In one of the world's sprawling safaris, surrounded by hanging fruit and star-like leaves, lodged between branches blown about by a breeze, a white core illuminates a cluster of trees, held by the tallest for any to seize.
Feeling a sense of déjà vu, Rori was underwhelmed by the view, and now feared what a single bird could do.
Alright, strategy number 1 for protecting my exposed core: build a wall.
Temporary panels didn't take too much I/M. Six panels could form a cubic box around his core-
Action not allowed! Path to the Core must not be blocked.
Yeah, yeah.
Five panels could form a shape like a box sitting on its side, opening out to the unnatural, yellow-highlighted branches leading down the side of his tree like a pair of lopsided ladders.
Hm… not good enough!
Sets of four panels, or sets of three when it came to the wide trunk, allowed for the formation of a continuous tunnel around the 'path', going all the way from his core to the dirt floor and more, weaving between tree trunks, and coming to a stop at the edge of the copse.
Learning how to highlight multiple templates at once, and how to Copy/Place those combinations, made the process take less than a minute. After a moment's consideration, he decided not to affix the tunnel panels.
Fixed templates seem to have a tendency to take invisible stone drills and pickaxes – or perhaps in this case, chainsaws and woodchippers – to any pre-existing infrastructure in their way. Temporary templates, on the other hand, are a bit more courteous to the environment. Temporary pit traps occupy pocket dimensions instead of real space; temporary ice panels are laid on top of existing ground; and tree branches pass through temporary wall panels as if they aren't even there.
Also, with how fast his past delvers have been, he's coming to prefer the flexibility of easily-replaced temporary structures. The downside is that these expenditures cost a fair bit of I/M, too much to allow him to place a temporary boss room without going into the negative, but there are ways around that.
At the entrance to the tunnel, he Set a boss room that he wouldn't be able to afford until-
"OOOH-AAAAH! OOOH-AAAAH!"
-until exactly that happened. Now that he's got an invader, his adjusted I/M will remain in the positive as he Places the boss room.
Now, what's THIS funky monkey? Description.
Name (assigned): Baboom Thrasher 1
Level: 13
Species: Baboom
Class: Thrasher (Uncommon)
Mob Count: 10
Who's in charge of names, here? Kindergartners? *Sigh*. Baboom, Description.
Babooms are omnivorous apes that are more intelligent than most monsters, but not intelligent enough to be sapient. They typically reside in trees and use their long, whip-like arms in fighting, climbing, and in mating displays.
Hmm… I hope I didn't steal your home by spawning here. And hey, what do you think YOU'RE doing?
Like the very first invaders he ever encountered, the baboom ignored the magi-glass structures and climbed the tree straight to his core. This time, however, he had protection-
"Oooh-AAAAAH!"
SNAP-CRACK!
With an arm moving like a blur and a sharp sound suggesting the breaking of the sound barrier, the baboom struck the temporary surface, leaving a series of spiderweb cracks along the magi-glass.
…This is going to be another short one, isn't it? In that case, let's try something. The treetop was spacious and flat, giving the monkey plenty of space to stand on as it wailed on Rori's core wall, and giving Rori plenty of space for an ambush. Mobs. Snoozing Shroom. Place.
Action not allowed! Mob limit reached!
What-?
"Oooh-AAAAAH!"
SNAP-CRACK!
Let's try this, then. Objects. Zones.
Template: Structure | Object | Special | Custom
Objects: Bosses | Traps | Obstacles | Zones | Mobs | Economy | Custom | Saved
1_Basic Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3
2_Basic Ordinary Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3
3_Basic Fiery Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3
4_Basic Arctic Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3
5_Basic Watery Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3
6_Basic Dry Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3
7_Basic Overgrown Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
8_Basic Economy Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3
9_Basic Dungeon Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3
10_Basic Meta Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3
Page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, …
He had never explored this page-
"Oooh-AAAAAH!"
SNAP-CRACK!
-and he didn't have time now. Equalized.
Basic Meta Zone: Equalized (Harmless)
Cost: 1%/Cubic Stride
Zone Count: 1
Place.
Action not allowed! Template is Occupied!
Alright, alright, no putting zones directly on top of unsuspecting invaders. Spoilsport. How about HERE then? Place.
Rori was half-surprised when he was actually allowed to place the zone directly on top of his core-
"Oooh-AAAAAH!"
SNAP-CRSHHH!
The panel of magi-glass protecting his core shattered inward, then vanished entirely. The baboom didn't hesitate to take a step forward, but it did hesitate to take another. It seemed to flinch as it entered the small, cubic, equalized zone of space containing Rori's core. Its hackles rose and its face scrunched, like it had smelled something bad.
Its eyes narrowed at the glowing white ball lodged half-way into the bark of the tree. It stomped forward with only a slight amount of trepidation and placed a hand on the ball. And then it got mad.
__________________________________
Clac detected the core's destruction as he distantly listened to the "delver's" ramblings, and decided he'd done enough digging. He had enough of an answer to make sense of things. And what an answer it was! Eyewitness accounts from commoners are wildly inconsistent at the best of times, but a single detail remained the same no matter whom he asked.
He hurried home to cancel all other obligations and prepare for its respawning. The potential ROI had just shot up astronomically. In all his millennia of delving experiences, in all his centuries of knowledge acquisition, and in all his decades of direct dungeon-core meddling, even he has never heard of a harmless dungeon.
__________________________________
Alert! Integrity Failure Detected in Core ID: 0.0.931-51.
Ooowwwwwwww.
Initializing SOP… //Standard Operating Procedures
Initializing SOP-ACRP… //Automated Core Recycling Program
Initializing SOP-ACRP.EECR… //Extract Excess Core Resources
Rori had known he could still feel certain sensations as a dungeon core. Approaching his natural I/M limit felt like vigorous exercise, and trying to exceed that limit felt like a metaphorical punch to the gut. Certain other Actions that are not allowed! had odd sensations that came with them, especially when he tried to exceed one of his capacities. But he hadn't known he could still feel physical pain.
What a mean monkey!
Chinks and chunks were broken off of his core as the baboom whipped its arms at him, and that had hurt. Thankfully the source of the pain had all but vanished just as the baboom's arms came down for a particularly vicious-looking swipe.
That's the last time I'm saving my starting buffer.
The lingering, phantom feelings that carried over into limbo were entirely gone by the time the typeface and terminator messages were done. It hadn't been that bad, akin to stubbing all his toes or taking many hard slaps to the face. But it wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat any time soon.
And so, as usual, Rori took a bit of time to review what he did wrong, and what he could do better in the future. He could have dismissed his temporary boss room to free up his I/M and his mob capacity. The monkey had never occupied it, and Rori hadn't thought to affix it. As for his core room…
__________________________________
Clac set aside his practice sheets and got to work the instant the core spawned.
__________________________________
Choose 'Watery Heights' Variant:
Fatal Falls
Toxic Reservoir
Rumbling Rapids
Towering Basin
Rainy Ridge
Select.
Confirm: 'Towering Basin'?
Confirm.
Finalizing SOP-ACRP…
Success!
Spawning Core ID: 0.0.931-52…
In a mountainous biome roamed by gnoll and by troll, where exist many a site from plights of old, there leaks at one peak a vast, broken bowl, bare of all but air and a deep, dark hole, ne'er again to host lake, dungeon, nor soul.
Cores that arrive take a dive, for there is nothing to hold, their crystal sphere here, not pedestal, not pole. The pit drains all rain; but more than water it stole. It claims a new name; one more life to the toll.
__________________________________
Clac paused after barely making any progress on his worksheet. He glanced at the clock. He was fairly certain the core truly had set a new record for destruction speed just now, instead of merely tying the old one. It has also set the record for 'most respawns from a single core'.
The much more worrying development, however, was that the soul he'd stuffed into it seemed to be suffering some sort of damage.
__________________________________
Alert! Integrity Failure Detected in Core ID: 0.0.931-52.
OOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!
Initializing SOP… //Standard Operating Procedures
Initializing SOP-ACRP… //Automated Core Recycling Program
Initializing SOP-ACRP.EECR… //Extract Excess Core Resources
Rori didn't have the strength to scan the typeface for discrepancies or snark at the terminator. He just sat there for minutes, hoping the ache would abate. It wasn't just a physical pain this time. In fact, it wasn't physical at all. Without any deliberate effort on his part, his mind replayed that brief and painful minute of his life.
He had spawned in the center of a big bowl made of stone, like someone had taken a ginormous ice-cream scoop to the peak of a mountain. And then along came a different giant who ruined the bowl and the mountain, taking a sledgehammer to both and using an endlessly long drill to bore a hole down the middle.
That was all Rori had time to observe before he noticed the much more important fact that his core had spawned in motion. Free-fall motion in particular. For instead of a core structure to hold him up, there was an abyss which dragged him down. His perspective shrunk rapidly as he fell towards and into it, until he could only see himself and the stone walls swiftly passing him by.
That alone wouldn't have been so bad, but for the building pressure, as if he were diving too deeply underwater, too quickly. It grew worse as he fell, until it became unbearable. And then he continued falling. By the time he 'died' he was in too much agony to pay attention to the world around him. Maybe he finally hit the ground, or maybe something else gave.
Either way, arriving in limbo didn't cause the pain to immediately go away like the last time. It was like the pressure had gone from without to within. Something inside of him was clenching itself tightly, and it was taking a while to unclench.
When it finally did clear up, there were many emotions going through his… er, existence. Hesitation, worry, fear. But more than anything else: excitement.
It's been a long time since he felt anything that intense. And there was the very real possibility that it could happen. He didn't want it to happen again, just like he didn't want to repeat that time he slid off-road and hit a telephone pole. But the rawness of the experience was enough to convince him that he couldn't continue treating this like a game.