As the party navigated the ups and downs of the hallway to her Second Room, Obu turned to the System Notification she had received after the group had left her First Room.
Room 1: 2 Traps Survived…Generating Rewards…Rewards Generated
Room 1 Challenge Completed…Generating Rewards…Rewards Generated
A total of 1200 Experience has been generated. The Reward has been divided in the following ways:
240 Experience is awarded to the Dungeon, The Obulwaag, for offering the Challenge.
960 Experience has been divided among the participating Challengers.
Would you like to distribute the rewards?
Yes/No
Ahh, so that was why the last question was there. Obu nodded mentally to herself. She could distribute the rewards separately once they had happened or wait until they had left the Room entirely. Perhaps even until they had left the Dungeon itself. Obu wondered at that for a time before dismissing it as something she would figure out later. The party had almost made it to her Second Room.
As soon as they entered the Talpi were immediately on their guard, looking up at the dark recesses of the cavern ceiling. Obu was a little miffed at that. Did they somehow know what was coming despite never having been in the Room before? She watched as they moved and felt silly as a thought struck her. Of course, they would be cautious. The one had just been crushed by a stalactite not too long ago.
So, instead of being upset with them for too much longer, she decided to applaud their cautiousness. After all, they were only challengers. It wasn’t like they were invading her Dungeon to cause destruction or anything like that. She watched as they entered further in and when nothing happened right away the Talpi relaxed slightly, though they remained vigilant, looking upward every so often.
It was fortunate for them that they did so because it was in looking up that Dorn saw the diving form of an Owlbat with clawed lower paws outstretched. There had been no noise to alert anyone as the drip, drip, drip of the cavern had dulled what little noise the creature made. Mid-dive it proved difficult for the creature to dodge the club that Dorn swung its way. There was a thud and a squawk and then the Owlbat was gone, fluttering off to the side where it lay still.
Obu looked on as the cavern devolved into a whirlwind of feathers, fur, and blood. These creatures were F(2) which gave them an increase in general ability but they also fought altogether differently than the Gits. Rather than a loud rush it was a silent one. There were also hints of higher intelligence, if only in the arena of savage cunning. Not including the one slain there were only five remaining creatures but the way they fought was evidently both annoying and effective. They were also large, having a wingspan of around three and a half feet long.
As silent as they were it was easy for one or two to distract the party while the remainder floated in from behind on silent wings to tear chunks from the unsuspecting rear guard. This only had to happen once, however, before the group wised up and began to anticipate such ambushes. Once they had, it proved simple for them to dispatch the remaining creatures but not unscathed. The battle had left them with some fearsome wounds, with none of the group left untouched.
Cheep-Cheep sported a nasty gash over one eye from a beak that had narrowly missed blinding him. Dorn bled from numerous slashes on his arm where his opponent had dug in with its talons before he had slain it with a club strike to the head. Chi-Chala and Meek-Fee had been ambushed from behind and were perhaps the worst off as their wounds were on their backs. The Owlbats had swooped in and latched on with their pawed talons before savagely ripping with their beaks.
Meek-Fee had lost an ear, the wound jagged and bleeding as he tried to staunch it with some moss he had found. Chi-Chala had received a blow to her head though the beak hadn’t broken through her cranium and killed her she was still reeling from both blood loss and a possible concussion. How Obu knew that she had no idea but she suspected it had to do with her father’s medical skills and her nature as a Dungeon Core.
Mila was saved from further major wounds due to her having been in the center of the group as they had made their way through the cavern. She had been instrumental in saving their back line as the Owlbats had swooped in. Once she had heard the cries of her compatriots she had turned and swatted the creatures away with her club. After that, the surprise had worn off and the party had little trouble.
All in all the battle had lifted Obu’s spirits. Her creatures were performing admirably according to their ranks and her Third Room would prove to be an apt challenge for them. However, she doubted she would get the pleasure of seeing them face the Third Room on this run. They had been bloodied and it was clear they wanted to head back and, quite literally she supposed, lick their wounds.
Cheep-Cheep turned to the rest of the party after they were sure no other creatures were going to attack them and began to speak. After a time it was clear what he was communicating from how the others responded to his gesticulating and chirrups. He motioned that he would explore further to the end of the cavern and then return, at which point they would leave. The rest agreed and began gathering her slain creatures into a pile.
Obu wondered why they would do such a thing but from their conversation she gleaned that they were treating the Challenge like a hunt. They needed to bring something back to their tribes to prove they had indeed caught something. From the general air of victory, the party sported they were content with the haul, despite their wounds. Obu supposed they would be used to it with the savage lives they had lived before her father ended the war.
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It was gratifying to see the Muskeera and Talpi helping to bind up each other's wounds. In this party at least, there was only a tiny lingering of hostility. They were careful and cautious but they no longer carried the harsh edge they’d had when they first entered her caverns. Perhaps that was what happened when people fought together, regardless of race.
Cheep-Cheep only took the time to find the next doorway before heading back. Obu was surprised when he took the time to test the pools for traps before returning. It was just his luck that he took a different route back and fell into a sinkhole instead. The deep pit sucked him up and he fell straight and true to the bottom. A crack rang out as his right leg’s ankle broke and he howled in pain which in turn summoned his companions.
It was pure luck that kept them from repeating the same mistake as Dorn was close to Chee-Chala to snatch her up and out of the air as the ground broke beneath her feet to reveal another pit trap. Or perhaps it wasn’t luck at all. Obu had watched as the Aether within Dorn had flared, with him reacting almost instantaneously to guard his party member. The Dungeon Core marked the use of Aether again for later. None of the other members of the party had hinted at such control and she wondered why Dorn was different.
It didn’t take the group long to find their leader. A lowered spear and a concerted effort later he was hobbling alongside them as they moved back the way they had come. After picking up their prizes they stumbled and hauled their way back through the hallway and the First Room. Obu held off checking her notifications until they were safely out of her Dungeon before checking her System Notifications that she had held back.
Room 1: 2 Traps Survived…Generating Rewards…Rewards Generated
Room 1 Challenge Completed…Generating Rewards…Rewards Generated
A total of 1200 Experience has been generated. The Reward has been divided in the following ways:
240 Experience is awarded to the Dungeon, The Obulwaag, for offering the Challenge.
960 Experience has been divided among the participating Challengers.
Room 2: 6 F(2) Defenders Vanquished…Generating Rewards…Rewards Generated
Room 2: 2 Traps Survived…Generating Rewards…Rewards Generated
Room 2 Challenge Completed…Generating Rewards…Rewards Generated
A total of 3600 Experience has been generated. The Reward has been divided in the following ways:
720 Experience is awarded to the Dungeon, The Obulwaag, for offering the Challenge.
2880 Experience has been divided among the participating Challengers.
Would you like to distribute the rewards?
Yes/No
Obu stared, awestruck for several moments at the amount of Experience generated by her Dungeon. Completing the various Quests given to her by the System was nothing in comparison. She shivered as she realized just how precious her Dungeon would become to those who knew of its existence. Not only would she grow quickly but anyone who challenged her depths would grow quickly as well.
Even as her imagination ran wild she felt the soothing presence of her father through their bond and she calmed. Her father was strong and had already proven his ability to protect his home even to the point of refusing to be integrated. It would take the greatest of this world to stand against him and she was comforted. She would build herself into a fortress and grow in strength until she reached the point where she was no longer in danger.
She moved her Awareness until it hovered over the party as they in turn stood before her father, tired and wounded but triumphant with their prizes. She accepted the distribution of rewards and watched as the companions flinched at the System’s Notifications before they began cheering. Cheep-Cheep in particular seemed overcome with emotion. She checked her logs and realized that he would have reached the end of F(3) and now had the option of progressing up to Rank F(4).
That would put him at the pinnacle of his kind alongside the Chieftain. Obu hoped that wouldn’t cause any problems in the future. She was drawn away from her ruminations by her own System Notifications which blared at her.
Congratulations Dungeon Core!
* You have enough Xp to ascend to Level 9!
* You have enough Xp to ascend to Level 10!
Warning! Dungeon Core has reached the Level Cap for Rank F(2)! To begin advancement to Rank F(2) please ascend to Level 10 immediately!
Excitement flared within the Dungeon Core. This experiment with her Dungeon was a huge success. She now had four whole levels to Experience and that meant she would be able to get another point in Rooted, allowing for another Room in her Dungeon. She wondered how a Dungeon Core with a Rooted Cornerstone would build their Dungeon. She imagined they would have vast Floors full of Rooms with lower-rank creatures. At least, they would be lower Rank until the Dungeon’s Rank caught up to its expansion.
In contrast, she supposed an Empowered Dungeon would have few Rooms and would grow at a slower pace but have truly impressive monsters for their Rank. Perhaps their monsters would have different abilities or even be able to use magic. She would have to see for herself when allocating points to that attribute.
She continued her thought experiment imagining the sheer detail and beauty that specializing in the Transformed attribute would offer. The whole Dungeon would feel so much more alive. The only one she was confused about was the United attribute. She supposed the whole Dungeon would be connected in a way she couldn’t yet imagine. From monsters to traps to biomes, each aspect of the Dungeon would work together to fulfill the Core’s goals.
She shrugged mentally. It didn’t much matter since she was unlikely to meet another Dungeon anytime soon and she was satisfied with the System’s choice of Cornerstone for her. Her father was speaking to the group but she let her Awareness disperse as she slipped into her Core. She settled in and began spending her Experience. First, she went with Empowered and United, once more Experiencing the connection to power and unity that were key aspects of her Dungeonhood.
Then she increased Rooted, for obvious reasons, and then Transformed to continue her goal of increasing the level of manipulation she had over her Dungeon. She decided to remain dispersed as she seeped her Awareness into her Dungeon. She wanted to know how the changes had affected her and her creatures though she had a feeling the changes would be slight. She would let her father deal with the party that had delved into her Dungeon. Her last thought before the Dungeon equivalent of sleep took over was, That could be the official title for them. I wonder if they would like being called that.