A second notice indicated that the special reward would be offered in an hour. An associated counter appeared on their homepage already ticking down from 60 minutes. Mark felt an intense hollow feeling seemingly coming from his core, but he pushed it down. It was not too late in the day. In total there were around 103 surviving goblin and frogmen units including the wounded who did not enter the dungeon. The mounted units had all entered the dungeon regardless of wounds. The last of them had been finished off on the fifth floor.
Of the 103 surviving units probably only around three quarters of them would be able to make it back. Except for the 10 spiritualists and a majority of the archers and mages, few were not wounded. Many of the survivors who had not entered the dungeon had open craters on their body where the firecracker enchantments had erupted their flesh.
Mark chided himself. Not for being callous about the loss of life or their hardship, but the MP they represented and the extra time it would take for them to get back. A healer would probably offer more than he would expect in battle, but he definitely needed to ensure they had one post battle.
Mark gave orders for the survivors to sort through the loot they had collected. Due to the wounded and the lack of mounts they would not be able to carry too much of it back, so they could ditch the enchanted gear that they could easily remake. He had been counting on some of the spiders to be able to haul a lot of supplies back, but now they would only bring back what the goblins would personally carry. Since they would have to forage for the multi day trip back, they could not be heavily loaded down. They would still have to cross many various streams that had formed during the last month, which would be a task in and of itself.
Of course the survivors could pick through the equipment and pick what they wanted for themselves. It was perhaps the green goblins one chance to get such good equipment and many immediately started sifting through the piles they had previously collected.
As far as enemy loot, the firecracker arrows were what Mark mainly wanted. Although they had collected some leather armor from enemy units that had an enchantment as well. They could bring back a handful of them as well. Perhaps it was a new enchantment. Worst case, it was one they had and Mark could see someone else’s take.
Mark gave the survivors two hours to rest and accomplish their given tasks. Then they would set out. Without mounts, the trip would likely take 2 to 3 days normally for the indirect route Mark would have them take to stay well away from Mareth’s dungeon, but it would likely take another couple days due to the wounded and since they would have to ford streams and forage along the way.
Overall, they had gained a lot from the battle, and that was without even considering the unique reward and the potential enchantments they could obtain. The 10 spiritualists had all maxed out their capacity. But the experience itself was not insubstantial. Mark had a deeper understanding of the creepy crawlies strengths and weaknesses. During the battle he had already started to think of how best to utilize them going forward.
The battle had highlighted some strengths and revealed some flaws. It had already been clear that their enchantments were one of their greatest strengths. That notion had been cemented further. Without their enchanted arrows they would not have won, but it was also clear how dangerous they could be when used against them. So far this was the first battle where they had faced an enemy with equipment beyond the standard loadouts.
The pygmies, skeletal knights, and rock golems had also rung home the fact that dangers of overspecialization. The pygmies were weak so their forces were able to kill them in nearly a one unit for one unit exchange, but the later two, they had only been able to purely overwhelm those unit types with far greater numbers. It took dozens or even hundreds of hits to whittle them down. What would happen when they had entire armies of less susceptible units like the rock golems or high level undead.
Unfortunately, they only had a few enchantments that multiplied the damage of a ranged attack. The piercing enchantment would not be very effective against either type. The other enchantment still in progress was the flame enchantment, but it would likely not be as effective against both types either. For now, the only effective countermeasure Mark could think to use was building the powerful units of their own, but that would still be basically a unit for unit trade in a fight. Hopefully, he could find something to give them an edge when fighting nonliving units in the future.
But the battle also revealed the strengths of versatility. The creepy crawlies had quickly made the opponent’s earthen walls practically obsolete, saving a lot of effort. Mark had somewhat disregarded the flower branch units while focusing on their dungeon’s strengths and working towards progression, but they were similar to the nonliving unit types. Perhaps they would be less susceptible to certain attacks like the firecracker arrows. At the very least, they should be a good way to shore up weaknesses.
However, one of the most important takeaways was that Mark needed to once again restructure their forces. Up to this point, he had been embedding all of the archers into his military organizational structure, but in actual battle the ranged units separated from their patrols. This battle had made it very obvious how inefficient it was. Perhaps it would work for a patrol sent out by itself to scout, but not for an army. In the future he would separate the units better, although he would still leave red hobgoblin lieutenants in the infantry. For one, they would provide leadership. Second it would not hurt to have a dedicated mage for each patrol.
Mark’s thoughts eventually shifted back to what he had been avoiding. He could still picture Nehemiah's regretful expression before his body collapsed lifeless. It was not an overly gruesome death. It was closer to a robot powering down than someone dying. Mark was not overly distraught by it. The guy had tried to assassinate Amelia and almost killed them both, but he knew it would still haunt him.
Perhaps he should not have watched after confirming that they had entered the core room. Nehemiah’s final expression was etched in his memory. Somewhere deep down, every one of the contenders probably pictured themselves coming out on top, despite the statistical probability stating otherwise.
While only one contender would emerge victorious, Mark had never dwelt on anything but their own survival and winning, but each dungeon they conquered meant crushing the dreams and hopes of someone else. Someone who had their own friends and family, or even people from the same nation, who were also hoping for the improbable. For Mark, that was worse than the actual deed of killing someone he had never met, that did not necessarily deserve it. After all, they were all fighting to save themselves. But how many millions of people in the Arcadian realm, had Mark just disappointed? How many hopes had he crushed? How many people’s ire had he just drawn. It was not a lightweight he felt.
Perhaps it was just politics for the elite and powerful. Better to sacrifice a few representatives than risk millions in war when opposite stances pushed for open conflict. But for the average layman they would still have national pride and the hope of having a leader that truly represented them. A leader that would prioritize their nation and interests.
Amelia also sat by quietly as the counter ticked down for their unique reward. She probably was feeling the weight as well, despite not being in the driver’s seat actively making the decisions. She noticed his glance and gave Mark a weak smile. A moment later she grabbed his hand. Despite the somber mood, Mark felt a momentary burst of heat before he quelled it down.
Whatever, this would not change things. Mark would continue to strive for victory. He would anyway, even if it was just himself, but even more so. He did not want Amelia’s future to be cut short. Regardless, of whether it was them or another contender conquering a dungeon, dreams would be crushed. The sinking feeling was still there, but there was also a firm wall of determination to push forward.
The unique reward was not the next notification the two received, however. Another annoying notice popped up while they still had a matter of minutes to go.
[Notice: The don’t fight like a wuss patch has now been made on the interface. Going forward, contenders will no longer be able to arbitrarily prevent opponents from summoning units for extended periods of time without the intent of battle. The restriction on a defending contender’s interface can be lifted at the current manager’s discretion.]
Stolen novel; please report.
Mark and Amelia could not help but laugh. This was only the second patch that had been made during the succession battle, and both had been the result of their efforts. To be honest, it was more than a bit annoying. Mark had thought it was a good idea to defeat a dungeon with far less effort. It was a valid strategy as far as he was concerned. Pulling it off was not necessarily easy, but evidently the creators wanted dungeons to be able to fight at their best.
Slightly goes against the ability they had given to Nehemiah for him to be able to infiltrate dungeons covertly. Which almost led to Mark and Amelia’s downfall, without them being able to put up a fight, and probably was what happened to Crassius. The hypocrisy of it… Mark could not begin to fathom. It made Mark wonder whether the creators would be making these patches if it was one of the major factions taking advantage of the rules. Probably not, he decided.
Still the patch did break the tension they had been feeling. Mark could grumble about the likely favoritism of the creators later. They both seemingly realized they were still holding hands and both withdrew at a round the same point. Luckily, the counter was almost done so Mark at least did not feel awkward for long.
[Unique Reward: Choose between one of the three options
1. Take the money and run.
2. Free requirement pass
3. Double the trouble
Time remaining 60:00]
Mark’s eyes widened. They were actually actually able to make the final decision between three options the creators had graced them with. Mark had expected to just be given something like they had for the unique locations they had discovered for their research lab special feature. Luckily, each of the options came with brief descriptions.
The take the money and run option simply gave them an extra 1,000 MP every day. Getting more MP would always be nice. An extra 1,000 MP a day would add up overtime, but when it came down to it, it was only increasing their MP by just over 6% based on their current daily production. At best, Mark did not anticipate getting more than a handful of unique rewards over the course of the battle. Was increasing their daily production worth passing up another unique opportunity. Mark guessed he would see as he moved on to the next option.
The free requirement pass actually unlocked a single unit. A Thrash bear with a power rating of 1.2. By itself that would not have been too impressive. Mark likely would have immediately dismissed it. It was not too powerful, nor did it offer much that the creepy crawly branch could not accomplish. However, seemingly, the real purpose of the reward was to unlock the combination unit that having the bear would provide. A bugbear with a 2.2 power rating was a far more appetizing reward. They would not even have to pay to unlock the units.
The double the trouble option offered a unique branch, Gremlins. Mark would have been excited if when he used the encyclopedia, it did not classify them as a unique beast branch and goblinoid pets. “Ehehehe,” Mark sarcastically laughed.
“What are you thinking?” Amelia inquired after a bit. Her expression was neutral. None of the options made either of them overly excited.
“I’m thinking our creator, overlords, are wanting us to get more goblinoid creatures. They might as well have named both the second and third options doubling down. Only other option is to take the daily MP pittance,” Mark huffed sarcastically.
“Uh… okay. I thought you would have liked the MP option at the very least,” Amelia shrugged.
Mark ran his fingers through his hair. “The MP option is not terrible, but it would be semi waste of a unique reward in my opinion. Right now it would give us a 6% increase to our daily MP production. Once we unlock settlements II, or move on to dungeon level 3… Well, I suppose you could look at it as us being able to buy one extra level 2 unit a day. Not a real game changer.”
“And going for the double trouble option would decrease our chances of being able to go for one of the level 2 humanoid branches even further,” Amelia added. It was true. Another 50% branch cost increase would take the giant and troll options all the way to 675,000 MP. by the time they got to that point they would be feeling the pressure to move up to dungeon level 3 for 1 million MP.
“Exactly, it would give us a lot more unit options, but things that can be considered pets of the goblins… Can’t imagine that they would be overly impressive. Probably get a bunch of level one creatures and only one or two level two’s if we get level two’s at all. I remain skeptical.”
“I highly doubt there would not be a single level 2 option. Surely they would not give us a completely obsolete branch,” Amelia stated. It was clear she was not defending the idea, but was just stating what she believed.
“I suppose… Still I think I would like to go with the second option. Right now our main strength is our inscriptions, which the bugbears can make good use of. I don’t think adding more beasts will really give us much. Which we would be getting the bear anyways,” Mark concluded.
“I think we have decided then… Unless you want to reconsider the MP option,” Amelia said.
“Nope, second option it is,” Mark said, selecting the option before they could change their mind. At the very least the bugbear promised to be a step better than a brute orc. The encyclopedia classified them as a distant cousin of the goblins, but much stronger and hairier. They would not be able to produce a full army with them due to MP and capacity restriction, but an elite group of shock troops would be a welcome addition.
Day 90: Cynthia
Her client going on the warpath was a fairly big surprise to both her and would be for the population at large when the next episode that would air tomorrow. The feature she had been working on would also have to undergo some changes. The couple angle was not the only thing she could push forward with. They might still not be expected to make it into the finals, but they would likely move up even further in the next rankings. Top ten was not impossible if the contender’s holding down the lower spots did not do something impressive in the next few weeks.
More importantly, conquering a dungeon would get more people talking about them. Nehemiah’s dungeon had garnered some interest since he was the only contender unveiling the game map. Not to mention his specialization was giving a constant reward for every percentage he unveiled. There had been a lot of speculation on what he would receive for hitting 100%. The last big reward he had received was the reward for hitting 75%, and that reward had almost saved him since it added 20% to all of the defender’s power rating for a chosen floor, which he had used on the fifth floor.
Cynthia had not been sure how the battle would turn out. Luckily, Nehemiah had not got the level 5 package which could give a half dozen units with up to a 3.5 power rating. The two level 4 packages he had used were only level 4 limiting their power rating down to 3.0. Regardless, it had been too close.
The unique rewards were not too impressive, but were not surprising for Cynthia. They all had gotten the option of getting a daily MP increase although it had been 500 MP for level 1 dungeons. The other options usually were given to increase the strength and identity in a certain area. In just the northwest dungeon group. Crassius got the weekly military medals giving a 25% power rating boost and the military academy that could train 24 units bimonthly. Nehemiah had gotten the covert outpost which he could use as a forward operating base to increase his mapping speed.
There were a few exceptions, but they generally happened for contenders that had already played heavily in one area like the number 1 beast master had. He had also gotten a branch on the plant tree, although his had not been a unique branch. Unsurprisingly, the number one had been given the most expensive plant tree option available for a level 1 dungeon, the tree branch. It was a powerful defensive branch which the beast master had been lacking in. Now that he had reached level 2, it would also be a powerful offensive branch since it added a treant which hit the very limit of a level 2 dungeon at a 2.9 power rating.
Conversely, the gremlin branch her client had passed over only had two level 2 options, with the strongest only hitting 2.6. She had been glad they had passed that one up. She had been slightly worried Mark’s aversion to goblins would lead him to going with the MP option, which so far not a single contender had gone with. But in the end, Mark was a logically driven person, so he had come to a rational conclusion. Increasing capability was generally more beneficial than getting a minute increase in MP.
Mark and Amelia needed to keep going strong with their inscriptions. The bugbear would be a significant upgrade to their strongest 1.2 power rating legionnaires. With a higher base power rating the enchanted gear and class boosts would raise their power rating twice as much as they did for the legionnaires or red hobgoblins. The Arachne had an even higher power rating, but it would not play as well with troop formations as far as Cynthia could tell. Luckily, Mark seemed to be under the right impression for that option, and was already planning to treat it more like a beast than something to add to the main army.
Still they had their work cut out for them now. They would definitely not be underestimated now. The creators had made a patch to prevent the same strategy from working, not that it would anyways with the nearby dungeons. Mareth had instantly bolstered her forces having actually witnessed the attack, and Gale’s dungeon would always be a tough nut to crack being located in the middle of a swamp and all.