The Principle of Precision is one of the key laws of magic. It states that the more specific a magic effect is the more power it will have due to that specificity increasing the efficiency of the mana usage. Conversely, the more generalized a magical effect is the less power it will have overall, but it will also be far more versatile.
Thus choosing magical spells to keep in reserve is very important. One often needs a mix of both general use spells and highly specific ones. It’s normally best to have a select number of specific spells for the most common situations you find yourself in and then have general spells to cover the rest. That, or be one of the dedicated few to earn the Spellcraft skill which allows one to make new spells on the fly.
* Arkham Ever, the last Telminar Archmage, from his book ‘Theories of Magic and Mana’
Ava’s Own POV
Ava’s Own carefully moved in formation down one of the three remaining unexplored tunnels. They only had another 15 hours before the next cycle when they would be forced to leave. They would only have enough time to explore one, maybe two, tunnels before running out of time. Ava needed to make sure that they had enough time left to reach an area safe to camp at before the next cycle started.
Not only that but if they didn’t find anything by the end of this cycle they would be forced to head back to the surface due to lacking supplies. They could of course always risk everything and keep exploring the floor for longer, but then they wouldn’t have enough supplies to make it back if they didn’t find the boss room. Even if they managed to find the boss area they would still be gambling on beating the boss and getting a free teleport back out.
While the teleport back out was a safer bet since most legacy dungeons had such features. Beating the boss on the other hand was always a gamble. They knew some things about it thanks to Z’s excellent information gathering ability, but even with his information it was a risk. Ava’s Own was betting on their higher levels and better equipment to be enough to pull them through the fight.
Then again, Wyrms were one of the most dangerous monsters on Aven. Especially when they had a dungeon to feed them a steady diet of mana.
They continued through the winding tunnels for another hour before being halted by Z. Z motioned with his hands calling for Jay to put up a sound barrier. Jay nodded in understanding and quickly tossed out several rocks with runes carved into them. A quick infusion of mana was all it took for a silent wind barrier to form.
“What is it Z?” Ava asked the moment the barrier was in place.
“I could hear something from up ahead. Kobolds by the sound of it and it was a lot of them. At least two dozen.” He reported.
Ava spent several moments in silence, thinking on the best course of action for the party. Two dozen was far too many for them to handle, especially if they were the stronger variants that appeared on this layer. There was no chance that their party could take so many of them, even if they did out-level them by a little bit.
“Do you think you could scout them out without being noticed?” She eventually asked. She needed more information before making a final decision.
“Definitely, these monsters aren’t the most perceptive. So long as I stay out of the shaman’s mana sense range I should be fine.” Z said confidently.
“Excellent. In that case, scout out the cavern and report back. We’ll wait in this side tunnel, Hal can cover the entrance with an earth spell.” Ava said, giving her orders for her plan.
Z disappeared the moment he left the wind barrier and Hal moved towards the entrance of the side tunnel they were in and closed it off using basic Earth Manipulation. He made sure to leave a small gap at the top to allow for Z’s return and to let air continue to flow. Once he was finished Jay started carving a few runes into the wall to help conceal their position better from any source of detection he could think of.
Now they just had to wait for their friend’s return.
* * *
It took half an hour of waiting before Z silently slipped over the wall and into the tunnel. They had been lucky that nothing had investigated their hiding spot since his departure, taking a fight without their deep strike assassin would’ve been dangerous if the enemy had a caster. Everyone gathered around Z as he finished climbing over the wall and into the warded area within.
During the time he had been gone Jay had warded the inside of the tunnel with both concealment and sound dampening arrays. Hal had also managed to pull a second wall up on the other end of the side tunnel, turning it into the perfect hiding spot for their party.
“Z, report.” Ava orders with an anxious look
“Several dozen Kobolds with at least half a dozen shamans. They’re gathered in front of a giant stone door, arguing with one another. It seems like the respective Shamans of each group are at odds for some reason. I watched them for a while and they were still yelling at each other when I left.” Z reports
“Infighting? Interesting. Perhaps the situation is similar to the Royal Woods, fighting for dominance of the area? Anything else about the door I should know?” Ava questions after musing out loud.
“Yeah, it had a bunch of carvings on it. Carvings of kobolds all worshiping and giving tribute to some kind of Wyrm icon. The depiction of the Wyrm was strange though. It had the characteristic wings, tail, jaw, and scales, but it was split in half down the middle. Half was purple and the other green, and there are depictions of it using two different breath weapons. Not quite sure what to make of it honestly.” Z reports
Hmm, interesting. Z is right to be doubtful, a Wyrm has a unique biology that makes it impossible for them to have more than one affinity. There are some known wyrms that overcome this fact by fusing two affinities into a new one, but there are no known fusions between Aether and Wyld which those colors represent.
Plus the way that Z described it, it seemed like the carvings depicted a wyrm with two separate affinities. Something that should be impossible, but with this dungeon I can’t be so sure. Wyrms are already incredibly dangerous monsters with just one affinity, two affinities would make it even worse. Especially since a wyrm with a never before seen two affinities would likely have a high ranked evolution. Definitely Superior, probably Legendary even.
“Well, before I make any decisions. Who thinks we should still go for the boss. It’s more than likely that this door Z saw is the entrance into the boss room, but if it is a two affinity wyrm then we could be fighting something far above us in both rank and level.” Ava says, looking each of her party members in the eye.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
No one backed down, the determination in their gazes matching her own.
“Alright then. In that case, here’s the plan.”
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Kobold POV
The Twelve Clans of the Kobolds were at odds. Ever since the three strongest clans had left for the sixth floor under the Lord’s Command, the remaining nine clans had been infighting to determine the new hierarchy. The problem was that between the constant attacks of overworlders and the lack of response from the Great Wyrm, they were at an impasse.
The Clans all fought with one another to receive as many accolades as possible. They constantly argued and even fought over the positions of highest honor. At the moment five shamans of different clans, along with their warbands, were arguing over who should receive the honor of guarding the Great Wyrm’s Lair.
It used to be the duty of Clan Earthshaker, but they were the second strongest clan and had moved to the sixth floor under command of the Eternal Lord. Normally the Great Wyrm themself would’ve intervened and chosen one of the clans to guard the door, but they had been silent ever since the visit from the Eternal Lord.
“You stupid Batgutters don’t know your place, it is Clan Stonetalon who will defend the Master’s Lair!” The Shaman from Stonetalon yelled.
“Idiot-fool! Your Clan is duller than the graystone of the 10th layer! It should be Steelscribe that guards the Master’s Lair!” The Shaman from Steelscribe shouted, echoed by his warband.
“No it should be Clan Flameskin!”
“No! Clan Batgutter!”
The shamans from Stonetalon, Batgutter, Flameskin, and Steelscribe all shouted over each other, their warbands contributing their own voices to the matter. The arguments went around in circles with each shaman decrying one clan while promoting their own. The entire time the shaman of Clan Snaggletail watched carefully, maintaining his silence while they argued.
He was smarter than the older shamans, he knew that dedicating himself to his duties was more important than grasping for meaningless status. He knew that if he did well enough then he might be able to ascend past the third floor and join the powerful tribes on the sixth.
He would let the fools argue, so long as they did so then he would be able to remain peacefully. Then when a group of intruders actually did show up, his warband would be the first to kill them and prove themselves worthy.
Just as he had these thoughts he caught movement in the corner of his eye.
“INTRUDER!” The Snaggletail shaman yelled, his voice eclipsing the arguing shamans and causing everyone's attention to turn to one of the tunnels.
There, at the entrance of the tunnel, a group of five humans was standing in one of their battle formations. Two of them were currently chanting a spell while the other three launched ranged attacks at the kobolds.
“Go! Go! Clan Stonetalon will be the ones to claim them!”
“Clan Batgutter, after them! We shall be the ones to claim this glory!”
The once arguing warbands immediately shifted focus and charged towards the human intruders. Seeing the five dozen kobolds charge at them the humans quickly turned and ran back down the tunnel prompting the kobolds to chase. After five minutes, the only kobolds remaining within the cavern were the kobolds from Snaggletail. The Shaman had sent most of his warband in pursuit of the intruders, however he himself had stayed behind with three of his warriors as protection.
While he did wish to deal with the intruders and claim the glory, the shaman also knew that it was his duty to protect. That meant that he couldn’t leave his post in case a second group of intruders appeared at the entrance to the Master’s lair.
As the Snaggletail shaman debated simply resting until the other clans returned, he felt a sharp prick in the back of his neck. He instantly tried to turn around and call upon his mana, however instead he found himself dropping to the ground. The only thing he could move was his head, and with that movement he could see that his three warriors had been incapacitated in a manner similar to himself.
“Damn, I hate wasting wyld webber venom.” An annoyed voice spoke in the human tongue.
“Sorry Z, but it's necessary to paralyze them. We don’t know if any of them can respawn or not and we can’t afford to alert their entire village that we reached the boss room.” A feminine voice spoke in response to the first.
“Aren’t we gambling on the hope that they can’t enter while we’re fighting anyways?” A third voice spoke, this one masculine but of a deeper pitch than the first.
“Yes, we are, but there’s no need to add more risk.” The feminine voice spoke again.
The Shaman could feel his eyes drooping, whatever poison the overworlders had used was potent. He would likely soon find himself fully unconscious. While he appreciated living, if he was still in this state when the others returned they would likely kill him.
The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the massive doors to the Master’s Lair opening up as the dungeon rule for challenging the Great Wyrm was activated. The last thoughts that the Shaman had before darkness claimed him were hopes that the Great Wyrm would devour the humans whole and claim their treasures for their horde.
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Ava’s Own POV
The doors were easy to open. They responded instantly to the dungeon tokens and the doors opened up to allow them entry. Ava’s prediction was proven correct as the moment they had all entered the door slammed shut behind them. A shimmer of mana could even be seen sealing the entire boss room to stop outside interference.
“Well at least we don’t have to worry about the kobolds.” Z muttered as he sheathed away his poison needles and drew his recently acquired blade. A single shortsword served as his new primary weapon. Despite looking unassuming and mundane in reality the blade was a piece of class equipment that almost doubled Z’s attacking power by buffing his weapon skill.
“Don’t jinx it Z.” Lia said with a smirk as she began to scan the area while pulling out her own piece of class equipment. A kite shield made of the iridescent green metal, mithril. Its leather backing was for user comfort, but also served to cover the dense runic inscriptions that were brimming with mana. The piece of class gear enhanced Lia’s defensive skills. Unlike Z who used his class gear to double down on his strengths, Lia used hers to compensate for the lack of time she invested into her defensive skills. This allowed her to offtank better and function as a more rounded fighter, as her paladin class was meant to be.
Ava’s Own quickly got into formation. Placing Ava and Jay in the center and placing Hal and Lia to their sides so that they can defend them from any angle. Hal was closer to Jay and Lia closer to Ava. Z was in the back of the formation, ready to use his teammates as cover to break line of sight and use his stealth skills.
They slowly moved forwards down a short tunnel, maintaining their formation while staying on the lookout for the boss. As they exited the tunnel they were stunned for a short moment as they looked around at the boss room.
Above them the drop shaft stretched all the way through all 10 layers of the third floor. Below the cliff of rock they stood on a massive pool of water could be seen, the entirety of it lit up by veins of glowing mithril. On the cliffs around the pool dozens of alcoves could be seen filled with precious gems, piles of gold, and randomly scattered magical items.
On first glance the hordes of treasure that filled each alcove seemed haphazard and random. However on closer inspection one could notice that the treasures were carefully organized and the piles of gems and gold served as a baselayer for each space. Heraldry of unknown origins could be spotted on enchanted banners, full sets of armor sorted by height and build, rare plants that were sorted by affinity, and even several bookshelves of leather bound tomes.
A low rumbling sound interrupted their inspection of the treasure horde. It drew their eyes upwards towards the highest alcove, its opening placed over 80 feet above them on the side of the drop shaft. A massive serpentine head and neck slowly moved out from alcove, gold and gems spilling out of it as the creature moved. Its neck terminated into a large body with a pair of bat-like wings and a long tail ending in a spike. The monster was covered in vibrant green scales and its emerald eyes glared down at them.
[Wyrm of Duality] Level 40
No race, no rank, only a title and a level. This wasn’t going to be an easy fight.