Dungeon Categorisation
There are only two categories to declare in this form.
Safe or Destruction.
Section A;
A dungeon is deemed to be safe, once it has a) been thoroughly examined by a Categorisation Expert and been confirmed to have no monsters over the threat of a four-man party and b) been deemed raidable by the local Lord.
Any dungeon that is safe to enter will have guards posted out front on the orders of the local Lord. Their job is to take a non-negiotiable sum from anyone who enters. Any items or treasures found inside are property of the adventurer but will be bought for a nominal sum by either the guards posted outside or the closest administrative building in the nearest town or city.
Section B;
A dungeon that has been sentenced to destruction, which is more likely as destruction sentences have more factors than that of its regulated counterpart, will have a squad assembled and then assessed by the Lord and Categorisation Expert to see whether they have to either a) kill the monster and then destroy the core, or b) Bypass the creature if possible, destroy the core and then return to kill the weakened monster on the way out.
Reasons for destruction include, but are not limited to; any dungeon found possessing a single monster that is stronger than a four-man raiding party, or capable of killing a level 80 warrior in one on one combat; a dungeon found creating or secreting any deadly toxins, or food and water sources, that are hazardous to life; any dungeon that has made a home with a volcano, or similar fire affiliated lands, as no one appreciates the birth of a Fire Dragon; any dungeon capable of producing a man-eating beast that is a master of disguise, known as a Mimic; any dungeon that is within 10 miles of a city, or major town, that has monsters with levels above that of the city's own residents.
There are many more cases for destruction but each Lord employs his own Categorisation Expert and after the report has been filed, ultimately, the residing Lord is the one tasked with the official decision of what will happen to the dungeon.
Anyone who enters a dungeon that has not been categorised may find themselves in front of the local Lord, for the plunder of riches found upon his land. Lords are not known to take kindly to people plundering from dungeons which they have no knowledge or control over and especially the ones where they earn no revenue.
An Official Document on Dungeon Categories by Awast Attime 1951.
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Hehe.
Zoom, zoom.
Zoom, zoom.
After the meal prepared by Ali had come to an abrupt end, the Rogues went to bed. Once they're rested, I'll sort them in to teams and have them patrol on a rotating schedule.
Trixie and her pack went to the temporary location of the Wolves' Den, whilst Zen and Ang opted to sleep outside the Box of Worship. I wonder why they didn't sleep in a tent? Although, I'm not likely to rain on anyone so that's just another silly thought.
I know what can cheer me up.
Zoom, zoom.
Zoom, zoom
I spend that time floating around my dungeon, hovering back and forth between the entrance and my Core room without a care in the world. I hadn't realised it before I acquired the Manifestation skill, but being a Dungeon Core is a very 2D existence.
It's picturesque, but not in the way you expect and I'm just happy I can finally move around properly.
Rolling images were how I viewed the world, unless I was in overview mode. It's a very solitary state of existence to say the least. Not able to touch and feel. Not able to speak and laugh. And worst of all, not being able to move.
It's a good job I didnt get an itch.
Time flew by as I reveled in joy thanks to my new skill. Manifestation let's me enjoy the luxury of movement which I was severely missing before. There isn't much more to do in my new form, but it's still amazing.
My Will-O-Whisp form is even able to be absorbed by the dungeon walls and floor before respawning anywhere I want. Realistically, I just enter my overview and restart manifestation after being absorbed. However, it doesn't cost any DP and looks cool as hell so it's a win in my book.
Little victories.
I was hoping that I might get a human shape, but that didn't happen. At least I can talk to my monsters now rather than having to rely only on my will. Even though it carries my feelings and thoughts within, there's nothing like being able to tell someone your thoughts.
Four hours later, I have to stop playing with myself before I reach my limit. I don't need these points going into Stockpile at the minute.
Let's see what we can do this time.
I'm sure I'm almost Level 11.
Dungeon Core Abi Level 10:
106/110 XP until next level
2 Floors
16 Rooms
18 Tunnels
35 Monsters
64 Traps
325/200 DP Available
Willing my status up confirms my thoughts and shows how much spending money I have. Not that I expect my points to go far. It's way too easy to blow through DP now that I have some pricey builds.
Adding more variety to my Dungeon, I begin my purchases in the monster list. Cave Bats are what I decide to go with and place them in most rooms on the first floor. They form the surveillance team and at a total of 50DP, it isn't too bad of a cost. Plus, I aquired the upgrade for another Mini-Boss.
Hehe. How ingenious of me.
A new Monster has been unlocked:
Blood Sucking Shadow Bat: 10DP
These monsters hunt in complete darkness and work well in large groups
Each Blood Sucking Shadow Bat boosts the stats of those around it by 5%
When hidden in darkness all attributes are increased by 25%
If exposed to light all attributes are decreased by 10%
I purchase ten of the blood suckers and place them just before Veris' Room. This marks my first time purchase of multiple second-tier monsters, but wasn't actually what I had planned. After reading the description about how they work together and boost each other too, I just went with it. I also unlocked my first third-tier monster.
A new Monster has been unlocked:
Bat of Sorrow: 20DP
A strange Bat that feels remorse for its victims this however does not stop it from choosing to take more victims
For every other Bat of Sorrow present gain a 10% boost to all stats
When shrouded in darkness all attributes are increased by 50%
This bat suffers no negative effects from sunlight
The blood suckers cost me more than the Tavern's second floor and I feel a little sore. Even though I have some imaginary thoughts about a Rogues' Town where adventures don't kill my monsters, you can't put a price on safety.
I have to confirm ten different notification before my new Mini-Bosses are complete. I'm not finished with them though as their room needs altering to strengthen them as much as possible.
The wall torches are removed and Darkness Clusters are added to the ceiling instead. Wooden Doors are placed on both tunnels to prevent light from entering. Another idea I came up with was to add ten Weak Darkness Elementals to help boost the Bats strength, making the darkness even darker.
The Elementals look just like I do with Manifestation active, only black instead of green. It's surreal in a way. Almost like I'm looking at myself but not. They don't add much in the way of defence, but definitely make the area darker which mean my Bats should get that boost.
A new monster has been unlocked:
Darkness Elemental: 20DP
Creates dark mana
See what I mean. There's not much to go on with that description.
Whatever. It'll be fine.
The Shady Tunnel will also help seclude this room from light and it doesn't cost me anything to change its location. Which is extremely helpful since this turned out to be quite an expensive room. One that I can actually call complete unless I want to add anything in the future.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
I shall call this room, 'The Bat Cave'.
While I can now not fault the variety of monsters, nor the progression of your dungeon, I can at least say that your sense of naming could do with being a little more tactful.
Don't talk to me about naming things.
When The System gets her shit together, then so will I.
Fair point.
Anyway, The Bat Cave ended up costing 230DP in total. Which is ridiculous. I couldn't even dream of dropping points like that before.
Aww crap.
I wanted to do more than just a single room. I haven't even purchased a Slime yet. These points just don't stretch far enough.
Or maybe I got a little carried away in The Bat Cave?
Never mind, I'll make more points later and I've still got 107 left. I'll put the rest into my second-floor and move my Core further from the entrance.
Dreaming of a cute Slime room, I move to the lowest point of my Dungeon. After spending the rest of my DP, the never-ending tunnel system I'm creating is spiralling down well. Interspersed with room that look identical to the tunnels, my floor requirements are filling up slowly as we make our way down.
Me, what else do I need to unlock the next floor?
Requirements for the next Floor:
A Boss is required for the Second Floor
Oh.
How many Rooms and Tunnels did I need this time?
Not as many as you placed.
Yeah, I got a bit carried away then. My bad.
The good news is that I now only need one more room at the bottom of the second floor for the Boss to reside in. The bad news is that I have 7DP left after placing eighteen tunnels and five small rooms. But, it's not like I have anywhere else to be and I don't mind exploring my body whilst I wait.
4 hours pass by and morning's first light shines through my entrance. Ang and Zen are already awake, praying outside the Box of Worship. Waiting to see if anyone wishes to join them.
Sorry to break it to you guys, but I doubt you will get any believers around here. Not in the middle of nowhere. I'm not even sure if the other summons care for prayer. But then again I wasn't even feeding them, so what do I know?
I managed to keep myself occupied by zoomin' around and using Examine. Also watching everyone sleep around left me feeling a little sour. I really want to sleep too, but I'm scared that I'll see a repeat of Kal and Anya. I'm also worried about wasting points again, so I'm reluctant to even try it.
Hmph.
The Rogues are starting to stir and Talia is already awake at the Tavern, cleaning up after last night's escapade. Ali is also up at the Camp Grounds. Floating over with minimal noise this time, I offer food for breakfast. All we have is Boar Meat and vegetables, but it's food enough. Everyone seemed impressed with the meal last night and Ali even earned some cooking skills in the process.
With Ali off to make breakfast at the Tavern, I proceed to spend some of points Barry has supplied. After all the DP I spent in the early hours of this morning, I didn't even earn the XP required to reach Level 11.
This time I will though.
My first purchase should do it for me.
The Shop of Secrets:
40DP
A place to bring wares for sale without record
A place to acquire that which you cannot for an almost modest price
Any third party transaction is subject to a 5% fee
Requires 2 Rogues to operate successfully
Awards:
4 XP
This could make merchants want to trade and do business with me. It is also a step in that potentially-misguided direction that I'm willing to take.
I gain 4 XP from the building, which looks more like a wooden stall than a shop and a tiny one at that. A small selection of Dungeon loot, that which I'm able to create myself, are the sole wares on top of the counter. I'll probably have to acquire better loot for the shop to live up to its description. I place it in the room after Rogues' Corner to keep the themed features close together.
Doing this allows me to reach my next level up. At the same time, I wonder how big of a room I'd get if I placed one the middle of the first floor. My current layout is a square and the entire middle section is empty.
Dungeon Core Abi has reached Level 11:
DP has been increased by 40
A new monster has been unlocked:
Stone Golem: 75DP
New features have been unlocked:
Filing Hut: 80DP
Rusty Steel Dagger: 4DP
That's what I'm talking about. Double DP and a Golem. Can I get an Amen? I can even upgrade the Rogues' daggers now. The cost of a dagger is much cheaper than the Defiler's sword at 40 points. The dagger is a Rogues preferred weapon.
Best level up ever.
Then again, since the Stone Golem is so cheap to create, there's a good chance it's at least 6 evolutions behind a Mythril Golem of Barry's calibre and nowhere near as strong. That means they might not be effective diggers and I don't want to waste 75DP just to find out I'm correct.
Not yet anyway.
Filing Hut: 80DP
A place of storage for documents that the Rogues may need if they were ever to enquire about them in the first place
Requires 2 Rogues to operate successfully
Reward:
8 XP
Seriously?
That description doesn't even make sense.
I swear The System's doing this on purpose now to get at me.
The new feature is nothing I have need for right now. Once again, it has a ridiculous name and description too. It can wait until such a time when I'm flush with points to be placed, the same goes the Stone Golem.
So my level up wasn't as great as I thought it was. Still, earning twice the amount of DP made it all worth it and I suppose the dagger upgrade was ok too.
Before I staff employees for the Shop of Secrets, I continue my spending spree with another feature. This time it's a gambling spot I unlocked a while ago.
Swindlers' Den: 40DP
With nothing to do and no one around the bandits that find themselves in employ here will literally bet on anything to cure their boredom
60% chance of winning any game played in this room
Requires two Con Men to operate successfully
Unlocks:
Con Men
Awards:
4 XP
With nothing to do and no one around?
"Are you serious!?"
Why are you shouting and who are you shouting at?
Nevermind, Me.
I'll be fine.
I'm pretty sure that's not how she described it before? I'm sure there was something about clones and tributes. Only reason I'm not still shouting is because a new summon has been added to the description.
I earn 4 XP m and summon the Rogues and Con Men needed to staff the establishments. Like the Rogues and Acolytes, the Con Men are also human.
Maybe I'll be able to summon a big variety of people one day?
They could call me Dungeon Town Abi.
Although their isn't a lot of individuality right now.
The Con Men, again like the Rogues and Acolytes, are dressed the same. A sky-blue shirt, khakis and open-toe sandals makes up their appearance. For whatever reason The System decides, both summons look to be packing more muscle than a seasoned town guard.
I thought these were supposed to be Con Men, not bodybuilders?
Long, golden locks reach their shoulders and they both have the same mesmerising, blue eyes. Chiseled chins and sparkly teeth make it hard to believe the Con Men are what my description says they are.
It's a good job I create good-looking people. I don't know why, but the Con Men could pass for twins they're that alike. Twins that get dressed by a mother who believes matching clothes are still cool and a father who puts them through rigorous training sessions all day every day.
My Rogues on the other hand look fine. Dressed all in black and covered by their cowl, they emanate a different kind of beauty.
I name the Con-Men Koniva and Jack. Everybody knows a shady guy called Jack.
For the Rogues, I go with Lara and Tara since I can't think of anything better than that on the spot. I still need to name some if the first Rogues u summoned.
I assign the four new additions their respective roles in the Shop of Secrets and Swindlers Den before sending them off to Talia's for breakfast with everyone else.
Once they've left, I move to the end of the second floor's unending corridor and create a new room for the boss. Unlike the small rooms I've been placing in the way, this one ends up massive.
Twice the size of Veris's room, five Large Dark Clusters shroud the room in darkness before I add the Bat of Sorrow for 20 DP. This marks my first purchase of a tier-three monster, even if it did cost the same as a tier-two Rogue. The System responds appropriately, but shoots me a notification with a twist.
Optional Choice:
Make the Bat of Sorrow the Boss of the Second floor
Due of the low number of monsters inhabiting this floor corfirming this decision will summon 10 Cave Bats as minions for the Bat of Sorrow at half the DP cost
Yes/No?
That is amazing. It's good to know that if I have a low number of monsters on a floor, the system will add more my options. Although, this could just be one of those lucky occurrences.
Plus, it'd be foolish to turn down halfpriced monsters. I can't forget that more bats means more boosts. The System didn't specify a limit on how strong they could become.
The Bat of Sorrow is bathed in blue as the system notification beside me awaits my decision. Temporarily, I find myself stunned by another delightfully-beautiful monster.
Unlike the regular brown and black varients of her species, the Bat of Sorrrow is an amalgamation of my summons. Her lower half is that of a Bat whereas almost everything above is human.
Almost.
Her modesty is covered thanks to the length of her hair, which is a vibrant shade of purple and ends just above her waist. She has dainty arms and slender figure. If she didn't have wings on her back, or clawed feet and hairy legs, she could easily be mistaken for a human.
Her eyes are a lighter shade of purple and are the same colour as he membrane on her wings.
This Bat, if I can even call her that, is making me slightly jealous. Does she look prettier than I did when I was still human? What's that about?
After recovering from the shock, I decide to name her Violet because of the colour that makes up the majority of her being.
I comfirm the lingering notification and my new Boss Monster glows softly. The halfpriced Cave Bats appear nestled up on the ceiling and I swear Violet appears better looking than she did. Her fur even seems to be a little shorter.
There weren't any notifications about it though and I put it down to my imagination. Ignoring it as she takes flight to join the others.
Before I can do anything else, I'm awarded with an unexpected notification.
A new monster has been unlocked:
Vampire Bat: 20DP
A new evolutionary chain of Bats different to the ones I currently possess. After seeing Violet, I'm sure the new line will evolve into Vampires. Ridiculously, good-looking Vampires aswell. With the way everyone else is looking... I doubt I'm wrong.
Not that I have any need for more Bats at the moment.
With the notification received and remembered, I place the stairwell to the third floor at the back of Violet's room. Leaving myself with 4DP, I will the third floor to be a forest with all my might and watch as it magically takes shape. The staircase finishes and the room expands as trees and grass start sprouting from the floor.
The size of my rooms seemed to have doubled again because the forest being created in the depths of my Dungeon is massive. It's bigger than anything I've created so far and dominates the entire landscape around me. Originating at the northwest wall, a stream traverses the entire room and ends in the southeast corner. I didn't even have to pay for the water.
Making a new floor is so cool.
The stairwell from above descends directly to the center of the forest floor. It even has viewing platforms interspace so that people can take in the breathtaking sight of nature below.
If I ever let anyone past Veris that is.
This is the perfect place for Trixie and the wolves to enjoy themselves in.
Third Floor has been created:
5 XP Awarded
New features have been unlocked:
Strong Wall Torch: 4DP
Wooden Wall: 10DP
Passive Skill Regeneration has reached Level 4:
DP has increased to a rate of 2.0 per hour
With all that finished and some new upgrades to...
Aww crap, I did it again.
Stupid Abi!
I didn't even summon a single Slime!
How stupid can one Core be?
Next time, definitely. Definitely, next time.
Putting the cute factor aside before I end up feeling blue, I head to the Tavern using my super awesome Skill Manifestation. Even though I'm not using it to talk to anyone, it feels delightful to move around and the soothes my mind.
Plus, Me said that my form will improve as I level up. That's priority number one.
Will I be able to turn into a human?
Before, I would have said and did say no. But now, I have no idea...
That sounds promising. 'Not so sure' is much better than what you said before. Last time, you said I'd have to die to become human again. And even then you said it was only a potential chance.
While I do not know how your manifestation may evolve, I do know that you will never truly be human again. Not in this life anyway. Even if you manage to manifest into the shape or form you desire, you will still be Dungeon Core Abi.
You're such a bummer sometimes, Me.
Why can't you be more inspirational or show an air of mystique once in a while? Would it frazzle your programming to say something like, 'No one knows what the future holds'? Or even, 'Give it your best, Abi. You can do it'!
I was just being honest.
Leaving the conversation there, I know that Me means well but I'm a Core with a schedule, I get zoomin'.
With a miniscule amount DP left and the Rogues waking up, it's time to announce the scouting parties.
This should go well.