Dark Dungeon: Level 2
“Level 2, huh?” Levi frowned at the faint shadow hanging in the air. “Looks like we’re not the only independent delvers after all. This one wasn't listed on the wiki.”
“How long would it take for someone to level a dungeon solo?”
“A week or two, if you ran it every day. Most people don't, though.”
“What should we expect to be different with a Dark dungeon? Besides, you know, all the darkness.”
“Night wisps are the base creature, I believe. Or else shadevine. Both are abundant. Night wisps are stealthy, their bodies are dark and translucent like a living shadow, and they can throw darkness that'll stick to you. If they get you in the face, you'll be blinded for several seconds, which is a long time in a life-or-death battle. Dark dungeons are known for their traps. Expect them to be much more dangerous than other equivalent dungeons. We'll need to be extra alert.”
“So, it'll be even worse than the smashy corridor of doom?”
“Might, might not. Every dungeon is different. Dark dungeons in general have deadlier traps. I've never seen them for myself, so I can't say exactly what form those traps may take. But I'd guess they're similar to most others.”
He looked sideways at Gordon. “You'll need to be willing to go through trap corridors sooner or later. We've been lucky that the dungeons so far rarely required trap evasion, but as we get into higher-level dungeons, we're going to have to go through them. Detours won't stay simple for long. To get maximum value out of dungeon trips, you have to be willing to do difficult and uncomfortable things.”
“I'm not unwilling, what dungeons aren’t difficult and uncomfortable? I just don't want to get myself pointlessly killed.”
“Put your next few attribute points into Spirit. Health is all well and good, but it's not going to save you in the long run. Mobility is more important.”
This was especially true given humanity's severe limitations in leveling compared to other creatures. Cen and Centoo gained as much health at level 1 as a human Fighter would at level 10, and he still hadn't seen their threshold gains. And they were weaker than most creatures in higher-level dungeons, which in turn were weaker than the demonic invasion forces.
“I really would rather not die,” Gordon said. “That one fight was way too close.”
Levi snorted and punched him. “The one that made you addicted to leveling?”
Gordon rubbed his arm, lips set in denial. “I'm not addicted.”
“See that you stay that way. It's not a good way to live.”
“But I'm not the fast and agile sort.”
“All the more reason to put points into Spirit. System stamina will enhance and expand on your existing strengths and let you do more.”
“Sure, alright, I'll do what you say. What else do we have to worry about with the Dark dungeon?” Gordon sounded unconvinced, just agreeing to placate him.
But Levi didn't believe the man would go back on his word, so he didn’t protest. “More shadow creatures. Shadevines, probably. Those things are annoying.”
“Something to make potions out of?”
“No, they're a monster, not an elixir ingredient. Shadevines absorb power from their surroundings and from any creature they come in contact with. In our case, that power includes health, mana, and stamina. They also drain power stones and weaken powered armor. Fortunately, they're a bit stupid. They're drawn to any source of energy, but don't use any strategy beyond straightforward attacks.”
“Are they fast? Do they fly?”
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“No, and no, but they're relentless. They'll climb along walls, drop from ceilings, crawl up legs or down shirts to get at any exposed skin they can find. They're almost harmless if you have full-body protection. The problem is…” Levi gestured at their hodgepodge outfits. “…when you don't have a complete seal. I've heard enough horror stories to know they're nothing to be taken lightly. They have a dangerous anesthetic effect. Unlike most power draining effects, shadevines manage to make it comfortable, so it feels right that they're sucking the life out of you. Very insidious. If you ever start to feel comfortable in a Dark dungeon, check yourself for shadevine immediately. They have an annoying tendency to wind around anything they can reach and hold on.”
“Should we go buy hazmat suits or something?”
“I wouldn't bother. False confidence could be more dangerous than known vulnerability.”
“Are you planning to tame a shadevine? It sounds like it could be useful.”
“Hmm, perhaps,” Levi mused. “They're not very sturdy, but it could be fun to see what some of the bosses make of that. Maybe they could strangle a boss, which wouldn’t know to fight back. Well, it would probably notice something blatant—the inability to breathe would be a major red flag.”
“Any additional chance to weaken a boss could help. Even if it is small.”
“True. Not sure it would be worth tying up a minion slot, though. Shadevines are very weak. Two or three fireballs can clear out a whole room of them.”
“Too bad none of us knows how to cast a fireball.”
“Hopefully, this dungeon will be too low-level to have any serious swarms of them.”
“Do you think it will be?”
Levi sighed. “No. With our luck, it'll have a Dark Essence too, guarded by thousands of shadevines.”
At least the rewards they gained should be commensurate. The upgraded dungeons might have more monsters in more powerful versions, but they'd also have much better treasures, even leaving aside the Seed Fragments.
Levi held the map out to the shadowy wisp of darkness, and its indicator changed.
Dark Dungeon: Level 2+
“I'm glad it’s not level 3,” Levi admitted as they stepped into the shadow. “Given how much more dangerous a 1+ is compared to a 1, I would not be prepared to face a 3+ yet.”
The interior was black—black patterned floors, black tiled walls, black smooth ceiling. What little light there was seemed to be sucked into the architecture in little glints and patches of deeper shadow.
Levi took a moment trying to spot any indication of a night wisp or shadevine, but the light and dark spots shifted erratically with every step, and he couldn't tell whether it was natural or not.
The interior rooms and halls were much dimmer than the usual dungeon illumination. He'd heard about this kind of dungeon atmosphere existing, but experiencing it for himself was still disconcerting.
He carefully strapped on his Beast lens helmet, then closed one eye and ran mana into the lens to search for enemies.
“Can you make a light?” Gordon asked.
“No. Anything we fought was either in a dungeon which provided its own light, or a demonic creature that came with fire.”
A field of hellhounds, rippling flame lighting up the horizon in crimsons and gold; the purple flare of a Demon Lord and the blue of the elite warriors, the white-gold glow of the imps.
There was never any difficulty in locating the enemy. Light spells were not among those taught to new warriors, just recipes for basic emergency elixirs, the location of dungeons, lists of materials to keep on hand. Eventually, you picked up other things: spells for cleaning and repairing, tricks for controlling mana and stamina flows more directly, ways to micromanage health recovery and expenditure or to apply recovery elixirs topically to limit side effects.
“Well, no problem, I can get my phone.” Gordon turned to go.
“Don't!” Levi grabbed his arm to stop him. “It's safe where it is; if you bring it to this kind of place, especially if you try to use it, the mana in the atmosphere will mess it up immediately.”
Gordon raised his hands. “Okay.”
“Besides, this isn't absence-of-light darkness, this is tangible darkness. A flashlight or torch won't do much to burn it away.” A flicker of movement caught Levi's eye through the lens, and he spun. “There!”
He pointed, and Cen and Centoo immediately surged forward past Levi and into the darkness.
Watching the fight without any of the environment clearly visible felt strange. The night wisp, like a tiny dancing fairy of darkness, threw black energy from its hands as Skarm closed in atop Centoo, then leaped off to slash the wisp out of the air. Two more wisps emerged from the ceiling behind them.
“Cen, above you!”
The centipede reared up and slashed out at the darkness. Levi heard the slice as bladed centipede legs hit something solid and squishy. The two ambushers fell to the floor, fading from his view as their life left them.
“I don't like this,” Gordon said, edging closer to Levi. “This darkness is giving me the willies.”
Levi turned quickly to check behind and beside them but detected no other creatures. “This'll work,” he said with confidence. “Stay close.”
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