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[Marrok]
The wolves were down, but Marrok was too injured to continue his hunt. The damned cat had escaped. He, for sure, would be coming back.
But now, Marrok had the arduous task of dragging himself back to the goblin camp. He knew he would be able to get there, but the question was if he would make it before night fell.
He crawled back, ignoring the sharp stones and twigs that seemed determined to catch in the various gashes that marred his skin.
Pain was a constant companion for Marrok, it made him feel alive and he relished it, but dragging himself back was going to be a long process, if he could just get to his feet!
Alas it was hopeless, both legs were broken and battered. If he could get back to camp, they would be able to set them, and he would heal in no time.
He crawled through the black fog that marked the entrance to the dungeon, and emerged into the cold air, shivering as the wind bit into his exposed flesh.
He was tougher than this though! Marrok thought to himself, determined to make it back.
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[Dungeon]
With the little green man gone, I was free to examine my new dungeon member. The cat. It was beautiful, even though covered in blood. Its soft white coat glistening in the few areas untainted by blood splotches. This would be another powerful addition to my dungeon, though it certainly couldn’t be the boss. If one goblin could injure it so, then it wasn’t what I was looking for. Floor two would probably be a good place for it. I just had to wait one month for it to become a dungeon monster.
I went back to browsing the store while I absorbed the leftover mana from my dead wolves. Depending on how expensive my boss would be, I would need anywhere from five to ten levels. I needed two levels to afford the kobold village and making my way to level thirty would give me just over one thousand dungeon points to spend on my boss monster, and a perk. The perks had been instrumental in how I developed my dungeon, and I was sure they would continue to be so.
With nothing else to do, I started to compile my list of potential boss monsters and began to level up.
~~Level up: 26~~
~~Level up: 27~~
Without further consideration, I bought the kobold village, leaving me with only 115 dungeon points. But I didn’t want to give myself any chance to reconsider, I had made my mind up a long time ago.
The kobold village came with everything I would need for the entire floor and was perfectly adapted for the dense trees that filled the fourth floor.
I placed the village in the back corner in the deepest, harshest section of the forest and watched as the trees slowly bent around the small wooden huts.
From within the huts emerged my kobolds, shrouded in darkness they stalked out, sniffing the air with their large noses.
The kobolds were taller than the goblin that had wandered in, at about one metre in height, though with the plumage on their heads they stood more like one metre thirty.
They had elongated snouts, with large eyes and a mouth that split all the way back towards the neck. It reminded me vaguely of the alligators. Their teeth were significantly smaller than the alligator though. With a single row of pointed teeth about one centimetre long. Perfect for tearing flesh. They hunted with weapons, ambushes, and traps not with their teeth.
The chieftain had a long, gnarled staff made of knotted wood, black in colour. On top was an elegantly carved symbol. It surely meant something to the village, but I had no idea.
The kobolds all carried crossbows and a variety of melee weapons including hatchets, swords, spears and even kpinga, though the last one I had had to look for in the store, a very odd weapon it seemed to have knives sticking out at random and even more absurd was that it was supposed to be thrown. Well, I couldn’t wait for that.
The shaman was dressed slightly differently, wearing more cloak-like armour than this mismatched leather and fur combo of the others, and he carried only a staff with a blood red crystal on top. Watching the crystal, I saw flashes of light sparking within it, I was interested in what kind of magic he would be performing.
While waiting for everything to settle in I started collecting mana again, my target was level thirty after all, that was a lot of time to dedicate to collecting mana.
The kobolds began to spread out, scoping out all the land that was there. Interestingly, in addition to the kobolds I knew the village came with, it seemed there were a couple of older kobolds to act as elders as well as some females. It was even better than advertised, though I suspected that they wouldn’t be fighting members. Perhaps other dungeons thought this was a problem, but I liked it.
~~Level up: 28~~
~~Level up: 29~~
~~Level up: 30~~
~~Congratulations: You have reached the milestone: Level 30 and as such have been granted a perk. The following perks are available:
Heal
6000 dungeon points
150 tones of soil/stone/wood, 5 tonnes of rare materials
Item: Treasure Blueprint Set 1 & 2, trap set 1 & 2
Mana boost: 138% total, 61% bonus mana gain for 4 months
12.5% off next store purchase
30% off boss price and mana respawn x6
BONUS: For making it to level 30 without killing anything sapient, you have been offered a special one-time deal:
2 greater mana atmosphere regulators, Treasure Blueprint set 1, 15000kg of random material (including 360kg of rare materials and 10kg of super rare materials), 1x 75% discount on elemental based mobs pack and 1600 dungeon points.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Choose wisely, your next perk is available at level 40~~
The 6000 dungeon points were tempting, it would let me make huge progress, but it didn’t help me design anything and it didn’t discount any of the little things that designing a floor required. The boss price was interesting, but it wasn’t worth it in the slightest. The bonus perk was yet again too good to pass up. Though I didn’t know what atmospheric regulators did, I was sure they were useful, and the rest of the items just made it all the better.
Bonus!! I thought to myself, mentally selecting the perk I knew I wanted. My dungeon points shot up to 2650, more than enough for almost all of the bosses I had considered.
Menu!
There was plenty to unpack here, I couldn’t afford the drake, and I didn’t like the sound of it being unawakened. Perhaps I would be able to ‘awaken’ it and it would become more powerful, perhaps I wouldn’t, perhaps I wouldn’t even be able to control it. No, that one I would give a pass. Similarly, I didn’t want a slow-moving goliath, it just wouldn’t be too fun to watch, and the flames seemed like a poor idea in a wooded environment. That took my choice down to just three. The giant wolf, the giant snake, or the giant gorilla.
The giant snake was also out, from the description, it seemed that when it constricted someone it would be vulnerable to being attacked by others, and I knew the adventurers would challenge me in teams.
Wolf or gorilla.
Gorilla, there was something about it that called to me, and the idea of it falling down through the hole in the foliage to crash down next to the adventurers seemed cool as hell. Yes, gorilla for sure.
I placed it in the floor, and it immediately jumped over to the trees, climbing up with ease, as if it knew what I wanted.
I laughed gently. Nice!!
Playing around with the mana regulators took me a while, but eventually I figured it out. They were exactly what I wanted, and I knew I would need lots more in the future. By feeding them mana, they actively cooled or heated. It would allow me to make floors for ice levels or scorching hot rooms.
They held so much promise, I couldn’t wait to start playing around with them. Ideas fluttered through my mind, ways to use this, ways to make my dungeon even more magical and awe inspiring than before.
I laughed to myself as I considered it, yes things were looking good, but I needed more mana. It was time!
I couldn’t go on much longer without attracting more prey, there was just no way to manage it. It took me months and months of work just to recoup my mana. Not fast enough. It just wasn’t.
No choice.
But before I did so, I had a few last-minute tasks to do. Using the treasure blueprint sets 0.5 and 1 that I had got from the level 20 and level 30 perks, I distributed the treasure around the floors, making sure there was enough to loot around. Of course, I would be moving the chests and treasure around each and every time, I couldn’t have my floors becoming predictable and easy to blast through. If you wanted the loot, you would have to stay around and look for it or move onto harder floors and waste less time.
The final thing I wanted to do, was to institute the secret areas in the fourth floor and the boss floor. It was the one thing I wanted to keep throughout my entire dungeon, a hidden area, perhaps protected by traps or more powerful monsters that contained lots of loot. Most races were greedy beyond belief and there was nothing that motivated them more than really shiny things. Fools, greedy fools. I thought laughing.
Both floors had easy options for this. On the fourth floor, my secret area would be the kobold village itself: the adventurers would have to battle through the densest jungle to find the camp and kill all the kobolds guarding it, before being able to access the loot. The boss floor was just as easy: on top of the trees. If the boss jumped down from up there, it would be perfectly logical to assume there was something up there. The trees that all grew around the edge of the room made for tricky obstacles and a long fall if adventurers misjudged it. Ending a scant few metres from the ceiling, the trees were thick enough that it was a perfectly usable space without any modification, and the few, sparser areas could function as traps, catching unaware clumsy adventurers.
I moved my vision back, surveying my dungeon as a whole for a few moments. It started with a serene floor, full of beautiful trees that wafted in the wind gently, holding no trace of the potential danger that existed. The second floor was an open woodland, bathed in golden light that filtered down through the foliage, colouring the woodland floor in rich hues of reds, oranges, and greens. Wolves and big cats stalked the ground, hoping to sneak up on the unaware. Floor three was a mucky, overwhelming swamp with murky pools of water hiding dangers and the incessant buzzing of insects wearing away even the most patient, stoic of adventurers – hopefully. The fourth floor was a thick jungle, where the roguish kobolds stalked amongst the thick boughs, and dense bushes, working in sophisticated teams trying to besiege and wear down the adventuring parties. And lastly was my Gigantopithecus gorilla boss, huge and tough, ready to jump down and wreak havoc.
I was proud of all that I had built, and the ideas for the future, held visions in my eyes. I could hardly hold my excitement at the prospect, but for that to work I would need mana, so, so, so much more mana. My life was long, and I had plenty of time to work and progress.
Patiently waiting for months for my mana to refill had been troublesome but I had done it. It wouldn’t be long before my dungeon was an expansive labyrinth holding all manner of dangers and rewards.
Moving my vision up to the start of floor one, I carved out some elegant patterns in the walls of the small tunnel, enlarging it as I went. It curved around a quarter circle before leading out to the small entrance I had made earlier. It was time to make it look better. Widening it extensively I created a beautiful archway with dark marble blocks contrasting against the red clay in between. Extending back the pattern, I drew the colours together in a swirling pattern that curved down the walls and along the floor, slowly narrowing and combining until it slowly faded away, revealing the lush green paradise of my first floor.
Yes!!!
With one last hurrah I blew away a chunk of rock that sat next to the entrance, creating a thunderous clap that echoed around the valleys and a vicious roar as the huge boulders tumbled down the mountainside, wiping out a number of trees. Dust and dirt kicked up into a large cloud that hailed down on the forest.
I smiled, if that didn’t draw attention, then I was out of luck. Soon, someone from Littlebrook would come investigate, of that, I was sure.
For now, though, it was time to prepare and plan.