Doyle dims, 'Well that's a heavy subject.' Ally sighs, 'not much you can do about it. Even the creator of the system can't make it work for everyone. Since you likely woke up late at your original tutorial, you should already know that not everyone can survive even in races that fit the system. Having started as a human you are incredibly lucky.'
'Your fiction probably has humans as a very generic race with nothing special besides maybe your adaptability. That isn't just the usual trap species get into where they only know themselves so of course they are generic. In this universe, humans are the third most common sentient lifeform. Even then you're not first just because two insectoid races walk the line of how they count their populations.'
'The universal constants, even after the change, heavily favors intelligent creatures about human size and shape. Other universes are different but here humanoids rule the roost. Though you do have to be a little loose on what you call a human. The genetics generally line up but most else can vary wildly and magic hasn't helped much. All that aside, you just need to make sure everything is spawned and hand out the gear. It has been long enough that we will be right back in the queue. Oh and tell your goats to attack this time.'
Doyle spins and laughs, 'Already ahead of you. I did it all piecemeal whenever you paused to gather your thoughts. I even remembered to tell my goats to attack and the leader to help the other kobolds if things are too uneven.'
'Fair enough', Ally shrugs and taps a screen he can't see, 'and we are back out there for raiding. My bet is we will see more people from the tutorial instance that team came from. They already have information on us so it will be easier to make that choice. Groups from other places will show up of course but you can expect most to know our basic layout. And here we are, another team right away. With them joining so fast they must have been waiting to enter.'
Through the entrance portal another group of six people step into the dungeon. First through a rogue who right away follows the wall to the tunnel. Next two fighter, both in light leather armor with small shields and short swords. Then the last three members come through all at once. A trio of magic users of some sort. Doyle assumes the one wearing white is some kind of healer but otherwise it is up in the air. The only other things to note about the group is that unlike the last this one is entirely men. In fact, if Doyle had to guess from how they jostled each other and got along this group had been a part of some sports team together. Even the roguish type was large and well built like you only see with people who work out regularly.
The biggest difference between this team and the last is the lack of chatter. Only the leader seemed to talk much with the others responding with a nod or shake of the head. Not much happening in the entrance room Doyle shifts the view to follow the rogue. The sneaky fellow had made it to the next room already and was peeking around the corner at the goat. This time though the goats aren't just passively weary of him. Instead, two of the three back away while the last turns and faces the intruder. Ally seeing this response nods, 'good. Did you specifically tell them how to attack or just rule that they should attack intruders?'
Doyle opens up another view on the wall that shows the rest of the group before he responds. 'Yes and no. I did put in a generic rule that monsters should attack intruders in the way they felt best suited them. For these goats it is all the instructions they get, same with any normal room with only one or two goats in it. Of course the vine room goats have orders to hide and bash invaders into the assassin vines and the leader's goats follow her orders. As for the other two rooms with three or more goats. Well, you get to watch and see!' Ally rolls her eyes at this but the rogue has made it back to his party so refrains from saying anything else. Doyle rolls slightly to the side and makes a view to show an overlay of the dungeon. The invaders marked by red dots, goats in brown, assassin vines green, kobolds blue with females a darker shade, and of course the leader gets purple.
The rogue confers his findings to the group's leader. This results in said leader going on a bit of a tirade about misinformation and faulty scouting. Just about confirming this group came from the same place as the last. The other fighter tries to calm him down but all this leads to is more cursing.
Doyle tilts forward, 'You know what? I really don't like that guy. What is he even yelling at his teammates over? If he wants to complain then wait till they are done and do it to the other team.' Ally giggles, 'he can't. They might all be levelless newbs but the last group is still stronger than this one. Just look at how they stand. The mages look like lumps on a log without any preparation in-case they have to move and don't get me started on the rogue. You won't be able to see it yet but he is suffering from overreliance on his skills. I've seen oak golems less wooden in their sneaking, non-sentient ones at that.'
She goes on to point out a few more things but is interrupted by the leader finally calming down and getting his group moving. Confident in their information still despite already having discrepancies he marches forward without fear of the goats attacking. All this gets him is a belly full of goat horns as the lead goat charges him as soon as he enters the room.
He falls over with more cursing as the rest of his team surrounds him to guard against the goats. Once back on his feet he finally pulls out his weapon. The others have relatively normal gear. Wands for the magic users, daggers for the rogue, and the other fighter with sword and board. He however seems to have decided to compensate for something as he wields in both hands a giant slab of metal with only a passing resemblance to a sword. Ally had been commenting on some small things but the sight of the sword stuns her silent.
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Despite the ridiculousness of his weapon what follows is a slaughter. The rogue doesn't even try to get involved as the mages get to work. The one in white started to heal the leader as expected. What wasn't expected was that both the remaining magic users were earth-based. Raising two walls to force the goats into fighting the leader head on.
The other fighter then gets into position slightly ahead of the leader and starts to tank, letting only a single goat through. This predictably leads to said goat getting crushed into the ground by a poundersly slow overhand swing. For a moment there Doyle even doubted if the guy could lift it over his head. One goat down they repeat the process until the room is empty.
What is left of the goats soon evaporates leaving behind only a single pelt. The leader promptly picks said pelt up and wears it like a cape, crowing about his mighty conquests. Back in the core room Ally is just slack jawed at this display, 'are they serious? Why would anyone even pick a weapon like that if they aren't even able to wield it properly.' Doyle mutters something about a popular video game but overall is clueless how anyone would think it was a good idea as well.
Then the invaders heads into the vine room and both of them are stunned into silence again. The idiot leader just starts swinging his slab of metal at the vines in his way. This of course doesn't work very well. The edge isn't very sharp to begin with and he can't swing it fast enough to get around it. All he manages is to tire himself out.
Now worn out he just gestures to the other fighter to lead them. For the first time this causes everyone else to speak up in opposition. The rogue in particular is vocal about it, "but captain! You heard what to expect in this room. Big ol vine monsters! We need me leading so I can spot em."
The captain gives the rogue the stink eye, "I barely accepted when coach put Olly in as my backup. No way am I letting a skinny nothing like you even vaguely come close to leading me. Now stand in the middle until we need your fancy finger work for something like a locked door or a trap. Good luck finding one in this cave though." And he lets out a raucous laugh while the mages soon join in if half heartedly.
Order or as much as this group ever has of it is restored and the backup fighter goes to the front of the group. Their brave captain leading from the rear as they proceed forward. By luck they meet the first goat and after quick slaughter continue on past the assassin vine without noticing it. The next assassin vine however did not do as good a job at hiding having just moved from the room's exit.
With the enemy spotted the group attempts to walk around it. The captain muttering something about how bloodless foes just didn't do it for him. Once the group is halfway past it though things go wrong. The goat Doyle had paired with this assassin did a better job at hiding and so got a good headbutt in on the person in the middle. This hit sends the thief flying into the vine assassin's arms.
A quick jerk and he disappears up into the assassin's main body while his team panics. The captain is completely worthless, half stunned and half laughing at what happened. It takes the other fighter a few moments to rally the mages but by that time the rogue was tied up with a vine around his neck.
The mages under the other fighters orders rapid fire rocks at the monster while said fighter charges up to hack at it. The fight goes on for a bit more before the captain finally joins in. His massive sword not doing much as its way is blocked by normal vines. With an angry shout he orders the mages to stop attacking and focus on holding it down so he can get a kill shot in.
This doesn't go over well with everyone else but after a few threats they do so. It takes a few swings and a lot of work on the other fighters part to defend the captain from the goat but the assassin is soon defeated. However, it is too late. The rogue is dead and they can only watch as his body dissipates along with the monster.
Doyle back in the core is uneasy, 'I knew I would be killing humans but this doesn't feel right.' Ally grimaces, 'you're right about that. This wasn't a good fight at all. You don't have to feel too bad though. Invaders don't actually dissipate like your monsters normally. Instead, that was the tutorial saving him and returning him to his guide. Also from the looks of it that so-called captain is about to get his comeuppance.'
Back at the group an argument has started between the captain and the mages. The mages aren't happy that the captains incompetence killed their friend. All he does is laugh at their anger. Then with a smirk he stares down at them and asks, "what you gonna do about it pipsqueaks? He's back with the guide though I don't know about him anymore. Probably going to kick him off the team like I should have before this mess. We don't need such a worthless waterboy who manages to get himself killed in his first big fight."
At this point the other fighter has just finished off the goat and so walks up behind the captain. Thinking the fighter is there to back him up he puffs out his chest and his smirk becomes even nastier. It doesn't stay there for long though as the other fighter runs his sword through the captain's back. Strength leaves his body and his ridiculous sword pulls him over.
The other fighter leans over him, his face flat. "You might wonder why I did that. Don't worry I'm not betraying the team. Rather ever since I joined, coach had been working on getting me the captain's seat. Just because your dad kept the sports program afloat with his donations doesn't mean we could put up with your nonsense forever. The next game was going to be your last but with how things panned out let me send you off with a message from the coach. You're Dismissed!" The other fighter, no, Olly the captain pulls his sword out as the last bit of life drains out of the idiot.
Olly turns to the mages and sighs, "I didn't want to do that but we better hurry back. There is only ten minutes before that idiot respawns and we can't leave Ed alone with him. We probably can't finish the dungeon in that amount of time with just us so let's go back the way we came. Anyway, I need time to gather the rest of the team and inform them of the change in leadership. That and kick his toadies out. That toxic spoiled brat better not darken our sights once we are out of here. He gets to live this time because of the tutorial but next time he won't have that to fall back on." The four invaders then head back the way they came, once again avoiding the last assassin vine. At the entrance portal the three magic users leave right away while Olly turns back to the dungeon. "Next time", he clenches his fist, turns around, and leaves.
Huh', Doyle pauses, 'well that was an interesting group. Give me just a moment.' He replaces the goats and vine assassin that got killed. 'And there we go. Everything back in order and ready for another round I guess? Since they left by the entrance and didn't kill much do we still have to wait?' Ally is sprawled back over his core. She lifts one hand and waves it around. 'Only a short amount of time. Just like when the previous party sent their rogue in first to check on things.'
'While we wait though I do have something for us to do. It would be nice if you could make me a room. Not a room room but rather more like the rabbit burrows. Just a space off of the core room with a bit of furniture and a bed. With two dead, even if they aren't actually dead you should have some surplus energy to throw around. Might as well use it before you lose it.'
Doyle takes a look around the core room. 'Sure, plus I should do more with this place anyway. Just bare stone is a little bland for my taste. I was never one for decorating but even I have my limits. First though, let's get you a place to rest or you know, go to when someone actually gets to our core room.' He had enough room to work with so Doyle settled down to decide where to put Ally's room. In the walls would be fine as around the core there was more than a meter of rock but that didn't feel quite right. Instead, he went up. Down was an option but regular humans are more likely to check the floor than the ceiling.
That in mind he decides on the entrance being above the doorway into the core. 'Anyone who gets this far will focus on me in the first place so that was relatively safe. Out of sight is out of mind after all. From above the door we can put a short staircase up to the space above the floor's layout and you get as much space as you want. To start with just a simple room will do and we can expand it later as you want.'
Doyle molds the stone out and up. Soon there is a nice cubby for Ally to stay in and he turns his attention to decorating his core room instead. Not much has happened to him yet so there isn't any reason to get too fancy. Instead, he decides on a repeating pattern that he felt looks nice and stamped it all around the core. Then below him he formed the rock into spiral pedestal that came a hand short of where his core floated. The pattern he had laid down stretching and twisting its way up the pillar of stone.
He moves his core around to test the clearance and lowers it just a smidge before he is happy. 'There we go. I haven't made you a bed or anything yet but you have a room and my core isn't the most boring place in the dungeon.'
Ally thanks him as she flies over to the hole near the ceiling and up into her room. 'Well, you weren't lying when you said you had made nothing yet. Not that I expected you to and honestly this is more than enough space. Mostly we companions hang out in the core room anyway. Though maybe a light or two?'
Doyle's core dims, 'oops. Sorry about that. I am not doing a good job in remembering to place lights around.' Ally smiles, 'it isn't your fault. How can you expect to know about lighting when you see everything perfectly well with or without light. Anyway, that was about enough time wasted. We should have more adventurers soon.'
And boy she wasn't lying. They had gotten off to a slow start but the very next group came from another tutorial instance and the one after as well. Of course, all the new groups kicked his dungeons rear. In fact, over the next twelve groups none of them ever lost more than a single member.
After a couple more changes though, Doyle made headway. First, he made it so the goats in the vine room stayed slightly behind the assassin vines. While well hidden the vine monsters were big enough to be spotted well before the goats and let them take any group not in the know by surprise. This allowed an extra kill or two every few groups.
What most consistently got him kills though was the kobolds. Now armed and armored they could generally manage to down at least one invader. However this still put him short. All the groups still only had six people in them and with just a third kill the dungeon tutorial would be complete. Even his tricky planning for how the goats would attack amounted to nothing. Sure having one goat hide at the side of the door would occasionally knock someone for a loop but there weren't any surprises he could keep a secret. Ally comforted him that once he had another floor to work with and especially after the fifth floor, things would be different. After all, there is only so much you can do without proper traps.
Now another group enters his dungeon as he watches to see what happens. So far the results were split. Either they made it to the kobolds and completed the dungeon or they lost someone before then and retreated. This time though he had given new orders to the single goat in the second medium room after the vines. Doyle had high hopes for the change but he had thought that about the last tweak as well. This new group in his dungeon was once again made of six people. An oddity as there was a single girl. Most parties tended towards either an equal split or all of one gender. However he soon got a feel for what was up.
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The lady exclaims in a loud voice, "OH MY GAWD, why do I even have to come in here? There's dirt everywhere and that vine room will simply Murder my hair. Why wouldn't that cow of a guide just let me pass?" A guy wielding the classic sword and board combo turns to her and smiles, "Don't worry Daisy! I can carry you on through here no problem."
A guy in a white frock sneers at the fighter, "And don't you worry about when Jerry there lets some monster through. The other can block it while I put up a protection barrier around so nothing can ruin your clothes." Jerry scoffs at him and turns to a small guy at the back of the party, "Hey shrimp, go check on the next room while we let Daisy rest here. Don't know why they forced her to walk down that long hallway. It's a god-damned portal, just open it up next to her"
With everyone turned away from her Daisy sneers at their fighting but then smooths her face and puts on a smile. With a few steps she is next to the small guy and pats him on the head, "Now, now, Jay is an important part of the party. I have no clue why none of the actual rogues wanted to join our group" (Being an overall observant group of people the rogues had all noticed what she was trying to pull and wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole) "but Jay was willing to sacrifice two of his skill slots for things that would help with scouting. Now if you'd please, go and see what is ahead of us Jay? Make sure to check if they are aggressive now!"
Jay smiles and Doyle could practically see hearts in his eyes as he trounced off down the hallway. Once he was around the corner everyone else in the party broke into a bout of nasty laughter, though they did try and keep it quiet. Then the groups other magic user stepped forward and iced the floor in front of the hallway. This brought another round of laughter as everyone made fun of Jay for being a chump.
Out of earshot Jay bumbles through the hallway without a single shred of stealth. Without notice he is around the corner and into the goat room. Only to be knocked back into the hallway. Having made no efforts to hide the goats heard him coming all alone and were ready for him. He lies against the wall for a moment groaning before standing back up. "Well, I guess they are aggressive!" Happy with having done as requested he heads back to the group.
Then as he enters the room, his foot slips right out from under him. He crashes to the ground again and almost knocks himself silly. He sighs and thinks to himself that, 'ever since I joined Daisy's group I've become a klutz. What is wrong with me?' Of course nothing was wrong with him except maybe his ability to judge social situations. Anyone would slip on ice when it wasn't expected but the mage would always remove the evidence before he could notice.
Now informed that nothing had changed the group goes forward with Daisy at the center and Jay in the lead. Once they reach the goats Jay gets pushed into the room first while the other guys come in behind. Daisy on the other hand stays in the hallway and shouts encouragement.
Five men against three goats isn't really a challenge. Especially when three of them are melee fighters. Besides Jerry and his sword and board there was his minion with two short swords. Though he wasn't ambidextrous or all that well trained with it so most of his attacks were either flailing with both or just using his dominant hand. The last guy had a big axe. Not like the nasty captain's giant sword. This axe while big was properly sized for its wielder. It just happened that that guy was a giant. A head taller than anyone else in the party and built like a brick house.
Goats finished they head on towards the vine room. Before they enter though Daisy cozies up to the axe guy and pouts. "You won't mind chopping the way through for us would you John? Those nasty vines would ruin me!" John smirks and puffs his chest out while the other guys all seethe at him getting Daisy's attention.
Of course there is nothing they can do about it. His axe is perfect for the task and soon he is chopping his way through until they come across the first assassin vine. His axe strikes one of the outer tentacles and sets it flailing around. Daisy pouts again, "well look what you did. I don't really want to mess with this beast but it's much too near the center of the room."
Then with a sly look she glances at Jerry and nods at Jay. A really nasty smile spreads across Jerry's face when he realizes what she wants. With a quick grab he picks up Jay and chucks him at the assassin vine. All the tentacles coil around him and the group takes this chance to hurry past the monsters. Its attendant goat unable to even slow down John as his axe slices it just as easily as the vines. Behind them Jay lets out a final whimper as he dies and his body fades away. The saddest part for Doyle was that Jay looked happy that he was of use for Daisy.
The next assassin vine is way off to the side so they don't even have to slow down. The goat doing less than a speed bump might have and the same goes for the next rooms two goats. In fact, they progress so quickly it appears to scare the goat all alone in the next room which hides in the corner. The group has a good laugh at it as they go into the next room.
Of course a dungeon monster as simple as a regular goat can't become scared. Rather that was what Doyle had ordered the goat to do. As the group goes to fight the goats in the next room, it lines up a charge with the person at the back of the party which is of course Daisy. Not making a sound the goat takes off and rams into her back, sending her flying into the room.
She slides across the dirt, knocking up clovers as her nice white sundress gets messed up. The room goes silent as all the guys turn to look at what happened. As Daisy gets up Doyle can just barely see a shimmer in the air next to her skin as she spits out dirt. There is a fire in her eyes as she shouts to, "KILL THEM! They ruined my dress! If it wasn't for that idiot Jay giving up his free weapon for this defensive ring I might have been hurt." and she holds up her hand showing off a copper ring with small runes inscribed on it.
With a vengeance they butcher the goats in that room and the next two. Then they come upon the kobold rooms. With a cocky swagger the guys enter to weapons drawn. The kobolds hiss at the group but hold their ground. Jerry rolls his eyes and shoves his dual wielding minion at them starting the fight. Of course the poor guy that just got shoved isn't doing too well. One of the kobolds gets a good shot on his head before continuing on. This might not have finished him but both the mage kobolds send a spell his way. Maybe with the right skills and stats someone could survive an ice spike through the heart and a rock through the eye but that wasn't an option here.
Jerry sighs in mock disappointment, "good help is so hard to find these days!" And he takes a swing at one of the charging kobolds bringing it down. Despite the group now being down to only three people who can fight things aren't going badly for them. The mage, having had a lot of practice with it, is slipping the kobold mages left and right so they can't get another spell off.
John and his axe are even worse as one shot bisects the kobold coming at him. This is too much of a cakewalk for them and it activates one of Doyle's earlier rules for the leader. Since the fight was too one-sided, the kobold charges out of her room with her two goats and joins the fight.
This addition throws a wrench in the works. The groups mage gets distracted by a charging goat and misses his timing. Suddenly not being slipped up the left kobold mage is able to get his second spell of the fight off. Daisy screams as a fist-sized rock shoots at her head. Jerry who had been covering John's side rushes back and blocks the shot but isn't strong enough to stop it. His shield crashes back into Daisy causing her to fall and twist her ankle.
All the while one kobold gets in and sinks a claw into John's side. Then another spell flies their way. One goat shouldn't have stopped the mage so Jerry glances over. He is just in time to see the leader bash the mage's head in. All Jerry can do is scream for everyone to retreat.
Daisy is the first out of the room, reasonable as she had already retreated when she first got knocked down. Jerry is next leaving John to bring up the rear. Not that John has much of a choice. The wound in his side stops him from using his axe and forces him to retreat slowly or be hit again.
Once everyone is out of the room they don't even regroup, instead just hoofing it towards the entrance. Soon though Daisy's twisted ankle causes her to fall behind and she curses up a storm at the two guys for abandoning her. The fear of death, even if temporary, though is enough to keep their heads forward as they act like they can't hear her. With their greater strength and body size in general the two are through the portal before Daisy is halfway through the vine room and that is when disaster strikes.
The assassin vines might not be able to move fast but that isn't the same as not moving at all. While the group had been fighting further in the assassin vine that killed Jay had decided to move. Slowly but surely it moved to the side of the room that John had cleared. When the two fighters had ran past it wasn't able to make a move at them as it wasn't secured yet and they had run by too fast. Daisy on the other hand was slowed by her ankle. As she limped past the still vines coiled up around her and dragged her to the ceiling. The guys already through the portal didn't even have a chance to hear her call for help and so there she died, another victim of the assassin vines.
In the core room Ally has fallen off of Doyles core as she laughs. Doyle shakes his core, 'Well I don't mind killing people like that. The only sad thing is someone like her wouldn't be caught dead in a dungeon. That and she isn't actually dead. I feel bad for the two victims but not much we can do about. There will always be people like that who let themselves get walked on. Though going by what we just saw the population of them might end up shrinking at an astonishing rate.'
Ally gets herself back under control. 'That stuck up shrew got her just deserts there at the end. Even better, we just cleared the tutorial with room to spare. Going from having a hard time killing two to almost getting a party wipe. Wow, what a thrill. Anyway, now that we have finished the tutorial the system will give us 30 hours to prepare. Guess what that means!'
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Doyle doesn't even pause, 'I can get a new path?' Just as he says that Ally chimes in, 'You can get a ne', and she stops. 'Yes, a new path. How did you know?' Doyle bobbles, 'well the tutorial is over. The limits on paths was only during it.'
Ally rolls her eyes, 'fine, ruin my fun. Now let's take a look at your status. More specifically if you want me to keep seeing it you will have to share it with me now. Once again the tutorial is over so I can't anymore.' Doyle doesn't find the request unreasonable and closes all the open screens before reopening status with the intent to share it with her.
{Name: Doyle Huxley
Race: Dungeon Core (Strange Caverns)
Soulbond: Ally Huxley
Paths: [28] Dungeon Core 1/1
Level: 0
[2] S[8] A[7] C[10] I[12] W[9] P[5] D[14] K[20] L[16]
World Energy(/R per hour): 1000/1000(250)
Skills: Territory Control lv4, Dungeon Rules lv5, Universal Deconstruction lv4, Dungeon Pattern Database lv10, Creation(Energy Powered, Pattern Based) lv5}
She whistles, 'doing fine there. You even got the database up a level though now that, once again let me restate it, we are out of the tutorial things should speed up. Anyway, you have 28 path points to use and two stat points. The stat points you can just keep for now as there isn't any urgency to upgrade something except maybe to get presence up.' Doyle nods his core, 'yep, fine for now. Though lets see what I have earned path wise. [System, show available paths]'
{Points: 28
Class: Dungeon Core I 1/1
Completed:
Started [0/3]:
Available: Dungeon Core II 1/10, Goat Herder 0/10, Kobold Community 0/15, Vine Warper 0/15, Goat Supremacy 0/20, Kin Slayer 0/100, Voidborn 0/250}
Ally claps, 'that's impressive as well. Though I guess I should explain a couple things. The class and available sections are self explanatory. Completed is for any path you completed except your class. Started are the paths you currently tread. You can have three at once. Though few people make full use of it. Most have a special path they want to walk but costs too much, such as your Voidborn path, which they will occasionally put a couple points in. About the only other use I know for it is if you start down a path but can't or don't want to continue it.'
'Now as for your paths in specific I have no clue what they do or mean. The unlock requirements are at least guessable. Your class can obviously advance and you have at least one path for each monster. Kin slayer probably comes from killing humans which you still identify with even if you aren't one anymore and of course voidborn because you got reborn in the void. But don't let me cloud your thoughts. Paths are quite personal so what do you think of them?'
Doyle reads each available path again. 'I don't want kin slayer. Whatever it does or means has little to do with the current me. Even if it gave me a boost to attacking humans, it isn't worth it as far as I am concerned.' He pauses again. Kin slayer was the only one that stood out to him as negative to him.
'After that? Well, I do want to see what voidborn has to offer but it costs too much. This early on I need to be finishing paths. Maybe in the long run voidborn might be better but I have to live till then first. I want goat supremacy but it costs too much. With 28 points I should be able to complete my class path and another path. Actually, that raises a question. Can a completed path remove available paths?'
Ally nods, 'they can yes. For instance, a lot of god based paths are mutually exclusive with each other. Your fear that taking goat herder might remove goat supremacy is valid.' Doyle sighs, 'then adding to my goats can wait. Instead, I think completing the class path and kobold community is what I will do. [System, put 10 points into dungeon core two and 15 points into kobold community].'
{9 Points applied to Dungeon Core II path...
2/10 - You have earned +1 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Constitution
4/10 - You have earned +1 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Constitution
6/10 - You have earned +2 Stat Points
8/10 - You have earned +2 Stat Points
10/10 - Path complete, You have earned +9 Floors, +1 Wisdom/Level
15 Points applied to Kobold Community…
5/15 - You have earned +1 Karma/Level, Kobolds get +1 Karma/Level
10/15 - You have earned +1 Wisdom/Level, Kobolds get +1 Wisdom/Level
15/15 - Path complete, You have earned minor Information on Kobold communities, +1 Agility/Level, Kobolds get +1 Agility/Level}
{Kobolds as a species are focused on the finesse stats. This has caused their communities to flourish. Greater karma leads to sentient kobolds gathering others and their boosted wisdom makes sure these gatherings tend to avoid notice. Compared to other monster communities like goblins their leaders are more likely to become sentient in general. Rumors of a completely sentient sub-species of kobolds while exaggerated are not without basis.}
'Huh, hey Ally, is there anyway to see how many points in a stat you will gain per level?', Doyle asks. Ally nods, 'You just have to ask the system. Basically anything about your status can be queried. Now you might not be able to, for instance, ask it when and why you gained a specific addition to a stat but the overview is possible. Not that the info isn't stored in the system somewhere but it does at least a minimal amount of work to obfuscate how everything goes together. For instance a path, as far as anyone can tell, will give the same rewards to anyone that takes it. Except of course when it doesn't.'
Doyle checks his status, 'Okay, I have 3 path points left and I know what I want next. Goat supremacy only needs 20 points so I won't get anything for it but might as well throw them in. [System, put 3 points into goat supremacy]'
{3 Points applied to Goat Supremacy}
'That taken care of we have a few things to go over now. Most important is that completing the 2nd dungeon core path gave me 9 more floors. How does that work? I felt something form in my mind when I got it but haven't poked it yet. Also, you probably have some points so we should check what you have available as well. After all, you've been tutoring me a good bit.' Ally puts her hand on her chin, 'true. I might have gotten enough for something. Let's take a look, shall we? [System, show me and Doyle my paths].'
{Points: 10
Class: Dungeon Companion II 10/10
Completed: Fae Magic I 10/10
Started [1/3]: Autumn's Jester 3/100
Available: Dungeon Companion III 10/100, True Dungeon Companion I 0/1, Royal Tutor 0/25, Fae Magic II 0/50, Dungeon Fae Legacy I 0/120}
Both her eyes go wide, 'well my luck has definitely taken a turn for the better since I met you. Look at that, I got an upgraded version of my class and I plan to take it. Besides that there is a legacy path. Going to throw at least one point in that. I guess this is a good learning opportunity for you. Legacy paths are unique stuff. When someone dies if they do it right they can leave behind an echo of them in the system. Because it is related to the soul only one person can have it at a time and if they complete it, the legacy is gone from the system forever. So yeah, [System, put 1 point in true dungeon companion 1 and 1 point in dungeon fae legacy 1]. I will just keep the spare points for now.'
{1 Point Applied to True Dungeon Companion I…
1/1 - Path Complete, You have earned +2 Destiny, +2 Karma, +2 Luck, +1 Luck/Level, Soul Sight lv0
1 Point Applied to Dungeon Fae Legacy}
'Well, what do you know! Got a skill out of it. I don't know how useful being able to see souls will be but there it is. Presumably it will be useful as it was the starting skill for the class. Though now I do have two of three slots taken up. Guess that means I need more skills to level.' Doyle nods his core, 'sooo, with that new skill of yours, what do I look like?'
Ally takes a look at him with glowing eyes and shrugs. 'You look like you always do, a sphere of crystal.' Doyle tilts to the side, 'you checked my soul with the skill right? Because until recently I was a human. While I don't know much about souls, there is enough fiction that has it at least humanoid shaped.'
Ally looks up sharply and whispers, "[Soul Sight]". Her eyes glow again and she gets right up close to his core. 'You're right. Souls should match the shape of your body you were born in. I guess the ritual does more than we thought. Not sure what it means. Few people get close enough to a ritual created core to have info on this. But hey, the skill is now level 1, so that's a thing.'
Doyle floats down and dims, 'Yeah, not much we can do about it. So what do we do now?' Ally gestures at the walls, 'use up your world energy. Remember that giant overflow you had? It all gets pumped back to you. That means you should keep the tank empty cause you will get a refill. Maybe fill in all the spare space you have with rock? I know we talked about that at some point but never got around to it.'
'Though I just realized we sort of glossed over your previous questions and something else important. Let's start with your kobolds. That path gave your kobolds, not just you, stats per level. All your kobolds are getting more agility and wisdom as they increase in level and any sentient ones also get karma. This is how your monsters can get stronger with levels. Even if they don't have paths, your own paths can buff them. This makes your goat's path so much more important than before.'
Normally Doyle's core has a bit of a wobble like a person's chest moving as they breathe. This little fact he missed stills his movement entirely. 'Oh wow. I need more skills as well. Though I don't know where to begin with dungeon skills. The ones I already have are very broad, seemingly they cover everything.'
Ally shrugs, 'There is more out there to being a dungeon than you can do at the moment. Though the combo of control and rule can be somewhat omnipotent. That isn't a bad thing because when you do get more specific skills they can level up together. Don't worry about overlap because it will all work out.'
'Now for your other question on the floors. First of all, don't worry about it holding you back. This one it is nine floors, next 90, and so on. What you feel in your mind is a data packet like with the monsters. Difference is instead of some foreign experiences, this is pure dungeon. Not even a conscious one but one of the dumb dungeons without a mind yet. All automatic responses. It won't blast you out. Like waking up from a dream instead of a sledgehammer to the skull.' Doyle pokes it and Ally grimaces as she feels pain through the soul link. She laughs weakly, 'I could be wrong?'
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She was. Now the pain wasn't as bad as the monster info was. Still not a fun time though. It also didn't last as long and Doyle's mind cleared up after only a couple of minutes. Ally rubs the back of her head, 'so yeah. What did you learn?'
Doyle's core wobbles as he recovers. 'Guess what? Same old song and dance. I know I complained about you constantly bringing up the fact that I was a void dungeon but this is a major difference. In other dungeons the concept of floors is more literal. A cave dungeon goes downward, a tower dungeon builds upward, however as a void dungeon I go inward. My next floor forms where the current floors core room is. Some dimensional shenanigans go on with that because it isn't just a portal to the next floor. That floor is literally contained entirely within the core room. All that pain was from an absolute beastly amount of math being crammed into my head.'
'I can understand why Flisle took so long to get to 7 floors without a system to help. Even with the instincts for making a new floor. The concept of putting a bigger box into a smaller one without damaging either takes a bit to wrap your head around. Not that I have. I am going to slide by on system based training wheels for a long while.'
Ally nods, 'well thats. Well yeah. Space based magic does tend to be limited to the truly powerful or those with an inborn ability. You would fall under that second one. Even without the systems help you would have gotten around to it within an eon or two. Yes, space magic without the system is something you learn in geological time spans.'
'You basically have to be immortal to learn it. The system shortcuts it by doing the math behind the scene. Even then space mages under the system can't truly use its strong points. For instance, it sounds like you are basically turning your core room into a bag of holding or storage ring. Except of course at a much higher level. Cause, you know, you apparently will be doing this recursively? If you do this for every floor, then you are making a storage device within a storage device.'
'Now you can put a bag within a bag and unlike some of your worlds fiction. However there is a catch. Well, normally there is a catch as you apparently break that rule. Space becomes less stable inside storage devices that are inside another. This means if you put nine bags of holding inside a tenth one you're all right. Stack them though and things get a little chancy. You might just get a tear in a dimensions fabric, sucking everything within a decent distance into the void.'
Doyle tilts to the side, 'you bring up storage devices but also mention space magic being uber rare. How does that work? On one hand, the idea of the classic bag of holding being a thing pleases me. On the other, no there isn't another side to it. If I wasn't basically already one I would want one.'
Ally puts up a single finger and shakes it at Doyle. 'You forget the whole system assist thing didn't you? That would explain it easily enough. But yeah, storage devices are semi-common. To actually learn space magic is an arduous task. To use predetermined runes and enchantments is a different story. Bags are the most common though most limited. Instead of creating space it just stretches it.'
'Now while it is interesting to go over this with you we have other matters to attend to. For instance, can you start on your next floor right away or does the system have some sort of limit? Once again most of our knowledge on how the system does dungeons comes from transplants and not natives.' Ally goes quiet and looked expectantly at Doyle.
'Let me check real quick', and Doyle tries to form his next floor. Tries being the operative word as a system message pops up instead of a new floor. 'Nope, can't make my next floor yet. Apparently we don't count as having opened up yet and the system restricts you to only making the first floor before then.'
Ally leans back, 'huh, I guess with the system some dungeons could keep building even without opening. That rule would limit any runaway dungeons. Though it means that wherever we end up, we need to rush it. As we are, there will probably be a group or two who could kill us. You haven't even managed to advance the levels of your monsters. I guess just spend your world energy for now.'
'Maybe equip your goats with something? Not as a permanent thing but just so we have a little more defense for the first few runs. Even if the groups that come along are stronger than any we have seen they shouldn't complete the floor in one go. The threat of actual death tends to hold back people. In fact, there is a good chance that most groups might turn away even before they enter that large goat room at the end there.'
Doyle's core dims as he concentrates on the suggestion. After some thought he had an idea that might work so he brought it up to Ally. 'Hey, the goats aren't really able to wear most of the armor or use weapons but I thought of a possibility. A helmet with metal horn guards should improve a goats attack potential. In fact, for the two goats under the leader some spikes might not be out of place.'
Ally nods, 'that is a good idea. Their horns might be sturdy but it is a relatively blunt affair. Likely for the best on the first floor and the helmets would let you keep the same type of goats while adding better offense. Though helmets are still armor as well so it isn't like you're ignoring their defense either. Yeah, I think it could work out real well. [System, what's the cost of goat helmets with bronze horn covers and what if you add spikes to them?]'
{Leather helmet with Bronze(9:1 copper tin ratio) horn covers: 3, 15, 3000
Leather helmet with Bronze(9:1 copper tin ratio) horn covers studded with spikes: 4, 20, 4000}
Doyle brightens at the sight of the cost. 'That is well within reason, likely because of my connection with goats. They might cost more than the regular armor but less than most bronze items. Plus I don't need to make them loot unless some horned races show up. I think we can throw the first version on the five goats in that large room and the second version on the leader's goats. Really, I could give all my goats helmets but that would be excessive. Just the final few is enough for now.'
The rest of the preparation time that the tutorial gave them passes slowly. Doyle tweaks a few things about how his monsters fight but overall just focuses on filling in his territory with stone. Ally takes the time to read more while glancing at the countdown. She occasionally gives Doyle an update. When it gets down to only having an hour left Doyle has filled all the excess space and put into place a law so that as his territory expands the new void gets filled as well. With not much else to do but a good bit of world energy left he goes into overdrive. Focusing intently on his core room walls and their toughness. Without the tutorial holding him back these efforts manage to raise his creation skill by two levels.
With only a minute to go Ally counts down the seconds. At 30 seconds the entrance portal and the temporary tutorial portal both flicker out of existence. At 15 Doyle gets a sense of movement despite all his senses telling him that his dungeon hasn't budged. At zero everything goes black, even Doyle's sense of his territory is gone.
Only a moment passes though it feels like an eternity and then everything is back including the entrance portal. Though the portal is now changed. Before it was as if looking out into deep space but now a different scene greets them. A wide plane of grass spread out on the other side with the occasional tree to break up the view. Though to the right a forest can just be seen on the edges of his view. To Doyle it appears they are either on the top of a small rise or on the edge of a hill as while there are ups and downs to the terrain his portal sits above it.
Doyle shows the scene to Ally and she laughs, 'I hope we are just on a hill or something. We would laugh about it later but at the moment it would be frustrating if we miss out on a lot of adventurers just because our entrance ended up floating in midair.'
Doyle flashes a darker shade for just a moment, 'eugh, that would be annoying. Though from what I can see, even if we are off the ground it shouldn't be by much. More important to us is I think we are in vision range of a couple towns. See over there by the forest? Those dark smudges might be houses.'
Ally nods, 'could be but whatever else that on the other side is definitely some sort of town. Those blocky tall shapes should be multistory buildings. The only question is if either have people in them yet or ever will. While the system attempts to save everyone it can, the population will have taken a nosedive. Plus it has been anywhere between one to five years that humans have been gone and things aren't going to be where people left them. Either from time or the fact that terrain shifts around when the world gets remade.'
'Huh', Doyle thinks on it for a second, 'that would make sense. The system only arrives as magic does so wouldn't have much time to record what things are supposed to look like. And it would explain two towns being so close together. We are only just far enough away from either to make walking to us inconvenient though with stat boosts even that isn't quite true.'
Ally grimaces, 'Yeah, this is closer than I would prefer we start. Later on when we get popular a dungeon town could pop up and with not one, but two towns right next door might stunt the growth. Then again, who knows how your people will handle dungeons to start with. The tutorial tries to instill a general message of don't mess with a dungeon unless it messes with you but people are greedy.'
'At least we are close enough to the forest that we should get some critters in before any sentients make their way out here. The dungeon pulse should have happened when we were blanked out and most nearby animals will come because of the energy released. While over all animals won't be more aggressive, you could say they have an agenda now even if it is more of an instinct. They will seek sources of power so they can potentially grow into a monster or at the very least a magical beast.'
Doyle tilts to the side, 'what is a magical beast? I understand monsters well enough but you just made a distinction between the two.' Ally shrugs, 'even under the system it isn't that well defined. You can just assume that if the system doesn't recognize the animal as a monster but it has some magical component then it is one. Horned rabbits are a good example. While they are pests their horns form from the energy they can't use. This means depending on what energy they take in will alter their horns properties. A rabbit that develops one from snacking on a mystical herb that helps with burns will have a horn that soothes burns when applied to them.'
'Useful yes but not economical. A lot of the energy goes to waste so it would always be better to just harvest the herb than to feed it to a rabbit. This is a big reason they are a pest. Dungeons like you are one of the exceptions as your herbs grow back fast enough for everyone to share. Though it will take you having mystical herbs in the first place before people go after your rabbits as well.'
Doyle nods, 'hmm, makes sense. Though I am sure as with anything that involves magic there are exceptions to the rules.' Ally smirks, 'Well of course there is! What fun would magic be if it couldn't break its own rules occasionally.'
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And with that they both quiet down to watch the surroundings. Their first visitors are simple insects and other such things. They don't even count as invaders so Doyle is able to station a goat at the entrance to stomp them. Because even if they aren't invaders he can't just deconstruct them. This gains him another pattern but it is clear the system doesn't note them as worth a dungeons attention. The pattern doesn't even mention what it can summon with the simple name of prey insects.
It even includes the insects which eat other insects and the bees that came in for the flowers. With that oddity Doyle turned to Ally who assured him that if any of the insects ever mutated into a real threat, the system would recognize it as a separate pattern. While having the bees count as harmless doesn't feel quite right to Doyle it doesn't stop him from spawning a couple hives around the dungeon. He has clover all over the place so it only makes sense to him to have a few bees. Though he doesn't want invaders to keep smashing his hives so creates them set into the walls like his rabbit warrens.
The excitement of stuff entering his dungeon even if they are just bugs soon wears off though and so Doyle and Ally turn back to the dungeon proper. He still is getting 250 energy an hour and the walls won't thicken themselves. A couple days pass like this and besides a couple of rabbits that oddly enough added to the horned rabbit pattern nothing else has shown up. Doyle has even started to question if the towns in the distance are empty.
Finally three days after he opened up shop they can see a small group of people approaching. The group is dressed in an odd mix of sports gear and leather armor but despite that do not look ready for a dungeon dive. They jump at the slightest rustle in the grass and more than once someone tries to head back towards the town next to the forest before being stopped by the others.
As they get closer, the situation becomes clearer as Doyle picks up snippets of conversation. It took so long for anyone to come check him out because the two towns had argued over who 'got' him. Only once they realized neither side was backing down and both were equally close did they decide on a joint venture. The weak group of chaff now approaching him wasn't a representation of the local level of strength. Rather, they were the weakest people from both towns who still wanted to be adventurers just so neither side would get a leg up on the other.
Ally and Doyle both groan at these revelations. If there is one thing they don't need, it is politics stopping people from coming around. Ally rubs the bridge of her nose with one hand while waving the other around. 'I left court to get away from politics for a while. Not that I didn't expect it to come about after a while with a dungeon. In fact, it was inevitable. Dungeons are too important of a resource. But not this early on!', She whines. 'We will have to give them something good so others are willing to go against whoever is in charge over there. Any other world and I would say drop more coins but who knows if they even realize how important they are yet. Look at them! They look half starved so how could they even worry about a copper coin. Goodness gracious, the people in charge might even be blockading the system generated shops for all we know making coins worthless.'
Doyle brightens up as something she said clicks, 'they do look half starved, don't they? In fact, I bet if someone is playing tyrant over there, a lot of people probably are. And you know what? Everything in our dungeon can drop food people won't mind eating. Even the kobolds tend to just drop horned rabbit meat most of the time.'
Ally covers her mouth with her hand, 'Oh, oh you're right.' Her mouth curls into a slightly sinister smile, 'we are a decent food stockpile at the moment aren't we? How could I forget that part of why cities form around dungeons. A dungeon that drops food and has water available removes a lot of threat from a siege. Not much of a problem right now but it works just as well to provide food in hard times as well. Which this definitely will be for most of the world.'
'Any livestock would have died or become able to defend itself while humans were away. That and with how new adventurers can strip a region bare of low level food monsters things must be tight. Until someone steps up to prevent over hunting and some people get enough levels to go after more dangerous prey, not even farming will work out so well.'
Doyle nodded his core, 'just the fact that the first room has horned rabbits hopping around might be enough to attract people to us. However I don't trust whatever fools are in charge over there. We need to do something so the news of food being here spreads to the general populace. From the sounds of it we are dealing with two groups of bullies over there so we need some of that group to make it out. Though not just anyone but rather those who wanted to escape earlier.'
Ally claps her hands, 'yeah they at least look willing to go against whatever orders the group has been given. Though we need some way to let them escape.' Doyle shifts back and forth while he takes a closer look at the group. 'Hmm, it looks like the ones trying to escape are dressed a little better? None of them are in full leather but they at least have good boots. Actually, those three who have tried to escape are the only ones with leather boots. I guess I could get my monsters to prefer attacking those that don't have them?'
'That would work', Ally agrees, 'but you can't make it too obvious. If anything, we might just want to split them off from the group and have them run away first. We just have to make sure they get some meat before then. You might even want to get the assassin vines to let the group pass through without any attack so people feel safer. You do that and we can focus on our visitors, they are almost here after all.'
Remove
A group of twelve guys all armed with small utility axes make their way towards a rip in reality. The gruffest looking guy yells at one of the people in front, "Jim, don't you dare try running back to your forest again!"
Jim sighs, 'as if I could, you idiot. Not like I am at the front of this disaster because I want to be. This whole end of the world thing isn't all it's cracked up to be. The tutorial was nice enough but getting my weapon and most of my gear confiscated the second I get teleported to town wasn't any fun. How was I supposed to know the guy in a police uniform was actually just some random thug? Dressing up like that has to be the cleverest thing those idiots have ever come up with.'
"Head out of the clouds you numb nut!" The gruff guy grumbles, "Be glad we gave you that hatchet to fight with because if I see you hesitate in the slightest I get to duel wield today. You got that? Frank has your little forest town under his thumb and I'm not afraid to lie my butt off when we get back to put all the blame on you. You don't want to know what Jay and his gang would do to my group if things go south."
Jim rolls his eyes, "yeah, yeah, we all experienced a dungeon before and that one's new. We should be able to walk through it. Especially since we have like a dozen men here and that place shouldn't have any measures in place to stop that kind of nonsense."
The gruff guy scoffs, "Just remember that anything that drops goes into my pack. That goes for all of you. Neither town would be a nice place for us if even a single drop of monster blood gets out to the populace."
Jim rolls his eyes again, 'Wouldn't want the sheep to get any ideas, would we now? Sure we all got training but so many just slacked off I am surprised the gangs even gathered as many as they did. Seriously, they even accepted you who hasn't raised his level since getting out. Not that you've told us you work for them but come on. You're so obviously just one of their thugs.'
'First chance I get, I'm leaving your butts behind and doing just what you expect. That forest is calling my name and my ranger class path will let me survive just fine out there. Good thing they believed me when I said I had just taken the tutorial path like every other idiot in town seems to have done. No one back there in either town stood a chance against those bullies. I would like to help but for now there isn't much I can do without some more skill levels under my belt.'
Then the group is upon the new dungeon's entrance, a black hole with jagged edges floating just a hand span off the ground at the top of a hill. An ominous sight especially when the group notices that you can't even see it from the side or back. Then the gruff thug pushes Jim and a couple other people through the portal.
Once through the two nobodies both stumble around while Jim hugs the wall and takes stock of what he can see. A couple of bees are buzzing around some clover and a trio of horned rabbits are across the room.
The nobodies notice those rabbits and go for them like rabid dogs. This doesn't work out too well as alerted to their presence the rabbits begin to easily dodge their wild swings. All that however gives Jim the time to notice one other thing in the room. Right next to him is a fourth horned rabbit, frozen in place from fright.
Jim glances back at the two fools to confirm they haven't noticed anything and then with great care takes a swing. The horned rabbit doesn't even have time to make a sound as it dies from the terminal lack of a head. Near the portal the clover is long enough to hide the now dead rabbit so Jim positions himself between the idiots and his kill.
Even being idiots the other three rabbits don't have anywhere to go and so they start to fall. This however takes enough time for the rabbit Jim had killed to despawn and leave behind a small piece of meat. With great care as to not attract attention Jim sits down with his back to the meat and takes out a broad leaf from under his shirt. Hands behind his back he fumbles for a moment but manages to wrap the meat up getting no blood on his hands. Now wrapped up and not likely to leak through his clothes Jim slips it up the back of his shirt and under a band of cloth he has wrapped around his chest, hiding his loot.
'As if I am going to give up food to those idiots back at town. Not much but this little bit should be enough to last me a couple days if I find some veg in the forest. Wish I had my bow back but at least I finagled the skills for bow and arrow making out of my guide so a little time and I can make another. Though I do want to rain on those thug's parade. I guess I can pop by both the towns before I make a run for it. Just the knowledge that there is a source of food over here that won't run out should get a few people's attention. I couldn't be the only one who pretended to be weak.'
The other two finish up before he can plan much more out and Jim can only shake his head at their luck. He killed a single rabbit and got a good chunk of meat. Those two idiots butcher three rabbits and only get a couple slivers of it. Still enough to add flavor to the gruel they hand out back at town but it isn't like they will get to keep it.
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First room cleared the three of them exit through the portal and report to the gruff guy. The two idiots complained that Jim had done nothing to help them but he just laughed. "As if I was going to join the fray with how you two were swinging your axes. I am surprised one of you didn't lop the others nose off."
The gruff guy grumbles a bit but doesn't really say much about the incident. He knows just as well as most of the others what those two idiots are like in a fight. Though at the sight of meat he perks up. "Wonderful! Now none of you can tell anyone about this you hear? I can't even imagine what kind of pain you would go through if either of the two lords found out you let loose this bit of info. Now that the first room is clear and we know there is something of worth to be had, everyone in!"
All twelve of the men shuffle through the portal and are soon making their way into the dungeon. A couple of them complain about people holding up the line as they bump into those in front being unable to see into the dungeon through the portal. This doesn't last long as the gruff man gives them both a thwack to the head with the blunt side of his axe.
The group heads through the hallway and into the goat room. While it is a bit chaotic, there was no way three goats were ever going to take out a group of twelve armed men. A couple more rabbits escape into the next room but are soon dispatched as well. The gruff man is over the moon at this point with how much meat they will bring back. Thoughts of actually getting some causes him to urge the group forward.
In the vine room they kill the two goats but can't seem to find anything else and head into the line of medium sized rooms killing as they go. The lone goat doesn't even have a chance to sneak attack them from behind as the two idiots charge it right away. Past those rooms and into the big room the five goats with helmets do cause a bit of trouble.
Jim stays back for a moment when the group enters and face palms. The two idiots as ever charge forward without a care. This worked until now as there was never more than a few enemies in a room. The large room they now found themselves in on the other hand has five goats and they even have helmets. For once the goats have the upper hand and make great use of their helmets to counter charge the two bringing them down to the ground. Once there it is a matter of moments before they both die as the goats headbutt and stomp them to death.
A grisly sight but somewhat expected. Even the others who had gone into the room right behind the idiots have stopped their advance and just watch, unable or unwilling to help. A silence filled the room as both sides just stand there only to be broken as the gruff man orders everyone to attack.
Despite the goats' success there still isn't much they can do against the ten men left in the group and are soon dead as well. At this point even with the goats only dropping a little bit of meat each the gruff guys pack is stuffed. He glances around and nods, "We should almost be through this place. Just got to see the core and we can head back for my reward. A goat and rabbit dungeon will make the lords very happy!"
With another order everyone proceeds through a hallway and rectangle room into another large place. Jim holds back again and the others laugh at his cowardice. At least they do until the guy in the lead eats a face full of ice and falls over dead. The panic that follows almost causes the group to run away but the gruff man, now holding two axes with a third on his belt, menaces them and orders them into the fight.
This moment of panic however is enough to get another man killed, this time by a goat with a spiked helm that slams into him. Now caught in the entrance to the room the group can't take advantage of their numbers as five kobolds all attack together. Another man falls as the gruff guy gives up on the group and makes a run for it. Jim not far behind followed by the rest. They just don't have the discipline nor armor to manage the fight.
Despite the appearance of being a cave most of the floor space has been smoothed out by the carpet of dirt and clovers so they have little trouble fleeing. That is until the vine room. Jim had already scouted out the terrain when they came through the first time so was able to avoid much trouble. The gruff man, not so much. He twists his ankle on a divot in the ground and takes a fall face first into the ground.
Jim sees his chance and as the man starts to get up, he feels a sharp pain as an axe slices through his Achilles tendon. Then a couple snaps and his back feels lighter. Through the pain the gruff man looks up just in time to see Jim run away with the pack full of meat.
Once out of sight Jim starts to run for real. Out of the dungeon he goes and towards not the forest but the town which is farther from it. With his new speed Jim reaches the town just as a crowd has formed. A couple of toughs are standing out front with grim looks on their faces. Jim slows down to a walk and heads towards them with the pack held against his chest. His face tight and his eyes dart back and forth.
The two thugs start to grin at this and one steps forward to receive the pack. However right before he gets it Jim kicks out and brings him down with a groin shot. A deep breath and Jim shouts, "The dungeon is full of goats! Lots of meat can be had by everyone there!" And he opens up the pack and tosses half the meat into the crowd.
Before the other thug can react Jim is off running towards the other town as a small riot forms behind with everyone fighting for the meat. The town by the forest is more ready for him with a small contingent of ten thugs waiting and the populace being held back by more. This doesn't stop him and after a failed grab he vaults over them and repeats what he had said at the other town. Then once again he throws out the meat.
This time though he is a bit surrounded and his escape is trickier to pull off. Jim still manages it though and before backup can get there he has disappeared into the forest. It pained him a little to give up so much food but he didn't have anyway to preserve it so this was a better use for it.