It was day 45, when the foreboding but anticipated notification came among a host of others.
[Notice: a Contender has reached dungeon level 2. New features have been unlocked.]
[Notice: The monthly rankings feature has been unlocked. Starting at the end of month 2, or Day 56, contender ranks will be posted in the interface. Rankings will be based on viewer votes.]
[Notice: Limited sponsorship feature has been unlocked. Viewers will now be able to sponsor contenders. Limited status: one sponsorship support per a week. Contenders can elect on which support they would like to receive and when to receive it.]
Mark ran his fingers through his hair and took one long deliberate breath. The game was shifting. It was not wholly unexpected for sponsorship to begin once someone reached level 2. However it was somewhat of a surprise that even those still with level 1 dungeons could benefit, not that Amelia anticipated they, themselves, would be getting any benefits. However a brief glance through their interface did not reveal anything new besides a sponsorship page, which was just a bunch of empty slots.
There was likely a host of new features, but ranking and sponsorship were the only ones they had access to until they reached level 2 themselves. Neither really did them much good. Mark did not feel they needed rankings to be able to determine a dungeon’s strength. Well… perhaps that was not completely true. Rankings might clue them in if a dungeon had some powerful secret aces. Also if their ranking was high enough it might dissuade others from attacking them, but what were the chances for that? More than likely it would be more of a popularity contest and since Amelai was from a small faction they would fall pretty low on the list.
However as shocking as those notices were, they were not the only shocking notices to have arrived while Mark and Amelia had slept. There had been one other notification.
[Notice: Contender, Amarice Klendaul, has been eliminated by another contender. Contender has been given a unique reward. Contenders remaining 25/35]
One final dungeon had been snuffed out prior to the battle shifting up to the next gear. For Mark, it felt like a message, like a precursor on what would happen to dungeons that failed to progress and keep up with the pack. The late infiltration aside, Mark felt pretty confident that their dungeon would be able to hold up against a good deal. They had certainly come a long way, but it was doubtful that many if any dungeons still remained that could be regarded as a complete pushover.
There had already been a culling of the weakest dungeons, or those that had failed to develop and adapt to this battle. Once dungeons started to heavily scout their surroundings, any obviously weak dungeons would have been a good opportunity to receive the special reward. For this early phase of the battle, even the best of the dungeons likely had gaps in their defenses which could be exploited. However, just like their own, other dungeons were closing up and shoring up their defenses. Mark could only hope that other dungeons still needed more time to sharpen their proverbial claws before running wild on the map.
Mark dwelt on the new features for a few more minutes before shrugging the matter aside. He shifted to his tactical map. Yesterday, he had linked patrol 3 and sent them toward the suspected harpy encampment. They had made camp at the base of the plateau, and begun to build a ladder up to the peak. However it was slower going than they had thought, and they only made it up halfway before nightfall.
Of course it was the green goblins that had been pressed to do the actual work. They would hammer in a couple iron spikes into the rockface. They would then weave ropes from the last spikes forming a ladder. It was slow going, and several green goblins had already plummeted to their death, or well… One had survived when the fall had not been too bad, but the red hobgoblin had decided that there was nothing they could do for the wounded green and had one of Yellow hobgoblins finish the job.
Luckily, Mark found the goblins already back at work when he flipped to the linked unit. Several greens were already clanking away at the next spikes while balancing one foot on the previous iron spike. Each swing would leave the green goblin wobbling precariously for a few seconds before they were able to stabilize themselves. Then would then swing the hammer again repeating the process.
Surely, there was a more efficient and safer way for them to proceed. This would break probably every code in the OSHA, workplace safety book, but it would likely be extra work for them to establish a stable footing as they moved up. When weighing their safety, or more precisely the safety of their other lesser goblins, against having to do more work the goblin leaders would likely choose the less work option. Mark ran his fingers through his hair. These Goblins…
It would be a wonder if any of the greens in the patrol would survive the endeavor. Why had the harpies elected to build their village on the tallest bluff? On second thought, it was likely precisely why they had chosen the plateau to the north of the valley.
It was a good thing green goblins were cheap, Mark thought as he flipped to the normal tactical map of their settlement. It was raining lightly. A first sign of the start of the rainy season and things were already starting to get muddy. On second thought, I will just stay in, Mark thought. He briefly wondered whether it would be raining soon on the goblins scaling up the rock cliff. Yup, it was a good thing green goblins were cheap.
Mark swapped his view to three blue units separated off well into the trees. Two green goblins sat grumbling o1n a fallen log while the third unit, a giant cockroach skittered about. Mark had honestly been picturing a Mexican hissing cockroach when thinking of a giant cockroach. However what was on screen was more of a brown cricket like beast. The roach stood just over waist height on its spindly legs.
Giant Cockroach #1 (1/100) (conscript) Power lvl: 1.0 Morale: --- Strength 10 Attack: 2 Defense: 2 Endurance 12 Abilities/Skills Agility 13 Vitality 14 Intelligence 1 Wisdom 1
It was smaller than Mark had hoped. After some tests yesterday, it became clear that the cockroaches could indeed carry the green goblins fairly effectively, although they would look a bit like the grown man in little cars that Mark had seen in parades as a child. They were definitely a bit awkward looking. However, Mark was convinced that the roach calvary would be an effective addition to their forces.
The cockroaches were fast even while carrying one of the green goblins. They also could take flight for very brief periods of time. Like a grasshopper fluttering its wings to escape an area, the cockroaches jumped and their wings would beat furiously to keep them airborne and propel them forward. Changing direction and the height they could reach was limited, perhaps about 10 feet, but they could glide for a couple hundred feet before they slammed back into the earth.
Their mandibles proved to be their only natural weapon. The cockroaches would use their legs to secure an enemy before tearing into its enemies. If Mark was ranking their lethality compared to earth animals, he would put them equivalent to a mountain lion or a jaguar. Like them, the cockroaches were quick. They could likely tear off an arm or leg in seconds. However unless they hit a critical point like the neck, they likely could not kill an enemy with one blow like a lion or tiger could.
Mark watched for a minute as the cockroach used its mandibles to pull moss off of a tree truck before swallowing it down its gullet. It was probably the best part of the beast. It seemed to be ready to eat anything, so Mark would never have to worry about food expenses for a creature that would surely eat a lot. However a swarm of the creatures might pick everything clean if left in an area.
The biggest issue was that the larger goblins proved to be too awkward for the cockroach to carry. The other goblin types had a good foot or more in height over the three and a half foot tall green goblins. In addition to another 20 or 30 pounds, the weight and size proved to be stifling toward the cockroaches movements.
Only being able to use the green goblins would not have been an issue if it was not for the cost. It was hardly worthwhile to pay a 100 MP to give a green goblin a class when they only cost 25 MP to begin with. The class would not bring enough benefits to outweigh the cost. It would be better to use the MP elsewhere, so the roach calvary he had envisioned would just have to have goblins that were unclassed. It was not like they had researched domestication for nothing, without it the interface would prevent the riding entirely.
In total the cockroach and an unclassed green goblin rider would only cost 175 MP. It was not too much, for units that could be so mobile. Even without classes the green goblins were needed for their intelligence, and would be needed to effectively guide the cockroaches as directed. The green goblins were not prime examples of intelligence. Mark could not believe he needed them precisely for that reason, but they were at least smarter than the cockroaches who had an intelligence of 1. Without them, it might be difficult to have them act as an army and not just some roving, difficult to control beasts.
There was only one challenge that remained. The green goblins were finding it difficult to ride the cockroach. They would often fall off as their mount lurched forward all of a sudden. To prevent falling they would have to cling to the mounts, making them little more than an accessory and not much help in combat.
It was clear they needed some sort of a saddle, for the green goblins to be secured to the beasts. It would keep them from falling off, and help them to fight better from on top of the insects. It would not have to be much. For these low end units a simple seat with straps around the insect’s torso. Based on what he had seen he did not think they needed some method to control the beasts, like the bridle for horsemen. The cockroaches were dungeon beasts and would act as such despite their limited intellectual capacity.
The impromptu saddle had already been designed. It had not taken Mark long. He just had to make sure the saddle would not inhibit the creature's movement. The straps would secure over the body, but under the wings. The goblins would be able to curl their bare feet under the knotted straps to use like stirrups. It should be enough to keep the goblins from falling, and give them the stability to fight from on top.
Even now, dozens were in the work inside of the crafting house. The goblins had plenty of hide to utilize for the projects. They had been tanning the hides of animals they hunted for several weeks now. They were not necessarily tanned very well. They stunk and many showed signs of decay, however they should still hold up for months or even years despite their poor condition.
There was not really much for him to do the rest of the day, so he lounged around for most of the morning. However, he did join Amelia when she left for the crafting house. It had actually been quite a while since Mark had worked on any inscriptions. The day before, Mark had been a little too engaged with the idea of the roach calvary.
There were now two more inscriptions that Mark had yet to touch. The defense inscription had been available for a while now, but there was also a vitality enchantment that had finished recently. Amelia, gravitated toward the new enchantment. The defense enchantment had proven difficult for the girl. For one the enchantment was more of a book than a pamphlet. The booklet had nearly four times the amount of pages of that of the vitality or piercing enchantment. Second, it was clearly a couple steps up in difficulty.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
The defense enchantment had over a thousand mini symbols that could be used. There were a couple example inscriptions, but they were fairly basic. Some symbols were not even usable with their current capabilities. Mark supposed they needed to progress on their dungeon tech research before a good 20 percent became usable.
It took an hour for Mark to get through a precursorary read. The possibilities for this enchantment were practically limitless. Mark could see himself making dozens of designs over the course of the battle. For now, he would start with something that could have immediate application. The legionaries were the only units that came with a form of defensive equipment for their standard loadout. It was just a hard leather vest that covered their torso, but it should still be enchantable.
Once again, there were alot of options. Mark could make it specific, such as make them more resistant to fire, or he could make it as general as possible. Mark went for the latter option. His inscription would work to raise a unit's defensive rating, which would aid in protecting from all forms of physical damage. Interestingly enough there would be a defensive increase over the unit’s entire body, although the parts actually covered by the armor would receive the most benefit.
The design took Mark the better part of the day. It was like a domino sequence, where a misplaced symbol could weaken or undermine his entire design. Mark turned out a dozen designs that he quickly deemed were subpar, each time he put one off to the side he tried out a different avenue. It took making the many different flawed designs before Mark finally came up with the winner.
Mark had tried to incorporate four different features. First, the desired effect, the design would increase the unit’s physical defense. Second, the inscription would draw power from the unit’s manna to run. Third, the manna would be used to boost either the defense or self-repair the inscribed leather vest. Finally, the inscription would basically dissolve into the vest changing its DNA or very nature. An attack would not be able to destroy the inscription making the vest become an ordinary vest once again.
Mark spent most of his time on the third challenge. For defense, the inscription would need to provide a big surge of power to increase defense when an attack was inbound, but it also needed to have smaller channels for the self-repair feature. The vest would only pull a faint amount to self repair over time, so as not to fatigue the unit during battle. It was more of an after battle function to return the gear to prime condition.
Eventually, Mark gave up on the fourth feature. Things were just becoming too complicated for his first endeavor. Instead the inscription could be put on the inside of the back of the unit’s vest. It should provide ample protection for the inscription from area type attacks like a fireball. In theory the legionnaire should not get stabbed in the back either since they would hopefully be bravely fighting... Well anyways, if they were getting attacked from behind things were likely already pretty bad and they would die soon enough anyways.
The final design was pretty intricate, several orders of magnitude greater than the piecing designs he had finalized. Mark immediately set in the actual inscribing process. Using a straight edge for straight lines and arching others using a protractor. In its entirety it took Mark nearly 45 minutes to first draw out the design and then to use the inscribing pen tracing over the lines. The result was passable.
The vest was average quality, since Mark had bought an extra from the store as a replacement for the standard loadout for the legionnaire. However the inscription quality was the very lowest, poor quality. Mark only shrugged. At least it had not exploded or something. The vest would provide more than plus one to a unit’s defense, which meant the actual improvement fell between one and two.
It was quite a notable increase. For one, the leather vest by itself only provided a fractional increase to a unit's defense.Second the highest defense for a unit that Mark had seen was Winnies, who had a five, so raising the defense by a whole point was not inconsequential. Even better this was the benefit from a heavily flawed poor quality inscription. Mark had messed up quite a bit. The self-repair function likely would not even work since he had bungled it completely.
As always when Mark came out with a new design, Mark found two others waiting patiently behind him. Amelia and Crouse hung back in his periphery. “Oh, go ahead,” Mark remarked before giving a quick explanation through the characteristics of his new design.
A few minutes later both were back at their own workstations. Hours later, they had a small pile of the leather vests. Only one vest had been completely wasted, burning up right from under Mark. The other two had gotten quite good at inscribing. They rarely if ever buggled an inscription, so completely that it would destabilize in front of them. For Amelia it only happened if she was attempting one of her new half baked designs or something completely messed up her concentration.
Still there was definitely room for them to grow with this current enchantment. It was just so much more complicated than any they had attempted before. The best Amelia or Crouse had been able to achieve was a below average quality inscription. It was enough of an improvement to bump the boost up to plus two to a unit's defense, but none of them felt that the design could not be improved further. They just needed more practice. The boost was already pretty good since it would double a legionnaires defense attribute. Mark could only wonder how far it would go if the inscription quality or material was even better..
Mark and Amelia had bottomed out their manna quite a few times, before they were forced to leave. The goblins had reached the summit. Soon the red hobgoblin and legionnaires would climb the ladder and onto the top of the plateau. Soon the two were headed back amidst their legionnaire contingent. It was raining pretty hard now and both were hurriedly soaked, so upon arriving, Amelia announced that she would take a quick shower.
Mark just waited for her to leave for the shower room before stripping off his wet clothes and drying himself off before putting on a set of flannel pajamas. It was late afternoon, so they probably would not go back out for the day. These clothes would at least help him to warm up.
Amelia did not miss much. The goblins had barely all climbed to the top before she emerged. The harpy village was easily identifiable. On top of the plateau there was only grass and some scrub brush. A couple dozen mud igloos in the center were a telling sign that there was in fact a settlement here.
The goblins' approach had not been unnoticed. Several lines of about 40 figures awaited them on the outskirts of the village.The harpies were not half women like Mark might have expected. They were more humanoid birds. Their long wings filled with hard feathers were currently wrapped around their bodies concealing much of their shape. Their faces seemed to be covered in softer down feathers compared to the rough feathers on their wings and their backs. They were all shades of brown. dark brown for the hard feathers and more of a tan for the softer tuft down feathers. The exceptions were their golden beak and yellow birdlike legs, which was a rough hide.
The goblins approached carefully, eyeing the group as they approached. “We have come to start negotiations between our people and yours,” red hobgoblin # 23 said tentatively.
The harpies stood there for a moment in silence for a few moments, before their ranks opened up a pathway leading to the largest mud igloo in the center of the village. “Very well, the Matriarch will see you then,” One said, stepping into the pathway to lead the way. It was a hard feminine voice.
The goblins started to amble forward. “No, just you,” the harpy stated sharply. Red hobgoblin #23 motioned for the others to standby as he followed the speaker. The other goblins shrugged before sitting down unceremoniously. The climb up the plateau had been strenuous on them.
They entered through a small opening into the single room building. There was not much inside. A host of wicker baskets lined the walls, holding various goods, mostly food. At the far end was a pile of straw. The Matriarch sat upon a throne, which was really a bunch of hides roughly knitted together and thrown over a pile of straw. In all honesty, Mark thought it looked more like a bean bag than a chair.
The harpy Matriarch sat upon her chair and peered down at the two as they entered. Perhaps the harpy was going for some sort of regal look, but it was more like a farm animal holding court in a barn than a king presiding over his court in a kingdom. The Matriarch was slightly bigger than the rest, but was otherwise indiscernible. Her wings however were unfurled revealing her full body unlike the rest who had been covering theirs with their wings. However only the title and the voice would actually reveal the creatures as female. Otherwise her body was just skinny. The frontside, covered entirely by the lighter hue down feathers. She looked at the other harpy expectantly.
The other harpy sighed. “Introducing, our Matriarch and ruler of the air, beacon of the pinnacle, aspiration to all lesser beings.” With that, the other harpy stepped to the side once again sighing.
The Matriarch's eyes brightened with the introduction. Her eyes studied the goblin for a moment before shifting uninterestedly back to the feathers on one of her wings. The harpies did not have separate arms, but had bird-like, four pronged claws as the edge of their wings. “What brings a bunch of goblins to the pinnacle,” the Matriarch asked without giving the goblin another glance.
“I was sent here as an envoy of boss Amelia. We have a settlement down in the valley. The boss hopes to establish a mutually beneficial rela…”
“Haa… A relationship with you,” the Matriarch laughed. It only lasted for a second before, her voice quickly shifted back to the same uninterested and dismissive tone. “Yes, we have noticed your settlement, and watched with curiosity as you made your ladder up to us. Was quite entertaining, but still of what need would the masters of air have of the landlocked?”
“Uhh well, exchanging information, and uhhh other things,” red hobgoblin # 23 scratched his head.
“I expect you would like that,” the Matriarch replied curtly. “A lot of you go around, faces so close to the ground, barely know what's coming up in front of you. Only thing that has kept our flock from wiping out the lot of you, landlocked, is that you do not prove to be very delicious.”
“Uhhh…” red hobgoblin # 23 was at a loss of what to say in response.
“Still I suppose with the gnomes help you did manage to take out a constant annoyance to our flock, so I suppose there can be some sort of deal between us. It was pretty daring of the wasps to settle in so close to us. They were quite the nuisance. Still it would have been a real hassle to have to take care of things ourselves. Suppose it would be nice to have contact with some landlocked to take care of such annoyances. ”
After that the two began actual negotiations. The harpies did not have any techs that they needed. They also did not have much to trade. They were not interested in enchantments or the other research possibilities. Paraphrasing the Matriarch, they were already living the good life, what need did they have of such trifles. They all seemed rather pretentious, and clearly looked down on other sentient beings
Mark was a bit dismayed that they really only be useful for scouting, so much for having them help in battle. The matriarch stuck her beak up in the air laughing. “We would not get involved in the petty quabbles of the landlocked.” Mark had thought it would be relatively easy to get them to help with no risk to themselves, having them drop large rocks from high up in the air, but it was apparently beneath them.
All red hobgoblin # 23 was able to get them to agree to report on what they saw as they flew over the land. It was still worth the effort since the harpies could in an hour cover a distance equal to several days' travel for their forces, and they had sharp eyes. If they informed their dungeon on things that they saw it would be almost impossible for an army to approach undetected.
All they would have to provide in return was some pigs from the new pigpen or some of the other animals. Domesticated animals were a bit tastier compared to their wild counterparts. The Matriarch already knew about their new dungeon additions despite them just having existed for about a day. The goblins had thrown something together rather quickly to get pigs and other animals as soon as possible.
Red hobgoblin # 23 was a bit reluctant to start giving up some of their new piglets so soon, but eventually he acquiesced, needing to form the deal for the sake of the dungeon. Each time a harpy arrived with news, they would expect tribute equal to the information provided. The exact exchange would seem to be based on the harpy involved. Perhaps, if their dungeon could show its generosity, they could commission specific missions of the harpies.
“These negotiations seem to be rather simple. Both the gnomes and bullywogs were not too difficult once things got started,” Mark noted after the exchange was done.
“Duh, viewers don’t want to watch boring political back and forth,” Amelia remarked. “And besides, it is our specialization after all. I bet other dungeons would find it very difficult, if it is even possible at all for them. We might be the only dungeon able to form these mutual agreements with the neutral factions in the battle. Not such a bad specialization after all,” Amelia said smirking.
“Yeah, yeah, I thought it would take longer. I suppose we could have had time to go back to the crafting house afterall,” Mark remarked.
“Yeah right, I’m not going back out there,” Amelia stated, resting control of the dungeon’s interface screen. “Let's watch a movie instead.”
Mark sighed. “I was hoping to make more progress. You know, we might even make some items for ourselves. Keep us safe, in case we ever get attacked again.”
“I’m not going to wear one of those vests,” Amelia exclaimed.
“Why not? It would not be that uncomfortable,” Mark said incredulously.
“Maybe for you. It is entirely too tacky. Not to mention it would be a bit… You know constricting for me…,” Amelia exclaimed.
Mark glanced at her for a moment, “Comon, I don’t think it will be too bad…”
Amelia kicked him in the shin. “We are going to watch another ROMCOM,” Amelia stated with a resolute glare, causing Mark to deflate. Of all the movies, her realm had available surely there were better ones then the ones she constantly subjected him to. Unfortunately, he did not have any access to them himself. The brat was entirely to tempermental sometimes. Pardon him for worrying about her safety.