Hey Rick! Rick! Claire thought urgently at him.
“What’s happening now?” he cried. “How is the system going to punish us?”
That’s just it, I don’t think it is. There is a new prompt.
“What is it? What does it say?” Rick eagerly responded. “No wait – you can show me your notifications. Just imagine projecting it out into the cavern.”
Claire did just that, thinking of how the data projector in her classroom would shine her material on the screen; and a transparent screen showing the notification flickered into existence. Rick rushed towards it, and then backed up again when he realised he was too close to read more than a word at a time.
“Oh my gosh, Claire, this just might work! What do you think?”
Claire considered. You know, I don’t think I want a novel type. Shall we take a look at the hybrid options?
The intent behind her thought caused a new hybrid menu with different options to unfurl in front of them.
Hybrid dungeon types accommodate multiple types of energy within the dungeon environment.
Combining types effectively can lead to new creations and discoveries.
Only choose this type if you are willing to experiment and explore, risking either failure or success.
Caution: The more dungeon types are combined, the harder core level progression becomes, as there is a dilution of focus.
Caution: In hybrid dungeons there is an increased danger of catastrophic failure if different energies are used in incompatible ways.
Standard hybrid dungeon options
Life-Death
Life-Mind
Life-Soul
Death-Mind
Death-Soul
Mind-Soul
Life-Death-Mind
Life-Death-Soul
Life-Mind-Soul
Death-Mind-Soul
Life-Death-Mind-Soul
Wow, that’s a whole bunch of options. What do you think it means with a dilution of focus the more types are involved?
“It probably has to do with what you need to accomplish to move on to the next level, and the fact that your focus will now be split between two, three or even four foci. Claire, I’m begging you, please don’t choose all four…”
Don’t worry, I don’t intend to, Claire said and then fell silent in contemplation. Choosing all four simply felt too chaotic to Claire. Three was better, but she still sensed that she’d be pushing the limits. No, what she was looking for was a nice, synergistic blend of two types. Something new and out of the ordinary, but still well within her capabilities to grow and with enough room to innovate. Hopefully a blend of two types would also decrease the odds of catastrophic failure as she experimented. She quickly ruled out any option that included death – it just felt too morbid. This left her with three options: Life-Mind, Life-Soul, and Mind-Soul. She definitely wanted life, which also eliminated Mind-Soul, leaving her with a choice between Life-Mind and Life-Soul. Soul sounded nice, but ultimately she felt the greatest attraction to mind as it resonated with her own love of knowledge and thought.
I choose the Life-Mind type, she decided.
<>
At her choice a new notification popped up.
Life-Mind type dungeon selected.
You may now access the core defence menu.
Hey Rick, look here, Claire said as she displayed the newest notification. Rick looked up, reading it with interest.
“Ah, it worked,” he sighed with relief as his flickering stabilised even further. “It looks like we’re back in standard territory!”
Claire herself felt a wave of relief, as both she and Rick had gotten through this without negative consequences. At least none that were apparent yet. She imagined herself touching wood at that thought, just in case. She also felt immensely proud of herself. Just look at her! Here she was, faced with a decision and instead of choosing the norm out of fear or pressure, she went ahead and did what was right for her.
“What’s going on Claire? You’re shining quite brightly,” Rick enquired.
Oh, it’s nothing, she replied, still glowing warmly. I’m just happy nothing bad happened to us.
“You and me both!” Rick replied. “It would have been humiliating to lose a core right after I got assigned to it. But look at us now. And I’ve discovered some new system knowledge that I can share at our training centre!” In fact, Rick’s flame too was burning brighter than before.
Claire basked in the pleasure of the relief for another few moments, elated that her choice turned out to be beneficial to Rick as well. Then she got back to business.
Okay, so what does it mean by core defences?
“Core defences refer to a last measure of defence, if some kind of threat managed to make it through everything else that you created to protect yourself with.”
Like the core hunters you mentioned earlier?
“Yes, exactly like that. But you should know that the other defensive measures you create will always more effective than whatever is available here. If something makes it all the way through your dungeon up to this point, you’d better have weakened it so much that this last-ditch defence can eliminate it. Or pray that it has good intentions, which I don’t recommend.”
Claire mentally nodded, and opened the core defence menu projecting it for Rick.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Core defence options
Living snake pit
A pit of poisonous snakes which will develop underneath the core.
The pit will fill at the rate of one snake per day until a maximum of 10 times the current core level.
The attack bite and poison of the snakes will increase as core levels are gained.
Cost: 2 LF times current core level per day.
Cutting thorn barrier
A barrier of bladed thorns that will grow to completely surround the core.
The longer it remains undisturbed, the thicker and sharper bladed it will become.
Cost: 5 LF to initiate, whereafter a gradual continuous life-force drain of 10 LF per day will follow.
Mental confusion
Creates a mental confusion effect when target enters the core room, leading to disorientation and an increased susceptibility to mental suggestion.
The effect increases in strength the higher the level of the core.
Cost: 50 LF with activation, with an additional 5 LF for every second it remains in effect.
Life-force zap
Use 30% of your maximum LF to zap an intruder.
This action can only be used once a day, and only if the core has a current LF saturation of 60% or higher.
Claire and Rick both spent a few moments studying the options. “It looks like you’re getting some defence measures from both the life and mental type dungeons,” Rick remarked. “The LF zap is a nice touch for a last resort, even if it is quite expensive.”
Indeed, Claire marvelled. I suppose I can use the zap as needed – as long as it’s only once per day.
“Yes, although with your current LF saturation it won’t have much of an effect.”
What do you mean? Aren’t I currently at 100%?
“You are, but at your currently stage of development you only hold a 1,000 units of LF. A LF 300 zap will be much less effective than a LF 30,000 zap.”
Oh, I see, Claire replied. I guess I’d better pray I don’t get attacked very soon.
“Indeed, but let’s also get some of the other measures up in the interim.”
Some of the others? Doesn’t it make more sense to simply take everything that is available to protect myself better?
“I agree, theoretically more is better, but we do have to keep your constraints in mind. Right now the chief constraint is going to be your life-force percentage as you need it for almost everything you do. From now on you will start noticing the percentage both depleting as you perform actions, and refilling as you passively absorb more LF. But more than that – take a look around the cave, how does the life-force currently look to you?”
Claire did a quick 360 degree once over of her cavern.
I see what you mean. There is definitely less of the life-force floating around than there previously was. I’m guessing I’m the cause. As I am continuously absorbing it, it is also continuously being depleted.
“Correct,” Rick confirmed. “We’ll need to open up our dungeon to the outside world soon to have it replenished. But that’s not all. You also need to constantly monitor your own LF percentage, as you need it to function optimally. Generally speaking, a core should be at around a minimum of 70% of saturation at all times.”
Ah yes, when I looked at my overall report, I saw an indicator for functional capacity. At that point I was at 75%, I’m guessing it’s 100% now.
“Since you have reached the 1,000 LF mark for core level one, yes.”
So, going back to the LF zap. 30% doesn’t sound like much, but it already brings me down to 70% IF I am at a functional capacity of 100%.
“And remember, most of the time you likely won’t be at 100%, as you start developing your dungeon.”
What happens if I drop below 70%? How far can I go?
“Below 70% you’re going to start experiencing minor issues in your processing speed; in other words, how fast and clearly you are able to think. The problems will increase the further you drop. Below 50% your core integrity will start to deteriorate, putting you in danger of developing fractures or even cracks in your core structure. You can of course go all the way down to zero, but at that point your structure will crumble and you’ll die.”
Okay, so we need to be careful with how we spend life-force, since we only have an optimal budget of about 30%, 300 LF at my current core stage, of my functional capacity. So let’s look at these passive defence options.
<>
Claire continued studying her options. Like the LF zap, she disregarded the mental confusion option for now, since she could simply activate it once someone entered her core room and threatened her. The cutting thorn barrier and living snake pit were more of a conundrum. At first glance the cutting thorn barrier was much more expensive than the living snake pit. At this level at least – once she reached level five the cost would pretty much be even, and as she continued levelling up the cost of the living snake pit would quickly outstrip the cutting thorn barrier. Besides, did she want to live with a poisonous snake pit right below her? Claire mentally shuddered, but forced herself to keep considering the options. This was about her survival after all and for that she could live with a snake pit if she had to. IF, being the operative word.
What was nice about the cutting thorn barrier, was the continuous development of the defence. It didn’t have the development restriction that the living snake pit had, which only allowed ten snakes at her current level. No, the cutting thorn barrier would keep growing and developing regardless of her current level, leaving her more vulnerable at the beginning at more protected the longer time went on. For that quality alone it might be the better option regardless of the higher cost.
Hey Rick, I’m considering getting the cutting thorn barrier because of its continuous development independent of my core level, but I’m a little worried about losing the 10 LF per day. What do you think?
“Well, the 10 LF per day should be easy to compensate for, especially once we break through to the surface and have all the natural life-force available. What does worry me is how unprotected it will leave you at the start, especially as you are at your most vulnerable right now.”
I also thought of that. But I still have the mental confusion and LF zap available if something goes wrong. That should be enough to keep me safe for now, don’t you think?
“That’s true, and it’s not like the snake pit will be very effective at the start either. We’ll have to create some additional defences very quickly once you break through to the surface anyway.”
Okay, so I’ll go ahead with the cutting thorn barrier then, and Claire mentally activated it. She felt a sort of tug on her core’s saturation as the initial 5 LF was spent, whereafter a little twig appeared on the ground below her from which five new thorns sprouted one after the other. After the initial spurt, there was minute sense of life-force being drained, and Claire could see the twig slowly lengthening as she scrutinised it.
Wow, that was underwhelming, she commented.
“Only to be expected. The damage from these thorns should be about equal to one bite of one of the snake pits’ snakes at this level.”
Except the snake can at least keep biting. I’m not sure how much these thorns will do.
Rick laughed at that statement, “Don’t worry about it. This is pretty normal at the beginning. Like you said – it will continue improving. Soon enough it should provide even more protection than the snake pit. And remember, the thorns will eventually protect you from all sides, while the snakes are confined to the ground, at least at the beginning.”
You know, I’m wondering more and more whether we shouldn’t have both the snakes and the thorns. Thinking about it now, the two might complement each other well.
“You’re not wrong, but right now I would really advise focusing on cost-effectiveness. The snake pit might be a nice addition once you’ve levelled up your core a couple of times and have more capacity.”
Definitely something to think about, Claire replied. So, what’s next on our agenda?
And that’s how Claire found herself tunnelling through metres and metres of clay, rock and soil to the surface.
<><><>
Character sheet summary at the end of Chapter 3
Claire
Type: Life-Mind
Level: 1
Integrity: 100%
Processing speed: 100%
Functional capacity: 99%
Core defence enabled
Cutting thorn barrier
5 LF to initiate, continuous drain of 10 LF per day