The first duo to come in was a couple of electricians that shot lightning from their fingertips. It was an impressive display of light, but ineffective against the glass barriers.
“Stay, Finn,” Billy commanded as he darted to another glass panel. The wolf whined but did as he asked. The electricians advanced, trying to get an angle on Billy.
Billy lured them closer, not having fired a shot. Once they were in range for Finn to dart out and lunge, he drew their attention by firing a few rounds, forcing them to duck behind the closest panel.
“Billy, why did you allow them to get close enough to the panels to block your bullets?” Rick asked in annoyance. Billy could have picked them off long before they got that close.
Billy’s face showed a flash of annoyance as well, “I need to develop Finn. We need tactics and cohesion. Not to mention, giving Finn a kill will allow him to level.”
Rick felt slightly dumb and mumbled, “Right. Good plan. Carry on.” He would make sure to keep his mouth shut and not distract Billy during the fights. He was pleased to see a little more personality leaking out of the floor boss though.
Billy held his ground, forcing the electricians to make the first move. Their patience waned and finally jumped out from behind the panel to try and get closer to Billy.
Billy smiled and poked his arms out of the side of his panel, shooting them both in a kneecap. “Now, Finn!” he yelled. The wolf darted out and lunged, taking out one of their throats. The other managed to zap him and singe his fur a bit, but apparently, the electricity wasn’t very strong. Finn merely growled and bit his second wounded victim in the throat.
“Well that was easy,” Rick announced, earning a glare from Billy. It was pretty funny to Rick. Billy didn’t have anyone to focus on so he just glared into the open air.
The typical Challenge Points and Energy gain from absorbing the Challengers were gathered, but not enough to level up. The skill he absorbed from the electricians was fairly basic as well:
Electric Bolt (Level 2): Shoot a weak electric bolt. Shocks enemies for minimal damage. May stun or kill weakened targets.
When Rick had absorbed his first skill, he had thought that maybe he could customize his minions by giving them skills. He had been too overwhelmed before to try, but now with a goal in mind and a new sense of purpose, he gave it a go.
Zeroing in on Finn, he thought of the skill. Maybe if he used his will to imprint it on the wolf, it would work. Just as he was instinctively able to use the pen and paper or grow the glass panels out of the floor.
He was very glad that nobody could actually see him strain as nothing happened. The wolf yelped as if feeling intruded upon. Rick felt an alert, and already had a feeling of what it would be:
Requirements not met.
“No way, that’s all the System is gonna give me,” Rick said and started straining on the prompt. Again, nothing happened. Was it that he didn’t have a required skill? Was his level not high enough? Or was it the wolf that didn’t meet the requirements? Perhaps the wolf just couldn’t shoot electric bolts. If that were the case, Rick wanted to argue that It didn’t specify where the bolt needed to be shot from. Maybe Finn could use it in his paws or mouth.
Rick attempted the process once more with the Parry Projectile skill and was met with the same alert.
“Ok, so at least I know that the requirements can be met. I just need to figure out what they are.”
Rick decided to burn all of his Energy on building the tunnel for Finn anytime he absorbed a Challenger. As the next Challengers entered, Rick knew that he would level up again. His senses fluttered as if he had butterflies in his stomach. This sensation must have passed on to Billy and Finn as well. A sliver of a smile could be seen on Billy’s face and Finn’s tail twitched happily.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The fight was anticlimactic as Finn and Billy easily dispatched a middle aged couple. The man had a bat that extended, but it couldn’t even crack one of the glass panels. The woman wielded a knife and was a bit more effective by using an illusion skill allowing her to project an image of herself moving in a different direction. Unfortunately, for her, the illusion wasn’t very convincing and only lasted about half a second.
Against a lesser gunman than Billy, Rick could see it being effective to buy enough time to close the gap and bury her knife. But, they were just overmatched between Billy’s expert shot and Finn’s speed.
Rick knew that before he became a Core, the deaths of these people would have bothered him. It probably would have traumatized him in some way as well. But since becoming a Dungeon Core, he also knew that it was just part of his nature. Was this what Adam was warning him about? Were there other ways to grow and feed?
Looking into it probably wouldn’t hurt. Those thoughts slipped away as the anticipation of checking his Level Up alerts trumped any perceived moral dilemma.
—ALERT—
* Level 3 Obtained
* +50 Energy
* +50 Challenge Points
* +1 Free Minion Available
New Skills Available (Choose One):
* Atmosphere Manipulation (Level 1): Grant the illusion of Earth’s day and night cycle. More templates are available in Dungeon Shop. Note: This does not change the size of the dungeon floor. (Cooldown: 7 days)
* Resource Burn (Level 1): Burn unabsorbed items for Energy. Cannot exceed Energy cap.
* Boss Boost (Level 1): Increase the level of a floor boss by 3. Energy Cost: All Available. (Cooldown: 3 months)
“Looks like we’re gonna have ourselves a little bonfire, Penny,” Rick said as he selected Resource Burn. The slow Energy regeneration was the most annoying thing he had ever had to deal with. Maybe if dungeons could nap, it wouldn’t be an issue. But so far, his progress was painfully slow because of the Energy restrictions. On one hand, it was a shame that he wouldn’t be able to hoard everything in his registry the way that he wanted to, but on the other hand, his growth should explode.
He thought the Atmosphere Manipulation was really cool, but it didn’t do anything for him in the short term. Right now, he needed to grow and survive.
It could be argued that Boss Boost was a better choice for his immediate defenses, but at the moment, it was impossible to build up his floors due to the Energy cost.
With his free minion selection, Rick didn’t need to think twice and selected another Level 1 Wolf. Billy had said he wanted one and Rick wasn’t going to complain. Not to mention, wolves were pack animals, so it only made sense. This made Rick look at Penny sadly.
She sat there looking bored and hungry. He didn’t have any dog food so he conjured up some chicken parm for her. She could at least eat the chicken. The moment he did, her tail zipped back and forth and she trotted over.
He found a water bottle and quickly absorbed it. Then he absorbed a ceramic pot he used to throw in mostly worthless coins. Once in a while, he’d hand them out to kids while their parents pawned off their gaming consoles.
With that done, Penny had food and water. “Shit, she’s gonna need to go outside and do her business. Actually, with the new skill, she doesn’t have to.” The thought of absorbing that would have been gross to Rick if he were still human, but it wasn’t any worse than absorbing the remains of Challengers.
Checking back to his floor, he watched Billy smiling at the wolves sniffing each other. Between Penny and the wolves, Rick felt a pang of guilt that they didn’t have any outdoor area. The hard stone floor must be uncomfortable for them. Even if they were generated by the System, Rick knew they were still living, breathing creatures.
“Billy, how would you feel about having some grass and trees in there?”
The gunslinger thought for a moment as he looked around, “Yes, I think that would be nice. If you supply trees and tools, I can also build myself a shelter. It will give me something to do while I wait for more Challengers, as well as provide me a bit of privacy if you intend on bringing more minions in.”
Rick knew that even a day ago when he summoned Billy that the Floor Boss wouldn’t have asked for such things and proved that Billy’s growing personality wasn’t just his imagination. “Ok, I can definitely get some of that in time. Let me know what else you need when it comes up.”
Billy nodded and continued watching the wolves who were now rolling around and play fighting.
Looking around his shop, Rick felt a little giddy at all the junk he was about to purge. With his new skill, he could become a damn landfill and grow in power exponentially.