The normal way to do this was to create a pit at the two ends of a tunnel or path to isolate the enemies, but there was no way the dungeon fairy would be able to do that. Most of its body had become unraveled from the injuries and fights with this army of rats. Forget surrounding the rats with pits, he would be lucky to finish this pit without the dungeon fairy dying.

The other part of the problem was time though. From what he noticed, the dungeon fairy was decent at avoiding damage, but the best way to avoid attacks was by not being in a fight. The only way that this plan, or any other possible plans, could work was by reducing the time the fairy spent dodging attacks. In other words, he needed to increase the amount of time the dungeon fairy had to work by making the rats take longer to find it.

Rather than surrounding the rats with pits, it was a better strategy to cut off all paths to the dungeon core with pits. As the dungeon fairy could fly, it could take cover behind the pits and use them to freely damage and kill the rats without any fear of getting more injured or killed. As long as the rats don’t have any range attacks, or can’t dig through walls.

First things first, he needed to delay the rats as much as possible. He looked at the map and searched for areas that were surrounded with long paths and winding cavern walls, eventually finding a dead-end tunnel relatively close to where the incomplete pit was. The rats, hopefully, unable to burrow through walls, will have to take a very long path away from the dungeon core before they can attack again.

“[Mark],” Jacob said, activating one of his abilities. He marked this point on the map with an ephemeral white flag for the dungeon fairy to track. In the game, he could simply click on a tile and make the dungeon fairy find its way towards it. This flag appeared to be a substitute or replacement for that.

The flag also appeared in his vision beyond the map, a use he didn’t realize existed but still appreciated. He flew over to the area just to make sure that this spot was useful for what he needed, and after he confirmed that he contacted the dungeon fairy.

“Dungeon Fairy, I placed a flag on the map. Lead the rats to this area, and once you reach it turn intangible and make your way over to the incomplete pit. Prioritize your health over dealing damage.”

“As you wish, Dungeon Master,” replied the fairy over their telepathic link.

Now that he had a strategy, it was time for him to mark out the other pits that he needed. He found the several tunnels leading to the core room and began to create the blueprint for the one of the pits while constantly monitoring the dungeon fairy. It didn’t take him long to finish creating this pit…

It felt like he was forgetting something important. He tried to ignore this feeling and focus on dealing with this current crisis, but no matter what he did the feeling refused to go away. Yet, when he tried to uncover what was wrong his mind or memories were evasive and taunting. His frustration kept growing until the revelation hit him like a freight train.

Soul points. Soul points, which he needed for creating and modifying dungeon organisms, casting spells, and healing the currently very damaged dungeon core; were gained from killing creatures. Specifically, they were gained from killing creatures on claimed territory. If anything died outside of the dungeon’s territory, no soul points would be gained.

Normally, this wasn’t something for him to worry about. In a normal playthrough, the dungeon would have expanded enough and all traps would have been placed on dungeon ground. Even in those situations, he would have had at least a modest amount of soul points to start out. The sudden — everything — had caused him to panic and failed to remember this important point.

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There was a chance, though he felt like it was a small chance, that this reality didn’t have this rule or restriction. Jacob wasn’t going to take any chances though, he only had this second chance. He checked his map and found that the only territory the dungeon had was at the entrance to the core room. The one place he wanted to keep everything away from.

He felt the phantom of his hair turning white from the mental strain and stress as he amended and cobbled together a new plan from this newly remembered bit of information. He removed the orange wireframe in front of him, deleting it as it didn’t have a current use. He rushed over to the incomplete pit as the dungeon fairy reached it.

“New plan, focus on finishing the pit near the dungeon core,” he said as he deleted the blueprints and started the far-too-slow ghostly rush towards the core room.

If one of those rats had a ranged attack, this was going to be a problem. He arrived at the entrance to the core room and amended the blueprint at the entrance, making sure to prevent any small outcroppings or ledges to allow any of the rats across. The dungeon fairy went to work carving out the pit, but it didn’t get far before the cursed squeaks and cries of those damned rats echoed through the caverns.

“Lead them away before they get a chance to see the dungeon core. Take them back to that marked spot then make your way back here.”

The dungeon fairy led the rats away, its wounds fluttering like poorly made wings. Jacob created a wall out of yellow wireframe in between the core entrance and the dungeon core. That way, if the rats did have an acid spit or fire breath, the dungeon core would have a certain degree of protection.

The pit was the priority. Jacob didn’t sit idly, he rushed out to watch over the dungeon fairy as it fought. The rats were tired from the fight and their injuries, but that still didn’t stop the mania they had from pushing their limits. They were like cockroaches, or like the honey badgers that he had watched about from a documentary. They were viscous, and they managed to inflict new wounds on the dungeon fairy.

The fairy reached the point he had marked and then made the sluggish trip back with Jacob in tow. They had managed to reach the entrance to the core room and the fairy went to work carving out the pit. The rats were much slower this time, giving the dungeon fairy enough time to work on the wall to protect the dungeon core.

The stone became soft and was pulled up out of the ground like hard gum. When the rats came enough of the wall had been created to block the sight of the dungeon core. Jacob stopped the dungeon fairy from finishing the wall and forced it to add a lip to the pit in case the rats tried to jump across. One of them tried, but the rat was too tired or injured to make it to the other side.

Now for the final part. He just needed to expand the dungeon’s territory to remove any possibility of not getting soul points. The dungeon fairy was once again sent out to lead the rats away, then brought back. It stood outside the pit, seeming to do nothing yet the map showed that the dungeon’s area was expanding. It had expanded enough to where Jacob felt it was safe to finally kill these assailants.

Rats were slow this time, and with the protection of the pit the dungeon fairy didn’t stop shooting out its white blasts of energy until they were all dead, even the one trapped in the pit. It was done, the battle had been won.

Yet, when Jacob looked at the dungeon fairy, it looked like it was barely holding itself together.

“Dungeon Fairy, how do I check your status or health?”

“All you need to do, Dungeon Master, is stay [Status: Target] and then select me.”

Jacob said the new command phrase and felt his mind plug into something foreign. He selected the dungeon fairy then grit his teeth.

Dungeon Fairy Status —

Health: 6%

The dungeon fairy was far too close to death to fight.