I want to try to allow the monsters of this floor to naturally evolve to higher levels. Since my second floor is so big I want to have both lesser and greater monsters to populate this floor. I learned from the first floor that while I cannot receive experience from the deaths of my own creatures, my mobs can gain experience from killing each other. The experience they get from killing other dungeon mobs is reduced from what the adventurers would gain, but it has the advantage of being an endless loop. I mean, it still costs me mana to create new mobs every time but that’s the only noticeable expense.
Before I get started on the mass evolution event I first decide to create my dungeon wide Mob promotion rule. This will allow any creature that has hit the level cap for its floor to move down a floor so that it can continue growing. The drawback of taking this option is that it will be the lowest level thing on its new floor until it can manage to kill something. I make sure to add rules that will help to limit how many mobs are moving to the next floor. Such as: a dungeon boss has to hold its position for 24 hours per floor level before promoting to the next floor. This means that the floor 1 boss would need to be boss for 24 hours, but the floor 2 boss would need to be boss for 48 hours.The advantage of being a boss monster before moving floors is that they’ll have a more powerful variant evolution to start with, since the bosses will get upgraded by the dungeon magic to become more powerful.
With bosses in mind I remember that I still needed to designate my second floor bosses before starting anything. I had a plan to create 4 bosses but only require 1 of them to progress floors, with bonus rewards for killing more before progressing. I designate the 4 boss locations I want and the requirements for filling the positions.
A Greater boss in the forest to the west who must be the strongest beast in those woods. I make sure to designate the west as restricted from any mobs above Greater rank.
A Superior boss in the mountains to the north where the water begins and A Superior boss in the lake to the south where the water ends.
Finally a Greater boss in the village to the east who must be recognized as the leader of the village.
With my boss' requirements set I turn the grassland and shrubland around the central town into a progressive level/rank zone like on the first floor. This way there is still an area to train in if the mobs in the forest become too much for a party to handle. However I add no such limitations to the rest of the floor.
With that done it's time for the evolution event! I decide to use some Aether magic to once again accelerate time, but this time I’m doing it to the entire second floor. I’m not sure how much this is going to cost so I make sure my reserves are ready to be tapped. As a level 2 True Core I now have a total mana generation of 20,000 since my base rate is 10,000. Hopefully that will be enough.
I kick on the magic and watch as time begins to rapidly advance for everything on the second floor. If I wanted I could actually match my own timeflow to the floors since I’m still the dungeon core after all, but the whole point of doing this was to training montage of some interesting evolutions so matching my perception would defeat the purpose.
As I’m watching the fascinating scene unfold I begin to feel really tired. Wow, I haven't felt tired since I was just a disembodied soul. Blackness creeps into the edges of my awareness and I hear the sound of a system notification moments before I’m rendered unconscious.
Notice: Mana Reserves have reached zero, entering a dormant state to preserve core ego. All active functions will be relegated to-
Is all I manage to read before the darkness takes me. Huh, I guess I can still run out of mana, stupid overconfidence.
Ava POV
The adventurers guild was abuzz with activity ever since one of the newbie groups returned at a lower level than they went in at. Currently several of the more veteran groups, mine included, are waiting outside of the Guildmasters office while he finishes debriefing the party. My whole party was really hoping it wasn’t something bad. Things had been going well for us ever since we found the dungeon.
As the discoverers we received a 4% fee on all profits generated by the dungeon we also received numerous benefits and could dive the dungeon twice a day without paying for a time slot. We had been selling our slots to other groups in exchange for Eternal coins (EC).
We learned that the monsters on the first floor only paid out EC a limited number of times. The first run the lesser prowlers were all worth 3 EC and the boss was worth 50. The second run the lesser prowlers were worth 2 EC and the boss was worth 25. The third had the lesser prowlers at only 1 EC and the boss was only worth 10. After that you couldn’t get more coins from the floor. There was also a kill limit of 100 lesser prowlers before a group would stop encountering them, this meant that our group lost a bit of potential EC from our first run, but we gained a lot more from being the first ones to complete the floor in 1000 years.
We had been using our integrated interfaces to charge people 25 EC for one of our slots, that way each member of our party got 5 EC from it. We didn’t charge too much because we were worried groups would be resentful after seeing what the coins were worth in actual money. The coin exchange had yet to alter its prices and the cost of goods in Brahmstone were already beginning to increase in the areas that adventurers frequented.
The sound of the door opening interrupts my thoughts as the party of newbies shuffle out of the office with looks of shame on their faces. Guess they got chewed out for trying to take on the boss, even if they did discover something valuable in the process.
“Alright everyone” The Guildmaster begins to speak, drawing our attention to him. “Looks like it's true, the dungeon is able to use revival magic.” The statement stuns everyone, ever since the number of revives and the experience penalty that came with it was listed in the integrated systems everyone had been trying to figure out what it meant. Looks like it meant the dungeon was able to use Mythical Rank magic to bring back the dead.
The Guildmaster took some time to speak with each of the parties present, who had all completed all 3 of their first floor runs already. The Guildmaster decides to continue allowing entry to the dungeon but wants to increase security.
After we reported about the dungeon 9 days ago a road was immediately built by earth mages that went straight to the dungeons entrance. It was decided that since the dungeon was only at most a 40 minute walk with the new road, it didn’t warrant making a full dungeon town around. Instead a series of Guild buildings were created to form a small defensible outpost around the entrance of the dungeon. This way the guild could ensure all its regulations, fees, and rules were followed. It would also stop anyone from sneaking into the dungeon without permission. Groups were given 2 hour time slots for the first floor and the dungeon was run around the clock, 12 slots a day. Frankly it was a miracle that no one at all had died up until now, 9 days was a record for the longest time without a death. It helped that the dungeon had no traps other than some slightly dangerous plants.
With the new decision to increase security made, the Guildmaster himself decided he would go and station himself outside the dungeon at the guild outpost. While he was there the Vice-master would take over the branch, the Guildmaster would still complete the majority of his normal duties since the outpost wasn’t that far from the city.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I understood the Guildmasters paranoia and appreciated the fact that he went straight for the best security option he had, himself. With everything the dungeon has displayed so far it was likely a mythical ranked legacy dungeon, something that would be the only one of its kind on the continent. There were only 2 confirmed mythical ranked dungeons and they both belonged to rival countries on the southern side of the continent. They were both powerhouses due to the wealth and experience that flows from a mythical dungeon, luckily for the surrounding countries they were too busy fighting each other to commit to attacking anyone else. Unfortunately that meant that this new dungeon could make the Vicrost Kingdom a target of the two most powerful nations on the eastern continent.
With the Guildmaster done speaking, I stand up causing everyone's eyes to turn to me.
"My party would like to do the next dive" I say, causing the other groups to scowl at me. "We discovered it and still have one of our priority slots left" I finish before anyone can interrupt me.
I can tell that the others all want to argue with me, but they all know that I'm in the right and that the Guildmaster would back me up. The Guildmaster simply gives me a nod of approval and then dismisses everyone else before motioning me to follow him.
I stand up and follow him into his office. I watch as he moves about the room and starts to pick up various objects before packing them away into his spatial bag. That bag likely costs more than 100 gold pieces despite only having 50 cubic feet of space, spatial experts are rare within the kingdom. It's why my family has so much prestige despite only being a viscounty.
“As the only group to get a chance to look at the core tell me, what did it feel like?” The Guildmaster asks me as he continues to pack his things.
“Uhh, I’m not sure what you mean” I answer lamely, unable to understand the nature of his question.
“The feeling you got standing before the core. The core room is the area of highest mana concentration within the dungeon and while standing before the core one can feel what the core feels. At least that’s the working theory behind it. The feeling a core gives off is the most important factor behind whether or not a core gets destroyed. If the feeling is ambivalent, curious, excited, happy, really any positive emotion, then it means that the core is unlikely to become a kill dungeon. However feelings of bloodlust, anger, anguish, or even terror are all indications of a core that will eventually end up as a kill dungeon.” The Guildmaster says with a grim look on his face as he stares directly at me. “So, miss Brahm, what. did. it. feel. like?” He finishes with an intensity that gives me goosebumps and causes me to sweat with fear. I can feel his presence like a weight crushing my entire being.
Presence suppression. An ability only those who have achieved their first star can use. The Guildmaster presses the weight of his power onto my psyche, my own instincts being overwhelmed with intense fear as panic starts to set in. Despite knowing what he’s doing, nothing can stop my body's natural response to having my presence suppressed by someone else's.
“It felt amused!” I yell out with panic in my eyes, feeling my flight response kicking in as I scramble backwards from the terrifying beast before me. The Guildmaster seems to deflate and has a sad look on his face.
“Sorry lass. I needed to know and it seems I went overboard with my interrogation” The Guildmaster apologizes as I feel the presence completely vanish from me, yet the fear still lingers.
“I-its f-f-fine” I say slowly standing, not even remembering when I collapsed to the floor. I was very much not feeling fine. The last time I had a high level person suppress me with their presence it had been my father and I only felt it for a brief moment before grandpa came to my aid.
The Guildmaster seems to know the effect that he had on me and allows me to simply leave on my own time, making sure to stay a respectful distance away the whole time. I know it's nothing more than a gesture of comfort considering he could cross that distance and kill me before I would even be able to flinch if he wanted.
After I make it out the door I manage to make it 3 steps before collapsing again into Lia’s arms.
“Ava! What’s wrong?! What did he do?!” Lia begins to question and fuss over me, checking for injuries and even attempting a healing spell twice.
“P-Presence Su-Suppression” I manage to say, my whole body is pale and my body won’t stop shaking. It's as though a fear has been placed so deep within me I can’t snap out of it even with my conscious mind knowing I’m now safe.
I hear the low chant of Jay casting a spell and feel a strong hand on my shoulder.
“Calm Mind” I hear Jay’s voice from my right and a cool blue glow surrounds my head
“Never Falter” I hear Hal’s voice from behind me and a warm yellow glow passes into my body
I feel the fear start to fade from my body, as my mind is able to force the lingering effects of the presence suppression out from me. After 10 minutes of being cradled in Lia’s arms while my closest friends support me I begin to feel like myself again and hear the sound of a system notification.
Ability: Unbreakable Will (Legendary) has increased to level 1
True to its nature, the system rewards struggle with growth. As I finally stand up I give a weak smile to thank everyone, words would only cheapen the moment. I don’t need to tell them how thankful I am to have them, they all know it and supported me without question because I’d do the same for them.
“Ok everyone” I say regaining my confident voice “Time to head to the dungeon, I refuse to let anything hold us back”
Everyone smiles at my recovered bravado and we all set out towards the dungeon. It’s time to see if these deaths have changed the dungeon. If we’re lucky, the second floor might finally be unlocked.
?Raider? POV
I watched from the top of a small rise as the small farming village burned to the ground. The screams of those still alive echo through the surrounding area as smoke chokes out the sky. The black fog billowing upwards, easily noticeable from the next villages, an omen of death.
I turn towards the sound of one of my lieutenants approaching me.
“Boss, we’ve got several people from the surrounding areas as well as some from the village who say they want to join us. Most of them got lesser bandit and raider classes after we made sure that they were serious about it.” He reports to me in a respectful tone.
“What do their levels look like?” I question before making my decision.
“Upper 40’s to low 50’s for most of em’, got a couple fresh ones as well.” He responds.
“Keep them around, we can always use some local scouting fodder to help expand our reach.” I say, my mind made up.
“Are you sure that's a wise boss? That’s a lot of extra crew to pay and feed” He says with a concerned look on his face, this is why it's good to have loyal allies as opposed to mindless followers as your officers. He doesn’t understand my reasoning and therefore is questioning me in case I’ve made a mistake. While most bandit lords would hate that, I am of a different mind, there’s a reason I’m the only one able to get privateering contracts still.
“Remind me Jimmy, what was our job here?” I begin, it's best to let him figure it out on his own so that he can learn properly.
“We’re supposed to raid the eastern lands of Vicrost, cause damage and chaos to force them to divert military resources away from the western border” He says, I can see him thinking really hard about what I’m trying to point out to him.
“And what would cost more resources to stamp out, a single band of mercenaries or a dozen mobile bandit groups?” I ask, I can see the realization cross his face as he realizes what I’m saying,
“We can use them as distractions as well as a way to hit a larger area without overextending our true forces. Then once we confirm the job is done, we cut em’ loose like a lizard's tail and scarper back through the mountains” Jimmy says perfectly following the same track of logic I myself used to make my decision.
“Exactly, good job.” I say and I can practically see his loyalty for me growing. “Now, go deliver the marching orders, we’ll use these small villages to grow our numbers and then splinter into smaller bandit forces and begin hitting more areas simultaneously. All the captains are to divide out the true raid members and the new fodder between themselves and do as much damage as possible before cutting the tail loose and regrouping at the underpass entrance.” I give my orders to Jimmy and he runs off to fulfill them. It’s good to be the boss.