[D'sP] The System Shouldn't Do That - Chapter 400

Besides the actual implements though, mithril was a bit of a one-trick pony. The trick was very useful, mind you, but allowing mystical energies to pass through easily was a double-edged sword. After all, there is nothing there saying it only lets your power through.

Mithril plates in some leather armor? Yes, it helps boost defensive skills, but at the same time weakens the armor’s resistance to stuff like spells. One particularly dangerous bit of kit was a helmet enhanced with mithril.

Yes, it channeled psionic powers while providing physical protection that would normally restrict said powers. Except it channeled enemy psionic attacks just as easily. It was the reverse of the pre-system meme about tin foil hats. Which no, would not work. Tin doesn’t inherently inhibit psionics and the foil is too thin to appreciably dampen such an attack.

And while all that was ongoing, Doyle ended up with Jim delving into the dungeon intending to go deeper a lot sooner than Ally had expected. She predicted a couple weeks to a month more and it hadn’t even been a full week yet. For some reason, they decided to make the push before fully outfitting their party with mithril weapons. Which seeing as at this point, everyone has some form of active attack skill, was kind of silly.

Yes, gloves with mithril spikes on the knuckles would be bad for you. However, it is fixed if you have the spikes as a separate weapon like brass knuckles. Mithril is one of the more common additions to weapons because it makes the activation of skills through it so much quicker and easier. While there was a slight risk of getting an attack transferred through them, the disconnect in intent between something worn and something wielded is enough to protect you in most cases.

Not that any complaining on Ally’s part was going to change that Jim, Jay, Tess, Jeremy, Kellinger, and Kelly were now doing a full dive, as Jim’s guild had started to call it. As in, they aren’t just skipping ahead to their most recent checkpoint.

No, they were starting on floor one and making their way down. Ace had actually mandated that those in the inner circle and some other important town officials all do it at least once a month or so. Why? Simple enough, he had noticed that people had lost connection with their strength.

While yes, the inner circle were all quite powerful, there wasn’t really a good yardstick to judge it by. Most people at this point had a certain level of competency if they were making it to Wolf’s Rest. There were no young adults just starting out or elders brimming with power.

You simply had them and everyone else. Not to say everyone else was equally weak or strong. Rather, everyone else was within the same range of power. Which makes a certain amount of sense. After all, they all got the system at the same time.

So yeah, it is kind of hard to measure your growth when those you have to measure against are also improving rapidly, even if not as fast as you are. By challenging the dungeon starting on floor one, they can test themselves against opponents that are always about the same. And yeah, the difference in power from when they first found the dungeon was astounding to everyone, even those who had delved the lower floors more recently.

Of course, for Doyle, especially now that he was paying so much attention to one such run? It felt embarrassing. Sure, he understood that comparing his first floor to Jim and company wasn’t fair. They were at least a magnitude stronger. Still, seeing Jim basically run into the last encounter of the first floor by himself and slap the kobolds all to death before some of them can even attack him is a little much.

Doyle turns to Ally, ‘What’s up with the power curve? I’ve watched them grow and recently seen them doing some pretty impressive feats of strength, but that’s just silly.’

Ally shrugs, ‘At the low levels, every level counts. Going from level one to level two might even double someone’s stats. So soon enough? They’ll be like superheroes compared to their old selves.

‘The higher you go, the less each level matters. From 10 to 11? For normal people, it is considered pretty good to be getting a tenth of your stats added on. Most of which will be focused on one or two main stats.

‘Also, as embarrassing as it is to bring up, it isn’t like my stats at level ten were all that good. I wasn’t even getting stats per-a-level. Which is more common than you might think in the greater universe.

‘Whether it is a farmer’s kid who doesn’t get any skills early on because their father needs to do the skilled work for their skills to work. Or some pampered noble scion only meant for marrying off. My particular situation was kind of special, having had the system reset me. But if you look at any of the immortal races like the fae, you’ll find that they might not even grow all that much in a decade. They have all the time in the world and so waste most of it.’

Doyle, ‘So likely once we get past the twentieth floor, the difficulty curve is going to flatten out a lot?’

Ally shrugs, ‘That will depend on your paths and the design of the floors. But yeah, the actual monsters themselves will level out. A level 35 monster won’t be so much stronger at 40 that someone who can beat the one, won’t manage the other.

‘Though the dungeon fairy school also made sure to note that this was an excellent way to get idiots to push too deeply. Because while maybe going from 35 to 40 isn’t much, but that just means you can take on more, right? Then they end up facing a 45 or what have you and dying.

‘And of course it isn’t like this isn’t a known quantity to the delvers either. Yet it keeps happening. Though likely the biggest contributor to this is the fact that it isn’t a specific level range beyond generally being recognized as a pre-100 phenomena.

‘After all, maybe you were careful with 45, but now you’re fighting 70s and you can push deeper since the difference between 70 and 75 is comparatively smaller than 40 to 45. Then they push onto 80, 85, and so on, only to fall. Hubris is a major theme to adventurers and their deaths.’

Doyle groans, ‘In the time it took you to say that, they’ve managed to beat the second floor! Didn’t even look at the cliff.’

Ally shrugged, ‘Do they have the map for the third floor?’

Doyle shakes his core, ‘It is still too early for that to be available. No one else has been down there to map it yet.’

Ally, ‘Fair enough. Those doing a “full clear” need all the time they can get. And I guess with how comparatively strong they are, the maze won’t matter that much.’

Doyle, ‘Isn’t mattering that much. I feel like they might have figured out all the map tiles I’ve used to make the place. Jeremy is practically running through the place and yet choosing the right path. Even when he is getting it wrong, he realizes it within a room or two.’

Ally frowns, ‘But it isn’t like you used a random number generator for this or anything. It’s all based on you and so a much better randomness than possible otherwise.’

Doyle nods, ‘Yes, the placement is decently random within the confines of the rules for placement. Which is the problem. There are only so many shapes of rooms and many end up with sides that can’t connect to other, reducing the potential variety.’

Ally, ‘Huh, I guess that makes sense.’

Doyle, ‘Oh, and they’ve found the exit.’

Ally, ‘Hold on a minute! We’ve not been talking that much! How did they manage that so fast?’

Doyle, ‘Bad luck for me, but their search pattern certainly helped. Though I guess it might not even be bad luck. It is entirely possible that their method of searching for the exit has been defined for this sort of outcome.’

Ally, ‘Eugh, and now they’re literally running through the fourth floor. Like, I know you have that speed running challenge for it, but it wasn’t meant for them to literally run! Thankfully, Ace and friends haven’t ever focused on farming the boxes or there wouldn’t be any. We need to change the conditions so that the challenge to complete the floor doesn’t draw on the once a week challenge’s supply.’

Doyle, ‘You know what? I’m conflicted. No one has actually figured out the extra reward for a fast clear yet. By the time people were strong enough to fulfill the challenge condition, they could skip to the sixth floor. Even with Ace getting people to re-run old floors, they tend to take these early floors at a stroll. Which does not trigger the condition for finishing it quickly. This will, though. Except, will they even notice?

‘[Hey, system, set the challenge to “complete the floor” to only pull from its own stock of boxes, while the speed challenge can have an attached box as well as pull from the “collect 50 herbs” challenge’s box stockpile. Oh, and can you announce the completion of the fourth floor  speed challenge to them if they manage it?]’

Ally, ‘The system doesn’t work th–’

A blue screen appears, not in front of Doyle, but Ally.

{Your Companion Core, Doyle, has requested an application of a system screen to a self set challenge. Do you want to institute this change? [Yes/No]}

Doyle tilts to the side, ‘Huh, it’s asking you and not me? That’s interesting.’

Ally is a bit dazed, ‘Probably my one path. But it shouldn’t work this way?’

Doyle, ‘We can argue about what is and is not possible later. Say yes, they’re getting close to finishing!’

‘[Yes]’, Ally closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. ‘Like, I have a path related to the system, but it is about multitasking, not manipulation.’

Doyle, ‘Just a second, not to be rude, but they’re finishing...

‘Right...

‘Now!’

Up on floor four, Kellinger finishes the last monster on the floor. However, they don’t get a message. Doyle dims at this, but let it ride for now. Maybe they need to also get to the very end?

Though the party isn’t in a rush to move on. They had been skipping the earlier loot because that would have required them waiting for each monster to despawn. On the fourth floor, though, it all ends up in the chest at the end of the floor, so waiting a little bit for the last few monsters to despawn isn’t a terrible trade.

Besides, they are always looking for more boxes of preservation. At first, it wasn’t that hard to get and the mechanics had been figured out. If you finish the fourth floor, you get a box. Then once a week, the first delve to collect 50 herbs of loot could potentially get two boxes.

However, once the floor was delved successfully more often, people realized that the boxes were limited, like any other drop. So, while some people would run it for the box, they were mostly the ones hitting the third floor for the ore.

Jim honestly didn’t hold much hope beyond the weekly box, which they should get. So when he opened it and spotted three boxes, Jim was flummoxed. Then he and his team got a system message.

{Congratulations!

Hidden Challenge Completed: Complete floor in one go as quickly as your abilities would indicate

Reward: Box of Preservation, 50 random herbs}

Jim looks at the others, “There’s three boxes.”

Jeremy frowns, “And a hidden challenge? I haven’t heard of anything like that at the other one. Then again, our dungeon differs greatly from all the Intel we have on the dungeon opposite us, as well as those of the fallen community.”

Jim, “True, but this isn’t like the other stuff we’ve seen so far. It is more like the time Sammy got her gauntlets. Though this seems repeatable.”

Jeremy sighs, “I don’t believe we are lucky enough for the system to sprinkle such rewards on us so easily. Because it isn’t just this! The Cliff, the Monument, whatever is happening on the giant ominous sphere.”

Jim sighs in return, “So, do you think it is because of Daisy or did Daisy get ‘randomly’ placed here because of what is going down?”

Jeremy shrugs.

Am I Strange? - Chapter 399

Punt The Goat - Chapter 401