send another one. The first floor was only so big, a squad could move through it in about 10 minutes.
Mark's gut sank. The wave tactic could easily wear down the dungeon defenses. The dungeon defenders could only respawn after an hour. For the first floor guardian, it was even worse, 3 days, and the orc spawner would only summon a unit once every day after midnight. Once those 10 units died, it was effectively useless. For Stein, the reanimated goblin corpse, it was two hours.
The enemy would effectively be able to send a good four or five squads of adventurers within the time that the hobgoblins could respawn, which meant 40 to 50 adventurers to overwhelm the 23 defenders once they had been able to take out the stronger units.
Mark felt his heart hammer, as he watched the pygmies start to make their way down the tunnel. How many other units did the other dungeon have waiting to enter behind this initial squad? It was possible that there were none, and that these pygmies were simply set to scout and test the waters, but since when had Mark and Amelia been so lucky.
The pygmies quickly ran into their first trap. It was a simple trap where darts would shoot out of small slats on the dungeon walls, when the units stepped on pressure plates. Unfortunately, the pygmies had little to no substance, being made mostly of bone with what looked like lichens and small tufts of moss randomly adorning the grayish bone. The darts were not powerful enough to do much more than perhaps add a crack or two on the pygmies bones.
The pygmies only grunted and hissed in annoyance and kept going. They passed through a handful of other various traps with similar ease. It was not until they hit the collapsing ceiling trap that they suffered their first casualties. Mark had mixed satisfaction in seeing the pygmy counter tick down to six. The falling debris had fallen on the front half of the squad. Four were instantly crushed, and two others were more than a little wounded.
Mark had almost hoped they would have not hit the trip wire. He would rather the trap have sprung on more powerful units that may be following behind. The traps would automatically reset themselves after a cooldown, but the cooldown would not even start until the dungeon was no longer under attack.
The losses hardly affected the pygmies as they scampered forward, with the back few only giving suspicious glances up at the ceiling as they hopped on and off the pile of rubble and their former companions.
Soon after the pygmies reached the tunnel with the three inclined passageways forking up to the final amphitheater, and soon they ran right into Mark’s waiting defenders. Mark had chosen to have his defenders make a stand there. He would try not to reveal the dungeon's best last stand room if he did not have to. If the other dungeon had other squads to send then the room’s secrets could then be showcased against more worthy opponents.
Mark had teetered on what approach to take when confronting the adversary. Having Winnie the reanimated bear corpse rampage, might deter them from continuing the assault. Winnie would easily be able to crush the small pygmies, but eventually Mark decided on the classic approach of keeping his aces’ hidden as much as possible.
If he could do it over again, he would have had his hobgoblins stall the scouting party near the entrance of the first floor. At least then they could delay the enemy and when they died their respawn clock would be started, but all of the defenders had been lounging in the last few rooms including the two monitoring Nasal and their army in the core room. The scouting party had therefore basically had free reign through the majority of the dungeon.
Mark honestly did not know why they got so much space for a floor when they only had 25 defenders and whatever they could get from a spawner to fight with. It was not like Mark was going to allow them to free range across the dungeon, and get taken down one by one. Everyone would likely have all their defenders fight as a group, which made the rest of the dungeon just a long space for the enemy to have to traverse.
Over the last few weeks, Mark had added some traps, but he had soon hit the cap on how many he could place, which still left a lot of free space. Perhaps in the future they would get new features. Perhaps lower floors would have even more space and he could build a sophisticated labyrinth. Mark had initially thought to build a labyrinth for the first floor, but had ended up building more of a gauntlet of tunnels and larger rooms once he saw what he had to work with. Still little of it was used.
What a waste, Mark thought as he watched the hobgoblins easily overwhelm the pygmy skeletons. It was not much of a fight. At most the pygmies were able to cause a few flesh wounds with their small daggers. Some blew darts with their blowguns, but they had little to know effect against the shield-bearing goblins.
Hmpppfff, Mark sighed as ten new red dots appeared at the dungeon’s entrance. He had unwittingly been holding his breath as the last of the pygmies met their end, but he felt his heart drop as stronger looking units made their entrance. A quick glance through their statuses said he was right to start worrying. Their power level was three times that of the pygmies, and there were even a couple mages, although they were only level 1 mages.
Skeletal Soldier (4/111) Warrior lvl 1 (conscript) Power lvl: 1.1 Morale: ---
Still it was not a force that would be able to overwhelm the dungeon defenders with one go. It would likely take a dozen or more groups of similar makeup to threaten their dungeon. However it was unlikely that this force was the pinnacle of what they could expect if their enemy had unlocked the stronger units on their unit branch.
The skeletal warriors quickly crossed through the dungeon, and soon they clashed with the waiting hobgoblin forces. The skeletal soldiers proved to be slightly better on an individual level than the hobgoblins. However they were to fight the skeletal soldiers to a standstill due to having the high ground and through use of their shields. Still the real threat were the mages, which the goblins were not able to deal with. Soon two fireballs lanced out and struck into the defenders. The hobgoblins took the blasts to their shields, but the fireballs would not be so easily dissuaded.
For one, the shields were made of wood, so the goblins were soon casting their shields away to get rid of the clinging flames. That was for the few who had not already been thoroughly cooked to death by the deadly balls of flame.
In the end only six of the defenders fell to the second squad of adventurers, but there were also a good handful that were wounded, many with painful scorch marks. Worse, only a few of the shields remained intact. A good portion had been consumed in flames. Others had been reduced to splinters by the skeletal soldiers' axes. The shields would respawn since they were locked in as the defender’s equipment, but they were effectively done for the rest of this attack.
Once defenders were finalized, Mark could not really do much to change the unit loadouts or stats. He could not even give them spare weapons or shields. This could change in the future. The dungeon features tech allowed the addition of specialized rooms. One of which was an armory that he would be able to add supplemental equipment for his defenders, but Mark had not yet decided to build any of the rooms. He had spent much of the last two weeks worth of DP on traps.
It would certainly be an avenue for improvement in the future, but Mark now had a different objective. They needed a second floor and a second group of defenders to protect against the threat this second entrance posed to their dungeon. He had spent much of the last two weeks worth of DP on traps, and only had 8 leftovers after hitting the cap for traps for the floor.
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Opening the second floor would cost 25 DP, which had seemed like a daunting amount when they had first researched the dungeon features tech and gotten the first floor. Now that they were getting 2 DP it was not as out of reach, but Mark had spent the DP on other things like adding the traps. Which felt pretty stupid to him currently as he watched the third squad of skeletal soldiers tramping right through them.
It was not that they would not be effective. They just were not as geared to deal with skeletons or the constructs. The early attack by Crassius had always lingered in the back of his mind as the biggest threat. The orcs had stormed through the dungeon with such ferocity. The construct and now undead armies simply could not match. Mark had felt confident in their settlement defenses holding against the construct army should they attack again, but now that they were effectively bypassed. The skeleton squads felt like death creeping up to smother the life of their dungeon.
Mark glanced at their current MP. They had just over 18,000, and he had already completed all of the maintenance costs for the day. As long as they survived this attack he would be able to buy the second floor and have it manned by the end of day tomorrow. He would have to pay the 10% penalty to convert the MP to DP, but this attack had highlighted that this was currently their most prominent weakness.
Mark sighed. He had wanted to stockpile MP, so that he had plenty in reserve to build up a force when needed. Perhaps he would even use a good portion of the stockpile to open another branch once they had enough, but there was always something that came up requiring him to push the funds in a different direction.
The third enemy adventure squad fared far better than the previous two, and Mark only had six remaining to meet the next oncoming squad. The six would not do much good fighting by themselves, so Mark pulled back to the amphitheater to fight with the orcs and reanimated corpses. With the help of one imp they would be able to effectively man the cranks for the rolling pin. Mark had used 10 of the last DP to build the track for the trap, so that they would be able to move the trap to any of the faces.
Apparently their enemy had decided to send their dungeon ending force for the fourth squad. It was composed of six minotaur skeletons and four units simply called lichs. The eight foot tall minotaur skeletons each stood on bone appendages ending in hooves, and each carried a massive double edged rock ax. The skeleton lichs were similar to the skeletal soldiers except they were adorned in black robes. Mark calculated that the minotaurs had a base power level of about 1.8 and that the lichs had a base power level of 1.3.
Minotaur Skeleton (4/55) Warrior lvl 1 (conscript) Power lvl: 2.3 Morale: ---
Skeletal Lich (1/76) Warrior lvl 1 (conscript) Power lvl: 1.6 Morale: ---
The minotaurs were certainly powerful. They were likely the peak unit on their branch. Their power level alone would make them equivalent to the brute orcs. However, they would be harder to kill. Although based on watching them move, they certainly would be far less mobile and adaptive than the brute orcs had been. Mark honestly couldn’t decide which he would prefer for his troops to have to face. The lichs on the other hand had enough manna to each cast fireball at least twice. The mages in the second and third waves had only had enough to cast the spell once.
The fourth squad reached the amphitheater and paused upon seeing the unexpected addition of a giant undead bear and a squad of orcs. They had been unlucky to not have spawned a brute orc, but four of the ten spawned were the regular orcs. The remaining six all were the weaker imps.
The pause was brief as both sides studied the others, but soon the undead surged up the slope seemingly oblivious to the trap awaiting them. The studded rolling pin soon rolled down to greet the enemies once they reached the halfway point.. The goblins and imp had rolled the trap to catch the biggest clump of minotaurs. However, all but one of the minotaurs were able to scramble out of the way. Their movements were awkward and they were not as fast as brute orcs, but their massive strides still made them decently quick.
Winnie was already on the move. Using the downhill momentum to streak down the left side of the slope to close on the undefended lichs. The undead bear only needed a couple of seconds to close the distance. The lich's all had apparently started fireball spells. They would never be able to finish the 10 second cast time.
One apparently had decided to forcefully stop the spell mid cast which resulted in some sort of backlash as a brief flame spike blazed from the creature’s back. How much damage the backlash had caused would forever be unknown as the giant bear crashed into it and the other lichs. In another couple seconds all four lichs were torn apart without a single spell having been cast.
After that the battle became fairly one sided. Winnie moved back up the slope meeting the two minotaurs that had started back downslope to try and help the lichs. While the rest of the minotaurs were held off by the spawned orcs. Two minotaurs proved to be less of a match against the undead bear than the orcs had been. They were more powerful, but they were not as nimble.
It was too great of a disadvantage against a several ton bear that could rip them to shreds in seconds. After that Winnie moved to pincer the remaining three minotaur skeletons against the orc squad. Soon the enemy squad would be entirely dealt with.
Winnie took several powerful blows, but once it had a hold on the slower opponents they were ripped to pieces. Winnie really was a bit overpowered for this early in the succession battle. It was fast, powerful, and could take a lot of damage. However, it was not undefeatable as previous attacks had shown.
High power level enemies that were quick were able to whittle Winnie down, and mages could deal with the corpse bear quite quickly provided they were able to get their spells off. Even these Skeleton minotaurs had caused quite a bit of damage. It would eventually add up. If the other dungeon sent a couple more waves like this one, they might be in trouble.
Mark sighed in relief. He had been a bit worried about this squad, but the lich's long cast time had been their undoing. They were far less dangerous than the creeper's rapid acid attacks had been. Then the minotaurs had only been able to cause a minimal amount of damage before being ripped to pieces. Several imps were killed during the melee, and Stein had been bisected with a diagonal ax chop, but Mark was confident that the guardian and defenders would be able to fight off another wave or two of a similarly composed squad. At that point the hobgoblins would start to respawn.
The real question was how many units the other dungeon had ready to send. Winnie was still good to go, but taking a couple ax strikes had definitely caused some damage. If the bear fell then the dungeon floor would not be able to survive more than a few waves of even the weaker skeleton types, and Stein once again had not proved to be very effective against this type of enemy.
However, Mark started to feel confident the attack was over, when after even another 5 minutes another squad had failed to appear. Still he could not shake the feeling completely, until the goblin defenders started to respawn, and traps shifted back into place. By that point the survivors' wounds were starting to close. Even the savage wounds on Winnie would likely be gone by nightfall.
“That was certainly something,” Amelia said plopping down on the couch beside him.
“Other dungeons attacking us directly. Just one more possibility we will have to prepare for. I think we need to build another floor as soon as possible,” Mark said.
“Just in time for us to hopefully have a new undead beast to serve as the floor guardian,” Amelia said grinning.
Mark nodded. Amelia was right. It did line up perfectly for them to obtain a second powerful floor boss. Nasal had taken all of the available life essence from the spring. It was less than Mark would have liked, but it would be enough to raise a beast at a similar level as Winnie the reanimated corpse bear. The scouting squad occasionally ran into lone or groups of beasts with power levels at 1.5 or below, but beasts like Winnie were apparently fairly rare. Mark had wanted to take advantage of their attack on the wasp nest.
Unfortunately, the spring was not a very big source of the essence, producing perhaps 10 measures worth a month. They had only been able to get just under 8 measures, and that was after sponging up the liquid with a towel and then wringing it back out. It was less than they had for Winnie, but it was all they had. It was up to Nasal to decide how to use it. He would either find one extraordinarily strong wasp, or perhaps raise a couple of them.
“A second dungeon floor should buy us some leeway for a while. Maybe if it was Crassius sending his overly steroided up orcs or those creepers, but we should be able to fight off this guy,” Mark said confidently.
“Haha, that's because you don’t know who this guy is,” Amelia laughed uneasily.
Mark glanced at the contenders page. They had a new contact named Nicholas Holt. Of course, all Mark knew about the guy was that he used undead. “You know this guy?”
“Not personally, but everyone in Arcadia knows his family is filthy rich. He might not be too much of a threat right now, but he will definitely receive the maximum level of support available in the succession battle,” Amelia said, glancing away from him.
“How much of a difference will these contributions make? And when will they start?” Mark inquired.
“Hmmm… Should not be something completely impossible to overcome, but if they are making the most of their possible opportunities in the battle, then it would definitely be difficult for us.”
Mark frowned. Who knows what the contributions could be. Unique units, special buildings or features? Perhaps they would even be given research lab techs for free. The worst part was that Mark had no inkling on what advantages the other players would be getting. It was hidden cards or curve balls that they could spring on them at any time.
“And who is to say the contributions have not already started to happen?” Amelia added
“What do you mean?” Mark asked.
“The creators of the battle are free to determine the game balance and make decisions on the different aspects of the game. Who's to say certain factions have not been working to influence their decisions. Official contributions during the battle go into the realm coffers, but unofficial ones…Who could say.”
“Are you saying they are taking bribes to shift the game in some factions favor?” Mark asked, astonished. Amelia shrugged in response. “Damn rich people!”
“We were fighting an uphill battle from the start. At least the creators have to make it seem like the battle is fair.” Amelia stated.
“Will the creators or someone get upset with us talking about this type of things cause any issues,” Mark finally said in a quieter tone. He could not keep himself from glancing up as if to see some camera that was broadcasting them to the realm.
“Well viewers won’t see it. That is for certain,” Amelia laughed. “You don’t need to worry about it too much. All of the factions have people overseeing the battle who would be more than willing to call out foul play. Like I said on the surface, they have to keep it fair. Just don’t go around talking about stuff they will have to censor out all the time, or the people cutting things out won’t like us very much. I don’t anticipate us getting a lot of support, but you never know.”