[D'sP] Already Jacking Alcohol - Chapter 435

Doctor finishes a check up on the rest of the party and nods. “We’re all fully rested, healed, and good to go!”

Jim nods, “Good to know.” He turns to the group, “Now, we know what comes of pushing too hard! This is not a situation where we have to push all the way to the end, no matter how much we advertised our delve. I am willing to cancel the delve at a moment’s notice.

“However, we will be trying to clear the floor. There is a kobold variant that is new to us, but that shouldn’t change things too much. Now, I know you all know your roles, but I’m going to go over the plan again, anyway.”

Jim points at the Barrais, “Susan and Jeremy are both here, so while one of them is disarming a trap, the other can be looking for the next trap. On top of that, while the both of you can work on the same trap if critically important.

“However! The two of you will never try to speed things up by both taking a trap to disarm. One of you will always be on the lookout!”

Jim turns to Doctor and shrugs, “You have the necessary knowledge to know when someone Really needs your help. Though stick on the side of ‘better safe than sorry’. Also, keep at least one person between you and whichever trap is currently being worked on.”

Jim gestures at Ruby, “And you will also be trying to keep someone between you the said trap. Though if it is a choice between you and Doctor, keep him safe first. Also, focus on efficient AOE spells. Let our melee deal with individual targets unless I direct you otherwise. However, I leave any emergency decisions up to you as always.”

Jim nods at Jay, “And of course, you’re the tank. Some might call it a simple role, but we all know it can sometimes be the most complex. I wish I could just always have you between the Barrais and everyone else, but we both know that isn’t possible.

“You’re likely going to be in the most danger as well as the safest. Doctor will, of course, keep a close eye on you, but don’t be afraid to speak up. In fact, keep us updated on how you’re doing.”

Jim points at himself, “And I’m going to focus on crippling shots. Well, that and any opportunist shots. However, my focus will be on keeping track of the fight as a whole. If you see something, say something.

“Now let’s go finish a floor!”

And the group steps through the portal, arriving on the 17th in the now quite familiar forest. The Barrais glance around before sighing. Jeremy shakes his head, “Completely new placement pattern. A bit quick, but not out of expectation.”

At the same time, Susan starts on the first trap between the group and the closest lake. “Quick trap, tripwire.”

Behind her, the party groups up loosely as Jeremy shifts towards the next trap to disarm. It isn’t past the trap Susan is on, but to the side, with the idea being to open up a wider passage. And as soon as she is finished, he begins disarming his trap as Susan moves to the trap next to the disarmed one, but opposite of him.

The going isn’t the fastest, but this first portion of the floor is large enough that the wandering kobolds aren’t always going to be nearby. This time being one of those instances and the Barrais make good headway through the forest of traps. Though not all the traps can be disarmed in a way that makes them safe.

After all, a pit trap will still have a pit and this was a forest so they’re only covered in cloth, dirt, and debris. Well, sometimes instead of cloth, the kobolds used sticks or in a rare instance of a clearing, sod was used to cover the pit. Besides pit traps, there were also traps that weren’t disarm-able in a stealthy manner. After all, a big log suspended in the air isn’t magically going to vanish if the trip wire attached to it is disabled.

In instances like that, the group would go around the traps, not trusting that there wasn’t something they missed. Jeremy could remember their first discovery of why this was necessary with crystal clear clarity.

It had been an early attempt where they had just planned to hang out around the gate and judge the kobolds. There was one of those swinging log traps at the edge of the area they decided to clear and he marked the location, jammed the tripwire, and told the others before leaving it around. Then the fights began, people and kobolds ignoring it as a non-factor.

Except it turned out to be a costly mistake on the party’s part. A nearby trap was triggered during the fighting. It was a simple thing with a head-sized rock that was meant to swing down and brain you. Except everyone dodged it with ease.

And the rock kept swinging on its path until it slammed into the suspended log. The impact was enough to break the restraining vine and release the log. Good thing Jeremy had been paying some attention to where the rock had swung or instead of a pulverized shoulder, he would have taken the log straight to the chest. He might not have died, stats being what they were, but it would have taken a lot more work to put the pieces back together.

So no, the group didn’t leave partially disarmed traps on their path back to the portal. That was just asking for trouble. This floor had more than shown that the pre-system stories of the kobolds proficiency with traps to, if anything, be an understatement. Of course, their stealthy progress on this delve can only last so long. And it isn’t the fault of anyone when they are found. There is simply only so much you can do with a group this big when forced to deal with traps and such.

The kobolds that do find them, end up coming from their left and the encounter isn’t a surprise on either side. Or rather, it might be more appropriate to say it was an equal surprise for both sides. The kobolds that found them had also been putting in some effort to be stealthy and so got a lot closer to the group than either side was comfortable with.

Though in the end, the sudden discovery of an enemy group basically right next to them ended up favoring the kobolds. Jim’s team had more ranged options available. That doesn’t mean this encounter was a threat to the group, mind you.

After so much time, the group finally out-leveled the kobolds and it isn’t like they had been slacking on their skill training. In fact, the catalyst for this delve was when the breakpoint was hit where their group could beat a kobold patrol without losing resources or tiring more than a little rest could recover. So while this first kobold group did manage to bang on Jay’s armor a bit more than they would prefer, the Barrais were back to disarming traps right quick.

Though with the discovery, they soon had a constant stream of fights. Whether because the kobolds heard something or they noticed the patrols not making it back, the monsters were alerted. Still, progress was made, if slowly. It could have gone quicker, but Jim was adamant about the Barrais not working on multiple traps and especially not working on a trap during combat.

Jim shakes his head again, “My decision is final. Leave the traps alone while we fight. Even if we stop making progress! This is a dungeon, which means there is a limited number of kobolds to pull on. So, if anything, we’re just making future encounters easier by handling things now.”

To the side Jay speaks up, “So, why are we trying to progress at all? We could just bunker up with magic and fight all comers until there aren’t any more takers.”

Jim, “As it is, they’re facing up in groups that aren’t too much bigger than our own. If we don’t keep pushing forward, can you guarantee they won’t take that as a chance to gather up a horde?”

And of course none of the others could, so they kept pushing forward, if slowly.

In the core room, Doyle takes note of Jim’s comment. ‘Huh, that’s a good idea. Sucks to be anyone that comes later, I guess. Once Jim’s party is out of here, I’m implementing it. Good thing they aren’t testing it or I might have to hold off on it.’

Ally laughs, ‘There is a reason that in the wider universe, people tend to keep noise discipline, even in unawakened dungeons. They might not be cognizant of what people say, but they do understand on some level. 

‘That or maybe by saying it there is a wisp of intent or some such? Can’t exactly ask them what they’re detecting. All that can be done is observe that the unawakened cores do react to what people say.’

Doyle, ‘Huh, well, I hope the planet doesn’t realize that for a good while.’

Ally shrugs, ‘Your world has a cultural bent towards recognizing things like tempting fate. Which ironically pushes your people towards doing such things. Sure, some will hold their tongues because they believe saying something will make it more likely to happen. But just as equally, there are those who will say things specifically because they don’t believe in such things.’

Back with Jim’s team, they’ve continued to make steady progress. While the trap variety has seemingly only grown with time, their relative power and how hidden they can be has stayed about even. Though it really brings into question how one would even categorize the traps in the first place.

Susan sighs, “Half my status would be trap patterns if I tried learning all of these.”

Jeremy nods, “If you just took them at face value. Did you hear about the guy who managed to consolidate their one group of patterns?”

Jay, “How did you hear about that? There were rumors, but most people are taking the tutorial guides and their warning to heart. People just don’t want to share their status.”

Jeremy shrugs, “Someone already managed to brew some booze.”

Jay laughs, “That would explain it!”

Jeremy, “Anyway, it seems they went into some expensive personal path and one breakpoint did it.”

Jim laughs, “How did that weak piss beer get them drunk?”

Ruby sighs, “Not everyone has Con for days. And just because you have the system’s support, doesn’t magically turn a lightweight into a heavy drinker.

“Besides, it isn’t beer. Not enough people farming the 12th floor for wheat. We’ll have more of that come harvest time. They’re serving hard cider and jack.”

Jeremy, “I wonder why they went with, ahem, ‘jacking’, to distill the cider?”

Doctor shrugs, “I’d guess tradition. Applejack was a big thing for a while. You couldn’t always afford to distill a drink with heat, but nothing is cheaper than freeze distilling in the middle of winter.

“And now? Until people get better at their water control, freeze distilling is only a spell away. Though I’m sure those looking for a proper kick will soon figure out how to extract the water from the alcohol or the other way around.”

Jim sighs, “I should probably put up a rule against drunk delving. Not that we could stop them, not really, but at least such a thing would reduce our own liability.”

Jay laughs, “Some fools like to use a bit of warrior’s courage to prepare themselves. It never works out.”

Jim, “We have a similar name for it. Liquid courage.”

Jay nods, “It has as many names as there are fools.”

Purposefully Bad Buffs Banned - Chapter 434

To The Wall - Chapter 436