Chapter 5

Part of being a Dungeon Core that James always enjoyed was keeping adventurers on their toes. He enjoyed surprising them, and forcing them to adapt. He knew from his experience playing VRMMOs that if you could predict things, a game could get stale quickly. Because of that, he’d opted on his floors to assign patrol routes and roaming spaces for the mobs, instead of stagnant places. His sixth floor, having a more proper dungeon layout though, rather than the open expanses he'd been used to, forced his hand somewhat slightly when it came to mob placements.

His Where-Wolfs, J-Kappa’s, and Fogeymen were spread out, with pretty large roaming ranges, of course, to keep with his normal tradition. Of those mobs, the ones that made up the largest number on the floor were the When-Wolfs and the Fogeymen, with J-Kappa’s coming in at third. The Solem’s, given their generally immobile nature, had more stationary type of spawn locations. Rooms that James had enlarged to be 20feet by twenty, or to be spherical in nature, with the Solems taking place in the middle. To keep the variety up on those, he’d used and advanced mob placement feature that let him denote how many would spawn, and then give a variety of locations for them. The game itself would randomly generate them, meaning while the rooms were in the same location, and they could serve as Solem spawns, they wouldn’t necessarily always populate in the exact same ones every dive.

Then, there were his Chem-Era’s. The monstrous, three headed, balanced mobs of the floor. Given their size, as well as the healthy range of attacks they had, he’d limited the number of these mobs. Almost all of them were given sections of the dungeon to roam, usually between packs of J-Kappas and the others, in an effort to, er, potentially deal with adventurers forming a massive band of J-Kappas through bribery.

There was one exception though, for that particular mob. Because while James was eager for players to get lost in the labyrinth and wander about, he wanted them to be greeted… properly, during their dive.

Because of this, the very first mob players would face, in this case, the Knights Who Go Ni, was a Chem-Era. Technically, it could be the first three they faced, actually, because of how the dungeon was formed. After adventurers moved past the archway, the path split. Players could go to the right, go to the left, or keep going straight. Each path, which went on for another fifty feet, would lead to a room, fifteen by fifteen, where a Chem-Era would wait, to properly welcome players into the dungeon.

The Knights Who Go Ni, following classic gamer logic when it came to Labyrinths, had opted for the leftmost tunnel. After all, when it came to exploring unknown dungeons, there was a tried-and-true method for not getting lost. Follow the left wall, and eventually, you’ll find the exit.

“Well Oak,” Z whispered as the party peered into the massive room. They were eying the Chem-Era, which for the moment, was sleeping on the stone ground, its two front heads resting on its paws, while the third, its snake-tail, was coiled around its body. “It’s not just a snake.”

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“It still counts.” Oak countered. “And you said you’d have Hornz tank it.”

“Technically it doesn’t.” Z argued. “That’s obviously a Chimera. Er,” he paused as he focused at the mob. Being a ranger class, Z had an ability that would let him analyze a creature from further away than the normal players’ distances. Meaning while the mob, which was still a good twenty-five feet away from them, and not aggroed, couldn’t have its information analyzed by the others, Z, and probably Elm, could at least see its name and health pool. “A Chem-Era.” Z corrected himself with a chuckle. “And oh, it’s a big boy.”

“I’d say,” Elm commented with a low, barely audible whisper of appreciation. “37,000 HP, and level 91.”

“What was the HP on Sergeant Jenkins last we fought him?” Med Ic asked softly.

“Forty K.” Z said, “at level 85.”

“So, this is six levels higher, but still has less hp.” Med Ic nodded slowly. “Should be doable.” He glanced at the heads. “I’m going to take a gamble and guess it’s got some nasty debuff effects. If my mythology is up to date, that is.”

“Good thought,” Z said with a nod. “We’ll probably want to spread out then, and you’ll need to stick back as far as possible.”

“If we’re having to plan like this for a basic floor mob,” Faust added, “I’m loathe to think of how the boss fight will go.”

“We probably don’t have to plan like this,” Z said, “but I mean, when your target it sleeping, why not plan for it?”

“Says the guy who usually YOLO’s right into the fray,” Faust said with a chuckle, “I’m not opposed to the planning, just pointing out that we are still under leveled for this floor.”

“Which is why we ensured we all leveled up before this dive.” Z grinned. “I totally expect for us to wipe here. But all in the name of exploration.”

“And loot.” Elm added.

“And loot,” Z echoed, “that’s always a given.”

James found himself grinning as the party prepared themselves. This was so like them. Their comments, their quips, everything. He yearned to be down there with them, adventuring alongside them. And yet, another part of him loved what he was currently doing. Sitting in a hot spring, enjoying the company of Rue, tolerating Steve, and watching his creation, his dungeon, be explored. It was a different thrill. One was an adrenaline rush, pure, fun, adventure. The other was that of an artist, watching as your work was finally unveiled to the world. Watching as people experienced and immersed themselves into what you’d created. His heartbeat quickened as Z and the others finished their planning. They moved, slowly, silently, to get into position, as they prepared to take on the Chem-Era. Unfortunately for them, they’d underestimated, or more appropriately, misjudged a single aspect of the boss.

The Chem-Era wasn’t asleep. At least, not all of the heads. The serpent, though its eyes were closed, was very much so awake. Its tongue flicked outwards, tasting the air, sensing the change in vibrations, as the adventurers moved into the room. Their voices, though soft, had drawn its attention. But the creature was smart, and had waited. It’s setting dictated it couldn’t leave the room. Dictated that it only attack players after they stepped into the threshold of the room. So, while it hadn’t acted during their whole planning stage, while it hadn’t shifted or given any sign that it knew they were there, it had been fully conscious. The players weren’t the only ones capable of planning. This was, after all, the sixth floor. And these mobs were anything but stupid. Especially the Chem-Era. After all, it’s trait, Multi-headed, specifically gave the mob increased intelligence for each of its heads.

Z and his guild were playing checkers, the three headed level 91 mob, chess.