The kobolds of the seventh wave came marching down the road full of confidence as their mages’ barriers kept the towers from affecting them. Duke’s XENOGLOSSIA picked up their confidence and eagerness. It offended him at a level he didn’t really understand and caused him to act without thinking.
With a flex of power, the five kobold mages appeared in front of the party. Even though they had not been given warning, Jablach and Axis tore into them, killing them swiftly as they stood there disorientated. They both shared an accusatory look back at Duke who gave the official “sorry about that” wince.
The remaining kobolds were savaged by the towers. The upgraded Archery tower began to really show its full capabilities as the massive arrows struck down panicked kobold after panicked kobold. With their protection gone, their confidence had disappeared as fast as the barriers. Some attempted to run down the road to reach the party while others simply turned tail and tried to flee. None of them survived to reach the party or escape the field of battle.
“That was a good idea, Duke. But next time make sure the rest of the team is ready for the sudden appearance of enemies. Let’s keep that going for the next few waves and see if we can keep using the towers to clear the bulk of the kobolds.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that. They just looked so damned smug marching carefree behind their barriers that I couldn’t help myself.”
“I probably would have done the same, Duke. At least it’s the plan now.” Axis replied.
“Can anyone tell me if the Enhancer tower is having an effect on you?” Greslarnier attempted to get things back under control as Duke ran down the road collecting the kobolds’ gear.
“Without question. I am faster and stronger than normal under its influence. I would say maybe 25% faster than normal and the same with strength. This may be the best tower we have. Can it be upgraded?”
“It can be upgraded three times like all the other towers, but we don’t have the credits to do so just yet. We have 840 credits and we need 1,900 to upgrade it to the next level.”
“I recommend we make that one a priority. A force multiplier for ourselves is rather powerful.” Axis’s suggestion was agreed to by all.
Duke returned in time for the next wave to be announced. They waited for the kobolds to be directly between the Archery and Energy Blast towers and Duke enacted the plan, TELEPORTING the kobold mages directly to the party. The expected chaos ensued as they were quickly cut down while the towers finished off the remaining kobolds.
“Did one of the kobolds actually make it past the Acid Spitter tower?” Greslarnier asked
“That is what I saw.” Duke responded. “It seems that they are approaching the power level where our towers are going to cease to be able to stop them.”
“I can set up another Enhancer tower close to the base so that they have to get through all our towers before reaching you or we can save the credits and upgrade the current Enhancer tower after the next wave.”
The debate amongst the group was short-lived and the decision was to move back and see what the remaining two towers could do and go from there. The other decision was to hold off on the second Enhancer tower until they needed it. While the short-lived debate took place, Duke had collected all the gear from the deceased kobolds.
“You have room for all that stuff?” Jablach asked Duke.
“I have room for more than 360,000 cubic meters of stuff. This is nothing.”
“Walking warehouse.” Axis quipped.
“Walking warehouse with a cute ass.” Aurelia added as she grabbed Duke from behind.
All further conversation was forestalled by the next wave starting. They stuck to the plan and executed the kobold mages quickly. This mass of 60 kobolds charged through the first three towers with some casualties but lost more than half of their remaining number to the Acid Spitter tower. The Armor Breaker did a spectacular job of shattering shields and degrading the kobolds’ armor but the 9 that still lived charged on past the Enhancer tower and were blasted to ash by the Dragon’s Breath tower. The blue flame swept across the road leaving neither kobold nor gear behind, just some scattered ash blowing in the wind.
After a series of quick glances amongst the group the decision to keep calling waves was easy to make. The next waves came one after another with their tactics holding up solidly. The fifteenth wave saw the first kobold that made it through the Dragon’s Breath tower. It emerged from the flames, its crest glowing blue while it radiated some form of freezing aura around itself. This was also the first wave that had mages that put up a significant fight when TELEPORTED. The Heaven’s Wrath tower engaged the lone kobold survivor with a blast of pure whiteness. When everyone’s eyes readjusted from the bright flash, the kobold was just gone. There was no body, no ash, just nothing, as if the kobold had never existed.
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“That was the last of the tier two attackers. We now move on to the tier three and eventually, I expect tier four. It’s going to get harder now, especially as their levels and numbers really start to climb.” Duke sent to the group.
“Is it time for the Enhancer tower for the party?” Greslarnier asked.
“I think so. How much can you level one up with the credits we have now?” Aurelia asked.
“I can get us a level three Enhancer tower right here in front of the base. Sound good?”
“Yes, do it.”
The tower rose from the ground with a rumbling crash. Immediately was leveled up twice more expanding taller and wider. The rush of power that followed the tower's creation filled the group with a feeling of invincibility. They found themselves involuntarily flexing muscles and readying their weapons as the next wave began.
The 16th wave marked the start of the tier 3 kobolds. These creatures marched down the road with confidence and swagger their mages erected barriers that protected them from the onslaught I'm all the towers. A debate rose up amongst the group as to whether Duke should TELEPORT the mages to the group to kill them or whether they should face this group of 95 fully intact.
”Go on Duke get on with it. Some of the mages so we can slaughter them before the rest get here.”
“No, let them come as a group. We need to gauge their strength in tier three while they are still low-level and this will also give us the chance to see just how much the Enhancer tower boosts us.”
In the end, the group decided to just let them come and see how the mages handled the two strongest towers. As it turned out, better than the group had expected. The nine mages of the group easily tanked the Dragon’s Breath tower with their combined barriers. What happened next, changed the group’s strategy for the rest of the delve.
The mages broke into two groups. The group of five continued forward, protecting the approaching group of kobolds. The four other mages stopped their advance and concentrated on a spell of their own. It was a short ritual spell that culminated with a single blast of energy directed back towards the start of the level. The four mages collapsed, their lifeforce spent to power the spell, but it struck the target perfectly. In seconds, the Archery tower collapsed.
“Well, fuck. Did anyone see that coming? I sure as hell didn’t.”
“Nope, that was unexpected and tells us for certain that we can’t let them advance unimpeded. Duke, grab the remaining mages and get them into the slaughter zone.”
Duke didn’t hesitate and the remaining five kobold mages were TELEPORTED to the waiting group. There was no hesitation as they were attacked by Aurelia, Jablach, Axis, and Duke. Axis won the unofficial “killing speed” contest and managed to also finish off the last mage before the others could get to it. The remaining kobolds of the wave struggled their way through the Dragon’s Breath and Heaven’s Wrath towers’ effects with only a pair reaching the group. They did not last long.
Since they had delayed so long in dealing with that wave, the next started almost immediately. Duke did not delay in TELEPORTING the ten mages of this wave to the group. With the effects of the Enhancer tower running through their bodies, they quickly tore through the kobold mages and were able to watch the towers take their toll on the kobolds.
Even though the kobolds now stood as tall as Duke and carried heavy weapons and armor, they were still no match for the two last towers. Seven ragged kobolds made it through the ordeal but were also quickly cut down by the group.
As the last kobold turned to mist, the group looked at each other and collectively said to Duke. “TELEPORT the mages first.”
He laughed along. “Yeah, seems like that is the way to win this. Which means things are going to change on us soon. This pattern can’t hold. It has to ramp up in difficulty soon. We need to be ready with other strategies.”
“Any suggestions?” Eihlen asked?
“Be ready for Duke to unleash ridiculous amounts of Mana channeled into a spell of mass destruction.” Aurelia replied.
“Not my first thought on a strategy, but if it comes to it, you know that I will do just that.”
“Speaking of ridiculous amounts of Mana, how much Mana does my former apprentice have at his command now?”
Duke smiled. “A bit under three million.” All heads turned to him.
“Did I hear that right? Three million Mana?” Greslarnier shouted down from the top of the base.
“It’s really closer to 2.8 million, but yeah. That’s what I’ve got for now. It will take another dozen levels or so for me to hit three million officially.”
“That’s an immense Mana pool. No, not immense. It’s just stupid. I doubt even Baslin has a Mana pool like that. Do you, Baslin?”
“I have too many old enemies still out there to reveal such information. But Duke’s pool is alarmingly large for his tier and level. The fact that he had to all but die to get it speaks to how hard it is to achieve. I’m sure you all know how hard he is to kill.”
“Right here. I’m right here, you all. Enough talk about how different I am and let’s get ready for the next wave. It will be the full hundred kobolds, so we should expect something to change. Prepare yourselves.”
As Duke had predicted, the next wave started. These kobolds looked different. They all had scaled crests that glowed with different colored light and came charging down the road. When Duke was unable to see any mages among them and there were no magic barriers in evidence, the group collectively tightened their grip on their weapons and prepared for the coming charge. None of them missed that the Slowing tower had no effect on the approaching screaming horde. The group cemented their positions and waited.
The charging kobolds ignored all the towers.