You have encountered a dungeon!
You have been challenged to a Dungeon Battle!
Dungeon Battle: A battle between 2, or more, dungeons with their very life at stake. A Dungeon Battle may not be declined. When 2 dungeons meet, they can either choose to negotiate or engage in a Dungeon Battle. The two dungeons will settle a time for a grace period before the battle commences. A dungeon may use every availible resource during the battle. The battle ends when the enemy is no longer capable of combat, the core destroyed or the negotiated conditions fulfilled. Losing a Dungeon Battle results in death of the dungeon unless specified otherwise. Winning a Dungeon Battle will result in ability to purchase(price may differ) any items in the Catalogue that the opponent dungeon can access. It will also result in the possesion of whatever monsters and creatures that are left by the enemy dungeon. Achievements and titles will not be transferred, but DP and Animus will. New information will be displayed on the Status window.
Grace Period: Due to the fact that you are a new-born dungeon, you have a non-negotiable minimal 2 month grace period. The opposing dungeon does not accept negotiations. You have also been credited [300 DP] to use during your battle to compensate for the difference in age.
You may now proceed with the preparations for the dungeon Battle. Good Luck!
Time left till end of Grace Period: 2 months
Oohhhh crap.
----------Opponent Dungeon POV--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So hungry. So thirsty. Never fulfilled. The weak perish. The strong survive. To slaughter the weak and devour the strong, the unspoken rule of the jungle, the law of club and fang. From the moment I was born, I began expanding my domain. To discover. To search and to destroy. Eat. Eat. Eat. Eat! They come, they die. I, drained from the exertion, devour them whole. Their creatures, their monsters, their existence, I shall relish in delight. None can withstand my power, none will escape my hunger. I shall come. And I will feast. Your fear, your desire, I will enjoy them as I slowly, slowly tear your heart apart.
You hear that, naive fool? You have enroached upon my domain, you have let yourself known, and I will answer your declaration. By licking your crystal clean. You are young and ignorant, you stand no chance, but I do hope that you can entertain me. A meal is better enjoyed with pleasure. AH! The pleasure! The joy! The ectasy of absorbing the core. The raw power that courses through my body, my monsters tingling with excitement. 2 months. 2 months you have. And 2 months I will glady wait. You cannot run, little prey, you cannot run...
"Monsters! Prepare! For so long we have waited! For so long we have endured! But no more! For soon, we shall FEAST!"
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What do I do? What do I do? Okay, deep breaths buddy, deeeeeeeeeeep *inhaleeee* breffsh *exhaaale*. See? Everything is perfectly fine, we will get through this no problem. I mean, come on, its just a bajillion ants 1-2cm long which can rend apart my thin defenses then take my core and tear it apart and kill me and...
NOTHING IS FIIIIINE! What do you MEAN by Dungeon Battle! Give me back my peace, my security! I protest! Dungeon's should have rights! We have feelings! We need day off! Strike! Protest, protest, protest, protest, pro..... .... ... .. . te. . . s . . t. What was that?
"guuuuuuoooo*clack*ooo*click*oooooo!" Ah, just the enemy dungeon, no biggie. I mean, they are simply revved into a frenzy right? I mean, no way a bunch of beserking monsters itching for blood will be violent after 2 months right? .. .. .. *intense sweating*
AAAHHHHHHH! SOMEBODY SAVE ME! HELP ME! HEEERULP! HEEERULP! Please... anything.... No? FINE! I, the almighty and fearless dungeon, the ruler of the larva, the birther of plants will have to get his hands dirty again! Because someone just does not wish to lend a liiiitle helping hand. OK. Chop chop, down to business, put on those thinking caps and turn it into overdrive. We can, no we will, no we MUST win! For the greater good, for everyone and finally, for me. Larva, ya hear me? Get down to business ya largots, no more slacking! Today, training begins! Ahahahaha!
-----(pause to skip laughing)------
Haha-*cough*cough*! ... That did not happen. I repeat that did not happen.
Aaanyways, lets quickly check our DP storage. Hmmm, [500 DP]. Wow, that's a substancial amount! That would be... let me count... ... ... 16 larva eggs with a little suplus or 50 plant seeds. Ahhhh, that's still no good. We have not enough numbers to overwhelm them with, our fighting force is pathetically weak. In the first place, the larva themsleves were not geared towards combat. Just why.... If we could have had 100 larva, or 1000 larva, the story may be different but.... I only have 10(+16) larva. Not even 30 of them..... I am weak. I mean, only temporarily weak! I don't mean anything by that ok? I'm weak at all, and I'm not disatisfied with it.... I think... I hope... I guess.. How do I even do this...
(Hmmm, lets tell you to go there, and you to-no hey you, I meant there not there! Okay back to you, I will need you to do this, listen closely okay? This rides on you. Okay. Firstly...*whisper*whisper*)
--------------------3rd Person POV-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The new-born dungeon, eventually, got down to work. He started immediately by sending his rock digging larva to, well, dig. They were named Larvacks by their creator, a truly unique species. They worked by firstly pressing their mouthpiece onto the surface of the rock. By doing this, they can sense for mana rich areas which they can then travel to. After finding a spot in close proximity to a mana rich area, they then begin to dig. Though, honestly, eat is a better word. Unnoticed by the dungeon, these hardy larva actually eat the stone, possesing an extremely powerful digestive system to do so. This digestive system is actually fueled by the excretion of a mana purifying larva, since the pure mana contained in it is actually very beneficial to temporarily enhancing the digestive system that makes the larva capable of digesting stone. Granted, limestone is fairly easy to be dissolved by acid, but that is still a pretty amazing feat achieved by a little critter. Of course, the larva will then ever so slowly head towards the mana rich area before settling down to absorb the mana. However, one of the 3 Larvacks has discovered a new, better way to absorb mana, or a resource, to be more exact. Eat the stone, digest the stone and get the mana. Or so it thought. The mana in the strange glittering limestone was so rich that it overshadowed that of the feces, the excess mana leaking out was already enough to fuel the digestive system. The sudden influx of mana, sadly, was a little too much for the poor critter to bear. Pain immediately shot through its body as the mana stuggled to escape. The mana pushed and pushed on the walls of the larva's belly. It bloated, then deflated, then bloated again, strands of drool trickling out its maw as it moaned in pain. There was only two ways it could end. Get rid of the mana or explode as the mana rushes to escaped into the atmosphere. It continued to groan as it frantically attempted to utilise the mana. Converting to energy failed, energy was in excess and no longer possible. Attempt to expel mana has failed, the mana was released too deep to get out and too early to go the other side. One last insane idea the larva had, was to convert the mana into EXP. It worked, barely. It's HP ticking at a measly 2/25, the larva on it's last breath managed to pull through.
Congratulations! Due to experiencing something drastically different from your usual behaviour, you have been awarded {x2 EXP gain} for only this event. MAX level achieved, unable to direct excess EXP. Directing excess EXP into appropriate alternatives. Skill [Basic Tunnel] has ranked up to [Basic Tunnel II], Skill [Primitive Mana Sense] has ranked up to [Primitive Mana Sense II]. New ability has been gained! You have acquired [Primitive Mana Conversion]. By surviving unscathed an ordeal that normally renders one's intestines annihilated has acquired you the ability [Hardy Stomach].
With an influx of level ups, skills and abilities, the now level-capped larvack slowly hobbled away. It appears as if it will not be munching on stone for some time. Anyone would, after this traumatic experience, only thanks to the larvae's high adaptability that gave it the miniscule chance to survive.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
On the other hand of the spectrum, the other 2 larvacks have returned to the dungeon bearing wonderful news. They have found a source of water and directed part of it to the dungeon. It was no more than a mere trickle, but that was all the dungeon had needed. Sacrificing [10 Animus], he gave the plants a quick boost to the water and allowed them to absorb the water. Slowly, as the unaccustomed roots of the plant gradually accepted the foreign liquid, they recieved a breakthrough. The dungeon knew, from his past life, that in order for the most efficient method of photosynthesis required water(non-cyclic pathway), so he hypothesised: Would water hold the same effect over mana-synthesis? Turns out, his guess was spot on.
Upon absorbing water, the Vakiolum(using animus) has altered their mana-sysnthesis reaction into one that includes the use of water. This has tremendously boosted the effects of the synthesis, allowing the skill [Vakiosynthesis II] to rank up to [Vakiosynthesis III]. Now, the plants are capable of creating a compund which stores a special energy that when utilised(or consumed by other entities) will release a quick burst of mana. The mana is different from ambient mana as it can be converted immediately into energy, allowing even non-mana manipulating creatures to be able to use its effects. This compund is found most commonly in the leaves of the plant.
Plants are now capable of producing items which benefit you dungeon! A new section has been added to their Status.
Production: [Basic Manaleaf: A leaf that when consumed is able to release a quick burst of energy or mana. Requires: {Mana}{Water}. Production Time: (1/4h)]
The dungeon immediately made procedures for the valuable manaleaf to be harvested. Enough where he would not be short on the good, yet not so much that it detriments the growth of the plant. He still cares for them all the same, if not more so now.
Back the the larvae, the 4 plant eating larvae are still grounded at level 8. Puzzled, the dungeon simply..... simply ignored it and carried on. After a full 10 minutes of self praise, he decided that he should allow the plant eating larvae to be his main line of offense, as well as defense. Then, he proceeded to purchase 10 more larva eggs and set them close to the dungeon core. In 2 weeks, they would hatch and bump up the forces to 20 larvae. A puny number compared to the mass of ants of the enemy dungeon but at least, their numbers were doubled. Contemplating for a second, he requested the larvacks(2 of them, the other was still recovering) to bring him some stone. After a good amount of head scratching, he somehow managed to convince the larvacks that the stone he wanted was not a goopy mess, but in its original state. With a nice pile of pebbles, he made the larvae throw them at each other. Initially, they failed terribly, so much that the dungeon commented that "The worst fails in history would run away with their tails between their legs once they see you." Eventually, after days of non-stop practicing, they managed to be able to fling nicely sized pebbles at a decent speed. Most of them missed, but it will have to do. The dungeon also requested for larvacks to cut out, and he meant cut out, a larger piece of stone. He then made the larva attempt to fling it again. Again, the disastrous results shall not be mentioned. In the end, they ahieved it, but by that time even the dungeon had ran out of cuss words.
After the dungeon felt somewhat satisfied with their ranged attacking capability, he began making them undergo melee training. In normal dungeon battles where starter creatures are concerned, melee skirmishes hold great importance. The capability to not only attack and kill the enemy but also get out unscathed is crucial. One may hold great offensive power, able to immediately wipe out everything that it approaches yet unable to retreat once the time comes is by no means effective. It would simply result in a wasteful death. One may be capable of dodging every attack, but unable to land a decisive blow will eventually lead to its demise. Thus, not only efficient planning the leader must have, but also the correct troops who are properly capable in melee combat will victory be likely. And even then it is a wavy one.
The melee capabilities of the larva were, garbage, for lack of a better word. Slow, bulky and teeth that could not even scratch the feeble skin of the other larva, they were the worst possible close range fighters ever. The dungeon was in such a state of panic and rage that it took a full hour for him to calm down. Trying again, and again, and again in a desperate bid to improve their combat ablilities but to no avail. It appears as if these larva were not geared towards battle, not as if the raging dungeon will ever find out.
Thus, the dungeon decided to just focus on the stone throwing exercises, which the larva seem to be at least capable of accomplishing. The little adventure of our dear larvack, the one who nearly died, has not gone unnoticed by the dungeon either. As the larvack had now recovered, he spent one full hour coaxing and persuading the larvack into "not eating the stone, just ask your friends. You don't have to eat the stone to get the pebbles" and acquiring some fairly glittery stone pebbles. He then gave them to the managots, who seem to love the new source of food(mana) and appear to be completely fine munching on those pebbles. Seeing this, the dungeon made the larvacks regularly bring those stones to the managots until the supply ran out.
Time left till end of Grace Period: 1 month 2 weeks
The eggs have hatched and the new born larva timidly crawl out. The dungeon was escalated. He finally had his long desired melee crack troops. After sating their hunger with the plants, he proceeded to immediately give them combat training. The reward? The best combatant will be able to take 1 manaleaf home. Pitting them against each other, to maim and not to kill, while at the same time make sure each strike is capable of killing. The younger the larva is, the more adaptable they are. They quickly took to the combat training, some even adapting features to aid them. The dungeon believes that the rest will follow suit.
Time left till end of Grace Period: 1 month
Most of the larva of the second generation have grown to have sharper teeth, stronger skin and are quick and agile. They are constantly on the watch, since the dungeon has since limited their food supply and allowed for the stealing of food through a quick battle. Leave enough so that they won't die and you can keep the rest, was the dungeon's instructions. Sneakier methods such as sneaking the food away is also an option, an option which a certain parasite seem to accomplish pretty well. On the topic about the parasitic larva, who is currently the only one, the dungeon had made him join in the combat training the moment the larva were strong enough. At first, it was bullied and completely stomped, but it soon struck back to claim his debt. To do what parasites do best. Find a host, or multiple hosts, and leech them dry.
Evolving to be unoticable, capable of toning down the colour of its skin to black or back to the original milky white, it waited in the shadows of the dungeon(which is pretty much the entire dungeon) for the unsuspecting larva and latch onto them. While they feed, he releases a chemical which numbs their skin, and bites down. Similar to a leech, he gorges himself on the now nutrient rich blood and silently drops off, sated and unnoticed. The dungeon was very happy with his development and has even been giving him manaleaves in secret, although not in large numbers. In combat, the parasite was also a now a deadly force. Once he is latched onto you, you are pretty much dead. What the dungeon likes to call "a marvelous duelist" and "a fantastic assasin", the parasite is in fact capable of draining its host dry. Through the use of a specially developed organ which formed when it was in dire need, the parasite is somehow able to convert blood directly into something akin to mana, compress it, and store it in a specially protected location. The dungeon believes this is formed when he absorbed the blood of the larvack capable of mana conversion.
The entire dungeon enters a stressed mood, where every creature and monster is on its toes, or entire body.
Time left till end of Grace Period: 3 weeks
Time left till end of Grace period: 2 weeks
Time left till end of Grace period: 1 week
TIme left till end of Grace period: 1 day
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It's coming. It' coming. Oh my goodness. That was one looooooooooooooooooong month. Well, actually 2 months but those freaking largots were so useless, even a garbage dump would be too good for them. I do hope my efforts paid off. I really do. Come on, come on. The suspense is killing me. Is everything prepared? Check? OK check. That? Good, I got it. Hmmm, quick scan..... seems good to me.
Time left till end of Grace period: 0s
It's TIIIIIIIMEEEEE! Blare the trumpets! Ring the bells! Sound the fanfare! Let this party!
Dungeon Battle has begun!
BEGIN!