[D'sP] Sustained Fire - Chapter 412

Jim is quite unhappy about those revelations about psionics. However, that doesn’t mean the delve stops, so all he can do is pack it away and come back to it at a later point. And it isn’t like Kelly didn’t have some good news.

As she pointed out, “That little bit extra will be enough for most people. It isn’t like other powers are helpless against psionics. They’re simply not that good at low levels. A high level mage isn’t going to fall to a low level mentalist. In fact, just having high enough mental stats will work.”

So Jim wasn’t feeling quite as pressured. Besides, obviously psionics wouldn’t be too unbalanced beyond simply being unfamiliar to most. After all, if it was, psionics would rule the universe instead of simply being a rare power.

Then the cinders cleared, and Jim could see they had gotten through around half the caldera. Well, half the outer edge of, at least. The center where they can see the exit portal had the biggest herd of ashen cattle yet.

For now, though, they had to face the other half, just in case that center group can call for aid from those on the edge. They wouldn’t be fighting the closest group, though.

Jim gestures for them to retreat. “Back to the entrance! Don’t want to get caught with our backs to the wall. We’ll start on the other side from over there.”

An easy enough concept to get so no one had anything to say about it and soon enough they were ready. Well, right after, Kelly gave their gear another check. The edges had gotten blackened by this point.

Kelly sighed after finishing that up. “They’ll hold up fine. Though we won’t be able to manage another full clear. Well, I guess our armor might hold. I think the damage is slowing down the closer it gets to the center of the armor. Hard for the magic to compress further past a certain point.”

Kellinger, “That gives me an idea we can pass to the rest of the town.”

Jim raises an eyebrow, “Why be so direct about passing the info to them?”

Kellinger shrugs, “It kind of sucks as a method. Kelly’s idea of having a second item with magic would work better, if only because even if the armor gets damaged, the magic item wouldn’t.

“No, my idea is more sacrificial. If you make armor with a bunch of flourishes and extra bits, those pieces would take the damage first while allowing the item to contain more magic. Think of it like that grimdark tabletop game where those characters would have giant bulky armor and a bunch of honors and papers attached to them.

“Except those extra bits would basically be ablative armor for the armor. You couldn’t easily replace them though, as the bits would have to be an actual part of the armor to share the magic in this way. Very inefficient to use up a magic item like that, even if it wasn’t an enchanted item. Though I could see this as a form of newb armor meant to get someone through the beginning levels until they can get enchanted stuff.”

Jim, “At least until even the low level people end up with enchanted gear.”

Jay shakes his head, “I doubt new adventurers would ever start with enchanted gear unless they come from a rich family. At the very least, they won’t be delving dungeons with it. After all, if they die in the dungeon or even just lose a piece, the dungeon will eat it.”

Jim, “I guess that’s fair enough. Really depends on what masterwork gear ends up being worth. Or rather, how soon enchanted stuff starts dropping in the dungeon.”

Kelly snorts, “It already is dropping. The enchanted loot simply isn’t gear. After all, what do you think a bag of holding is? Sure, it isn’t done with a magical enchantment, but they definitely count as enchanted. Same with the preservation box.”

Jim, “So what is the worth of a masterwork? Oh, and enchanting.”

Kelly laughs, “There is no correct price because there is no standard. It takes a lot more to make a masterful piece of armor than a sword. Same with making a small wood box as compared to an ornate metal box. 

“Paper in particular will be cheap at masterwork because even if they can’t automate it and still have the results be masterwork quality. You can certainly make an enormous piece and then cut the paper down. There is a reason scrolls are so common.

“Potions only manage to match or exceed them because an entire pantheon of alchemy based deities subsidizes the vials. Otherwise, potions would have a much shorter shelf life. Not that scrolls don’t have a similar problem.

“It’s just that a flat piece of paper you can cut into a bunch of smaller pieces is easier to produce than individual vials. The calligraphy skill and basically any other skill to improve handwriting will be in high demand to help people scribe smaller and smaller scrolls.”

Jim sighs, “Of course it can’t be simple like in an RPG. No flat modifier to the base price to make it easier. Well, let’s start on the right side.”

Though the very first skirmish proved their worries right. The group of three ashen cattle weren’t a problem, but their bellows managed to call four other nearby groups. This turned an easy clean up into a plodding fight.

In fact, Jim was a little worried at first as the further way group bellowed and ended up calling even further way cattle. Though this stopped at that, it still had a decent number of cattle heading their way. This forced the team to put their all into the fight.

The only saving grace was that they wouldn’t arrive all at once. So they killed the cattle as fast as they could, barely managing to prevent their position from being surrounded. However, their gear was worse for wear.

If before, the frequent breaks in-between fights allowed their armor to re-assert their magic. This stretched out fight didn’t give the armor a chance. Each new cow that joined the fight would breathe fire into the glowing cloud of cinders covering the fight, keeping it going long past when it would have normally expired.

Sure, it didn’t stack to deal more damage. In fact, a single breath of fire dealt the same damage as multiple breaths. It was only the area and duration which increased with more breaths. That was enough though, as their armor was pushed further than Kelly had expected.

So when they finished that first fight she was tempted to call things there. “I don’t know if our armor can take another fight like that.”

Jim shakes his head, “We simply need to fight things smarter. Instead of going to them, I’ll aggro a herd from here. That will hopefully prevent them from calling too many others for help.”

Kelly shakes her head, “I don’t trust that to work. However, you are the leader so I’ll go with whatever you decide.”

Jim looks over at the center herd. “We won’t try for the exit. These on the edge though? Their calls only extended out twice. I suspect even if a group we aggro at a distance does call out, that will be the extent of it. If that proves to not be the case, we retreat.”

Good thing for them, his guess did prove to be the truth. His arrow flew true and sunk deep into the side of the nearest ashen cow. This provoked a below before they charged, but while it did aggro a nearby herd, that herd didn’t below as well. So while it was still a tough fight, it wasn’t long and their gear was as fine as could be expected.

Jay sighed and looked down at his armor. “If we had realized this before that big fight, we could have probably handled the center.”

Jim nodded, “In the future, this might not be as important, but we really do need to pass this information onto the others. Maybe even to my guild. At least, put it in the paid guide.”

Kelly snorted, “Yep, make them spend money to earn it.”

Jim shrugged, “It isn’t quite like that, but yeah. I’d be tempted to just give the information away, except I also see this info as potentially making this gear check more deadly than it has to be. People will think they can handle the ashen cattle without proper gear if they’re careful.

“And sure, some of them would be. But more than enough will attempt it and be totally unprepared. We’re only doing this well because Kelly and Kellinger both had a buff against fire and they stacked.”

Kelly nodded, “Most buffs won’t stack. It will simply default to using the strongest. Especially if the spell would generically increases a person’s resistance. Most spells work like that. Most mystical effects work like that. Just look at the cattle’s breath weapon.”

Jim sighs, “Well, that isn’t too bad if it is symmetrical. I guess all we can do for now is finish the outer groups and leave.”

Which they did and then they left for the exit.

All the while in the core room, Doyle is laughing.

Ally just smirked, though. ‘Well, I admit I didn’t see that coming. Sure, I knew the fire would be bad on their gear. It’s simply that most fire dungeons start with fire creatures before their fire is enough to be a genuine threat to gear. Which in turn gives delvers a chance to get fire resistant gear.

‘Like, if you simply switched all the leather based loot to use ashen cow leather it would “solve” this problem. Not that I think you should. An early gear check is in line with how you want difficulty to work.’

Doyle takes a moment to calm down. ‘Who would have thought that slow roasting them would be such a hard stop? If the hexku breathed fire, they’d still be stuck on the 13th floor. A never ending gear roast.’

Ally shakes her head, ‘They’d be past the floor by this point. Their feathers are a much more common drop than the ashen cattle’s leather. Besides, they have a ton of metal ore from earlier floors. If they really had to, it wouldn’t be hard for them to churn out some metal armor which would not melt or burn from any kind of fire the hexku might use.

‘Though even if you did manage to damage the gear after all of that. The floor has mithril. Maybe they would still be working on getting enough to gear everyone, but it would be an option.’

Doyle, ‘Fair enough. I guess even if I did manage something like that, it would only slow my own development. If anything, I should go and make the floors between six and ten easier. That way, more people feel comfortable to delve deeper.’

Ally shakes her head, ‘Too late for that. Besides, this sort of thing happens even if it is a cakewalk for people. They aren’t parked on the sixth floor only because they aren’t strong enough to beat the tenth floor. Six is simply too valuable not to farm. The first floor would be just as active as the sixth is now if it had the same number of cattle on it.’

Doyle nods, ‘Money is a potent motivator. I guess I expected people to want to grow stronger.’

Ally shrugs, ‘They mostly do. It is just that they prefer being fed and safe over growing stronger. Many probably even feel they’re strengthening their foundation or some such.

‘And they wouldn’t be completely wrong. Hitting your path cap as often as possible does mean you’re building a solid foundation. It’s simply that those who stall out on purpose also tend to be the ones that stall out later. There is a certain amount of momentum needed to keep growing, at least for the mortal races. As a dungeon, you’re fine. If anything, I wouldn’t be surprised if there comes a point where you’re always capped on paths.’

Doyle looks out of the dungeon at Jim and his party reporting to Ace and showing off what leather they did get. ‘I think that will have to wait. Jim and Ace won’t allow me to rest on my laurels.’

A Layer Of Mud Vs A Wall Of Mud - Chapter 411

A Quick Fix Gets Them Through - Chapter 413