Destruction Dungeon: Level 2

The moment Levi stepped inside, he knew the treasure was indeed gone. There was a sense of emptiness about it, his Secret Seeker title alerting him that there was nothing to be found.

“Well, while we’re here, we may as well clear it.” It was level 2, but with the addition of Cen and Centoo, Gordon, and Flomper, Levi felt fully confident in their chances. Two or three people against a level 2, that would be unwise. But five, all equal or greater in level? They’d be fine.

"You sure we'll be able to handle it?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't try to solo it, but with the whole team? We'll be fine."

"What should I expect from a level two dungeon?" Gordon asked.

"A lot more monsters, a lot more traps. Remember that thing I said about how humans are always the weakest on the leveling spectrum? This is where you'll see that first-hand. A level two dungeon will be more than twice as dangerous as a level 1. Except the boss. They don't scale to the same extent, so it should only be about half again as difficult. And we outlevel it enough... it'll be a challenge, but not a whole level of magnitude more. By the time dungeons hit level 10, we'll want to outnumber them by a lot more. A four-person team is enough to take anything below first threshold, but the numbers necessary for safely traversing it tends to increase by about that every time."

"Including the minions, right?"

"Yes, including the minions. They might only count as half, or they might count as more than one. It depends. I've not learned enough about minion classes yet to be sure. But from what I've seen, they tend to scale up somewhere midway between humans and demons. Demons are by far the strongest and most concentrated power. They can't even be compared. Dungeons rely on quantity over quality for the most part. And we're just stuck in the middle without any particular advantages."

"So... what should I expect out of this?"

"Events, or rewards?"

"What are we up against?"

"A lot more gremlins, and probably a few other things too. Destruction dungeons that I've been in love their Rust Scarabs." Levi shivered. "I did not miss them. We don't really have any area attacks yet. They tend to come in swarms and have a concentrated corrosive venom. Mild paralysis side effects."

"How big are we talking?"

Levi made a loose fist to demonstrate. "Not too big. They'll probably be slow enough to hit at this level. I'm guessing the swarms will only be eight to twenty in size. We might start seeing goblins or ogres in another level or two, but I'm not sure if they'll be in this early. I'm guessing ogres are only after the level 5 mark."

"So mostly gremlins and bugs."

"Mostly. Yeah. And better traps."

"I haven't seen any particularly good traps."

"I'm pretty good at spotting them, so I've kept us away from them. And at level 1 dungeons just don't have the necessary resources to go trap crazy."

They set off into the first room, occupied by its usual crop of door guard gremlins waiting to ambush them. Four this time, but between Levi, Gordon, and the two centipedes they were able to wipe them out without more than a slight pause. If they were a little faster or a little tougher than their level 1 counterparts, it wasn't noticeable enough to save them.

Once the room was clear, Levi took out his life-sight lens and scanned the next area. What he saw was not encouraging.

Rust Scarabs, as he’d expected. One of his least favourite things about Destruction dungeons. They could descend on an unsuspecting flank and pick off a half dozen men before being stopped. At least there were only eight of them in the hall, unlike the swarms of hundreds he was used to, but eight was still enough to get in a few deadly bites before he could deal with them all.

He was still getting used to everything being so much weaker - himself, and everything he faced - and without having faced the scarabs directly he couldn't quite bring himself to feel confident in their ability to handle them. Too many of the abilities he knew by heart were reliant on specific equipment combinations he no longer had access to. If he'd had spare ability points, he wished he could have gotten Gust for its area burst damage.

"Hey, Gordon, how close are you to leveling again?"

"Not very. I just hit level 3."

Right. After resetting his levels, Gordon wouldn't be hitting his threshold anytime soon.

“I don’t suppose either of you have a ranged or area attack?” Levi asked the centipedes. “What’s your mana used for, anyway?”

Cen tapped his chest plates with his front eight or so legs.

“Enhancement on your armor? Better than nothing, but not of much use against the scarabs.”

“So they’re definitely there?”

“Yeah. If none of us has an area attack, I think I’ll just have to take them on directly.” He gave his shortsword a quick swing and stretched his shoulders, mentally preparing himself for a flurry of motion as he waited for his stamina to fully recharge.

After days of solid fighting, his body was gradually beginning to move the ways he wanted it to. There was a steady background ache as muscles he’d never exercised in his original lifetime as a non-combatant were strained to their limits again and again, but his regens and stamina helped smooth over the transition to protect him from the worst of it.

Without the system energy aiding his transformation, it would be impossible to gain this kind of strength, flexibility, and definition in less than weeks or months, but the leveling and almost nonstop fighting were reshaping him much, much faster than would ever happen otherwise.

He still couldn’t move quite as fast or smoothly as he wanted, and unless he remained careful of his stamina and mana he was apt to run out, but that too was becoming more natural. It felt wrong to fight without a light constant draw on his system resources, but until he had another few thresholds and significantly increased regen his old style would be more of a drawback than an asset.

He could adapt. Even if it had taken him a few days to find his new groove, he would survive.

And right now, that meant he’d have to move fast and very accurate.

“Once they come out of the walls—“

He caught a quick movement out of the corner of his eye and stared. One of the scarabs had disappeared. He squinted, then got out the lens again to verify. And he had to laugh out loud.

The scarabs crouched on the stone walls, prepared to jump down on anyone who passed beneath them.

Flomper was diligently burrowing up behind them, snatching them into the wall, and leaving them trapped helplessly inside the stone. Even as he watched, the life faded from the first scarab, fading it away from his viewing glass’s sight.

“She can do that?”

“Her magical ability,” Gordon said smugly. “She can’t do it indefinitely or to something bigger than she is, but against these little vermin? No problem at all." Soon, all eight scarabs were entombed in the walls upon which they’d set their ambush, leaving the path completely clear. Flomper burrowed wearily up to Gordon and slumped against his leg. He immediately picked her up, cooing as he stroked her short fur. “You did such a good job, good girl, yes you did.” Levi laughed, his gathered tension over the scarabs dissipating. “I didn’t realize what a little secret weapon we had there.” Flomper looked him over, then turned away.

“Not sure you’re forgiven just yet.” Gordon chortled and set Flomper on his shoulder. The oversized prairie dog looked simultaneously cute, scary, and smug. “But I’m sure you’ll get there with enough groveling. Flomper isn’t one to hold grudges.”

The way she watched him, Levi wasn’t so sure about that.