POV - Dungeon
“I know you’re watching, Fiend. You took my son from me. And you will not be the first Dungeon I see broken.”
Well... fuck.
This was not how I expected any of this to go.
I first saw the light of this guy’s lantern over six hours ago. When it’d started moving, I was really hoping that would just leave. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. When I saw him, I thought they were a local adventurer or guard tasked with finding the missing kid. I was sure that was the case when they froze up at the sight of the spider web. I was really hoping he would just leave then. But he didn’t. When he froze up immediately after entering my Domain and then left? I seriously thought I was screwed.
Does he know? A bunch of stories have people capable of sensing when they enter a Dungeon, is that the case here?
That he didn’t run away completely only slightly lessened my panic. The collapsing on the ground part was a little confusing, but I think I can guess why now. I’d saved up ninety-eight Essence while waiting, and I dumped all of that into one new Cave Spider and four more small spiders right after his declaration. “Dungeon for Dummies” had mentioned that you couldn’t change the dungeon around delvers, so I summoned them to the core room. It took a lot longer than normal to complete the summoning, so I was very thankful the delver wasn’t just rushing forward. He was actually being a lot more careful than I expected. Which means he probably knows what he is doing.
Great.
The core room didn’t have a whole lot of space, and I already had a pair of small spiders and Pete in there, so I order two of the small spiders and the Cave Spider into the mineshaft and the other two small spiders into the passage leading towards the core room. I felt something happening out front and shifted over there to find that the delver had passed through the first of the web barriers by lighting it on fire. And I had not seen how he’d done it. Thankfully, my fire breaks worked as intended and only that section of web was destroyed.
The fire forced a Cave Spider out of its hiding place in a fissure on the roof. Before the spider could do anything, the delver charges through the still burning remnants of the web and an impaled the spider through its thorax. The wound didn’t kill it, but it knocked the spider further off balance. The delver took advantage and struck out at the spider’s head. My Cave Spider tried to block the blow, but the spear slipped through, impaling it through an eye. The spear tore sideways through the spider’s head, ripping out the front of the spider’s face, killing it.
The delver approached the next section of web slowly, glancing up at the ceiling every few steps. As he passed the fissure the Cave Spider had fallen out of, he thrust his spear inside, then retreated. When nothing jumped out to attack him, he continued towards the next bit of spider web. I watched him very closely. I wanted to see how he burned the first web. Was it a spell? Did he have a magic item? No. He didn’t use either of those. Instead, he pulled out a piece of straw that he lit on fire with his lantern. He’d just tossed the burning straw into the web when a pair of small spider leaped from their hidey-holes on either side of him and attacked.
The delver swung the spear around, sending the first spider flying while stepping away the second. They slashed at the second spider but were just a hair too slow and the second spider dodged the swing. The first spider was back up and, coordinating with the second spider, starting circling the delver. The delver moved to keep the pair in sight, but they moved with him. After only a few moments of this, the delver struck at one of the pair. I immediately order the other spider to leap onto the butt of the man’s spear. It felt like cheating to give the spiders directions, but the delver had already declared their intentions. So, as the saying goes: if you’re fighting fair, you’re fighting at a disadvantage. And I couldn‘t afford to be at a disadvantage.
Unsurprisingly, the delver had expected the other spider to attack as soon as his back was turned. The delver whirled around and struck out at where they thought the spider would be. If the spider had been aiming for the delver, the spear would have hit the spider dead center. The spear still struck the leaping spider, but it only crushed a couple of legs. The spider landed hard, just barely managing to not tip over on to its back. Spider two dashed at the delver when they tried to strike at the down spider, but the delver kicked it away and impaled spider one, killing it. Without the distraction of having to fight two opponents, the second spider fell shortly after.
So that’s three spiders. He’s not just plowing through everything, but he hasn’t been hit even once yet, so I don’t think he’s struggling either. Do I just throw everything at him? What if he’s holding back and just kills everything? Then I would have nothing left. But I can’t just let him take apart my defenses piece by piece. The purpose of a deep defense is to exhaust the enemy. Even if they have some experience with dungeons, they’ll still get fatigued from constant fighting. I just have to watch him for an opening and make sure he doesn’t get any breaks.
The delver burned away the next section of spider webs, which cleared everything except the first Sticky Web trap. This one was on the floor and I’d kept it separate from the rest of the webs in case they were burned. This section also had a skeleton in it, but I order it to stay put as fire burned the webs from it. The delver approached the trap cautiously. To get to it, he had to pass one of the boarded up side passages. The Cave Spider inside wanted to jump out as soon as the delver passed in front of it, but I held it back just long enough for them to pass by.
The Cave Spider did not use opening I had provided for them to get out. Instead, the monster charged right through the boards. I hadn’t used very thick boards, so some of them broke under the giant arachnid’s charge. The shower of debris forced the delver to shield their face, giving my spider a chance to recover from its dramatic entrance. The pair squared up. The delver adjust their spear while my spider raised its forelegs in preparation to strike.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
They both stilled.
The delver’s spear flashed forwards, and the spider struck down to intercept. A moment before they clashed, I saw the spear bend out of the way of the spider’s parry. The spear cracked the spider’s carapace and sunk into its back. It ordered the spider to ignore the spear and rush the delver. The charge pushed the spear deeper, but it also threw the surprised delver off balance and pushed them back into the Sticky Web trap on the floor. The sudden change in footing did as I wanted and tipped them up. Their balance and reaction time were better than I expected, though, and they recovered before they fell over. They’d also kept hold of their spear, which they promptly ripped out of the wounded cave spider, then plunged back in, killing another monster. The delver walked off the trap and burned it. Turns out that the sticky web traps actually burn longer and hotter than normal spider webs. It wasn’t magnitudes different, but there was a difference.
The bending spear thing has to be a Skill. There is no way you could actually do that with a spear normally, right? If he’s using more obvious skills like that, then he has to be feeling some pressure. The question is, if the pressure gets too great, will he attempt to leave or will he keep pushing towards the end? If he left, he’ll definitely tell people about me, which would not be great right now. But if he’s determined to take me down with him, will I be able to stop him? If those are the options, I think I’d rather he leave. At least I’d be around longer. I would much rather neither happen, though. But for neither to happen, I need to kill him. But if I was confident in killing him, none of this would be a problem. It would be great if I could trap him, but I have nothing that can do that. I could wrap him up in a bunch if spider webs, but if I could do that I could just kill him.
The delver continued forward after burning away the trap. They poked the skeleton as they passed, and I had to shove the same order to not move repeatedly into it for it to stay still. I’d get one chance with the skeletons, and I didn’t want to blow it now. The delver fought another Cave Spider in the next section. It went about as well as the other fights had, and he still had no injuries. But he was tired. Instead of moving further in, the delver retreated a bit and took off their pack. I ordered the small spiders in the next section to cut through the spider webs. The movement caused the delver to grab up his spear, dropping the small pouch he’d just grabbed from his pack and spilling some of its contents.
I debated having the spiders attack him, but I didn’t want to just throw them away. It didn’t look like needed to either. Just the threat of the spiders kept him from resting. The delver grabbed the pouch from ground and threw it back into his pack. The delver did not look happy, and that was fine with me. They took a drink from a waterskin and shouldered their pack, never taking their eyes off where they’d seen movement.
The delver stepped forward and paused. They took one step back, then another, and paused again. If they took another step back, I was throwing the skeleton at them. They didn’t retreat any further. I tensed as they made some weird gesture with one hand while moving their lips. Nothing happened, though. At least nothing I could detect. Whatever it was, they were moving forward again. My small spiders dashed at the delver when he closed in the slashed spider web. The fight was over in an instant as the spear blurred for an instant and eight other spears just appeared around the first. The additional spears faded after the attack shredded the spiders.
Was that a spell or was that Skill? Was it connected to the gestures? I really need to find a way to learn more about this place. There is just too much I don’t know. And that lack of knowledge has at least partially contributed to almost half of my monsters being defeated. At least he seems to getting tired now. If he doesn’t start taking hits soon, I’ll be in some real trouble.
The delver took a moment to catch their breath, but they didn’t rest again, nor did they retreat. They quickly burned the web in front of them with a long splinter from the broken boards, doing the same to the webs blocking the next section. There was a second skeleton here, but they just walked past it. Two Cave Spiders hid in the section the delver just opened, one in a fissure in the ceiling and the other in a side passage. Entering the section, he also passed one of the new Crushing Support traps. A streak of white shot from the side passage towards the delver. They dodged to the side, but the shot went wide, anyway. The delver kept close to the same wall as the passage as they advanced. On my orders, the Cave Spider that shot at him left the passage and retreated further down the mineshaft, shooting off more web to cover their retreat.
The delver dashed towards the Cave Spider, their spear pulled back to deliver a lethal thrust. The delver passed beneath the fissure and the second spider dropped on top of him. Except the delver wasn’t there when they landed. Somehow, the delver had slid backwards in the middle of their charge. As a result, the second Cave Spider landed right in front of the delver’s spear, which hadn’t slowed down at all, despite having traveled in the opposite direction a moment before. The chitin shattered as the spear pierced clear through the spider, spraying guts, chitin, and whatever counted as blood for spiders across the floor. In its death throes, the doomed Cave spider’s flailing limbs actually landed a hit on the delver. With their spear momentarily stuck, the delver couldn’t dodge, and the limb careened into the side of his head.
The delver stumbled back a few steps from the unexpected impact; the motion pulling their spear free. A sticky projectile soared through the air. The delver tried to dodge, but it looked like their fatigue was catching up with them, slowing their movements. The shot impacted the delver’s chest, keeping them off balance. A second projectile, fired by a third Cave Spider that’d come from the next section, quickly followed, striking the delver’s leg and pinning it to the floor. Bones rattled as the two nearby Skeleton Miners reassembled themselves and charged the delver. The two spiders joined the undead in their charge. The delver was clearly tired. Their leg was stuck. Two spiders charged in unison from the front, while two skeletons charge from the rear, one lagging several feet behind the other. This had to be it.
Except it wasn’t. The delver had another trick up their sleeve. As the monsters closed in, the delver took a knee and raised their spear as far over their head as they could. I had a guess about what they were doing. I tried to get my monsters away, but it was too late.
With a loud cry, the delver slammed their spear into the ground. A shockwave rippled out from the impact. On its heels, sharp stone spikes erupted from the ground. The two spiders and the leading skeleton were both impaled by multiple spikes while shock wave knocked the trailing skeleton far enough away that they avoid the spikes. Not that they escaped without injury. Killing a bunch of my monsters was not the only thing the attack did, however. The Crushing Supports trap they’d passed was close enough to the shockwave to be triggered, falling across the route out of the mine, partially blocking it.
The delver staggered to their feet, chest heaving. Thankfully, that skill looked to take a lot out of them, and it wasn’t over for them yet. The skeleton that survived the attack also rose to its feet. The undead was missing an arm, it’s jaw only hung from one hinge. It lost its helmet and several cracks crisscrossed its skull. Battered and broken, it could still fight. If only barely. It wasn’t alone, though. Not-Pete, who’d I stationed in the passage to the core room, was rapidly assembling himself and the pair of small spiders I’d placed in the pit in front of the core room were also making their way down the passage towards the mineshaft.
The delver looked between the damaged Skeleton Miner and the trap blocking his route to the surface, the side passage to the core room with a bunch of actively audible from it, and the rest of the web free mineshaft I’d yet to claim. They grimaced and broke into a very unsteady sprint down the mineshaft. The delver threw their spear down the mineshaft and uncoiled a length of what looked like leather from their wrist. He scooped up a rock and placed it in the sling. There was a loud crack as the damaged skeleton’s head exploded. I held the rest of the monsters in the passage. There wasn’t a need to give him more targets. I didn‘t need to worry about that, though. The delver didn‘t stick around to pick off more monsters. They stopped just long enough to pick up their spear before stumbling deeper into the mine, glancing back every few steps to ensure they weren’t being followed. I watched as they disappeared around a bend. The light from their lantern disappeared not long after.
Well, that could have gone better.