Alaric POV
The Second Floor didn’t take as long as I thought it would to carve out. I’m kind of surprised that it ended up being the same size as the First Floor. So, for now my First Floor has a forest and swamp layout, and if I remember anything about dungeons some part of the previous floor carries over to the next. Sometimes monsters, sometimes the environment, other times both. When I explained to Umbra that I wanted to take the forest and extend it down to the Second Floor then slowly thin it out to become a grassland, she asked why. My reasoning is that if Havoc is a goddess of war, then a wing that gets barren and destroyed as you descend makes a lot of sense, at least to me.
I can start to picture future floors having major fortifications like the fort on the First, or massive craters splitting the floor in two. Maybe even a chance for whoever challenges the floor to pick a side, but these are thoughts for later.
So, first things first let's get this place set up right. A nice open space around the stairs, just enough for a few people to stand and not feel crowded. Then surround the space with the forest itself, add a couple of paths that lead off in different directions. Once I get some bosses and mini-bosses I can put one at the end of each of these pathways. A little structure and organization compared to the first floor should throw them for a loop, at least I hope it will.
The rest of the landscape for the floor was easy to do. I made the forest here much thicker than on the first. That way the monsters can hide and ambush anyone walking down a path, maybe a pit trap or two if I can get the monsters to build them, since I can’t. Hopefully this kind of surprise works out for the best.
So, with the majority of the floor done I moved my core down to the new floor. I picked a spot inside a hollowed out hill in the grassland. Now let's see if there were any changes to my monsters for this floor.
Floor Limit 150 Monsters
New Monster: Bugbear- a relative of the goblin. A Bugbear is almost identical to a Savage Goblin except they are covered in fur, taller and have increased intelligence. While not smarter than a High Goblin, Bugbears are smart enough to understand the value of teamwork and coordinate their attack on weakened or single enemies. They prefer to ambush their prey and are quite adept at trap construction. Number 1 Guerrilla force.
New Animals: Hyenas, Reptiles
Huh, neat. This is gonna be interesting to say the least. A species that favors hiding and trap making. I may need to rethink making half the floor a grassland after all. Easy enough to do, just fill in the other half with trees and bushes. We'll all except the hill my core is under, that one I leave with just grass and a single flower growing on it.
“Umbra, what do you think so far? I like the layout, but I want some feedback before I start summoning all the monsters and creatures.”
“I actually love the design. The paths leading off into the forest scream, hey I’m a trap, definitely going to get a kill or two from them walking down these paths. So that's a good thing, well not good for them but great for us. What I would do is clear out a little more area for grassland, you know for the hyenas. Other than that, remember that you can still summon goblins on this floor. Maybe use a combination of bugbears and goblins with the majority being goblins. A good 60/40 split should work, and since you can pick classes for the goblins it helps in the long run.”
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Dammit how did I forget about the goblins. Well at least Umbra reminded me. “Thanks, I don’t know what I would do without you here.”
Umbra smirked at my words. “You would probably die slowly without me. Well not slowly, after a few thousand years maybe but I’m here now and we make an amazing team.”
Umbra’s words hurt but Alaric knew that there was some truth to them. Although he preferred to think he would have survived longer than a few thousand years without a fairy to help him, considering the system wouldn’t even let him do anything until he called out and summoned one. He would have most likely sat in the darkness alone and bored until he gave in and summoned one or the Nether gods got bored with him and abandoned him. What he knew for certain he needed Umbra, and it made him happy to know this.
“So that means a total of 90 savage goblins, 60 bugbears, and 15 high goblins on this floor. 150 total for my monsters, not counting the bonus that the high goblins are. Then the hyenas and reptiles, plus a few wolves, hogs, and spiders from the first floor. This should make a good base, right?”
“Yeah, this should be good Alaric, but remember that the goblins can be summoned with classes. If I were you, I wouldn’t give all the goblins a class, so that when Rage Fueled Supremacy kicks in there's a chance for new classes to appear.”
Following this sentiment Alaric set to work summoning the monsters for the second floor. First a group of 40 savage goblin scrappers, 30 scouts and 20 savage goblins with no class at all. This would allow a good base and plenty of room to grow their classes if they survived that is. Next up are the high goblins, because they number less than the first floor Alaric had to make some adjustments to the classes, he originally intended to give them. This resulted in 5 warriors, 3 hunters, 2 rogues, 1 shaman, and 4 base high goblins. Unlike the savage goblins the high goblins upon spawning knelt to their core's presence before spreading out into the second floor's forest.
Finally, the bugbears the monsters that they were both the most excited to see. The first one summoned up stood 152.4 cm and had coarse brown fur covering its entire body, it thinned out some around the stomach. Two slitted yellow eyes like a cat peered out of a fur covered face that sported a rictus grin. The furry ears that poke out from the top of its head completed the features. All in all, it was a rather intimidating appearance.
The newly summoned bugbear looked around at its surroundings and took a deep breath before it spoke. “Oi! You're the boss huh? I can work with that, so just me or are there more buggies waiting around ere? I can’t exactly trap up the whole forest alone.”
“Don’t worry you won’t have to set up traps alone. I’m just about to summon the rest of them. Just didn’t expect the voice is all. Doesn't really fit the figure.”
“Ah, you're one of dem. Never seen a girl bugbear before huh. Can’t right blame ya, seeing as we’re better ambushers than the boys, don’t leave a whole lot of witnesses. So, you getting me some help or what boss man? I mean gobbos are good right, but us buggies do it better!”
“Uh yeah I’m planning on adding an additional 59 bugbears to the floor, but how did you know about the goblins?”
“You kidding, right boss? I mean you can smell em from here, they reek like old milk!”
Nice to know. Let's bring the rest of the bugbears in now. Unlike the first one the rest were a mixture of black and brown fur tones, why did the first have a different fur color. 35 males, 25 females total. I didn’t even have to give them any orders. As soon as the last was summoned, the blue furred first one roared and they ran off into the forest. The first bugbear then turned toward where my presence was originating, flashed a smile then leapt into the thick forest after the others.
Attention The Breach Storm Has Subsided And Your Entrance Has Been Opened Have Fun Little Dungeon.