The Ice dungeon differed from a standard Destruction dungeon from the very outset, proclaiming its presence with a chill mist drifting in the air rather than the glint of oily light. It looked particularly out of place in the hot July sunlight.
“The best way to defeat an Ice dungeon is with lightning, much as the best way to defeat a Stone dungeon is fire,” Levi explained as they neared their destination. Ice creatures were oddly vulnerable to electric attacks.
Unfortunately, Levi's current team had exactly zero Lightning-aligned items with them.
Fortunately, the dungeon was only level 2.
“Ice and Stone are tricky to rush due to their heavy defense focus. We'll move slowly and methodically, clear everything, rest, and keep moving.”
“Do you think this dungeon will have an Essence too?” Gordon asked, trepidation in his voice. Good. Better for him to be concerned than to be too eager to go.
“It might, but I don't think it's likely. Finding two in a row was enough of a fluke. A properly prepared team should be better able to handle an Ice boss than anything else. They tend to be comparatively slow and easy to control with good teamwork.”
Ice dungeons were marginally easier to survive in, enough so that they took priority any time there was a choice of which dungeon to visit. Frost spiders could move quickly, but they were still slow compared to glitterlings or rust scarabs.
The opening room looked like a frozen cavern, with icicles running down the wall into others beneath them growing upward, giving the edges a strangely ridged look. The light was bright, dazzling, with crystal ice glinting in faceted growths in the corners and rainbow light refracting across the frost-feathered floor.
Beautiful, but perfectly ready to kill you in an instant. At higher levels, entering an Ice dungeon would be like entering a super freezer, cold enough to take your breath away and impose a dangerous chill. At level 2, this dungeon was pleasantly cool coming in from the midsummer heat, though it would grow mildly uncomfortable the longer they stayed.
“Spiders, you said?” Gordon asked as he looked around. “I don't see anything.”
“They'll be along.” Levi started off down the first hall, confident he'd run into a trap web sooner or later. “Just be ready to fight.”
The first hall was empty, the second room was empty, and the third room was empty as well.
“Did someone already clear it today?” Gordon wondered.
“Possibly.” There were scratches on the ice, wisps of destroyed web. “But it might also be a trap.”
“How would an empty room be a trap?”
“Sometimes a low-level dungeon will put all its resources into powering up a single boss, rather than spreading everything out. It's rare, but it can be devastating when used properly.” Levi remembered the Control dungeon's unexpected tactic quite vividly.
“I see.” Gordon looked around uneasily as Levi continued to check each room for more mundane physical traps.
A single frost spider leaped out at them, its fluffy body roughly the size of Levi's head, with long crystalline legs. Levi caught it in midair, flipped it over onto the floor, and held it down beneath one foot. It squirmed and hissed out its frosty breath, legs thrashing against him, but couldn't escape.
“Cen, can you hold this guy down for me? If we can't find anything better, we may want him later.”
The next room was empty, as was the treasure room beyond.
“That settles it,” Levi said, running a hand across the empty block of ice that would ordinarily contain items. “It's been cleared.”
“Would it be worth holding out for a crab, or should I take the spider?” Gordon asked.
“Either has advantages and disadvantages. The spider is faster and has frost breath. The crab would be slower but more resistant to physical attack. If you're looking for something that can take damage, I'd hold out for the crab. But we do have Cen and Centoo, and they should be reaching threshold soon, so as long as we keep working as a unit, you don't need to worry too much about protection.”
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“What was it you wanted me to get when I 'threshold'?”
“Dismay. If it could let us tame bosses, it’s worth investigating.”
Gordon nodded. “That'll be a while, though.”
“Yes.”
They moved more quickly through the remaining rooms, but found only another straggler frost spider, no sign of the crystal crabs they'd come in search of.
“Want to go for the spider, or wait?”
Gordon frowned in consideration. “I think I'll take it.”
“Be my guest.” Levi stood back as Gordon carefully brought down the spider's health to taming range, then added it to his minion roster. Levi was disappointed by his inability to examine allies' creatures in as much detail as he could his own, but he had Gordon right here to ask. “What are its upgrade numbers and base stats?”
“Frost Spider, Level 1, 70 health, 35 mana, 20 stamina. Where do I find the upgrade numbers again?”
Levi walked him through the process and Gordon read them out. Levi committed them to memory.
“Is his initial point in Psyche?”
“Yes. How'd you know?”
“I've yet to see any minion with a base amount not divisible by ten.”
Levi tugged at his notes within the system, wrestling them together into a mental chart. Getting the convoluted system to store and allow access to custom information wasn't easy, but he'd mastered the essentials a long time ago.
Species: Initial Health Initial Mana Initial Stamina Health per strength Mana per psyche Stamina per spirit Horned Gremlin 50 0 50 +5 +3 +10 Cynomis Burrower 20 30 20 +8 +8 +5 Stone Centipede 70 30 70 +15 +5 +5 Frost Spider 70 30 20 +5 +5 +3
Comparing the numbers, Cen and Centoo were better in almost every respect. Flomper had more balanced gains at level up compared to Skarm or the spider and would theoretically make a better mage if spec'd into Psyche, but Levi didn't know if minions could learn spells. Another thing he'd need to test.
Even a basic gremlin with the right abilities could outperform any human class at higher levels. The added potential of having 6 stat points per level greatly outweighed the disparate starting totals. He could easily imagine Skarm being able to fight a demon warrior head-to-head one day based on his stats and given the proper upgrades. All the bonuses for the gremlin species abilities stacked so nicely. Leap added power to ambushes, Sneaky added damage to ambushes, Sharpened Claws added power to all unarmed attacks…
What kinds of stats would the bosses have once he was able to capture them? He was anxious to find out.
He needed more information. More creatures to compare. There had to be a pattern behind the stats; the numbers, despite everything, were too similar.
In the meantime, he wanted to improve his Revive ability. Going for so long without Two made him feel guilty. He wanted to try some different things with Two, test various gremlin builds to see what worked best. Plus, with that knife, Two had a very different attack style from Skarm.
For a moment, Levi considered whether he should capture the second Frost Spider or leave his slot open for something better. Its stats were entirely unexceptional from what Gordon had said, so he didn’t feel bad about ultimately squishing it.
It made him wonder what stats a rust scarab would have. They only appeared in level 2 dungeons. Would they be more like a gremlin or a stone centipede? He'd initially dismissed the swarm creatures as too weak to be worth the effort, but what if they were hiding untapped potential?
“We need to get to a level 2 Destruction dungeon.”
Levi turned to leave, then stopped.
Something felt off, unfinished.
He frowned and turned slowly, testing the feeling. “We missed something,” he said, recognizing the mental tug toward remaining here. “I think there's a hidden treasure in this dungeon.”
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