Chapter 27

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[Dungeon]

The mirror level worked far better than I had dared to imagine, and even an experienced group had completely fallen for it.

I had watched, tense, as they worked up their plan of attack. They had seemed oblivious to the fact that it was an angled mirror showing the cat to them, and when they charged forwards it had gone badly. From bad to worse really as their healer got savaged by the cat.

I laughed to myself as they panicked, and I could feel the connection to the healer begin to form, her mana leaching away to me as she started to die.

When they fed her whatever medicinal herbs they had, I felt the mana flow diminish as she improved slightly.

They ran through the levels making good progress, and when they stopped to make a stretcher, I was impressed with their ingenuity.

Perhaps they would actually make it to help.

Exiting the dungeon at a full sprint I was taken aback at the solitude that came with them leaving. Whereas before, the thumping beat of their presence had distracted me from working, especially close to them. Now, I felt the loss. It was quiet, peaceful and although in its own way it was nice, it was also lonely and empty. The moving animals and monsters providing little in the way of companionship in comparison to the group. Like a candle to a bonfire.

I was sure they would be back soon though, and they would be bringing others with them, hundreds of people, and hundreds of deaths. I couldn’t wait, the companionship and challenge of engaging adventurers was satisfying, but killing them, snuffing out their lives was true pleasure.

Oh, it would be great. I would lead the foolish and proud to their demise, savouring the sweet release of their deaths.

For now, the solitude would be the perfect motivation to improve myself. No distractions, no limitations just free to build and improve over the next week and then I would be ready for the influx.

Sigurd and his group had got decently far through, with only the ice level boss and the first level of the fire floors in hand, that wouldn’t do, the desert of floor twelve was mostly complete, but I had to finish it off, nd then I had the rest of the fire levels to build. But first, I had lots of corrections to make.

The first level I had thought was a bit too easy but seeing how it had claimed the lives of three, it seemed to be ok for now, the eagle and tree having done the job extremely well. For now, I broke down the bodies and used the rotting flesh as mulch for the plants, feeding them.

When Sigurd and his friends had ran back through the level, the bodies were in plain view, resting against a tree, blood pooling on the ground, staining the earth. They didn’t spot them, which I was slightly surprised at. Well only that Kael didn’t spot them, the rest weren’t as observant as him. But perhaps events had them more distracted… I thought to myself, amused.

I left the blood-stained earth alone for now though, a memento to the first adventurers killed on the floor.

I considered making the grass more interwoven and harder to push through, but I reconsidered. It was already quite difficult, and it wasn’t even supposed to be a difficult level, just a teaser of what was to come, heck there were no active mobs, except the eagle. Just the sharp hedgehogs and trees.

Floor two, similarly had no changes, there really wasn’t anything I wanted to do with it, especially as it hadn’t really gotten tested that much. John and his party hadn’t made it down there, and Sigurd and his were far too experienced to be challenged by it.

The swamp though was in need of a few tweaks. Mostly just related to do with the paths, making them a bit harder to see. On the way back, when carrying Jenna, the group had managed to avoid most of the level, and I didn’t want that route to be easy to see.

With 100k mana to spend I was glad I didn’t need too much to reorganise everything.

The jungle was a good level and I was happy leaving it alone and so too with the boss. It had challenged them, and I was certain it was a good fit.

The ice levels made me think though, there were a number of corrections I wanted to make. Firstly, the ice phantasms. Whilst it might be useful for them to be an unknown quantity once the new adventurers arrived, it wouldn’t do to have them afraid of a little fire aura. That certainly wouldn’t do.

I dove headfirst into trying to fix the issue, but I couldn’t find a fix for it. It seemed like they had only a few instincts. Food, fight and flee, and since they were made of ice it seemed they were deathly afraid of fire. Having such simple brains meant there wasn’t much I could do to override this.

Eventually I decided to raise the temperature of the room a touch, hopefully it would encourage the adventurers not to use a fire aura and then the ice phantasms would be back in the game. Continuing in the theme I made the ice run a tiny bit warmer and the ocean stayed the same. The mirrors got colder and the boss even more so. As adventurers descended the cold would become more and more of a problem and I was sure this would cause issues.

The ice run had its paths completely refreshed although I left the path that led to the secret treasure alone, though I guess it wasn’t secret since it could be seen from the start, but how to get there was secret.

The ocean felt like it was a good level, and I couldn’t wait to see the orcas come crashing down on some poor fool’s head. This would stay the same.

The ice mirrors had worked better than expected and the boss had yet to see action, so I left them well alone. Things were looking good and I had 94k mana to work with, more than enough for a couple of floors. It was time to get going.

The desert I had created for floor twelve was great, and I was extremely pleased with it. From the ice hotel, the adventurers would have to venture out into the baking heat of the desert gorge, descending down the cliffs while contending with the monsters, the giant salamander, and the scoria. I was disappointed that Sigurd hadn’t reached the gorge because it was another step up in difficulty and I had wanted to see how they dealt with a scoria. Being completely resistant to fire and arrows, it meant that Lorelei and Kael couldn’t help fight the scoria. Sebastien similarly wouldn’t have been much use and so it would have been down to Jackson and Sigurd to try to crack their rocky bodies open. I wondered if they would have succeeded? Imagining the scoria exploding upon death and the shrapnel flying out and taking them by surprise. Would they have known? Could they anticipate it? I couldn’t wait to find out.

At the bottom of the gorge a small solitary stream trundled along, twisting, and meandering about as if it hadn’t a care, carving patterns in the rocks. On a whim, I added a few fish to the bottom, it would be a safe place to relax before taking on the desert and they would certainly need the time to prepare for it. Having battled exploding rock golems I the scoria and the lightning fast salamanders that hid in the cracked walls along the treacherous cliff side path, the adventurers deserved a peaceful riverside stop to prepare for the desert, fore the desert was dangerous beyond anything I had implemented thus far. With burning temperatures that would kill in minutes and solitary oases that provided a brief refuge and a forced fight, it would be a very tough challenge. And that was without the giant desert mole that burrowed around and the manticores that patrolled the skies.

Though floors eleven and twelve were complete there were a few more things I needed to change. Firstly, was a way down to the desert, at the moment it was just a hole in the floor that dropped down a few hundred feet; certain death. If adventurers couldn’t progress, then they wouldn’t bother trying to complete the challenges. No adventurers meant no deaths and no mana and perhaps more importantly no interesting events and companionship. Companionship I now realised, was very important to my wellbeing.

So, I changed the deadly drop to a set of stairs; not deadly. I had finally finished off the eleventh floor. The little stream flowed alongside the stairs and ran into an oasis that was at the bottom of the stairs, giving one more safe zone before they braved the desert and I liked giving a sense of continuation between the floors. The stream running down the stairs and feeding the oasis was that.

The desert was complete now, though with no end goal in sight I didn’t know exactly where the oases should be, strategic placement would let me manipulate the paths through the dungeon and that was an invaluable tool. So where was the end goal then?

I had been thinking of what to do for the fire levels for quite some time now, and I had come to the conclusion that, like ice, there wasn’t that much to the natural environments that would lend itself to being a dungeon floor. I also wanted to change up the flow that they would have gotten used to. Just like the mirror floor, when faced with the unexpected, adventurers could misread the situation or be taken by surprise. So, anything that could throw them off their stride was good, and it made the dungeon far more interesting.

Unlike every other floor, there would be no end of the level, no stairs or archway leading to a clearly marked floor. Instead, in the middle of the desert, hidden by the heat mirages and the endless flowing sand, I would have a temple, like some forgotten civilisation had lived and perished millennia ago, a relic of the past that preserved the passions of some mysterious sculptor, but unfortunately it was a temple taken over by monsters.

In a slight dip, hidden from view, the granite steps of the temple reached upwards. Plain and unobtrusive, perhaps even boring, and banal, except for the fact that it pierced the desert. Isolated by the lone and level sands that stretched far away from it. Somehow, that made it seem grand and imposing.

I started by cutting out great blocks of granite, building up a large ziggurat one layer at a time, it took me a long time, but in the end, I had a structure with enough space for wat I wanted. I was rather pleased with myself and I took a few moments to look over it with pride before imagining what it would become.

At the top of the pyramid, a gleaming, white, cut stone arch bent. Shining like a guiding star in the dead of night. Drawing you closer.

Upon reaching the top, you would see a set of stairs that wrapped around the interior of the temple. Dark and gloomy, it was an ominous looking opening, and with what I had planned it would look far worse. Staring down from the top would be like looking into an abyss and if you stared long enough, then something would stare back at you, a monster, my boss for the fire levels. Like an erupting volcano, gouts of magma would spray up from the boss level, splashing the paths and rooms with a fine spray of the molten rock. You could look down upon it, but to get there you would have to navigate the temple.

It would consist of two layers, the main temple building, with a maze of tunnels leading to rooms filled with treasure and danger. Spiralling around that central void that led below, and the subterranean chamber that would lead through to the boss fight.

The maze of tunnels also had many concealed passages, barely big enough to fit through and they led to treasure troves. Unlike with the previous floors, I didn’t use chests this time but rather piles of gold and treasures, like some ancient king had hoarded his riches. The more concealed passages would have tougher monsters and more prizes, and it would be up to the adventurers how much they chose to plunder.

If they chose to progress downwards, they would loop around the volcanic eruptions of the boss floor, avoiding the spurts of magma until they reached the sandy floor. A small tunnel led to a subterranean network of chambers that contained a variety of traps, from closing doors, to spike pits and crushing hallways. If the adventurers managed to complete this challenge, they could engage in either a variety of logic puzzles to progress, or a fight, both of which were presented by one sort of monster. A sphinx. I had seen the entry in the dungeon catalogue a while back, but it had been tremendously expensive and though it had caught my attention I had dismissed the idea back then. However, I had recently passed the requirements in points and so I looked back over it now.

~~ Sphinx (Major) – fire/knowledge – 25,000-100,000 points

These majestic beasts are masters of their domain. Though they lack fire magic, they are most at home in a warm environment. Long thought to be the guardians of some sacred portal they challenge would be adventurers to a test of intellect. Wo betide those who fail for they must face the wrath of the sphinx. Fighting them is not easy, as they possess the intelligence of a wise woman and the strength of a lion.

Sphinxes are sentient gatekeepers that make fitting bosses and mini-bosses, they long for the dry heat of the desert and possess a ruthless streak that can be dangerous, to adventurers and dungeons alike.

The sphinx comes in three classes, though all of which are major monsters.

Lesser sphinx – 25,000 points

Sphinx – 50,000 points

Greater sphinx – 100,000 points

~~

Looking over the information again, I made my mind up. Yes, I would have a sphinx for the subterranean chamber. But first, to finish the fire levels.

Polishing up the temple took me the best part of a day, I added unlit torches to the walls, allowing adventurers to light them in order to see. I created rooms, like a grand dining hall full of golden cutlery and plates and the armoury which held lots weapons that would likely be a huge improvement for whoever found them. Of course, only the weapon suitable for whoever found the room would be there, I wasn’t going to chock it full of excellent loot. But enough to reward those brave enough to scuttle round the tight tunnels in search of reward.

Once I finished that, the only task left was to populate the temple.

The temple proper had the scoria from the gorge, though this time the stone one was an iron one, it was smaller but much tougher that the stone one. The fire one I chose to evolve into a fire-darkness scoria that hid in the shadows, pulsing slightly with a faint red aura, it would be a far greater ambush predator than previously. Both versions were deadlier than the ones in the gorge.

In the store I stumbled upon a lizard called a Komodo Dragon and although they weren’t related to actual dragons, they were fearsome enough. I had long realised that a lot of simple creatures could be bought for few points and then improved with a bit of magic. This was true here and the Komodo became faster and stealthier with tougher skin and flaming claws. As with the original creature, the bite was infectious and poisonous, although I had increased it by a huge margin.

Various insects and small mammals infested the temple creating an ecosystem that would support these top predators and the echoing sounds of the animals’ movements were eerie within the cramped temple.

The underground chamber was going to have the sphinx and so I moved onto the boss room. One idea was a giant scoria, fifteen feet high and covered in feet of tough stone. However, I felt it had been a common monster and something different was required. The main monster of the desert was a manticore, and an even stronger one was another possible option. But after a sphinx it didn’t feel right, it was too similar, and a sphinx was far more special than a manticore.

What to do? I considered for a long time, but nothing came to me. The salamander wasn’t right, it just didn’t fit and so too did the Komodo dragons not fit, they were cool, but they weren’t boss material. No, I wanted something new, something unique. Thus far, everything I had thrown at the adventurers was physical in nature, strong monsters, fast monsters, quiet monsters, and combinations of that. But nothing that threw magic, I wanted to change that for the fire boss.

Sighing I opened up the store, refined my search for monsters and creatures. And then refined further for fire and even further for under 5000 dungeon points. I had 300 options, time to look through them.

~~Living flame (minor) – fire – 10-500 dungeon points

These living fireplaces are static monsters that can attack within a small radius, though not powerful they light up the room and can kill perhaps a wandering animal. Good for decoration.

They come in three tiers and only the top tier may stand a chance at killing a human.

Living candle flame – 10 points

Living camp fire – 50 points

Living flame - 100 points

Living flare – 500 points

~~

Nope, that wouldn’t do, not boss monster material at all. With 300 options, I had a lot to look at, so I closed the descriptions and just looked at the names.

~~Spark cloud- fire – 120 dungeon points~~

~~ Will ‘o’ wisp – fire – 150 dungeon points ~~

~~Fire cloud – fire – 200 dungeon points~~

~~Salamander – fire – 220 dungeon points~~

~~Flame Riddled Wheel – fire – 250 dungeon points

This possessed wooden wheel burns in ever present flames and rolls around at high speeds trying to burn and crush all life it finds, very hostile. ~~

A flame riddled wheel, that was too odd not to have a look at, reading it I almost wished to buy it for the comedy, but I decided to find my boss monster before doing such.

~~Fire Fox – fire – 300 dungeon points~~

~~Flaming suit – fire – 390 dungeon points~~

I wasn’t having any luck, at these few points they were all just a bit too weak, so I skipped forwards a few pages and had a look there.

~~Fire tiger – fire – 2980 dungeon points~~

~~Fire lion – fire – 3000 dungeon points~~

~Flame kilted rhino – fire – 3570 dungeon points~~

I kept looking, scrolling through entry after entry, not finding what I was looking for.

At last I stumbled across the final entry and it too wasn’t what I was looking for.

~~Cursed phoenix chick – fire – 5000 dungeon points

This cursed phoenix chick has been attacked with vile magic that prevents it from maturing, alas it is cursed to be reborn every day. It has little use beyond alchemy and no chance of ever being cured. It is said that the chick’s mother flies high in the skies and cries eternally for the fate of its young one. ~~

I sighed, nothing, nothing that I wanted at least. Though the flame riddled wheels looked cool. Perhaps I would get a few, something to distract the challengers from the boss.

Removing the restrictions on price I settled down to look at a much longer list. Though it must have been only a couple more pages before I found what I was looking for.

~~Balefire wisp cluster (Major) – fire- 5980 dungeon points

This monster lives in volcanic magma pools, bathing in the heat as a duck to water and absorbing the poisonous gasses. It is spiritual in nature and attacks by splitting itself into clusters of balefire that float around at tremendous speeds, burning paths through all but the toughest materials and poisoning by way of its tainted flames. When submerged in magma it can heal quickly and it is recommended never to engage with one on its home turf. Balefire wisp clusters are very weak to water and ice but have no other weaknesses. ~~

That sounded perfect, but if I bought the sphinx then I wouldn’t be able to afford it, especially with the wheels, because I just wanted them too. Yep, I had decided I wanted this or my levels, price be damned, I’d just have to wait a bit.

With that decided, I looked at my menu.

Menu Name: ??? Race: Dungeon Titles: _______ Renown: Just discovered Rating: 5C Level: 50 Health: 3451/3451 Mana: 16k/100k (100k for lvl up) Knowledge: 35,000 Dungeon points: 29,296 Status: fine Attunement: E4 N3, I4, F3 Rooms: 612 Floors: 14+(2) Bosses: 2+(1) Monsters: 3105 Creatures: 160k Creature types: ^2412 Unique items: 9 Item Types: ^1480

29,296 dungeon points, I needed only a couple thousand more to get both the balefire wisp cluster, the sphinx, and the wheels.

Looking over the rest of the information, I could see my growth was looking good. I had finally reached a five in my rating.

With 16,000 mana left I decided I would need to wait to be able to complete the volcano for the boss floor, and so I thought it prudent to buy the sphinx first, it was almost a boss on its own anyway, and then I would have finished off the temple and nearly the fire levels as well. Fourteen complete levels was good progress, and it wouldn’t be long until I was done with the elemental section of the dungeon. Only air to go.

Navigating to the store, I looked up sphinx, cringed at the cost and selected buy.

Looking over my purchase, I saw the large eagle wings that carried her, the fierce body of a lioness and the snapping snake tail. She had light blond hair that seamlessly turned into the mane of the lion’s fur. The mane then slowly blended into the smooth sleek flanks of the lioness and then into the golden feathers of the wings. Without looking closely, you wouldn’t be able tell where the feathers began, and the fur ended. It was beautiful, she was beautiful, and her golden irises gleamed with an uncanny intelligence.

I moved my presence closer to get a better look, she turned her head, following me. I stopped in surprise. Could she see me? I wondered.

She wasn’t at my core which was just below the cavern for the boss floor. So, could she see me? I moved again and she followed.

“Hello master, I hope you have a nice environment for me, I would be most displeased if not. Oh, and I have a riddle for you… can you solve it? You have to solve it…”

She spoke in a hushed tone that somehow pierced my soul and made me listen. I was shocked, she could see me, and she could talk. She could talk. Wait, didn’t the store say something about that.

~~ Sphinx (Major) – fire/knowledge – 25,000-100,000 points

These majestic beasts are masters of their domain. Though they lack fire magic, they are most at home in a warm environment. Long thought to be the guardians of some sacred portal they challenge would be adventurers to a test of intellect. Woe betide those who fail for they must face the wrath of the sphinx. Fighting them is not easy, as they possess the intelligence of a wise woman and the strength of a lion.

Sphinxes are sentient gatekeepers that make fitting bosses and mini-bosses, they long for the dry heat of the desert and possess a ruthless streak that can be dangerous, to adventurers and dungeons alike.

The sphinx comes in three classes, though all of which are major monsters.

Lesser sphinx – 25,000 points

Sphinx – 50,000 points

Greater sphinx – 100,000 points

~~

Yes, right there, sentient. I had missed that. How had I missed it?

Uh oh…