“That’s not how leveling works,” Daniela said. “You need to have complete control of your dungeon in order to upgrade it. It wouldn’t be fair to level up your dungeon right in the middle of an invasion, would it?”
Corey could see the logic behind it, but thought it was just one more arbitrary decision that had gone into this game that he would have to accept. He didn’t, however, like being in this wolfman runt’s body. He mentally shifted his presence to his core while simultaneously absorbing the wolfman runt avatar. It was done on instinct, and had the benefit of maxing his mana to 25/25.
Maybe I’m getting the hang of this, Corey thought.
“Where do I level up my dungeon?” he asked. Before Daniela could reply, he impatiently tried using a mental command to bring it up. It worked.
He was immediately connected with the dungeon level up information and suddenly knew. The option came to his mind.
[Congratulations, you can level up your dungeon to Level 1. This will cost 25 Mana. Level Up?]
[Yes] or [No]
“Good job!” Daniela said. “I didn’t even have to tell you how to do it that time.”
He ignored her and mentally smashed yes, and his core started to glow. It was surrounded by glowing light, and the light condensed to form a film on the edges of his core, which hardened, forming more perfect facets and enlarging his core slightly. Corey guess that it only grew by about the thickness of his thumb nail, but it still grew. Daniela’s clear barrier expanded to match.
[Congratulations, Corey, you have reached Dungeon Level 1!]
[New Defenders Available.]
Corey pulled up his dungeon information.
[Dungeon Core Level: 1.]
[Dungeon Core Experience: 13/500.]
[Mana Pool: 50.]
[Monster Control Units: 50.]
[Maximum Area of Dungeon: 500 Square Feet.]
[Current Area of Dungeon: 250/500 Square Feet.]
Corey was glad that the alpha’s experience hadn’t gone to waste, but he was even more happy that he could finally have his avatar back. He mentally focused on the dungeon defender creation mode and was able to see his new options in the strange all-knowing way he saw things with Daniela’s help.
Now, not only had he regained access to his original avatar, Corey, but he also had options for level one versions of ratman, mantisman, antman, beetleboy and wolfman. There were also blueprints for a level one wolf and rat, but apparently none of the bugs could level beyond zero.
He pulled up the level one option for the wolfman to see how much better it was compared to the level zero runt version.
[Wolfman: Level 1. A standard Wolfman. This Wolfman cannot use magic and has the following stats: Strength: 8; Stamina: 8; Agility: 8; Intelligence: 8; Spirit: 8; Vitality: 80; Mana: 80; Defense: 40; Mana Cost: 25; MCU Cost: 25.]
It looked like the level one wolfman was way more powerful than the level zero wolfman runt. It was almost on par with his own avatar’s starting stats. Additionally, it didn’t specify that it couldn’t use weapons besides its own teeth and claws. That gave Corey some ideas for later.
Corey absorbed the dead wolf laying on the floor, granting him five mana. Then he tried absorbing the alpha wolf lying dead on the spikes of the pit.
[Would you like to gain the Blueprint for Alpha Wolf?]
[Yes] or [No]
Interesting, Corey thought. It looks like variants have their own blueprint.
Not sure why though, Corey asked Daniela, “Why does the Alpha have it’s own blueprint?”
“Oh, that’s because the alpha wolf is the weaker monster variant of a champion and therefore has higher stats. You are limited to only having one champion tier monster per base monster type so that you can’t abuse their power.”
“Only one huh?” Corey asked.
“There can only be one,” she said in a strangely ominous voice before giggling.
Corey didn’t get it, but he let her insanity go and selected yes to absorb the blueprint.
[New Defender Blueprint Acquired: Alpha Wolf.]
[New Avatar Blueprint Acquired: Alpha Wolfman.]
He didn’t bother checking either of them yet, since he wanted to see how much mana his avatar would take. That was when he realized it was probably pointless, since he only had five mana at the moment.
“Why did the dungeon require both mana and experience to level up?” Corey asked.
“Because it does,” she said. Then she let out a giggle and added, “But, I suppose you are looking for the logic behind it. It’s meant to keep things from progressing too quickly. The game ran dungeons gain less experience and mana from invading monsters, so it’s a way to make it more balanced.”
“In other words,” Corey said, “it’s just one more way to make sure the dungeons don’t grow too fast.”
“Yes,” Daniela said. “But, it’s also meant to incentivize you to prioritize your needs. It’s one of the many ways the system can differentiate and reward players who make smart decisions.”
One more thing for me to balance, he thought. Regardless, what was important right now was that Corey’s dungeon was finally level one.
He pulled up his Corey avatar option, dreading the mana cost, but needing to know.
“Wait, what?” Corey said, staring in disbelief.
[Summon Corey for 0 Mana?]
[Yes] or [No]
“Is this right?” Corey asked, mentally pointing at the mana cost.
“Yep,” Daniela responded happily. “It is your own avatar, after all. You didn’t need any dungeon core mana to operate it before you captured the dungeon, did you?”
This frustrated Corey because if he’d known, he would have already been in his avatar by now, but he let it go. Plus, she was starting to grow on him, and his previous need to contact a GM had already been taken care of with Chuck’s appearance.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Chuck’s team would figure things out. Then, he would be able to log out whenever he wanted. However, he would definitely keep playing if he had a chance at some prize money for this dungeon master challenge. Even if he didn’t take first place, he was confident he could get one of the higher level consolation prizes if he worked hard. For now though, he had a Corey to summon.
He selected yes, summoning his avatar. He felt his mind pulled back inside a normal space. It felt, right. He held up one arm, then the other, wiggling all of his fingers.
Thankfully his basic starting clothes and all his other gear had remained. He wouldn’t have enjoyed walking into the town in his underwear, which was as close to nude as you could get in this game.
He took a deep breath and smelled the damp of the cave. It had rich earthy undertones and cool crisp air.
“Why can I smell so much better now?” Corey asked. “It didn’t smell nearly this dank when I was using a ratman or wolfman avatar.”
“Oh,” Daniela replied happily, “That’s because I designed those avatars for you, and I lowered the sensory input so that you wouldn’t be overwhelmed.”
“I thought the sensory input was already lowered in the game, even for my avatar.”
“Yes, but not that much for smells,” Daniela replied. “If you think the wolves smelled bad before, just imagine how bad it would have been with a fully functional sniffer of a wolfman!”
She spun in a circle and performed a bow, adding, “You’re welcome!”
Corey let out a laugh and added, “Okay, you got me there. I’ll admit that you probably did me a solid.”
He heard the trickle of water and looked over to the small rivulet going out the cave from the little puddle. He’d forgotten how dark it was in here to begin with, but it looked like night had fallen outside. The cave entrance was pitch black beyond the few vines hanging in front of his dungeon.
The dungeon itself seemed to give off an ambient light of its own though, so at least it wasn’t pitch black inside. But, it hadn’t seemed nearly this dark when he was in the dungeon core or one of his monstrous avatars. He figured it was a benefit of taking those other forms, and he would take the dark over being a monster if he could help it.
“Is there a faster way to get mana?” Corey asked.
“You can absorb things you have created, the stone or dirt within your area of influence, or it will regenerate over time depending on how close you are to a nexus.”
“So unless I want a big rectangular room here, I should probably not absorb all the rock. So, what? I just wait?”
“If you want to,” she said. “You’re lucky though. This dungeon was formed almost on top of a nexus.”
“Hold up” Corey said. “What is a nexus, where is it, and how does being closer to it help my mana regeneration?”
Daniela laughed, with a high ringing sound like tinkling glass, then she beamed at him.”I knew you were a good one! You ask such good questions. A nexus is where the different lay lines of power converge. This one is in the center of this mountain. As you move your dungeon core closer to the center, you will be able to regenerate your mana faster. Most dungeon’s follow a winding path toward a nexus for that reason, adding lower levels when they run out of square footage space to keep growing their dungeon for invaders.”
I’ll have to remember to keep asking questions, Corey thought. If I don’t get this figured out fast, I’ll never be able to beat the other players to the top. He knew his sister was counting on him, and so long as he was stuck here anyway, he figured he might as well have at it.
“Okay,” Corey said, all business, “What is the next thing I need to do to level up this dungeon.”
“Well, unless you want to defend this dungeon with nothing but your avatar, I recommend that you get some defenders in place and re-form your trap, and maybe make some more.”
“Do I need to move back into the dungeon core?” Corey asked.
“No, you can use the same mental commands as before. You just have different sensory input coming into you at the moment because I can’t change your Corey avatar in any way. Try to focus and you should feel the dungeon and its options like before as long as you are inside the dungeon.”
Corey did focus, then, he felt it. He mentally went through the menus until he got to his defenders, but he hesitated. His mana had just ticked up to 6/50. He figured he could defend his dungeon on his own since the wolves were probably the strongest monsters in the forest nearby, but he didn’t like the idea of dying repeatedly when he could wait for some mana to regenerate and have wolfmen to help.
Opening the list, he knew that he could summon a level one alpha wolf, how strong it was, and how much it would cost, 25 mana and 25 MCU. The alpha wolf wasn’t that impressive. He thought it would be stronger since it seemed to be a unique monster. It had better stats than the regular wolf, for sure, but it was nowhere near as powerful as a regular wolfman, which he could summon for the same mana cost.
The level one alpha wolfman, however was a different story. It was also unique, so he could only summon one, but it was also only 25 mana. He pulled up its sheet and was pleased that it appeared as a normal prompt.
[Wolfman Alpha: Level 1. An Alpha Wolfman. This Wolfman can use primitive enhancement and regeneration magic and has the following stats: Strength: 17; Stamina: 17; Agility: 17; Intelligence: 17; Spirit: 17; Luck: 1; Vitality: 170; Mana: 170; Defense: 85; Mana Cost: 25; MCU Cost: 25.]
The level one wolfman alpha had way better stats. It was even more powerful than his own Avatar’s. His own stats were currently all sitting at ten, the starting amount.
It was too bad he couldn’t summon one as a defender without needing to control it personally.
Wait a minute, Corey thought
“Hey, Daniela,” he asked. “Can I summon a wolfman alpha, but as a defender? I don’t really want to live inside one of those again, but it seems really strong.”
“I don’t see why not, let me add them to your defender list.”
Corey felt the new monster defenders available to him.
“Awesome!” Corey shouted. “Can you create other awesome monsters for me?”
“No,” Daniela said. “I’ve given you the strongest combinations possible for the time being. Basically, if you haven’t collected its blueprint, I can’t combine it. I could create a mantiswolf, or a mantisant, for example, but they would just cost more mana for a weaker defender.”
“But,” Corey protested, “the wolfman is so much stronger than the regular wolf of the same level.”
“That was due to the humanoid, pack-hunter, predator, and night-and-day-hunter multipliers, plus the fact that I used your avatar to create them. Normally that would not be possible, since a dungeon cannot absorb a player when they die, but because yours was basically absorbed, I bent the rules.”
“So you cheated?” Corey asked.
“Not at all,” she replied. “Chief authorized it. Plus, your player avatars have way better level one stats than the non-player characters in this world.”
“You mean game, right?” Corey asked.
“To you it’s a game, but to me it’s reality,” she said with a shrug. “But we are getting off topic. Humanoids have a multiplier applied to all of their stats, though it’s normally less than the one attached to your avatar. For another example, the reason Dragons are so strong for their level is because they get the dragonoid, humanoid, size, shapeshifter, and flight multipliers, among many others. That adds up to a powerful base multiplier for the creature.”
“Okay, don’t bother with the other combinations for now then,” Corey said. “We will just have to find some stronger monsters to turn into humanoid hybrids haha.”
Corey shifted his focus to the now empty pit. “How do I repair the camouflage?”
“Just absorb the entire pit and re-make it. It gives the same mana back to you, regardless of how badly it was destroyed. Here, I’ll give you an option to do that instantly.”
Corey felt a new option, reset trap, appear in his menu. He looked to the pit and focused on reset trap. It reset instantly, and he couldn’t tell it apart from the other scattered leaves with his eyes. He could still sense it though.
“That was easy,” He said. He looked to Daniela to see her response, but she looked distracted.
Daniela was looking up and to the side, and said, “Well, how about that… They just patched it. I can’t create any more hybrid avatars or defenders using your Corey avatar as a building block.” Then in a cheery tone she added, “But, you’ll get to keep all the ones I already made you, and as long as they don’t change anything else, as your dungeon level increases, your avatar’s level limitations will too.”
“Okay,” Corey said, “that sounds like a bad thing. I just lost the chance to have even more powerful creations if my avatar has better stat multipliers.”
Daniela shrugged. “You can already summon a massive snarling wolfman that can rip invaders apart, what more do you want? The alpha wolfman had some really great multipliers, even outside your avatar being used.”
“So,” Corey prodded, “You’re saying that it is a great defender and could give me an advantage?”
“Exactly,” she replied. “They will be stronger than most other monsters of their level until you start fighting some of the higher level monsters like dragons or minotaurs. But, they all have a minimum level of 30 or more. As long as you keep leveling your dungeon, it will be an amazing defender and will last well into the point where you can create even stronger hybrids, or just use the powerful monsters that you gain the blueprints for.”
Corey saw that his mana had regenerated to five, so he summoned five level one rats, at one mana each. They were the strongest monsters he could afford to summon at the moment, and he had an idea.These rats will be worth even more to Anna now that they are level one, he thought.
Corey moved to walk out of the cave, but was stopped with a cry from Daniela.
“Wait! Where are you going? You need to stay and defend your dungeon. Your rats won’t stand a chance against the tougher monsters spawning in the forest.”
“Tougher monsters?” Corey asked, turning back to look at her, a bit of worry coming through his voice. “I thought the wolves were the strongest things around?”