Chapter 29 – Dungeon Break

When the squad finally exits the

dungeon, they look like they have been on an extended campaign.

That morning they were a bit bruised and buttered, but now their equipment was in shambles. They had bruises, small wounds and they were exhausted.

The third floor with the ants had been a the worst, as they had expect. The Ants weren't inclined to let them go easily. After finally fighting their way through, they still had to fight their way through the second and first floors. Unfortunately both the toads and the slugs were also more aggressive than normal.

Even here they were moving in groups way larger than normal. Instead of a single toad or at most two or even three, there were at least 5 toads. Even on the first floor the slugs moved in packs that were at least twice as large as normal.

"Pfieuw, we've finally made it!"

"Yeah that was the worst."

"I don't know what was wrong with the dungeon but I'm sure going to ask!"

"I hope that we at least have gotten some good gains from the dungeon. I'd really hate it when that was all for nothing or close to it."

Then they all accessed their status to find out what they got. Sam herself also entered her status.

Summary of Dungeon delve:

You have gained Experience

12 lv 1 creatures killed

7 lv 2 creatures killed

9 lv 3 creatures killed

1 lv 4 creatures killed

Gained the dungeon break achievement

"Okay so it was a Dungeon Break what's up with that? I thought those only happened once in a very, very long time."

"They do, we need to report this."

Immediately they turned to the guards.

"Sir, we have just gained an achievement for a dungeon break. The dungeon was also way more difficult than normal. We barely made it out."

"That can't be," the guard said. "It isn't time yet for another dungeon break. If you're lying, you need to speak up right now, right this is instant!"

"No sir, the dungeon was acting weird from the moment we arrived on the third floor. After only three minutes we found the first ants. After that there are so many that we almost couldn't get through to the fourth floor. Then on the way back even the toads and the snails where having almost double their normal numbers and they were really aggressive."

"Damnit, I need to report this immediately! "

"You will stay here to reinforce my colleague. I will send reinforcements a soon as possible. Expect them within ten minutes. You need to hold out that long!"

The first guard immediately left.

"What does he mean hold out that long?" Jasper asked the other guard.

"If this really is a dungeon break, not only the monsters on the first floors but also those on the lower floors will start to swarm. Soon they will move up through the floors and eventually escape. If they aren't stopped here, then they might even overrun the city. A dungeon break isn't expected for at least three more years, so we were not expecting this. No one is ready, the guards here should have been at least tripled to hold out until a century, which would be stationed close by, could reinforce the guards. Right now you guys will have to take their places until more guards arrive. And even then we might need everyone until a full century can be readied. Luckily the break will happen from the higher floors to the lower, so you guys should be fine for now. Hopefully we will be reinforced before the stronger creatures arrive."

Only a few minutes later The Dungeon Portal started flickering.

"Shit the break is already happening! Form up, we'll have to hold them here."

"Wait what? Where do we need to form up? Do we stand in front of the portal, or do we flank them?"

"Just form a line in front of the portal. Make sure that you don't come closer than four meters though. Archers and mages move up the side stairs, there are defensive positions made there to give you a line of sight."

The lone guard didn't have more time to explain things, as the first slugs already exited the portal.

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Within the dungeon Sam hadn't had trouble with the slugs for a while now. Here though, they didn't have room to dodge them. Thus they kept taking heavy blows to their shields before the slugs were slain by their swords or by the ranged attacks from the archers and mages.

Meanwhile the guard only watched them fight, saving his strength for the stronger creatures that wouldn't be long.

This did give him an opportunity to give advice to the squad.

"Move back a bit more. That will give the ranged fighters more time to aim."

After that he moved on to some individual tips, before going over their teamwork.

"You guys are too static. I know you are being trained to keep your shields locked at all times but you could move around a bit, not only as a unit but also individually. Just make sure that as soon as any enemy comes close, you lock your shields together again. That will give you more opportunities to go on the offense. The ones being attacked, will keep holding there defensive posture while the others take the opportunity to strike back from the sides. Of course, this will only work when you aren’t being overwhelmed by numbers. When you're being swarmed like the undead do or the ants on the third floor, then it will be impossible to switch from an offensive position to a defensive one."

At that moment the toads exited the dungeon.

"Okay, let see how you will do. You and you, you two will switch from your defensive position to attack the flanks of the first toads. At the same time the rest of you we'll make sure to hold the attention of the toads."

Luckily for Sam and her squad, the toads didn't come in the same numbers as the slugs had. Even while their numbers had doubled, the groups of toads still only held about four to six toads. This still gave them a rather awesome offensive capability: Namely their weight. When they jumped at the squad, it was enough to force the whole formation backwards. The first time, the two squad members at the sides didn't even get the chance to make a counter attack. The attack from the toads was strong enough to send the formation back almost two whole meters. If they hadn’t held their balance correctly they would have been thrown to the ground. Luckily that didn't happen, and the next time they were ready for the toads.

Following the guards orders, the moment the toads attacked the second time, the two of them tried to do a counter attack. Simultaneously they moved away from their squad mates. The first try wasn't perfect, as both Erik on the right side and Lufir on the left accidently moved before they had fully unlocked their shields. This unbalanced the ones next to them.

Luckily they had more than enough toads left to perfect their timing. After three times though, the guard had them switch with their squad mates so all the fighters could practice.

When the toads stopped exiting the dungeon, the guard had the archers join the fighters in a defensive line. They would need the extra length against the swarm of ants that would come at any moment. The mages were to hold their higher ground, so they could lob their spells in the masses when their fellow squad mates were in trouble.

Apart from their mages having a better position, the fight wasn't that different from their normal fights against the ants. The only difference was the amount of ants they had to kill.

When the wave of ants stopped, all of them were truly exhausted. Not only had they delved the dungeon to a lower level than normal, and at a higher difficulty, but they had done it once again outside of the dungeon.

"I can see that you are tired but I need you once More. You guys are rated for another floor, and I need all the help I can get."

This time it was Sam who answered the man.

"Rated for another floor? Today was our first time on the fourth floor. We fought one group of the hounds for god sake!"

The guard looked confused at her before he remembered what was happening.

"God? Which god? Never mind, just use the same formation as you used against the toads. Archers back to the mages. I'll take out the hounds that make it past the formation."

Then he added quietly: " And let us hope that the reinforcements arrive before we get overrun."