[D'sP] Rock Size - Chapter 491

Doyle, ‘So, do you think it will be hard to get more mineshaft traps?’

Ally shrugs, ‘Hard? No. Useful? Probably not. What good would a pattern for a trap you never use? I would be willing to bet that you can really crank out trap patterns since, unlike monsters, you can make new traps easily.

‘The limit will be more about your imagination and where the system draws the line at what counts as a new trap. I would consider dungeons lucky that the system doesn’t regulate traps like it does golems. Though the reason why is easy enough to see.’

Doyle nods his core, ‘Yeah, I can see that. There isn’t a metaphysical conundrum over copy-pasting a bunch of rocks as compared to a living creature.’

Ally, ‘Well, yes, that, but also just the fact that trap patterns aren’t actually copy-pastes. Each golem is an exact copy because of how the magic works. Each trap is placed based on the location you’re putting it. Which also includes a temporal element so you literally can’t place the exact same trap twice. Kind of an interesting field, which doesn’t get much research because actual work requires an awakened dungeon to pull off.’

Doyle, ‘Okay. Well, I should probably fine-tune my trap. After all, I just want to toss rocks at my bears. Not seriously hurt them. Though I guess it wouldn’t matter in the long run? After all, the goats worked even with the death.’

Ally smiles, ‘Go on. Figure out what needs figuring.’

Which Doyle starts by seeing what the current setup can do. The answer to which is not as much as he expected.

The bear spawns, and after a little while, sets off the trap. So the ceiling comes tumbling down as it does and the bear survives. Not unexpected as a level 37 bear isn’t going to die to rocks, even those being used as part of a trap.

However, they also didn’t do much damage either. Which was unexpected for Doyle. After all, the trap was set on this floor. It isn’t like this was a high-level bear that wandered onto the first floor. The trap should be effective!

And it was. Doyle simply needed some time to re-adjust his expectations. A rockfall trap works wonders when you’re using a giant rock to kill a small animal or even a normal person. If you’re lucky or used a big enough rock, it could even work on actual bears.

The key there is using a big enough rock. And maybe this trap could kill his bear if said bear got truly unlucky. Because a level 37 monster in Doyle’s dungeon for sure has more than 100 Strength and Agility as well as more than 200 Constitution. Which combined with a bear’s natural tankiness means that a rock to the head or neck isn’t going to kill one.

There just isn’t enough mass or speed behind the rocks to even cause serious injury. Which works for this and besides, it was fine because they still had a role to play. As even if a rockfall trap doesn’t kill, they can distract and deal out minor injuries.

And while “minor injuries” doesn’t sound like much. It all eats away at the enemies endurance. Besides, clearly the proper traps to hurt people even at this low of a level is more active threats. So, instead of dropping something on whoever triggers the trap. You use mechanics and magic to apply extra force. Rocks falling purely because of gravity are simply too weak and Doyle wasn’t going to hide some springs on the ceiling to add that extra oomph.

Which left Doyle with an important question. Would the rockfall trap be enough? And well, he simply wasn’t sure.

So, to be sure, Doyle started adjusting the rocks in the ceiling. They started out about human head-sized. Which would have been enough before the system.

Not feeling particularly patient, Doyle replaced the reasonable-sized rocks with ones that are more boulder-sized. This used more ceiling, but Doyle was fine with the tradeoff. Besides, there wasn’t anything directly above this den to begin with.

So with the trap once again set, the bear is allowed to wander and soon sets off the trap again. And right away, the bigger rocks make a difference. Still didn’t manage to kill the bear, but it was hurt now. Also, the rocks that are left behind make a difference to the battlefield.

While head-sized rocks couldn’t exactly be ignored, they were more of a tripping hazard. These bigger boulders could actually block line of sight. Though the bear proves that they aren’t some immovable alteration to the field by shouldering one out of the way.

This wasn’t easy for the bear. Yet at the same time, it wasn’t hard enough that the bear couldn’t do it during combat. Though Doyle assumed that most delvers wouldn’t be able to replicate the feat. Well, besides those who focused on Strength. He has to assume that by this point, they’ll have at least 100 Strength. If only to match up to the monsters.

Whatever the case, this is closer to what Doyle wanted, so he lets the trap reset. And it looks odd when the trap does so. With the previous head-sized rocks, their effortless trip back up to the ceiling seemed reasonable enough.

But boulders? Some as tall as the bear when on all fours? You expect them to be more ponderous. Instead, as if they were made of Styrofoam instead of stone, the pieces all ascended back into position. With those near the bear, curving to avoid the creature.

This avoidance is most obvious with the gravel that ended up under the bear as it rolls across the floor to get out from under there before being pulled up. Which honestly disappoints Doyle just a tiny bit. 

He was interested in seeing how much force was behind the resetting rocks. Besides, it would double-dip on the trap if the return trip could also pelt the bear with stones. Though Doyle decided the bigger rocks being enough to hurt the bear was enough.

So, since the trap works and the bear is still alive, Doyle sits back and watches a few cycles. And good thing he did. While the rocks fall just fine when triggered, it isn’t hard to tell what is triggering them. So, soon enough, the bear stops wandering over near the entrance.

This makes Doyle feel a bit bad. The wind and the goats was sort of a thing, but felt more disconnected. Here, the rocks were literally placed there by him. Which he admits, isn’t fair. After all, he set up the wind as well. So maybe it was the fact that the rockfall was an active trap?

That certainly could be the case. Or maybe it was the simple fact that rocks falling on the bear is more visceral than a goat being flung around by the wind. Also, less humorous, which might have something to do with it as well.

Though most of this worry about dropping rocks on his bears doesn’t actually stem from any concern for the bears. Rather, Doyle noticed that he doesn’t feel concern and so felt the need to examine things further.

Doyle’s conclusion? He was a bit numb to it, but not because he had stopped caring. Rather, doing this kind of thing to his monsters has a bit of an emotional block. Which is, all things considered, a good thing.

After all, the monsters are created to fight delvers. Their purpose in life is basically to get killed. In fact, considering that perspective, Doyle is happy when he considers his bosses and feels that twinges of maybe he shouldn’t do the same with them. Though examining that feeling closer points more towards it being like how you avoid stabbing your own fingers.

In fact, as Doyle examines it closer, that is exactly what is up. Within his dungeon instincts, there is a direct connection between hurting a sapient dungeon monster and hurting himself. Though seeing as his bosses have fought more than a few times, Doyle also knows that there isn’t a literal connection. At least not a pain-based one.

Though Doyle also knows exactly why this instinct and connection is there in the first place. If the dungeon mistreats the bosses, they can rebel. Sure, their instincts are to protect the dungeon and follow orders, but being sapient means they also have free will. Maybe not as much as some random human off the street, but it is still there.

So if a dungeon kept hurting one of their bosses? While a boss monster isn’t ever going to be able to do something like break the dungeon’s core itself. There is more than enough mischief they can get up to.

On the other hand, most regular dungeon monsters wouldn’t even be able to figure out it was the dungeon doing things to them in the first place. Not that they couldn’t rebel a little as well. Or at the very least, pick up some bad habits.

This could be bad. Though since for most dungeons the majority of the monsters aren’t going to be ensouled, the solution is one death away. Regular monsters are spawned in fresh. Or in Doyle’s case, fresh from the farm. The only ones who remember are the special cases on floor five. Though a quick check shows even those are protected by the instinct.

Doyle turns his attention back to the bear and pokes his feelings a bit more. Before all this, he wasn’t one of those idiots who tried to deny that animals had feelings and whatnot. But were his dungeon monsters different?

Like, on some level, they have to be. The monsters fight back savagely and to the death. They don’t even have to be cornered for this to happen. Yet at the same time, once fully realized a dungeon monster can be released out into the wilds. Do they keep that no backing down sort of attitude? ‘Hey Ally, got some questions about normal monsters.’

Ally stops idly flipping through screens and turns towards the core. ‘What’s up?’

Doyle, ‘I just went down a bit of a rabbit hole and ended up wondering some things. So, like, my monsters aren’t normal examples of their species. They’ll fight to the death even if not cornered. Do they stay that way if they leave the dungeon?’

Ally, ‘The short answer is yes, which is why dungeon breaks are so feared. After all, if you released a bunch of goats and they were just normal goats. That wouldn’t be a problem. Maybe they’d be a bit more aggressive because of training.

‘But no, they’ll aggressively fight other beings without backing down. Even if this generally means such monsters don’t tend to survive in the long run. It does make them inherently more dangerous. Though this aggression doesn’t pass down to their children if they live long enough.

‘Oh, and this is only true if they were set by the dungeon to act like that in the first place. Which, with a malicious dungeon is actually worse. Think about it, they have some sort of horrible monster, but if it just left the dungeon and attacked people? The problem solved itself. But what if instead a pair of the monsters are released with the drive to hide and reproduce?

‘Thankfully, that is a little more complicated than most unawakened dungeons can handle. Otherwise, dungeon leaks would be the biggest danger instead of a full-on dungeon break. Which would suck for every other dungeon. After all, even having your kobold stick its head out of the dungeon to take a look would count as a leak. Though generally what most people mean by a dungeon leak, is when only a few monsters leave a dungeon instead of everything the dungeon has getting released in a flood of bodies.’

Doyle, ‘So it’s a vibes-based label? I’m sure that can’t backfire.’

Ally shrugs, ‘It works well enough. Even if a dungeon is releasing everything, it can by putting out five monsters, that doesn’t matter unless all five are bosses. Which is part of why boss rush style dungeons are more closely monitored.’

Oh, That's What Was Missing - Chapter 490

Not Worth The Weight - Chapter 492