I was not sure what to think of this entire situation anymore. One moment I was just a regular gal that played games and tried to have fun. Next, I was a sphinx inside what looks to be a real-life version of my favorite game. Then it turns out I am apparently THE chess piece in a game between gods. My opinion about the matter would be that it was bullshit. They both had an agenda, and they are both trying to use me for their own selfish reasons.
At least Penumbra was honest about it. She clearly stated she needed me and would help me whether I want it or not, and I believed her. Not like I had a choice about it after what I saw earlier. Gah, even if I continued to think about it, I wouldn’t get anywhere. Time to do some expansion to get my head straight and focused again. Who knows when Inlas or someone else will decide to-
Well, if Ezekiel had cores, I would be a fool not to buy them. A few quick questions to the Archives to get the correct number of gems and an emerald for Ezekiel, and off I went.
It was barely dark outside. He would have left before nightfall to get here this early. Then again, with me being declared a Deathtrap, it’s not like anyone would be in the area, right?
Either way if those three wanted to run that risk then that’s their choice to make, not mine, I just pay em. Ezekiel himself seemed nervous, couldn’t say blamed him. “Got the gems?” “If you have the goods, yes” he tossed me the bag. I checked its contents, 1 core, fair enough, couldn’t be too easy to get those. I quickly counted up the correct number of gems, took the core out of the bag and replaced it with the payment. Then I handed Ezekiel a decent-sized emerald, his hazard pay.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Core.” He licked his lips as he quickly left, though he kept looking back as he did. I shrugged, stashed the core in my inventory, and returned to the Core Pillar. I could eat that later, last thing I needed was a searing headache while building the next floor.
I created a rudimentary short hallway and then placed the stairs. The familiar featureless room awaited me when I entered the third floor. I had some time to think of this one, and I decided on the Deep Labyrinth; It was a logical step, really; I was a Maze biome, after all. Another potentially useful thing I would get access to with the Deep Labyrinth, according to the Archives, was the Workshop. A resource room that would allow creatures that could wield tools to forge items using resources from around my dungeon, like the Starsilver form the crag.
For all intents and purposes Starsilver was, again according to the Archives, essentially this world’s answer to Mithril or Adamantium in its refined form. At least that is how I understood his citation since the archive did not understand what Mithril and Adamantium was. Though interestingly enough it had one key difference. Starsilver could only be refined in dungeons, if taken outside in its raw form it would turn brittle and lose its luster. It would become useless within a matter of minutes, because of this it it was an excessively valuable commodity in its refined form. Valuable enough to remove the Deathtrap label of a dungeon and make even the most seasoned adventurers risk life and limb even for a single piece of the refined stuff. I knew I currently had the Deathtrap label. That meant they would leave me alone, for now. But I needed to grow both my Avatar and my Dungeon.
The Cores I bought could be used to expand my current floors, sure. But 3 floors would only protect me for so long and eventually I would not grow wider, or so I feared. I needed go to deeper and for that I needed invaders to kill. As much as I hated to say it and the knowledge that I had a giant target on my head, from a deity no less. Well, I needed to speed up my growth, but not before I was ready, I would stack the deck as much in my favor as I could. And for that I would have to delve deep into the Mastery menu. The reason I got so badly beat last time was because there were two dozen adventurers all rampaging through my depths. There had to be a reason for that.
It took me less than a second to work out what must have happened. Inlas must have screwed with the “Max amount allowed” when she “Blessed” me, I needed to fix that, now. It took a bit of looking, but I found what she had altered with the help of the Archives. An option that had previously been hidden by the “Blessing” in the mastery menu. Unlocked and active. Just looking at it made me feel ill.
That bitch had given me activated and hidden War Mode. This setting would set both the “Party Size” and the “Invader level limit” of my dungeon to ∞. It was what endgame dungeons used when they wanted a real challenge back in the game, I was lucky I just had to deal with 24 people. I could have had 24000 rampaging through at any given time.
This would also explain why Rubolg had done nothing prior. Since it was seemingly the dungeons’ own incompetence and by extension Penumbras, that led to their demise. But I had no way to have been able to earn 1000M yet. I was too young of a dungeon and there had been an obvious show of foul play from Inlas before regarding me. This would probably get her in serious trouble.
I turned War Mode off, doing my best to not imagine what could have been a very quick end to me. Ugh, I needed to build and clear my head. If I didn’t, I would probably spend the next two weeks just making up scenarios for how to murder Inlas in the most painful way possible. I had begun to develop a serious hatred for that goddess, and hatred was never good to nourish.
Pushing that aside I flipped open biomes and picked Deep Labyrinth. Huh… come to think of it, I never made a Special biome back in the game since I could never mutate a Depths biome. Wonder what this would be like, I could read the description… hmm... nah, Surprise me! Oh, Special Biome!!
The answer came sooner than expected as the entire dungeon shook violently and the doorway in front of me created a hallway on its own. When the shaking intensified, fearing the worst, and I retreated up the stairs, only to find that the quake was limited to the 3rd floor. I guess that meant whatever the quaking was it was part of the biome’s construction?
When I went back down the stairs, I could only ponder at this biome and the reason for the shaking as I looked at the newly built hallway. The tunnel was a circular thing that bore a striking resemblance to something. I just couldn’t remember right now. Shouldn’t the tunnels be square, I mean Labyrinth, Maze, was I missing something?
As their tunnels closed behind them I continued placing tunnel-hallways. Which I now realized reminded me of the tunnels the Worms left behind. A while later I broke through to a giant natural cavern, considering how perfectly smooth it was this had to be part of the biome itself.
Device Name: Dimensional Labyrinth
Device type: Special Environmental Trap
Trap type: Environment Alteration
Material Type: Space/time
Unlock Cost: 30TP
Range: Floor
Trigger Type: Constant
Cooldown: -
Hardness: -
HP: -
Defense: -
Evasion: -
Upkeep: 300e/d
Duration: ∞
Effect: Up are down, left are right, forwards are backwards. All sense of order is left behind when this trap is placed as all laws of physics are upended. Entering a tunnel will no longer leave you the logical exit, but could lead you to another section of the floor. And only by entering the correct sequence of tunnels will you be able to make progress. Furthermore, flight becomes borderline impossible as the dimensional distortions will disorient fliers to the point of complete confusion or just teleport them back to the beginning of the floor. Ethereal creatures and creatures that burrow through the ground are unaffected by this trap. Due to the dimensional instability caused by the trap, teleportation will always mishap, this includes the teleportation on fliers. Warning cannot be removed once placed, and can affect creatures with Labyrinth Sense due to the constant shifting in space-time.
So burrowing and Ethereal creatures would not be affected, eh? No wonder there were so many of those here with something like this present. I would be hard-pressed to afford this trap right away though, not because of that unlock. That was manageable, if expensive. But the upkeep, that was a tad steep, let’s see what else is here…
No basics… interesting, so let’s see... different Earth Elementals. Some strange Monstrosities, Spirits of varying levels of viability. Hmm, so many choices, so little ti- Duergar? That would explain the Workshop option. I would likely need these guys and some support rooms to get that the Workshop. Come to think of it, I should have looked up the workshop rather than listen to the Archives’ explanation of the merits of it to see any potential requirements.
Duergar seemed like an excellent choice for this place though, but how to go about it, there were many kinds of Duergar. From the Commoner caste, who were poor combatants but would work resource rooms and workshops. The warrior caste who could gain different class levels and would defend the place viciously against intruders. The Priestly caste, with levels in Cleric, worshipers of Lady Penumbra, would probably get points with “Mother” if I got those. And finally Nobles, who had the “Nobility” skill, which made them exceedingly skilled commanders, leaders and administrators.
Nobles also had all the same skills as Warriors to boot. If I went this route, it would be expensive. Because in difference from the Hive above, just placing a few rooms and a queen would not get me what I needed. I would need to unlock all the castes and their support buildings.
To top it off, I needed to use this center area as their stronghold. So I could kiss Dimensional Labyrinth goodbye if I went that way, hmm choices. Both sides had their merits and downfalls. On one hand, the labyrinth would make the biome and absolute NIGHTMARE to navigate while allowing me to focus on creatures that was unaffected. But the upkeep would be steep and the effects would end once they entered the main part of the Deep Labyrinth which I had yet to even explore.
On the other hand, Duergar were on par with Dwarves in the skill of smithing. So their warriors were really tough cookies to beat in fight once they had some forged gear and class levels under their belt. And if I placed the support buildings first, they would spawn in with more levels of their base class. A pretty good deal.
I should look through the support buildings to decide and to see if the expense would be worth the i- suddenly a shiver went through me. Like some abhorrently powerful force was scrutinizing me… judging me, it was making me feel completely exposed. The secrets of my very soul was bared to the world by this presence. To say that I felt uncomfortable would be a ridiculously severe understatement. Then, as suddenly as it had arrived, it vanished.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Before I could even get a response from the Archives on what the hell just happened. A giant raven materialized in front of me.
“HEAR YE, HEAR YE. By Divine Decree, Lord Rubolg has removed War Mode as a possible skill for dungeons under a dungeon level of 120. All dungeons under this level have had War Mode disabled and removed. Dungeons of too young age to have gotten the ability naturally will not receive any refunds.
The goddess Inlas is from this day forth banned from giving any blessings or curses to dungeons or monsters. All dungeons Tamed while carrying a “Blessing of Inlas” in the last 15473 years will be released, effective immediately. Affected dungeons are now under the effect of Divine Sanctuary for the next 72 hours to allow the dungeons to shore up their defenses without worry. Adventurers have been expelled from the affected dungeons. All Cores carrying Sealing Bracelets have been released from them, and we have returned them to their Core Rooms.
Dungeons that have been freed by this decree will be immune to taming and destruction for the next year and a day. But may still be Conquered, delve within them at your own risk. Dungeons that have been freed have been refunded all lost income because of the taming and may spend it immediately. May balance be restored to the world by the law and judgement of our great Lord Rubolg!”
As suddenly as it had arrived, the raven disappeared. I could only surmise the sense of utter scrutiny was Rubolg checking if I truly had War Mode. And had been none too pleased with the discovery that indeed I did.
What surprised me was that it seemed like Inlas had gotten off from the entire thing with little more than a slap on the wrist. Probably some divine insight I couldn’t begin to understand at work here. Still, that meant that Inlas couldn’t screw around with me by “Blessing” me anymore regardless of my resonance.
The answer was obvious, the so-called “Deathtrap” dungeons. They were not protected by the Decree. No time to hesitate, I needed to shore up my defenses. At least this time it would hopefully be an even fight instead of the slow, inevitable steam roll. Since War Mode wasn’t a thing I needed to worry about anymore. As it was I needed a fighting force, and that meant only one thing.
Duergar were not that impressive stats wise as some advanced monsters I could get down the line. But because of their ability to use equipment and gain class skills, they could still be a force to be reckoned with. Basically, all Duergar had the following base stats:
Monster: Duergar (Special)
Genus: Umbral Dwarf
Biome: Deep Labyrinth
Unlock cost: 5 per Caste
HP: 140
MP: 110
Attack: 70 (Commoner) 140 + weapon strength if wielding a weapon
Defense: 65 (Commoner) 140 + armor strength if applicable
Magic Attack: 110 (Casters only) + Caster tool strength if wielded by a Caster
Magic Defense: 90 + armor strength if applicable
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 11
Endurance: 14
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 9
Upkeep: 5, Upkeep 1, with the correct support building for its caste.
Special Upkeep: if a Duergar Ruler Variant and a Duergar High Priest Variant is present, upkeep is # of Duergar/2, rounded up.
Skills: Darkvision(Racial), Tunnel Sense(Racial), Labyrinth Sense(Racial), Dwarven Craftsmanship(Racial), Grandmaster Gemcutter(Racial), Grandmaster Jeweler(Racial), Grandmaster Blacksmith(Racial), Grandmaster Stonemason(Racial), Minor Invisibility(Racial), Dwarven Stubbornness(Racial), Stonesense(Racial) Proficient Miner(Racial)(Commoner), Tunnel Digger(Racial)(Commoner), Tunnel Warfare(Racial)(Warrior, Noble), Tunnel Tactics(Racial)(Warrior, Noble), Nobility(Racial)(Noble), Piety(Priest), Dwarven Class Selection(Special).
The major problem was the Castes, these guys relied on each other Caste and each one was a separate unlock with their separate support buildings. If they were all built, though, it would spawn in some variants guaranteed. The Duergar Royal and High Priest which would be stronger than their normal counterparts, but this would still be one hell of an expensive venture in terms of total cost.
Not to mention the extra resource rooms I would have to build to truly let them flourish. But the benefits I could get from it were just too great to ignore. Besides, a genuine fortress to block the adventurers with seemed like a solid line of defense, not to mention that would still leave the Labyrinth proper. The entrance to which I could see on the other side of the huge cavern. Besides, if I were to continue my main strategy of “Bleed them dry by a billion cuts” this was decidedly the best way I could do it. Let them smash themselves to pieces against the master crafted walls of a Duergar stronghold.
My mind made up, I started looking up the support buildings. Barracks for warriors, Temple for priests, Keep for the nobles and Great Smithy, and Duergar Mining camp for the commoners. Ouch these things were… not cheap, and that was just the support buildings. If I wanted to get any use out of the Smithy and mining camp, I needed some resource rooms too. Unlocking the support buildings would cost me 100M that hurt, the 4 Castes would be 20EP total and finally the Resource buildings. What could I even get for them to help em out?
Hmm let’s see, Quarry 10TP, if I wanted to fortify this cavern that was a must, Iron Mine 10TP, that was the basic mine could I find something better? Silver… I needed weapons and armor right now, jewelry could come later, gold, platinum and copper, same thing.
Nothing under the basic tab. Did I qualify for any of the special resources? Darksteel required a support room from the Underworld Maze, bummer could have been really useful. Gem Mine required a Geode Cavern, so I could make that, but again, weapons, not jewelry.
Starsilver Mine, now THAT was what I was hoping for. High tier weapons, armor and tools, and the cost was...100TP well then. The total setback for this purchase was 100 Mastery, 20EP, 110 TP and a yet to be determined Essence upkeep.
Well, this would hurt my wallet, but what could I do? No progress without cost and all that. I bought it all, down to 100EP, 10TP and 20M. The worst part was I would need some of that EP for the first floor, so I couldn’t splurge too much on different critters here either. The Duergar would have to do. Then again, I had the migrated monsters I could summon more of if I needed them.
To begin with, I placed two mining camps, placing one by the East wall and the other by the west. Then placed the Quarry on the east wall next to one camp and the Starsilver mine on the west wall next to the other. Then I placed the Temple, Barracks, Great Smithy and Keep.
Even as I thought that two pools of mist slowly solidified into a pair of Duergar. One of them was wearing a crown while the other was draped in religious garb. The Ruler and the High Priest. The two eyed me for a moment.
“Ye must be the Core dat summoned us, ain’t ye?” the Duergar King asked me, I nodded. “Well den, Melady, what do ye wish for us to do?” He treated me more like an equal than anything, despite calling me, Milady. That was quite a refreshing thing given how everyone treated me as if I was infallible. “I want to first know how many Duergar you would need to fortify this cavern.” The Ruler looked at me for a moment, then shrugged before heading up on the stronghold battlements and surveyed the area. “Ho much of it do ye wish to have fortified?” He asked as he looked over the cavern. “At least enough to cover it from the west wall to the east wall and bar passage into the Deep Labyrinth proper.” I answered, I suspected he would not mind the work. Duergar was an industrious lot after all. “Ah, so we are to be the first line of defense on this floor, eh?” he looked at me as I nodded. He seemed… pleased, then went silent for a bit.
“Fifteen workers in da Quarry, five in da smithy, fifteen in da mines and another fifteen carryin da resources and buildin da walls. Fifty in total, da construction itself will take a few days. I will also need warriors ta hold da fort, Priests ta heal them in a fight and Nobles ta lead em.” he scratched his white beard, deep in thought. “How many?” I asked as the silence stretched on. “Hmm, with Ten Nobles and Priests and Fifty Warriors we should be able ta secure the place against assault at every hour o da day. That would let us ave two squads on duty, two restin and one on standby in case o emergency at all times.”
120 Duergar, 122 total with the High Priest and King present. Divide by 2 and round up because of the special upkeep reduction and… 61e/d, a tad expensive, but doable. Though only because of the size of the special biome pushing my essence gain up by a lot. Had I tried this without the special biome already pre-made for me, I would have been losing a pretty decent chunk of Essene a day. Right now I had what… I did the math in my head quickly. I had about 20e/d prior to building this floor and after summoning now I would have 35e/d.
I summoned what the King had asked for and watched as they got to work in total silence and with steeled purpose. Then I checked the TP cost for the Workshop. Nope, not happening. 50TP with 10TP remaining, well, nothing to do about it, let’s explore the labyrinth and move my Core Room then.
Mmmm... Shroomcow steak and Mushroom stew, garnished with Rock Salt. The Records hadn’t lied, Rock Salt was much better to a Sphinx Palette, no idea why, but it was. And on the side a mushroom salad and Mushroom Tea was the drink, absolutely delicious.
After the meal, I announced that I would move my Core Room down soon. But that I would continue to use the chamber as my dining room to make it easier for Lienru to get me my food. The Archives seemed ready to tell me when she showed up with it, so I was all for making her life easier. Rather than force her to marathon through the floors as I added them, not to mention the distance would likely render the food cold.
With that eaten, I returned to the 3rd floor and entered the Labyrinth proper. This place differed from the Maze, the place was massive. Twenty meter wide and with walls that disappeared up at least sixty meter if not more. The walls were smooth and with no sharp corners to aid grappling hooks or other climbing tools. So it would be a veritable nightmare to climb. The eerie thing about the Deep Labyrinth was the small spheres of green light that lit the place up. The only light source in my entire Dungeon so far. Why make it easier on the intruders, after all?
Even so, this light was unnerving. It didn’t allow for any shadows to be cast, and every time I placed a paw it echoed in the distance and whirled up a small cloud of dust. Small crawlspaces and chubby holes along the bottom also added natural hiding spots. As the light from the spheres did nothing to light these up at all, it was as if all the shadows had fled into them.
This place gave me goosebumps. Trust me, it was a very different experience when you are covered in fur, let me tell you. I walked and walked, the stillness only broken by the echoes of my foot pads. Man, this place alone could be used as a weapon. If I thought this was creepy, what would intruders think of this since they were not safe in here at all?
As I wandered, I could sense the presence of the creatures from the first floor sporadically. They were somewhere in the Labyrinth. Then one of the Rat Swarms crossed my path. In the eerie green light it was just a mass of blackness with dozens of red glowing eyes. Yeah this place was just designed to make you freak the hell out wasn’t it, now I just needed something fittingly destructive to go with this place.
Monster: Hazalaar, the Heartseeker (Named Wandering Boss)
Genus: Minotaur, Shade, Undead
Biome: Deep Labyrinth
Unlock cost: 20M + 50EP
Gender: Male
HP: 260
MP: 240
Attack: 300 + weapon
Defense: 200
Magic Attack: 180
Magic Defense: 160
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 20
Endurance: 26
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 24
Charisma: 16
Upkeep: 30e/d
Special: Scythe of the Heartseeker(Unique weapon) Effect: Adds Magic Attack to Physical Attack (480 total) and makes the attack count as magical damage
Skills: Undead Immunities(Racial), Charge(Racial), Gore(Racial), Stampede(Racial), Labyrinth Sense(Racial), Greater Cleaving Strikes(Special), Aura of Terror(Special), Terrorizing Roar(Special), Giant(Special), Unnerving Presence(Special), Soundless Steps(Special), Ethereal(Special) TelepathyLv3(Special), Undetectable(Unique)
This guy was made for this labyrinth he had to be. With this unnerving place, his fear inducing effects would just be even more effective. And he was a Minotaur too, kind of. Did I mention he was EXPENSIVE? 20M and 50EP, not to mention his upkeep. It would send my Essence gain into single digits again, gaaah. No, no hesitation. He is just too perfect.
I unlocked him and waved farewell to my last Masteries and half my remaining EP. At least I now had one of the Minotaur I needed for the Throne.
I summoned him and was not at all disappointed. The only other things in the dungeon larger than me up to this point had been the Unguul, and the Pharos Wings. Well, time to add Hazalaar to the list as I barely reached his navel.
In his right hand he was dragging a massive blood soaked scythe that was dripping with some unidentifiable blackish-red liquid that might be blood. The liquid disappeared shortly after landing; The scythe was giving off black and white smoke, as if it was both icy cold and scorching hot at the same time.
His skin was purple and was seemed to strain to withhold his muscular form. Wisps of darkness rose from him like an aura of malevolence and seemed to obscure his form lightly. The head was a skull with eerie green lights for eyes that had a protruding mane of dark shadows continuing all the way down to his short bovine tail.
His cloven feet made not a noise as he walked. But left behind a shadowy hoof print that seemed to burn with black flames on the stone before slowly fading away. And the grinding sound of his scythe as he moved was like an ominous and ever present growl when it echoed.
He looked down at me. Gave a respectful nod, then walked off without a word. He was the perfect candidate to wander this place and scare the ever living hell out of whatever poor soul entered. The sound of that scythe gave me even more goosebumps than the stillness.
I continued to make my way through the labyrinth. Though after a while I got sick of it and took to the skies instead. This sped up my passage tremendously, and thus it was not long until I arrived at the small chamber on the other side of the exit. I noticed that to enter this new room I had to pass an inactive boss barrier. so intruders entering had to not only contend with the eeriness, they had to actually face and defeat Hazalaar before getting into the Core?
So, you could leave but not progress, fair enough. I moved the Pillar. This Special biome was neat. Sure it was mostly pre-made, but I could do a bunch with it still as I could make a network of caverns around the entryway to the Labyrinth itself. Not that I would do so now though, I had spent practically all my essence and with all the expensive upkeep I had incurred my regen was… bad. Still, I would rather have the extra security and not need it, after all, as long as I lived I had time.
I still had one more task to do before I could call it a day, though. It would likely put me dangerously low on essence. But I needed to repopulate the first floor, time to see what I could get there with my remaining resources.
The intermediate creatures of the first floor was interesting. But I quickly realized I would need more Essence Gain before repopulating the first floor could be a thing. These guys had a pretty hefty cost in terms of upkeep when you only had 5e/d left. My Crag was at capacity for Pharos Wings too, so that was out of the question. That left expansion as the only option and that required more Essence. Maybe I could expand the Crag? I could check tomorrow, as it was now placing a Crag would put me into some pretty deep negatives.
The last thing I did before calling it night was to pop the Core I had bought.
Dungeon Name: Labyrinthia
Dungeon Biomes: Magical Maze, The Depths, Deep Labyrinth
Dungeon Level: 4
DEXP: 22/150
Depth: 3/3
Rooms: 47
Essence: 17/2400
EP: 52
TP: 11
M: 4
E/D: 5
Avatar Attributes
Avatar Race: Umbral Sage Sphinx (Tier 2 Legendary Unique Variant)
Avatar Gender: Female
Avatar Level: 1
EXP: 150/150
HP: 150/150
MP: 180/180
Attack: 150
Defense: 150
Magic Attack: 180
Magic Defense: 180
Strength: 15 (Atk)
Dexterity: 15 (Def)
Endurance: 15(HP)
Intelligence: 18 (Matk)
Wisdom: 18 (MP)
Charisma: 18 (Mdef)
Penumbra: 99%
Inlas: 1%
Divinity: Locked by Taboo
Synchronization: 0%
Core Type: Advanced
Cores Eaten: 3
Titles: “Evolved one” “Vengeance Seeker”
Skills: Penumbral Psionics(Racial), Cleaving Swipe LvMAX(Racial), Roar LvMAX(Racial), Penumbral Archives(Umbral Unique), Dungeon Siege Mistress(Master Compound), Blessing of Penumbra(Mythical Umbral Blessing) Umbral Knowledge Lv1(Umbral), Damage Resistance Lv2, Mud Golem Status Immunities(Core), Fire Resistance Lv2(Core), Deception Lv3(Core), Taboo(Inlasi) Ancient Legacy(Evolution), Innate Caster(Core), Illusionist(Core)
Magic, I now had access to Illusionist spells, just needed to figure out how to cast spells, couldn’t be that hard, could it? I was tempted to check what spells I had now. But frankly, I was too tired. The only upside about this was that I had not gotten enough EXP to level from this Core to trigger a surge. It was probably a newborn that got slaughtered after receiving the “Blessing” from Inlas, poor bastard.
I curled up and with a sigh went to sleep, pondering what new events might happen in the morning.