He didn’t have much time to think about that because he was quickly assaulted by sweeping lunges with its spear – almost as if it was jousting. Fortunately, his shield was fairly large, and it was relatively easy to block each pass. Domn3r watched as an arrow took down the last Wyvern and they then turned their attention to the new mob. A well-timed Ice Shard caught the Dragon Rider in the shoulder and seemed to infuriate the flying pair. With a sharp turn and furious flapping of wings, they lifted straight up into the air directly above Domn3r while dodging additional projectiles. Soon enough, they were out of range and they waited with patience to see what it would do.
Domn3r wasn’t sure what had happened and only found out when he was brought back to life a couple of minutes later. While they all watched, ready to fling more spells and arrows at the Dragon Rider, said mob suddenly dropped straight down like it was shot out of a gun and impaled Domn3r through the eye slit in his helmet. The hit instantly killed him, breaking the spear in the process. Deprived of his main weapon, the Dragon Rider broke off and tried to attack from afar. The practice that Mac and Bolt3n had put in over the last couple of hours showed as they took the Drake down and consequently the Dragonkin.
That wasn’t the only surprise in store for them during the journey through the rest of the room. As they approached the end of the pathways, they were attacked by four Dragon Riders at once. They were able to take one down from afar before the others converged on their position and blanketed them with rolling waves of fire. The massive firestorm killed everyone except Domn3r this time, but he was later overwhelmed by the “jousts” from multiple directions.
They were resurrected again by Devin, who looked on with sympathy as he brought them back to life. Noticing the change in his usual demeanor when he had to Resurrect them all, he asked Devin what the change was all about.
“Sometimes it’s funny or silly how you guys die, but this time you were just overwhelmed and surprised by a massive unexpected attack. Nothing funny about that – I couldn’t see any way to avoid that,” Devin told him.
He’s right – I’m not sure how to defend against that. After asking his fellow party members, Ambrose suggested just running passed them for the moment and hoping for the best since they were so close to the exit. What they really needed if they were to tackle this place again was some heavy fire-based magical resistance gear. That way they could take these blasts of fire without all of them dying so quickly.
Devin and Krista agreed, since time was running out on their “beta-test”. While they had confidence that they could find a way to succeed even without resistance gear, they didn’t have time to play around until they figured it out. Once they decided on this plan, they implemented it by running full out to the exit. Domn3r was slower than the rest, lagged behind, and got fireballed in his butt a couple of times. A final spear “joust” to his back propelled him forward into the exit, doing massive damage but not killing him. Ambrose healed him back to normal and they entered what Krista told them was the last “quote-unquote” room. Whatever that means…
Chapter 25
After Krista told him that she was going to do something in the last room to prevent other groups of players from just running through, Devin watched as Domn3r and crew cautiously explored this new area. From where he could see it behind the group, it looked like a normal room with smooth, straight walls that ended about 50 feet ahead. In the floor was a hole in the ground that looked like it had exploded upward with scattered rocks strewn about. A hellish glow emanated from the crevice, signaling danger to anyone daring the journey down below.
Max was the first to reach the fissure after determining that there were no traps to surprise them all. She looked down the hole and reeled back in surprise, exclaiming, “What the fuck?”
Not accustomed to her swearing like that, Devin was curious about what made her react that way. Krista whispered to him that it was safe for him to look. He squeezed past the frozen-in-shock party members as they surrounded the object of their attention. His initial sight of the view before him made him mirror the shock of Max when she reeled back in surprise. Instead of cursing, he said, “Holy hell, Krista, you really outdid yourself.”
Leading below was a pathway of shattered rocks – which vaguely resembled a staircase – that led downward toward a jaggedly curved wall. This wall encompassed a giant tube sinking 1,000 feet down into the bowels of the earth, culminating in a massive lake of lava at the bottom. The pathway of jagged rocks eventually morphed into a staircase that wound its way down to the bottom, circling the entire room multiple times. It was only as Devin stood back and looked at the whole scene that he realized what he was looking at. As hard as it was to believe, Krista had designed and built the inside of volcano.
Flapping around the center of the volcano, Devin could see all kinds of flying monsters that were coasting along the currents of rising heat emanating from the lava below. He saw Dragon Riders, Fire Wyverns, Fire Drakes, “BWMYFs”, and even a Death’s Roar that was trying unsuccessfully to hide in the shadows along the rock wall. If he saw one, there were bound to me more successfully hiding somewhere in there.
“Uh…I don’t think I want to even try that. If we were to fall all the way to the bottom, you wouldn’t be able to get down quick enough to Resurrect us. I can tell you we aren’t prepared enough to get through that and we really don’t want to lose any experience from a permanent death – never mind the 3-hour lockout,” Domn3r told him.
Devin scratched the back of his neck, considering, and said, “Yeah, I think you’re right. I wouldn’t be able to get to you in time and the last way I want to repay your help is to have you die without a Resurrection. Krista, what do you say?”
“I didn’t even really think of that, but it makes sense. I got some good info and suggestions on how to improve this place already, so I think that this was a great success. I want to thank you all for your help showcasing my new dungeon floor. As a thank you, I have some news. While you were in here, I was able to break off and create something I want to show you. Normally, your presence would prevent me from making a teleporter to bring you back to the entrance. Fortunately for you, however, this floor isn’t quite yet part of the dungeon and I’m able to make one for you now. Give me just a second.”
True to her word, a second later a teleporter appeared in the room they were standing in. They all entered it one at a time, with Devin following the last of them. They appeared just outside the dungeon entrance and at first Devin thought Krista had somehow teleported them to a nearby town. Looking around, he was surrounded by buildings ranging in size from a hut to a larger Inn. All in all, they weren’t that big compared to others that he had seen in Briarwood, but that was probably because they all had to be contained in a stone wall surrounding them all in a semi-circle shape. There was a gate in the middle of the wall that was closed, and Devin could see numerous guards patrolling in front of the gate and standing on the wall above.
“What the? Is this what you were doing earlier when you left for a bit? You did all this in what – fifteen minutes?” Devin asked Krista.
Instead of answering, she watched the members of Domn3rs’ group look around in wonder at the new town that had just sprung up out of nowhere. They were talking excitedly and pointing at the various buildings, exploring the different locations with their eyes. Finally, Ambrose addressed Krista, “Did you do all of this while we were in the dungeon?”
“To answer all your questions – Yes, I did just make this small town. It helps to provide additional resources that I can use to improve the dungeon and spend it on upgrades. Why don’t you look around and see the various shops that I’ve constructed – I’m sure you could find somewhere to offload all that loot from your ‘beta-test’ of my dungeon floor,” Krista answered them all.
She didn’t have to tell them twice as they took off and started exploring the small town. It didn’t take that long – since it wasn’t overly big – and when they came back they looked extr
aordinarily pleased. Max had a question though, “I was talking to the Blacksmith and he said that he can provide some better armor for a fairly good price. However, it being out of my price range at the moment, he told me about some sort of ‘Death Conversion Contract’ but wasn’t able to explain it. What is that?”
Devin was as confused and curious as the rest of them, eager to find out the answer to this unusual question. Krista put off an explanation, instead asking for them to request the Reckless guild leadership to come to the dungeon so that she could explain it to everyone at once.
Domn3r had already let De4thfrmbeh1nd and the others know about their “beta-test” and were eagerly awaiting the results of their adventure. As they were waiting not too far away from the dungeon, they were able to travel there in less than a half hour. While they were waiting, Domn3r’s group sold all their extra loot, shopped for additional potions, and used some of their hard-earned gold from the battle with the Shroomba of Doomba on some gear upgrades.
Not having anything else to do, Devin went along with them on their shopping excursion while Krista excused herself to finish the changes to the new floor. The party was just finishing up when De4thfrmbeh1nd, Sh1fty, EyesHlzU, and Stalw4rtShield arrived at the gate entrance. Krista, having kept an eye on the goings on up top, told the guards to open the door for them and invited them in herself.
Startled at the disembodied voice, they all pulled their weapons and readied themselves for a fight. This in turn made the guards anxious, which led to them readying their weapons as well. Devin thought that the situation might have gotten out of hand if Domn3r hadn’t run over and calmed their leaders down. He was heard telling them about Krista and that it was her voice that they had heard from the air. Relaxing at this situation, they all apologized to Krista and offered various greetings while looking silly staring at random places in the air.
Devin walked over to them and introduced himself as Devin, which got him another couple of funny looks – but not as much as when he was Troll and met Domn3r’s group for the first time. EyesHlzU was fascinated by his Healer build – she had never seen anyone put their skills together like he did. It wasn’t practical in 99% of situations so it was quite the novelty – a Healer who couldn’t heal very well.
After the introductions were over with, Krista gathered them all together and told them all about this town and what it means to both the dungeon and to them. Devin listened as she explained how the basic functions of the town worked. He learned how the buying and selling of items and services at the stores would provide a profit of dungeon resources. This sounded like an awesome way to increase the power of the dungeon without having to kill players for their resources. Of course, these additional resources didn’t provide any experience – that was only acquired within the dungeon proper.
He also learned how a guild can take “ownership” of the town, getting bonuses that would increase/decrease the price of goods sold/bought by the players at the shops. Additionally, they would gain the Dungeon Core bonus while delving into the Altera Vita dungeon.
When the Reckless guild leaders heard this information, they all looked excitedly at each other. Devin could even hear Sh1fty giggling softly like a little schoolgirl. He could sense that they all had questions on their lips wanting to come out, but Krista wasn’t done yet. She told them about the special “Death Conversion Contract” only available to the guild that was in control of the town. Apparently, the players could sacrifice themselves to help pay for goods or services as part of a contract with the dungeon. The dungeon would get the resources that would normally be gained from their death inside the dungeon and the player would get that equivalent in trade. The only caveat was that they could only do this once a week – which made sense to Devin. If they were able to do it anytime they wanted, they would be able to purchase an almost unlimited amount of anything.
“I want you all to know how much I appreciate your helping Devin retrieve and safely bring back the Dungeon Core. When it was stolen, I thought that was it for us – that this was end. I was out of my mind with disappointment, resentment, apathy, and depression when the Core was stolen, and your assistance has given me back both my mind and my life. As a token of my thanks, I want to choose you and your guild to control this town.
“You’ll receive all the benefits from our association, in addition to little perks like ‘beta-testing’ new floors for the dungeon – as Domn3r and his crew can attest to being awesome. In exchange, we need help to defend this place from the other guilds. We need to keep the gates open so that players can come in and challenge the dungeon, as well as patronize the different shops here. If another guild were to take over control, there is an almost definite possibility that they would close the gates and potentially try over and over to steal the Dungeon Core. I know that from your help retrieving the Core from before that you don’t want that to happen almost as much as us. If you all agree, you can move in and base all your operations from here.”
Krista concluded her “presentation” with the sight of the Guild House, which until Krista had chosen Reckless as the controlling guild was invisible. Shocked at the sudden turn of events, all of them – including Devin – just stopped and stared at the decently sized house that appeared as if out of nowhere. De4th was the first to speak and addressed Krista, “It would be our honor to defend this place. This is a unique opportunity that – if I can speak for my guild members – would be insane for us to pass up. This is all we’ve wanted since we’ve learned of your existence – to keep the Dungeon Core out of the hands of those who would abuse it. Although this would give us a hefty lift in our own power as a result, we will use it to help regulate the comings and goings from inside and outside of the dungeon. You can count on us.” Everyone else present seemed to agree with that statement and there were smiles all around.
Even though they already had a larger guild house in the capital, this one meant so much more to them. This one was a representation of what they had been working towards for the last couple of months. All the members of Reckless rushed over to it, enthusiastic to check it out.
After spending some time checking it out, Domn3r and his group took the Reckless leaders on a tour of their new town. Krista answered all the questions they had to the best of her ability but had to ask Carl a couple of times when they had some specific inquiries she didn’t have the answer to. She told them about the current NPC guard situation, and how they could acquire additional units. Krista could provide some resources for them, but ultimately it would be up to the guild to purchase what they needed. Until the dungeon had a surplus of new resources, they would have to use their own gold to get by.
Since the guild was still getting settled in and had things in hand for the moment, Devin heard Krista tell them that she needed to steal him away for some unfinished business. He was pretty sure he knew what she was talking about and said his goodbyes and thanks to Domn3r, Ambrose, Mac, Bolt3n, and Max. They sent him off with heartfelt thanks as well, making Devin glad that he met them and trusted them all in the first place.
Although he was looking forward to what was coming next, he dreaded it as well…
Chapter 26
Krista had finished up most of the improvements the “beta-testers” had suggested earlier while they were exploring the town, so she didn’t have a lot that needed to be done to open the new floor. She adjusted the levels of the monsters to better suit the level cap – which she was going to set at 40. This meant that they would potentially see quite a few advanced classes, but that also enabled Devin to access them as well when he leveled up. She was nervous about seeing how the new advanced classes would fare against her dungeon, but she figured she needed to do it eventually to learn about how they operated.
She also changed the loot in all the chests, leaving a small amount of gold and adding more powerful weapons and armor that she had access to from the blacksmith in town. Having these advanced weapons and armor also allowed her to upgrade all the weaponry that h
er sentient mobs used – the Goblins, Orcs, and Dragonkin all got an upgrade. Although they stayed the same level, even the Goblins on the first floor were potentially twice as hard to kill now. These changes used up all of the additional resources that she had accumulated from the “beta-testers” when they died on this floor, and from their selling/purchasing in her town. She was also just a couple of players’ deaths away from increasing her Dungeon Level to 14 – which hopefully would come soon since they were almost ready to open for business.
One thing that the beta-testers couldn’t see was the recreated initial Guardian Room she had installed just after the volcano. This was to be Violette’s new room, placed just before Bruce’s final guardian room. Bruce wouldn’t move down to the new floor until she connected the stairs down to it, but she still could place Violette there. She had been dreading this part, because she wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Will she be as crazy as she was before she died? Or will she be worse? And what really happened between Devin and Violette? The only way she was going to find out was to just do it and damn the consequences.
She had respawned and placed Devin in the recreated Guardian Room, noticing that he had chosen to be a Brawler with insane amounts of allocated Strength in his build. She wondered what that was supposed to mean but stopped dithering and placed her volatile Guardian into the middle of the room.
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