The Quizard Mountains: A Dungeon Core Epic (Station Cores Book 2)

by Jonathan Brooks

  Otherwise, everything looked very similar to the Station Core’s description.

  With excitement energetically running through his blood, he ordered his “Raid Group” forward (at least, that’s what The Milton laughingly called it – Brint wasn’t sure what it meant or why it was funny). However, the name seemed to be appropriate, so he adopted it as his own.

  The first of his Quanks entered the nearest cave without incident, followed by everyone else. There was enough light streaming through the entrance that it was easy enough to see that, although the interior of the cave was rough around the edges, it was also “constructed” in a uniform arch shape covering an unusually flat surface. The floor was nowhere near as flat as what The Milton could construct inside the dungeon; it was, instead, flat in the sense that there weren’t sharp or even smooth protrusions sticking out everywhere. He reasoned that he could push a cart through there without too much difficulty.

  He started to experience a slight bit of trepidation as they continued further into the cave. Soon enough, the tunnel started to narrow from its previous massive proportions to one that was eerily similar to their dungeon. Additionally, the available light started to fade as they traveled further from the entrance – it wasn’t so dark that he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, but it was close.

  If he needed to, he could look through the eyes of the Qwizard traveling near his mount; their eyesight was suited for low-level situations such as this. If that failed, he could have the available sensor orbs he had on the Quartermaster light up to provide light. He would do that if he needed to, but he would rather not alert anything in here to their presence quite yet.

  The tight space also made it difficult for the Big Yellow Birdalopes to fully enjoy their sky dance, so they settled on the backs of the lumbering Quanks, preening their feathers as they waited for more room. Which, after another 100 feet of narrow tunnel, started to open into a larger cavern. It was also – thankfully – lit by slowly-pulsing, green-glowing streaks of rock that ran through the walls. It gave everything a strange appearance; especially the Birdalopes who appeared to almost turn a light green from the combination of colors. Everyone else just looked washed-out.

  He could easily see that the room was clear, and even the sharp-sighted vision of his aerial units – who had taken to the air as soon as the room opened up – didn’t see anything either. Since there were no other tunnels leading anywhere, and there didn’t seem to be any sign that anyone or anything had used this room in a long time, he felt it was relatively safe to start the mining process.

  He quickly instructed the drones to unload the Power Generator and Molecular Converter near one of the walls, where they immediately went to work systematically tearing apart the walls. Even though he had seen how fast they worked when they were constructing the dungeon rooms, it was still shocking how quickly and easily they were able to cut through anything and everything they came across.

  Without being able to do anything else, and slightly disappointed that there wasn’t a fight to be found here, he stationed his Combat Units near the entrance to the cavern to block anything that might hear the work going on. The drones didn’t make a lot of noise, but it was enough that if anyone was near the entrance the acoustics inherent in the cave system would amplify any sounds they made.

  Although the risk was minor, Brint was worried that the dismantling of the walls would cause the cave roof to fall in. He didn’t know a lot about rock and structures and forces and all that, but he did know that in larger houses the roof needed to be held up by supports. He figured the same principle applied here, so he instructed the drones to ensure that the roof didn’t fall in. Fortunately for everyone, the intelligence inhabiting the drones was knowledgeable enough to know how to do it without specific instructions – which Brint didn’t have.

  Columns of Sandstone with a thin core of Weightonite were quickly constructed and installed, relieving most of the worry Brint had concerning the roof. The drones were just getting back to work when he was startled by a voice in his head.

  “Nice job so far! I love those columns – they are like what I have in the Farm! Anyway, I just wanted to check in to see how it was going and to also tell you that I’ve already gotten over 20,000 BMUs! That place is mega-rich in metallic ore. And try to get more of that glowing stuff – I think that if you get enough of that it will provide enough raw material to construct some Focusing Crystals. Although, it might take a lot of them…

  Just keep in mind that there might still be mobs…I mean monsters or dangerous creatures nearby, so don’t let down your guard. I’ll check in with you at some point, but don’t hesitate to contact me if you need something.”

  Brint was happy to know that his work was paying off and that the drones had mined 20,000 “BMUs” – another word I don’t know – already and they had just started. He was determined to keep at it, although The Milton’s caution at the end made him want to explore the other caves nearby. You know, for curiosities’ sake.

  But he stayed put, knowing that what he was doing was far more important in the long-run for their safety. It might not be fun and exciting; nevertheless, it was necessary.

  * * *

  After a few hours of mind-numbingly watching the drones at work, Brint had become lax in his vigilance. Most of his Combat Units were stationed near the entrance to watch for potential enemies, and if it wasn’t for the quick spike of warning he received from a group of Birdalopes circling around the room in their graceful air-dancing he would have been a goner.

  One of his drones had broken through the eastern wall, creating a sizable hole into an adjacent section that he wasn’t aware was there. Without warning, a reptilian arm shot through the ever-widening portal and snatched at the nearby drone, where it was smashed with vigor against the floor, immediately disabling it.

  By this time, Brint’s attention was on it and already ordering all his units to defend against the incoming tide of Quizards coming through. The Qwizards were the first to arrive, and they were fortunately better armored, deadlier, and faster than their distant cousins. Their claw strikes did immense damage to their foes, opening gaping wounds wherever they struck. In return, the less-effective attacks from the incoming horde of quick lizards didn’t do much damage; it was only a constant barrage of claw strikes and bites that caused any sort of wounds. At first, the Qwizards had the upper hand as they were able to take on two or even three opponents at a time. That didn’t last long because, unfortunately, the rush of incoming enemies started to thoroughly outnumber Brints’ defenders.

  Here and there, he could see strategic strikes by his Quassassins, who jumped on the backs of the giant lizards and slit throats with abandon. While it usually didn’t kill them immediately, the bleeding damage – in addition to the slowing poison – made them less dangerous as they slowly bled to death. Although his Combat Units involved in the battle managed to take out dozens of enemies, the sheer number of potential targets made their eventual demise more and more likely. Even the flashes of flames the Qwizards produced – which engulfed their opponents’ heads, causing both pain and confusion – wasn’t enough to save the day.

  Until a rain of spears fell upon the attacking army of lizards, inflicting massive damage with their precise strikes. A few Quizards managed to dodge the incoming projectiles when they saw them coming with their amazing speed; however, the D-Ranged Monkeys started targeting those that had their backs to them. These attacks didn’t go unnoticed, however, and soon caused three of the lightning-fast giant lizards to break away from the main carnage happening in front of the broken wall.

  They raced toward the D-Ranged Monkeys who had trouble targeting the incoming Quizards because they were moving so fast. After a plethora of missed throws, which were easily dodged by the quick lizards, Brint instructed them to hold onto their remaining spears and use them for close combat.

  While his Monkeys were super-strong – they had to be to handle the spears they threw – they
weren’t very fast. As a result, when the Quizards arrived, they dodged the clumsy thrusts, snaking through gaps in the Monkeys’ offense to quickly strike at the muscled primates. By the time help arrived in the form of a swarm of Birdalopes, they managed to take out one of his ranged attackers and were about to overwhelm the others.

  The interesting thing about the Birdalopes – apart from their mesmerizing plumage and aerial dancing – was their unique way they used the ability they were granted. With their instinctive knowledge of currents, pressures, and other air-related things Brint had no clue about, they were able to temporarily increase their flight speed by activating their ability. When they dove in a suicidal attack, they pumped every drop of power they had into a single burst of air that propelled them downwards so quickly they were practically a blur.

  Ten loud *pops* later – louder than he expected because they were in an enclosed space – half of his aerial force had sacrificed themselves as they impaled the backs of the attackers targeting his Monkeys. One of them managed to find something vital inside a Quizard, killing it instantly, but the others kept fighting – although they were significantly slower than they had been. This advantage was all his three wounded-yet-still-alive Monkeys needed to finish them off. As soon as all three of the nearby giant lizards were dead, they restocked their spears from the Quartermaster and resumed their attack on the others.

  There were still close to 50 Quizards alive in the room, with more coming in every second. They were clustered around the Qwizards, inflicting heavy damage – so much so that one of them fell under the onslaught. Brint was relieved to see that it wasn’t his favorite one; however, even that one was near death.

  Worse still, he could see that two of his Quassassins had been caught and torn apart, their fur having reverted to a purple blend of colors they were originally known for. He couldn’t see the third and last one, but he suspected it was in the process of stalking more prey.

  And that was when the much-slower Quanks finally arrived from their position near the entrance. It only took about 15 seconds from the start of the fight, but since most of those involved in the melee were abnormally fast it felt like hours.

  It didn’t take long for the pressure to come off the beleaguered Qwizards, who backed up and let the Quanks take the attention away from them. The unique “scent” they exuded from their bodies caused their opponents to immediately switch their targets and hammer everything they had at what they now perceived as the biggest threat. His own units were luckily immune to the special “Threatening Pheromones” trait the Quanks possessed, otherwise he would’ve had to keep his army from attacking each other all the time. He himself wasn’t immune, but he usually stayed far enough away that it didn’t affect him. Whenever he did get close, he was smart enough not to give into his baser animal instincts; besides, he’d only end up hurting himself if he attacked one of the armored behemoths.

  With the pressure off the main damage dealers, they were able to quickly decimate the opposition. Dirty green-appearing blood covered the ground – hindering his own Units as well as the remaining enemies – and bodies and body parts littered the entire cavern as some of the more “enthusiastic” attacks by the three remaining Qwizards dismembered and distributed missing limbs.

  Brint had thought he had become immune to the sight of blood and gore after the last couple of weeks of hunting; this, however, was on another level entirely. It didn’t take long before he emptied the contents of his stomach over the side of the Quartermaster he was perched atop of. By the time he had recovered, the battle was starting to finish as the number of enemy Quizards dropped from twenty, to ten, and finally the last wounded one went down from a precision strike to its throat by his remaining Quassassin.

  Silence reigned inside the cavern, interrupted only by the continued work of the forgotten drones as they worked nonstop to mine the walls of the cavern. The stench of blood, guts, and voided bowels was so strong inside the unventilated cave that when Brint’s mind finally caught up to his senses, he was temporarily knocked unconscious from the smell.

  Chapter 24 – Exploration

  He wasn’t out long. Well, at least based upon what the drones had accomplished while he was “sleeping”. Probably no more than a minute or so. He felt a little embarrassed about succumbing to the horrible smell, but at least there was only his team around him at the moment. They weren’t going to tell anyone.

  “Well done! I only caught the last part of the fight, but you did awesome against their superior numbers – I couldn’t have done better myself! And better yet, I leveled up!

  “Hopefully that was all that was in here to defend this place, so now you should be able to finish mining and get out of there. I’m starting the reinforcement process; however, it’ll be a little while before they’re all ready. If you can hold out until they’re all done, then you can head back to the dungeon to pick them up.”

  Brint still didn’t completely understand the whole “leveling up” process, despite being able to see that his Combat Units got more powerful as they acquired “experience”, but he was glad all the same. He was also excited to hear that his reinforcements were in the process of being supplied, though it would probably be sometime the next day.

  The stench in the cavern was still overwhelming, so he moved the drones from their mining task and directed them towards cleaning up the room. He looked the other way as they started dissecting bodies so that they could insert them into the Molecular Converter; he didn’t want to instigate another stomach-voiding session since he didn’t have anything left in there anyway. That, and he didn’t want to trigger another loss of consciousness.

  He glanced around the room and instructed his unwounded and still-healthy Combat Units to help with the clean-up as well. Which – now that he was able to realistically look at his once-mighty army – wasn’t very many. In addition to the walking-wounded, he had lost almost half of his force.

  Out of the thirty-seven Combat Units he had started with, he was down to twenty-one – a third of which were wounded. They would recover over the next day, but his guard force was not where he liked it to be. He counted his losses as he tried to avoid watching the drones who were involved in their grisly work.

  One Qwizard had died near the beginning of the battle and another one had expired due to blood loss near the end, leaving his favorite and another still alive.

  Two Quassassins had perished, their lifeless corpses looking strangely normal as their Active Camouflage was deactivated upon their deaths. The last one had completely escaped injury, fortunately.

  Ten Birdalopes (half of their number) had sacrificed themselves to protect the three remaining-yet-injured Monkeys after one of the ranged attackers had been killed.

  Somehow, one of his Quanks had fallen during the battle as well. When he looked closer at its corpse, he saw a dead Quizard that still had one of its claws inside the eye socket of his heavily-armored Unit. By the damage he saw, it looked as though its eye had been shanked multiple times before it fell. It just went to show that his front-line wasn’t as invulnerable as he believed.

  And, of course, he lost one of the drones he came with at the start of the attack. That would set back the mining efforts a little, but he still had three to work with.

  Once the place was as clean as it was going to get – they didn’t have an easy way to absorb all the blood, but at least the bodies were gone – Brint could think of their defenses again. If they were attacked by another horde of Quizards he wanted to be ready.

  Two Quanks went toward the entrance of the cavern where they were stationed before. He still wasn’t convinced that a threat might not come from the outside, so he wanted to make sure it was covered. He also assigned one Qwizard there, along with five Birdalopes and a single Monkey. Hopefully, they would be able to hold off another attack until reinforcements could be brought from another part of the cavern.

  One Quank parked itself immediately in front of the hole the now-destroyed drone acci
dentally created, blocking anything from coming through. He placed the other two Monkeys there, as well as his remaining Quassassin. The last flock of five Birdalopes also took position above as well.

  Just in case another breach was created along the walls, he kept the drones clustered together and assigned the remaining Quank and Qwizard to follow along. The Quank was kept right up against the wall so that it could immediately plug any holes. It occasionally got in the way of the drones’ work, but Brint thought it was a necessary precaution.

  As for Brint, he was relegated to dinner duty. He created hearty meals using the Molecular Converter for each of his Units, most of which consisted of generous helpings of unidentifiable raw meat. They also got a helping of the Core Room water he had brought with them to refill any of their power pools that had been depleted. The stench inside the “mine” was still too great for Brint to want a meal himself, but he knew that his depleted and injured guard force needed to keep their strength up.

  Once that was done, there wasn’t much left for him to do except wait.

  * * *

  Brint wasn’t sure how long he was asleep, but when he woke up the cavern was so dark that only a faint light reflecting down the tunnels was visible. Reaching out to the sensor orbs nearby, he panicked and turned on their lights so quickly he was blinded by their brilliance. He mentally lowered their brightness and when the spots cleared from his eyes he looked around.

  The cavern appeared much different than when he had last seen it. Half again as large as it was previously, new columns had been added to shore up the roof as the drones had tirelessly converted the walls into usable resources, including the green-glowing rocks that had previously illuminated the room with their strange colors. Most of the streaks of different colors were gone from the walls as well, hinting that whatever metal deposits that may have been in there were gone now.