Dungeon delving has turned into a profitable past time for many adventurers. Not only does it provide a place to train young and fresher recruits, but it is also a place for people to pick up loot and equipment. Dungeons left alone, grow in difficulty, and with the greater risk comes greater reward. Conversely, the more frequently explored dungeons become less profitable and adventurers move on. This isn’t always the case, without a fresh supply of life a forgotten dungeon can decay, at least that’s the theory.
#Demitri’s Perspective
The layout of the dungeon changed when they found a stair downwards. After the cave section, the first level turned into a series of passages connecting circular rooms, they were almost like mini arenas. Each had at least one monster in it, sometimes more. Each fight seemed like it would be more challenging, but the fights were over before they began.
Dimitri was slowly gaining levels in his warlock class, even though it seemed like Warnik was doing most of the work. He did try to help, but Warnik needed to work through the emotions he was feeling. He wondered if it had anything to do with The Rage that the villagers were fearing.
He had already gone up two levels with the seven fights they’d completed. It seems like the system is counting his lower level when it came to experience, even though he had the attribute bonus from getting imported into the world. He reasoned he was overpowered by about a hundred levels.
The next level down was patterned like an older building, back from the time before they invented hallways. It was one of Warnik’s annoying traits that he knew that hallways weren’t invented a long time ago. The stairway terminated at a doorway, which was not trapped, fortunately. The first room was empty, but the next one had a table and chest.
“This almost looks like a laboratory. One of those that you’d expect to find in a necromancer’s dungeon.” He commented.
“Yeah, it even has a ‘chest’ over there, sitting innocently.”
“That’s a weird way of saying that Warnik.”
“This is a dungeon Dimitri. It could be anything. It could be a mimic. Question is, is it a weak mimic like D&D, or is it a Dark Souls-like mimic?”
“What if we ignore it?”
“It might follow us.”
“Aren’t you being a bit paranoid?”
“You’re only going to say that till you have a pair of teeth in your ass. I wish I had an eleven-foot pole.”
“Why eleven?”
“I forget I’ve played too much D&D. A lot of traps have a ten-foot range or a ten-foot attack. Using a ten-foot pole means you are just out of range of the effect, or just on the edge of it. An eleven-foot pole gives you that foot of safety.”
Warnik went closer to the chest and gave it a prod with the spiked end of his poleax. When that didn’t seem to do anything he gave it a second more forceful prod.
“Well, that doesn’t seem to be working.” He tried to lift open the top of the chest with the pole-arm.
“I might have a spell here,
[Chest]
“Oh come on that’s bullshit. Identify just says ‘chest’, I know it’s magic.”
[MaAaaagic {finger wiggle} Chest Woo]
“This system is sarcastic.”
Identify has leveled to 5 / First Tier
“What did it say?”
“Magic Chest woo.” He even added the finger wiggles.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Okay. Let’s see if it bites my hand off.” Warnik reached over and tried to open it. The chest erupted in a magical explosion covering him with fire.
“I guess it’s a practical joke chest.” Warnik said as he ignored the magical fire and opened the box, “No teeth, that’s good. Looks like some coins and potions. Nothing spectacular.”
“I’m going to have to get used to running with a forsaker, you guys really are cheats.”
“Whatever works.”
They went to the door to the next room. Warnik found the door locked, “Maybe there’s a key?” Dimitri asked, “We haven’t searched the rest of the room, there’s still the desk.”
“You’re right. There might be a key in there. Would serve us right, wouldn’t it?”
The desk contained a book, an ink well, a couple of quills, and some other brick-a-brack. There weren’t any keys, but Dimitri took a moment to look through the book.
“This dungeon is deep, this is a notebook by an explorer, I think this was his base camp. He came back here after exploring. No idea on what the date of the last entry means. The twenty-second day of Naluk year Nine-Fifty.”
“We didn’t really ask the date in the town, did we? That could be yesterday, or fifty years ago. It could also be a completely different calendar than what the town folk uses.”
“So what do the notes say?”
“Well let see. If I understand things correctly, this use to be the first level. The level above us isn’t mentioned in the book. The dungeon was also listed as a level 95 to 105 dungeon.”
“So either the book is wrong, the dungeon grew upwards, and got less powerful, or your system is lying about how hard this dungeon is. This room does look secure for the most part. Strange that there isn’t a bed here if it was this adventurer’s home base. I think we should rest here until you get a chance to read that book and give us an idea of what to expect.”
“You’re probably right. Get some rest and I’ll have a look through things. First I want to check out my status. We did gain a few levels.”
Name:
OniKaiser241 Dimitri
Class:
Warlock
Level:
Warlock (12)
Foreign Class:
Dungeon Overlord (Mage)
Attributes:
(15 available)
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Strength
8 (+55 From DO)
Carry Limit:
315
Agility
11 (+65 From DO)
Grace Level:
2 (+1.5 Stanima/s)
Endurance
10 (+120 From DO)
Stanima Points:
260 /260 (+5.8/s)
Durability
10 (+80 From DO)
Hit Points:
123/180
Intelligence
15 (+280 From DO)
Max Spell Level:
3 (special) (+3.2 Mana/s)
Wisdom
15 (+280 From DO)
Mana Points:
420/690 (+3.2/s)
Charisma
13 (+30 From DO)
Persuasion
+4
Appearance
13 (+20 From ER)
+3 situation bonus to persuasion
Class Skill
Level:
Class Skill:
Level
Concentration
10 / First Tier
Use Magic Device
10 / First Tier
Class Perks:
General Skill
Level:
General Skill
Level:
Linguist
5 / Second (Final) Tier
Persuasion
1 / First Tier (base)
4 / First Tier (Charisma)
6 / First Tier (Situational)
Identify
2 / First Tier
Pocket Space
7 / First Tier
Titles: Undocumented Import, Freedom Fighter
This time Dimitri decided to push his attribute points into Durability, Intelligence, and Wisdom. He looked at his spells again and didn’t see one for healing himself. He wished he had his old Dungeon Overlord skills.
“
“Awesome. At least I can heal.”
He opened the book and spent the next several hours attempting to piece together the narrative of it.
#Levyna’s Perspective
The two women continued through the eleven dungeon. Levyna was taking it slow, but she was steadily gaining experience. The skeletons were the main foe, followed by giant rats and giant spiders.
The spiders pissed her off the most since they liked to jump on her and get in her hair. Fortunately, they weren’t the classic giant spiders that were the size of men, instead, they were about head-sized.
Poison Resistance is now 3 / First Tier
There was that. It’s a good thing she had a lot of hit points and a lot of mana. A few times she was worried about how fast her health was dropping. She had to wait until the poison ran out, all the while casting her water-based healing spells. She almost ran out of stamina and mana in one notable instance.
Performance (Interpretive Dance) is now 4 / First Tier
She did snort when she saw that one. She did guess that her performance to increase her effectiveness with her skills could be a way to interpret her emotions. Especially anger.
“I think we should move on Mariya. I’m back to full health, mana and stamina. We just have to watch out for those damn spiders. From now on the first thing, I’m doing is flaming all the webs.”
“I don’t blame you. I’m glad you’re here. But then I don’t think I’d be down here in the first place without you.”
You have entered the boss room of the outer enclave of the Elviathius Palace Dungeon, you cannot proceed until you beat the final boss.
“Oh fuck… Wildborn!”
Prepare to fight the giant Giganthauslous!
She could barely see a car-sized spider drop down from the ceiling. It was halfway down before she shouted, “
It would be cruel to say that the spider didn’t know what hit it, but it didn’t know what hit it. Several large meteors appeared in the chamber above the spider and impacted on its Cephalothrox and Abdomen. Levyna wasn’t done. When she landed after the final meteor impact she shouted out her next move.
“
“Maybe I overdid it?”
“You think?”
She looked at her messages.
Prepare to fight maltreat the giant Giganthauslous!
You have cruelly thrashed the giant Giganthauslous level 45… You monster… For beating a foe 30 levels higher than yourself you gained extra experience. For defeating a boss monster in a single blow you gain extra experience. For fighting in a party your experience has been reduced, but who are we kidding it was all you.
You have gained the title Spoilsport
Novice of Elements has gained 5 levels. 25 Stat points are available to be allocated
“This system is getting snarky. What does it expect? It summoned me and made me a bit overpowered.”
“The system summoned you, Levyna?”
“I think so. Let me see the message… You have been summoned by the world, as a hero of the eighteenth rise of demons.”
“That wasn’t the system,” Mariya said almost in awe, “That was the world. You were summoned by the world!”
“There’s a difference?”
“Yes!”
Levyna sighed a bit, “This is starting to make my head hurt. What’s the difference?”
“It’s hard to explain. But the world is the world. She seems to have a destiny, or a story or something that it needs to complete. The system works with that story, but doesn’t guide the story.” The tall elf sighed and shrugged her shoulders, “I was a slave, I don’t know more than that, I’d suggest you find a priest or something to explain it to you better.”
“Well, I don’t see any priests around.”
The body of the spider dissolved in the pool of lava, and then a chest appeared. This chest was obviously a reward for killing the boss. “This better not be a trick, and be a mimic.”
“What’s a mimic, Levyna?”
“It’s a creature that hunts adventurers like us. They disguise themselves as chests normally, and when an adventurer opens the chest, it bites their heads off.”
“Sounds gross.”
“They are. I think they’re a kind of slime or some other amorphous creature that can take the shapes of other things. Let’s go open it, but we should be ready to jump back.”
She walked over to the chest and bent her knees a little before opening the boss chest. When the lid started to open she jumped back, and then looked inside.
[Simple Leather Armor – Common Quality, style enchantment.]
[Simple Leather Boots – Common Quality, style enchantment.]
[Simple Leather Bracers – Common Quality, style enchantment.]
[Book: The true history of the world, part 1]
“Looks like a set of simple leather armor, but enchantment.” She looked up at the tall, and muscular elf. “Not that I don’t mind you showing some skin, but I think you should change into these. You might be able to take a hit with these, better than those rags that you’re wearing.”
The elf just shrugged her shoulder, “If you insist.”
It didn’t take too long for the elf to change into the armor.
“That style enchantment. Must be playing a trick with us. I just hope that your belly is protected. I mean, seriously. A low cut top, that stops just past your breasts, leading to a skirt that I swear would make a hooker blush.” Levyna just shook her head, “At least the boots offer some protection, and don’t have a heel on them. Still that top, I mean you could almost say it was a long-sleeved bikini top.”
She took out the book yet and flipped to the first page. “’In the beginning…’ No maybe later when I really need to know.” She tossed the book into her pocket space and then looked around. “Stairs going down. I guess it’s time for the next level.”
She had a look through her stats again, decided to toss another five points into Agility, Endurance, Durability, Intelligence, and Wisdom. She had yet to see a use for her stupidly high charisma and appearance. She didn’t have anything else to do, the extra levels didn’t unlock anything more. Though she did notice the new skills. She had two new titles, that she examined with identify.
Exhibitionist: You have the flair for the dramatic. The more people look at you, the flashier your moves are. You get a bonus to the effectiveness of your skills the more eyes are drawn to you.
Spoilsport: For killing a boss monster before it was ready, you acquired the Spoilsport title. People become instinctively wary of your surprise attacks, though your surprise attacks are more effective.
They walked towards the exit to the next level. It was a grandiose door, then when opened led them into another dungeon hallway.
“No stairs. I guess that’s fine, but it is a bit disappointing.”
“Why?”
“Just doesn’t meet expectations, you always expect stairs or a ramp or something when you change levels.”