[D'sP] Cracked Wood - Chapter 415

In the end, no one returned to the 17th floor before Kelly figured out how to make other kinds of tokens. Though over those days, many of the inner circle made their way to the 16th. All in search of more ashen cattle hides.

This was actually the first time in a while where all of the inner circle had made it equally deep into the dungeon. Not to say any had been lagging behind in strength. Rather, many of them simply hadn’t bothered to push too deep as it was a waste of time.

But with Kelly’s success, they were ready. Her first token wasn’t for kobolds or goats, though. Rather, she made a token for cattle.

After all, of all the bones they had, cattle was the most plentiful. Besides, cattle bones are the biggest, providing the most space to carve runes into. Not that important when you already know the runes to carve.

It also didn’t hurt that a token for cattle was actually useful. After all, the point of the token was to pierce what most had ended up calling damage reduction. Because it wasn’t just about a thick hide, at least going by what Kelly had found. Rather, it would take care of a certain amount of damage reduction of any type, whether physical defense or the werewolf’s mythical weakness to silver.

With cattle, the damage reduction was admittedly quite small and based entirely on a thick hide. Still, it would be useful for the sixth floor farmers when released and made beating the end of the 16th floor easier.

Besides the cattle tokens, Kelly had also made a few other types, including kobold. The main reason those weren’t really out there was because the target actually needed some form of damage reduction. A thing humans and kobolds lack.

And some might have noticed a lack of a goat token, because Doyle certainly did. Well, the answer for that is what a token can cover was actually pretty broad and so the cattle token would actually work on a goat. This really frustrated Kelly because it hewed more towards game mechanics instead of science.

Whatever the case, she was ready to accompany Jim back down to the 18th. She’d have to wait though as Ace’s team had called dibs. So bright and early one morning; Ace, Sammy, Jack, Susan, Og, and Ruby headed into the dungeon.

Once inside, Ace stretched and sighed, “I’ve been wanting to push it for a while! Good to be back on the forefront again.”

Sammy rolls her eyes, “We would have been if you weren’t holding us back.”

Ace shrugs, “If by holding us back, you mean waiting until I figured out how to use my nature magic for healing, then sure.”

Susan nods, “I agree with him on this.”

Og nods, “It felt almost wrong to still have so many spore resists after the 11th floor this time. Like, we basically didn’t use any of them! Besides, it is nice to not be the only healer in the party.”

Ace, “We’re actually better off now on that front. While I’m not going to be as good of a straight up healer, conditions and such are a piece of cake. And that goes doubly for plant and fungus based threats like the spores are. I can’t completely nullify them since they are hostile attacks, but the only reason we needed to use any supplies was because I wanted to keep my Mana supply fresh. Now Susan, we went over it yesterday, but how do you feel we stack up against the ashen cattle?”

Susan scoffs, “Not only has all our leather gear been upgraded to use their hide, but we all have tokens. Sure, they aren’t likely to cause too much of a difference, but if even a single cow dies one attack sooner, they’re worth it. Besides, the tokens will work on any future cattle who have more damage reduction.”

Ruby sighed, “Shame it doesn’t also work on resistances. Like, from what I’ve heard, the ashen cattle aren’t actually too resistant to fire, but I’m sure that won’t continue to be the case as we get deeper.”

Jack laughs, “That would be too easy! I can see why it’s not working. Resistance is, you know, more specialized.”

Og nods, “Damage reduction blocks damage in general, but has a weakness. All the token has to do is pick at that weakness and slip a bit more of your damage through.

“On the other hand, resistance is specialized. So while a token can slip by targeting the weakness, using an attack the enemy resists is like aiming at the enemy’s strength. If you want to avoid resistance, all you have to do is aim elsewhere.

“If I was to compare it to something, it would be like armor and a shield. Damage reduction is the armor and the token represents sneaking an attack in through the armpit. Resistance is the shield, so of course if you attack the shield, you aren’t slipping through.”

Ruby, “Huh.”

Susan nods, “That’s what I said. I don’t know how he came up with that, but it works.”

Og laughs, “Oh goodness gracious! I didn’t come up with that. Can’t remember where, but I read it online. Some guy was doing a breakdown of how he wanted the mechanics to work in a game he was programming. Maybe it was a video?”

Ace, “That’s all nice, but I would like to note that it isn’t impossible to penetrate resistance. You just aren’t going to get the effect from a trinket. Anyway, let’s take on some cattle.”

And they step through onto the 16th floor.

Susan was first and already able to give the all clear to the others as they come through. “Looks like the submerged assassin vines are there and I see a herd of wooden goats at the edge of the forest. We haven’t really taken the chance to, but our tokens should make beating the wooden goats quite easy.”

Og grabs some stones off the ground, “Point them out to me. These rocks shouldn’t do much to them unless the token does its magic on them.”

Susan steps up next to him and points the goats out. This takes a bit as the wooden goats blend in quite well with the trees, what with being wood and all.

Og does a few test tosses, aiming for the beach in front of the goats. Satisfied after that, his arms become a blur and moments later, the goats in the forest all bleat in pain. It isn’t quite simultaneous, but pretty close.

Of course, since he had used regular rocks this didn’t kill the monsters and they charged out of the forest towards the group. This ended poorly for the goats and soon enough, the party was examining where the stones had hit.

Og, “Yep, looks like the tokens are working. Those stones should have just thunked them something good. Instead, they seem to have cracked the wooden hide. I’ll definitely have to get a collection of tokens if they help this much. I could have likely brought one down with only small pebbles if I kept my distance.”

Ace nods, “Good to know. Now let’s get on to the cattle. If anything, I want to gather more hides. Not only is our armor more resistant to fire, but more resistant to damage in general.”

Ruby, “That will stay true with each new floor. I’m not on top of it as Kelly, but deeper floors have denser world energy and so their drops are superior. The only reason we aren’t replacing our gear every floor is the difference isn’t big enough to be worth it.”

Ace rolls his eyes, “I literally make that decision for the inner circle and our various projects. If I hadn’t been so focused on nature based healing magic, I would have been working on earth manipulation and extraction. It would be amazing if I could harvest clay from these lower floors. Oh, and the wood! I’d have the inner circle rebuilt every time we stalled out on a floor with trees.”

From there, the group continues their banter as they fight their way through the floor. Not that there is actually all that much fighting on the floor if you’re careful. The chief danger is and will likely always be with the ashen cattle at the end.

Once at the cattle, Sammy and Jack take front and center. And even with just the first clash, it is clear that having two tanks makes these fights a lot easier. Though they can tell later fights would likely end up taking longer.

While they could all deal damage, the party now had only a single primary damage dealer. Ace and Og were on healing, Sammy and Jack tanked, and while Susan dealt a lot of damage, it was mostly focused on incapacitating the monsters. Ruby was the only one fully focused on dealing damage.

Still, they slowly grind their way through one group of cattle after another. Their gear holds up against the fiery breath attacks and, if slow, clears the caldera. The gate left clear of threats.

Susan, “Well, time to see how good my trap finding abilities are.”

Ace, “You say abilities, do you not have a skill for it?”

Susan shrugs, “I do have a skill, but I don’t trust it enough yet. This coming floor might actually be what I need to get it where I want it. If anything, the information it provides for finding magical traps and such would be useful.”

Ace shakes his head, “Well, whatever the case, let’s step through and see what there is to see!”

And so they step through into the forest that is the next floor.

Susan is on edge right away, glancing around, sweeping the area. “I see two traps. Between those trees over there and free standing behind us.”

Og smiles, “Well, you saw more than your husband.”

Susan rolls her eyes, “And they’re kobold placed so they traps will have changed positions. There might have only been one when he was down here.”

Ace shakes his head, “quiet down. We don’t have Jim and his senses here to watch out for enemies. Susan, you keep an eye out for us when you can. To note, I prefer a surprise attack over a surprise trap.”

And with that, they begin to work their way around the first. In particular, they make their way around the exit portal. They can’t stop monsters from getting behind them, but they can clear it out for the moment.

Except they don’t find any kobolds near the exit.

Susan, “I found some fresh tracks. We might have just missed a patrol or hunting party.”

Ace, “Hmm, how long do you think it will be before they show up again?”

Susan, “I saw some older tracks, so I’m guessing we have maybe half an hour to go. It might be as soon as fifteen minutes, though. That is, as long as they follow a set schedule.

“While we wait, can I try my hand at disarming the traps? There are some clever ones I want to dissect.”

Ace nods, “We are going to stick together, but we don’t have to stick to one place. Point is where you want to go and we’ll go there.”

Susan points to behind the exit portal. “There is a fun little number back there that I want to try my hand at. Even better, it only uses physical trauma and so we don’t have to worry about poison.”

Once there, Ace can easily see why Susan was interested in the trap. He can’t even see the trap itself until she starts working on it. From what he could see, the trap had coils of very fine wire that was meant to spring up and wrap whoever gets caught by it.

Ace sighs, “The kobolds are getting better at smithing.”

Susan, “They don’t actually make the traps. At least not in a dungeon.”

Ace shakes his head, “I’ve never seen a trap in this vein and we’ve seen kobolds with smith setups. I’m willing to bet this is a homespun custom trap.”

Observing Visitors - Chapter 414

Pushed Back Again - Chapter 416