It had been a while since Core had a party enter his dungeon. He set his sight towards his dungeon entrance and spotted the party of two pudlings that had entered. They looked very similar to the last party that entered. The first one to enter was a normal looking pudling with blue scales that shimmered green in the faint light, it carried around one of those stick lights. The other one looked different than the previous ones. The most notable thing being it a head taller than its companion. The body of the pudling was also a bit bulkier in mass. In its right hand, it held the short and sturdy stick, which Core identified as a club, while in its left hand it held something he hadn't seen before. The item had a squarish shape and was made up of a bunch of sticks tied together. In Core's sight, it looked like a very fragile item.

The two invaders started to have a conversation between them in their weird language Core couldn't understand. The smaller one pointed towards the entrance, while the bigger one pointed towards the tunnel. The bigger one prodded the smaller one with the club while his voice became louder. The smaller one looked towards his entrance a moment before dropping its head and pointing his glowing stick towards the tunnel. Accepting the victory in this apparent battle of words the bigger invader started walking forward with the smaller one following behind it a few steps.

Snake hadn't fully recovered yet so Core held it back for now. A two on one fight was a good strategy, but two on two didn't look too good even if he got his two sneak attacks in. Core looked over his options to determine the best course of action. Ideally, he wanted spider to kill the small invader while keeping the big one busy and then overwhelm the bigger one when the small one was dead.

Core commanded both the goblin and lizard to move forward towards the tunnel but stay hidden around the corners. Once the two invaders were halfway into the tunnel the goblin and lizard would engage with the big invader and spider could use the battle to ambush the small invader. The first step of his plan was about to be set into motion as the two invaders were almost at the spider hiding in the floor.

The soft light from the glowing moss and the invader's lightstick didn't cast a lot of light, so perhaps that would increase the chance of his plan succeeding.

Spider's Trapdoor < Passive > has activated, it has successfully remained undetected. Current skill level: 1.

Current % progress: 50 / 100.

That was a welcome notification to execute his plan to deal with the invaders. The big invader walked past without batting an eye followed by the small invader. The small invader entered the spiders' range and Core gave the order to his goblin and lizard to start the attack.

Both defenders burst into the tunnel with the goblin in front due to its higher movement speed. The sudden appearance of the defenders startled both of the invaders. The big invader recovered rather quickly and took a fighting stance ready to engage the defenders rushing at them. The smaller one looked unsure about what to do and took a few small steps back.

Goblin lunged at the invader which raised the flimsy item in front of itself. It uttered a single phrase and the edge of the item was enveloped in dim yellow light, lighting up the dark tunnel. Right before the goblin impacted with the pudling it pushed out with the glowing item and hit the goblin in it its outstretched arms. The impact of the item on the goblin flung it hard towards the wall where the goblin landed with a thud. Clearly not familiar with the attack the invader overextended its arm with the momentum of the strike and put itself off balance.

Lizard didn't miss the opportunity to deliver a headbutt into the creatures' unprotected side. It winced in pain after the sudden attack but quickly regained its webbed footing as the lizard followed up on its attack with a quick bite of its jaws. It brought up the club in a clumsy swing to barely deflect the incoming attack as it collided with just under the lizard's jaw, pushing it aside. The other invader looked on at the sudden battle that took place in front of it. It tightly wrapped its webbed hands around the light stick it was holding.

He wanted to help out its companion but was unsure about what to do. They often hunted as a team out near their village. His spawn brother was always the brazen reckless type to charge into battle while he was the calm one who provided him with support. Support mostly him applying healing pastes and bandages to his injured brother until he could learn the Healer class and get access to healing magic. His spawn brother had unlocked the Fighter class just a few hours earlier while they were out hunting. This was exactly the reason why they were inside the dungeon. He had wanted to return to the village after a long day of hunting but his spawn brother wanted to explore and level him up, so he could unlock his a class of his own

With its resolve steeled every so slightly and the grip on its weapon renewed it took a step forward to join the fight. One step was all it could take before it felt a sharp stabbing pain coming from just above his shoulder. It stumbled away from the location the pain came from and bumped into the side of the tunnel. Another surge of pain was felt from almost the same location as it now felt warm blood running down its arm. It let out a scream of pain and fear as the light from its light stick cast its glow over the spider that plunged its fangs into its shoulder.

Hearing its brother scream out in fear and pain the big pudling turned around to see what was going on and rushed over. It perceived the spider assault its brother and raised the club high for a strike against the attacker. Thinking only to protect its brother from the skeletal spider it swung down the club knocking the spider down but also hit the shoulder as the ominous sound of multiple breaking bones was heard.

The spider landed a couple of feet away, two of its legs on the left side missing, while a large crack could be seen across the main body. It tried to right itself on its remaining legs to rejoin the fight to protect its master. The pudling collapsed against the same wall it was already leaning against, its collarbone shattered by the impact of the club. The big pudling flinched upon realizing the fault with its attempt to save its companion, which only hurt it more in the process. That wasn't the only mistake it had made as the massive skeletal tail of the lizard impacted with its side once again knocking it a few feet back. The spider who now found itself a lot closer to a target renewed its attack only to be blocked by the bound stick item and knocked back down. A swift strike with the club ended the defender's unlife when the impact fully cracked the main body.

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The slumped down pudling was using the stick it still carried to keep the lizard at bay while it snapped with its bone jaw. The weak attack wouldn't hold the creature off for long but it hoped its brother would take over soon. Having killed the spider the invader came rushing over towards the lizard the item held it front for a charged attack. The charge was met head-on by another of the lizard tail attacks, both fighters bouncing back from the forceful impact.

With a bit of distance created between all the fighters the big pudling shot a glance at its brother. While the wounds it had sustained wouldn't be lethal it was in too much pain to continue the fight. It had to end the fight quickly and alone and then get out as soon as possible and back to the village for proper healing. With a few of its ribs bruised if not broken the adrenalin kept it fighting. With wide swings of the club aimed at the lizard's head, it was able to increase the distance between the defender and its brother.

With its full attention on the lizard in front of it, it once again failed to oversee the complete battlefield as a stifled scream was heard from behind. A sense of horror washed over the invader as it looked into the pleading eyes of its brother. Eyes that already started to lose the light of life with the one-armed skeletal goblin tearing away at its flesh with pointy teeth. The sight even more gruesome in the eerie green light cast by the glowing stick.

The big pudling fell to its knees at the sight of its dying brother. It was his decision that resulted in his death since he decided to enter the cave. He had felt the surge of power from obtaining a class and deemed himself powerful enough to clear out a cave of monsters. He wanted his brother to have the same feeling of power by obtaining a class of his own. His brother felt insecure in their hunts since he only needed to get in a hit or two to gain experience and then patch him up. But now it was all in vain as the skeletal goblin was feasting on the corpse of his brother.

He needed to escape this place and warn the village of this cave of death. Their best warriors should set out and kill every unliving thing inside and avenge his brother's death. With a new purpose in life, he got to his feet and took a step forward towards the exit of the dungeon. His moment of escape was short-lived as the jaws of the lizard snapped shut onto his arm snapping the bone inside.

The still-living invader dropped the item it was holding as Core's lizard bit its arm. The invader smacked the lizard in the head with the club making it release its grip on the arm. Having regained its freedom the invader started to run towards the exit.

The goblin let go of the corpse it was eating and used its remaining arm to slash at the legs of the invader. The claw of the goblin cut deep into the flesh of the invader's thigh leaving a deep wound that impaired its movement significantly.

Now stumbling more than running from the remaining defenders it had no real hope of escape as they would soon overtake it. The invader having realized the same conclusion resorted back to wide arced attack with the club to keep them at bay while it was ever so slowly back-peddled towards the exit. Core let this continue for a few minutes longer. He had already lost his spider and wasn't so willing to commit both of his other defenders who had already received a good amount of damage during the fight.

The fate of the invader was already sealed the moment it tried to retreat. Perhaps if it fought on and killed the near-death goblin and the wounded lizard then by luck got past his traps it might have reached him. Unknown to the invader that the path it chose would certainly lead to its death. Its focus solely on the threat in front it never saw the threat behind as the fully healed snake crawled up its legs resulting in the pudling falling over the binding process already in motion. The snake rapidly wrapped around the invader's torso and left arm still putting pressure on the wound on its leg.

With its only remaining arm holding the club he swung at the spider which promptly lunged at the forearm before it could deliver a blow. With the body fully bound and the creature's arm incapacitated by the lockdown all it could do was lament in its sorrows as the last of its life drained away.

With the death of the last invader, Core got his notifications.

Pudling < Runt > Level 3 has been killed by < Skeletal Goblin >  Experience gained: 20. Current experience 87 / 125.

Dungeon Points gained: 1. Current Dungeon Points: 27.

Progress gained: Understanding of < Lizardman> archetype +20%.

Current % progress: 100 / 100. Undead archetype experience gained: 25.

Undead archetype current experience: 174 / 1.000. Skeletal Spider experience gained: 1.

Skeletal Spider current experience: 5 / 55.

Skeletal Goblin experience gained: 12.

Skeletal Goblin current experience: 51 / 50.

Skeletal Goblin has advanced to level 2.

Skeletal Lizard experience gained: 12.

Skeletal Lizard current experience: 48 / 50. You have reached a 100% understanding of the < Lizardman > archetype.

Pudling has been added as a defender option.

Pudling < Basic Fighter > Level 1 has been killed by < Skeletal Snake >  Experience gained: 28. Current experience 115 / 125.

Dungeon Points gained: 2. Current Dungeon Points: 29.

Progress gained: Lizardman archetype experience gained: 20.

Lizardman archetype current experience: 20 / 1.000 Undead archetype experience gained: 54.

Undead archetype current experience: 228 / 1.000. Skeletal Spider experience gained: 1.

Skeletal Spider current experience: 6 / 55.

Skeletal Goblin experience gained: 15.

Skeletal Goblin current experience: 16 / 55.

Skeletal Lizard experience gained: 19.

Skeletal Lizard current experience: 67 / 50.

Skeletal Lizard has advanced to level 2.

Skeletal Snake experience gained: 19

Skeletal Snake current experience: 58 / 50.

Skeletal Snake has advanced to level 2 Item < Shield > has been added to < Feature locked >