Content warning: accent.
New Challengers Emerge
Walking the dogs for Rachrl was a pretty relaxing way of passing the time, as well as being good exercise (if she even needed exercise any more), Taylor decided.
It also meant she got a good look at the forest filling the room that (currently) made up floor four.
Her first steps into the forest hadn't been so relaxing though.
There was just something… off.
It took her a while to realise what it was
There was nothing living there.
No animals scurrying about to make noise, none of the countless insects that made up every eco-system.
At first it had been concerning, then she considered what this floor was going to be used for in future.
A warzone against Adventurers.
Even without any ability to place monsters in the room chances were the forest would see damage from each group that got this far.
And any forest creatures would simply be collateral.
Her thoughts turned to the Dungeon as she walked.
The key fragments for the third floor had all been hidden by the simple process of getting the spinner spiders to stick them to the wall or ceiling via covering them in webbing, making it a lot less likely for Adventurers to spot them.
The only problem was that each floor had its own approach to trickery to slow the Adventurers advance, meaning that, sooner or later, any party that reached the floor would be expecting it, and her approach would lose its effectiveness.
Even the first floor used trickery with the fake wall in the maze.
Unless she stopped restoring it…
After all, the existence of a fake wall would encourage Adventurers to expect another, reducing the effectiveness of the second floors security.
"I could always add extra exits to the maze," she pondered out loud. "What do you think?"
The only dog that seemed to have paid her any attention gave a happy bark in response, earning itself a headrub.
"More passages it is. I think I could make them identical, leave visitors confused where they came from," Taylor continued her thoughts. "Risk is that they can't find their way out… well, I could always add them to the prison. Safer than letting them go anyway."
Her thoughts turned to her current guests, and her second visit that day.
{}
"What's wrong?"
It probably wasn't the best way for a Demon Lord to introduce their presence to their prisoners, but the way David, the birdman, was hyperventilating and starting to sweat was a worrying sign.
"He's underground," was Garretts sardonic response. "Do you expect a bird to be happy stuck in a small hole?"
"It hasn't been that long, and he was fine earlier," Taylor defended, wishing she could still offload her emotions into her swarm.
"Sometimes its fast, sometimes slow, but it always happens," Valerie explained, fiddling with her hands and avoiding looking at her or David.
Almost as though-
"You're faking it," Taylor declared, the mages flinch proving her assumption.
"I said it wouldn't work," the mage muttered, casting the rogue a glare even as she twisted her hands in a specific motion.
Davids sweating soon died down, his breathing becoming more normal.
"So you made it up, there's nothing wrong with him."
"It's real," David croaked out, the fire magic used to make him sweat having clearly started to dehydrate him.
"Tomani are beings of the air, even with flight taken from them," Valerie explained. "Sooner or later being trapped underground, away from fresh air, will cause the same symptoms. And I won't be able to do anything about it."
"You faked the symptoms early to get him a chance to escape," Taylor deduced.
She sighed.
"I can tell where you're coming from, but if I let you go it will just cause more death. I'll… try to find a solution."
{}
"This room is pretty much the same as the outside world," Taylor pondered to herself. "And even if he ran there would be the rest of the Dungeon to get through. Just in reverse…"
One of the dogs came back and whined at her, clearly trying to say that they walked enough.
Taylor laughed.
"Sorry, but Rachel made it clear how long I need to walk you for, and we're not done yet."
The dog barked in answer, before deciding to run off again.
Yeah, this was what she needed to feel human.
{}
Taylor stretched as she woke up.
"Another day of working on tge Dungeon," she announced to herself, bringing up the construction interface.
Construction Blocked
"The hell," Taylor muttered to herself.
She hadn't been told about anything that could prevent her working on the Dungeon except the presence of Adventurers.
She would later blame not waking up fully for taking so long to realize the Dungeon was under attack.
She burst to her feet, bringing up her Dungeonsight to find the invaders.
Hopefully they hadn't got as far as the last group had before she detected them…
{}
"We found it," Diana declared, in a mostly unnecessary manner, aa she looked into the unmistakable entrance to a Dungeon.
Her party may just be Iron-rank, but that didn't mean they hadn't cleared Dungeons before.
As far as theuly were concerned being an Adventurer was about more than just rwnk, it was about helping people.
Sure, they could have focused on the rewards that quests gave out, and they would likely have hit gold by now.
But instead they directed their efforts where it would do the most good.
An active Dungeon was a threat, not just to Adventurers looking to clear it, but also to normal people passing by.
She was pretty sure the stories of monsters pouring out of Dungeons to slaughter travellers were just stories, but that didn't mean travellers wouldn't have reason to set foot in or explore a convenient cave.
And all too often a monster room would seal the door upon entry.
At which point that innocent was dead.
"How are we handling this," Artemis, her second in command and the groups tactician, queried, adjusting his glasses with index and middle finger.
"First we check for ahn Entrance Hall," Diana decided. "If there isn't we send ah couple of us back to report where we are. Otherwise we pick the best suited to what we can tell about the Dungeon up to the limit and send the rest to report in."
"Of course. Harold, if you would take the lead."
Diana rolled her eyes. "I can take cahre of myself you know."
"True, but as an archer you are best placed behind something sturdy, like an armoured bear," Artemis responded in his usual counterargument.
"You're just jealous of my muscles," Harold boasted, flexing enough to bend the plates over his arms.
"A mage has no need for such things," Artemis protested.
"Boys," Rose rolled her eyes at their antics.
Besides, it didn't matter if you couldn't hit hard if you could hit the right place.
"I know, it's great isn't it," Hana commented, completely missing Roses actual meaning.
"I hate to disagree with our esteemed tactician," Bharnin interrupted, "but if it's scouting, surely Rose would be a better choice."
"Harold may be first, but we shall follow close behind," Artemis explained. "Should the first room seal behind those who enter a single scout would only serve as a sacrifice."
"Just because you don't want Hana to 'lay on hands' on Harold," Rose teased, making Bharnin blush and stammer denials.
"I still say potions are more reliable than magic for healing," Mara complained. "If you would even let me make them. Leave the explosions to the mages."
"You say that like we learned those spells," Lock idly pointed out, looking skyward rather than seeming to pay any real attention to his colleagues.
"How are we doing this," Diana brought them back on topic with a clap of her hands.
"Harold first, as I said, with Bharnin next. If the passages are wide enough you should form the vanguard together. Rose, you stick close behind, with Lock. Mara and Rose, you stay in the middle then me and Diana and Michael and Sadie last. Any questions?"
"Same formation as usual? Why even go over it all?"
"Because last time somebody broke formation and would have been killed if Hana wasn't so quick to respond."
Rose blushed angrily.
"If I got a nice safe spot like you-"
"The rearguard has the potential to be more dangerous than the vanguard," Artemis countered. "We are the ones to be attacked from behind, while still looking forward. Anyone else?"
There was a pause.
"Right then, team! Move out."
{}
"So, why send Michael and Sadie back?"
There had indeed been an Entrance hall, with a limit of eight Adventurers, resulting in Artemis sending Michael and Sadie to report in while the rest started exploring.
"You saw the webs. Indications are that this Dungeon specialises in ambush predators. Michael and Sadie may be heavily armoured, but they are less useful against such foes as tge rest of us. Any armour has its weak point."
"And you joined me at the front why?"
The party formation had indeed changed with the two leaving, putting Harold and Rose as the frontline with Artemis between them and the healer/alchemist pair, while Lock marched between them and their swordsdwarf and ranger.
"I am more skilled with light magic, and you have often stated that without light you can't spot traps."
"On which note," Rose commented, tapping Harolds armour so he would stop.
"What do you see?"
"Looks like a tripwire… a pit trap? Huh, gotta admire the classics. I mean, does anyone even fall for them anymore," Rose muttered as she fiddled with her tools, finally cutting the wire while her setup prevented any surprises activating.
"Good work, Thorny," Harold praised, preparing to step forward again.
"Hold it," Rose snapped, stopping him with one one foot in the air. "That was just the tripwire. I still have the pit to deal with."
"Doesn't it need the trip?"
"Maybe," Rose hedged, "but better safe than sorry. If it was me-"
"Something we're all grateful isn't the case."
"-there might be a deadly contact poison in there," Rose continued. "So someone heavy steps on it, the floor gives way and SPLASH! The party are all dying."
Harold brought his foot back gingerly.
"Never mind, the tripwire removes the supports. It can't drop until that gets fixed," Rose declared standing up again.
The party breathed a sigh of relief.
"Please don't scare me like that," Harold managed.
"Wait until I say it's clear and I won't have to," she responded with a shrug. "Better scared than dead any day."
"Ah definitely agree with our rogue there," Diana interjected. "Ah haven't lost ah single Adventurer under mah command and don't intend ta start now."
"Yes mum," Rose drawled sarcastically.
"Less of tha lip, young lahdy," was the swift response.
Rose shivered. "That wasn't meant as a challenge."
The party started moving again, soon reaching a door.
"Not a good sign," Rose commented, already looking for traps. "Huh, tripwire… if I wasn't so amazing these would be impossible to spot. And… it triggers something the other side of the door."
"An alarm perhaps," Artemis suggested.
"Not likely, these doors aren't exactly conducive to stealth. I'll trigger it," Rose decided. "To the sides of the passage," she called back, "just to be safe."
A quick dlash with her knife was soon followed by the 'thunk' of something sharp imbedding itself in wood.
"And the door is clear," she stated, pushing it open with a foot.
"These traps seem too easy. You sure you're getting them all Thorny?"
Rose snorted, rolling her eyes. "I'm using my eyes and my skills. Of course I'm sure. Good thing too, most other rogues would just accept their skills returning with a negative. It's like that Dungeon last week."
"Last month," Artemis corrected, adjusting his glasses.
"We never should have worked with them," Diana muttered to herself. "Nearly got us ahll killed."
"Spider ambush inside," Rose declared, moving on from the conversation. "Plenty of webs too. You were right again Arty."
"Please give my name the respect it deserves."
"Not until you earn it," Rose countered with a grin. "Just because you were named for one of the great heroes, girly boy."
"Once again, it isn't a girls name. Anyone could use it."
An arrow shot past them, startling Artemis and Rose alike.
"Sorry, but ah saw ah spider about to tahke adavantage," Diana said softly in the face of the pairs glares.
They turned, to see a spider pinned to the wall by one of their leaders arrows.
"Right, sorry boss lady."
Rose stepped into the room, spinning her knives in her hands followed by Harold who kept his weapons sheathed, relying instead on his gauntlets to damage the monsters while protecting his hands.
Artemis was next, spinning hos staff slowly to gather energy to replace that which he was using to sustain his light.
The others stayed back, ready to intervene if needed for the most part, with Bharnin ignoring the combat to watch for sneak attacks.
Harold was soon proven right, a spider dropping from the ceilling close enough that his axe would have gotten caught in the webbing before it could reach the monster, him instead proving able to grab and crush the spider.
"Two down, anyone see more?"
For an answer to Artemis' question Dianas bowstring sounded off, pinning another spider to the wall.
"Three, that's usually all," Rose commented, still looking around. "Sorry, four," she corrcted hersrlf, casually stabbing the spider that dropped from the ceilling above her.
"We could be ahll day if we're too cautious. Artemis, you know 'Detect Life', right?"
"True, but I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it active in here. If you don't mind, I'll save it for the next room."
"Huh, didn't think you knew that one," Rose admitted, keeping an eye out as she made for the other door they knew was somewhere in the room.
"It was in the book from last months Dungeon," he informed her.
"Sounds useful, until we face undead or golems. Hey, doors open, we've cleared them."
The party relaxed, the five who had been hanging back stepping into the room.
"Anything useful dropped?"
"Not really," Artemis answered the leader, looking around. "Mostly small change and silk."
"Right, leave it for now, pick it up on the way out. Onward!"
{}
Rose halted them twice to deal with tripwires as they travelled along the next corridor, the first, another pit trap, she dealt with in the same manner as the last.
The second trap took a while longer.
"I can't disarm it," she finally declared, sitting back on her heels.
"You can't do the same thing as the others and pin tge ends in place?"
"No, too much tension in the wire. If I did, as soon as I cut the wire it would be pulled free. Alright, everyone backup and against the wall," she ordered stepping back herself.
"You do remember you aren't the leader?"
"A rogue disarming a trap outranks everyone," Artemis reminded Bharnin.
"Everyone clear? Here we go."
Rose threw a knife into the wire, cutting it cleanly into two lengths.
There was the 'thunk' of a crossbow firing, and a bolt appeared, quivering in the floor right where a rogue would kneel to disarm the trap.
Rose whistled. "We're dealing with a very tricky customer here. I almost think I'm not being cautious enough."
"How much more cautious can you be?"
"We'll have to find out," Rose decided, stepping forward to open the door to the next room.
"[Detect Life]," Artemis intoned, a glow emerging from his staff before being drawn to his eyes and fading into his skin.
His eyes opened, glowing a dim white.
"Four spiders," he declared, "and the cost to maintain it isn't too bad. I can't see much else though, so someone will have to guide me while I keep it active."
"As long as you listen to my directions we should be fine," Rose dismissed. "Now, where are those spiders?"
"They are- dropping from the ceiling? But they aren't that close…"
"They're using their threads to swing towards us," Rose explained. "Wait, move!"
She shoved Artemis suddenly, knocking him sideways to the ground.
The thread the spider fired pooled against the door rather than landing over Artemis to ensnare him as intended.
"Thanks," Artemis managed, feeling his way to his feet. "I assume you dodged the attack as well, Rose?"
"I was too short to hit. Well, their webbing doesn't seem to be poisonous…"
"[Slow]," Lock called out, his magic interfering with the monsters movements while, thanks to the brief window of opportunity he made use of, not affecting the rest of the party.
"I've got this," Harold declared, watching the spiders move as they tried to outflank the party for their webbing attacks.
He grabbed his axe from his back, swinging it out to cleave the spiders in two mid-arc.
"Nice one," Diana praised. "This is why ah prefer you to the usual warrior. Skill to match your brawn. Even if the brawn is nice too…"
"Hey, I thought we all agreed that flirting shoukd be saved until after we get to safety," Rose stagewhispered to Mara.
"Right! On we go," Diana directed, refusing to rise to the bait.
{}
The next tunnel had two more traps, as they were begining to expect, which Rose dealt with quickly and efficiently.
The room after saw its compliment of monsters (identified by Rose as venomous spiders) launch themselves through the door as soon as it was opened, only the warning from Artemis' Detect Life saving them from the ambush.
All things considered, they were still ambush predators rather than frontline fighters, and the party had no problem eliminating them, even with the surprise demonstration from the spiders of launching their venom-drenched fangs at their victims.
They had been Adventurers long enough to get a feel for danger.
When they opened the door to find the path blocked by thick webs it was Maras turn to shine.
The alchemist grabbed a particular vial from the bandolier she wore under her jacket, throwing it into the webs.
The substance within turned the webs into a pure conflagration, blue flames flickering in the space as it was reduced to air by fire.
A side effect of this process was the destruction of a hidden tripwire and the reveal of a bug-filled pit.
For once that was the only trap in the corridor, which ended at an impressively sized door.
They paused before opening it.
"What do you think? Boss or miniboss?"
"I'll take the third option. They are too obvious, and if there is one thing the Dungeon Master is not, it's obvious."
"Any room after this could be the Boss," Artemis declared confidently.
"Which is about as useful as saying 'the floor has a Boss somewhere'," Rose pointed out. "Can we have something more useful, mister tactician?"
"There aren't any spiders waiting on the other side of the door. Given the ambush predator nature of spiders I would expect at least one room which forces you into a situation where you can easily be outflanked or surrounded, like a maze. Given that there aren't any enemies waiting for us to enter, I'd say this could be that room."
"Man, that Detect Life spell is impressive."
"Not really, I doubt I'd be able to use it multiple times in a day and the drawbacks mean I have to be ready to drop it at a moments notice. In any case, it isn't about what the spell tells me so much as how I interpret the information."
His look of humble genius was ruined by his glasses finally slipping from his nose making him desperately grab at the air to catch them before they could shatter on the ground."
"Yes, it's all you," Rose managed, looking away to avoid laughing.
"Normally I can see when my glasses are close to escaping," Artemis defended, slipping them into a pocket. "And this pair is definitely better than the last. I would have lost them in the first room with the spell."
"So, maze," Diana reminded them, clapping her hands. "Any ideas how it'll be set up?"
"The Master should be aware that ambushes are useless by now. The immediate attack from those fang spiders also indicates that they can command their monsters."
"Um, can't all Dungeon Masters do that?"
"That is only conjecture. In any case, with ambush, the primary advantage of the variety of monster, gone, the Masters best hope is to hide their forces and try to wait us out."
"So we search a maze for hidden spiders and kill them. Right, Hana stay back and-"
"In this case I believe it is best for us all to enter," Artemis interrupted. "If we split into two groups, each with a fighter, magic user, healer and somebody to spot the spiders, we will clear the room faster. After all, unless we are unlucky and all the rooms spiders are in the same place, we aren't in much danger here."
"I take it you mean Harold and Bharnin for fighters and only you and Lock use magic, but we only have one healer. And who are the spotters?"
"You and me Rose," he answered patiently. "And I know Mara has at least some healing potions on her."
"Not that many," she grumbled. "Not with you lot focusing on my other talents."
"Mara, last time I drank one of your healing potions I had cat ears for a week. And neither of our mages is much good for direct damage. It is simply better for the party."
"That's what you always say. Well, at least I finally get to heal someone."
"Whoever gets her team, make sure to avoid injury," Hana stagewhispered, before laughing as she dodged Maras half-hearted punch.
"We have ah plan," Diana declared, getting them back on track. "Ah think we should split up like this…"
{}
Artemis turned out to be completely right about the room, although it took him taking a second sweep through Roses side of the maze to clear it completely.
Part of this was the forgotten factor that he was their main light source as Lock was more focused on spells to hinder their enemies than pure support magic.
A side effect was the way Rose managed to prop her torch against some webbing that camoflauged the exit when the groups met up again.
The 'wall' didn't catch fire immediately, but the way the torch started spluttering and smoking was suspicious enough to warrant a proper examination.
And so the maze was cleared without injury, leading them on to the next challenge.
{}
"The Spider Puzzle Room," Rose read from the announcement that hung in mid-air. "Eight puzzles to solve in a row, fail one and return to the start… this is disbolical. Even before taking the time limit into account."
"Time limit? Has it started yet?"
"Not until we start a puzzle," Rose answered. "Seems the time limit starts automatically for puzzles two and onward though."
Artemis removed his glasses from his pocket and started fiddling with them.
"Puzzles makes it sound like my thing, but for that I drop Detect Life for the rest of the floor," he muttered, considering the options. "Consequences for failure? I assume there are more than just starting from the first puzzle again."
"We get spiderd dropped on us."
"Nothing we can't handle… right, what are the puzzles? I'll assign each puzzle to the most appropriate of us."
"The first looks like a stone cube…"
AN: my thanks for the words of support from everyone, that is the main reason I was able to get this next chapter out so quickly. And for the guest who mentioned provlems logging in, I've been there too. Don't give up, try opening the site in a new tab after trying to login or wait for another day. I'm pretty sure it was one of those that saw me get back in and regain access to publishing chapters.
Now, a quick overview of the new party we're following, in a reverse of the videogame reverse boss battle:
Michael and Sadie: quiet and heavily armoured. Not much else known as of yet.
Diana: leader, strategist and ranger. May be named for one of the great heroes, there is no in-story confirmation or denial (her accent also has a reason behind it, which will come into play in a couple of chapters or so).
Artemis: second-in-command, tactician and mage. Named for one of the (female) great heroes.
Rose: rogue, and somewhat shorter than average.
Harold: the classic tank, with heavy armour, big muscles and a large axe.
Hana: healer. Not connected to the church of Lumina before anyone asks.
Lock: mage, focused on debuff spells.
Mara: alchemist with a preference for healing which she is denied due to side effects (it is only the other flower names and Flechette that stopped her being named 'Lilly').
Bharnin: dwarf and sword-wielder.
I will try to continue with brief 'this is their class' bios for each Adventuring party that we follow through the Dungeon.
