Town Builder - 87 -

Chapter 87:

Our party consisted of Mag Dog, Grinder, Black Beauty, Sunflower, and Blood Crisis. Having most of the guild and town leadership in the dungeon was dangerous. When you were in a dungeon, you could only communicate via text, and only when you were in a safe area. There was usually only one safe area at the beginning of every floor.

Mag Dog handed every three dozen potions, a dozen each of stamina, health and magic restoration. He had some enchanted gear that gave cold resistance as well to those who needed it. I took him up on that offer, switching out my boots and gloves.

Rare Froststep Medium Boots, surefooted on icy terrain, +250 health, +5 stamina, +15% resist cold attacks

Rare Ice Climbing Gloves, +5 to climbing skill, +5 magic, +15% resist cold attacks

The Silver Linings Playbook Guild warehouse had thousands of pieces of magical gear. Members could purchase items with contribution points or turn in gear for contribution points to exchange. The warehouse allowed our leadership to borrow anything they needed for a specialty delve like this. There was always the risk of losing items on a delve, and that could cause problems as everything was publicity viewable in the guild, so even leadership’s guild contribution points were known.

The first floor was a vast snow field with elemental ice foxes, and Blood Crisis, Grinder, and Mad Dog were out front line. Usually Blood Crisis, a minotaur berserker, engaged first, drawing the elemental ice fox’s attention. Then Grinder and Mad Dog pinched from the flanks.

I started serving as support with my spells, which were also capped at my current level of eleven. Still, my stone boulder and hail of stones were effective ranged spells. Black Beauty supported with her bow, and Forgotten Swan was responsible for healing, buffing, and debuffing.

A single level 20 ice elemental foxes was not a challenge for our entire party. Each battle was a brief affair, taking less than two minutes. The experience was good since we were out-leveled significantly. The problem came when we started encountering the elite ice elemental foxes because they were flanked by two or the regular variety.

The first time we fought the trio, Blood Crisis almost died since he drew all the aggro. The elite fox also could flash step behind you and get a flank or back attack. Mad Dog was not happy after the fight, “Grinder, you have to pull one of the foxes off him! Swan cannot heal Crisis fast enough.”

“The monsters are smarter in dungeons, Mad Dog. You know that. I was outpacing his damage and it still wouldn’t engage me. You did no better,” he said, arguing. I looked to Black Beauty, who was just rolling her eyes. I guessed this interplay was normal for the group. I had only seen them in action in the testing when they vastly out-leveled their opponents.

“Bugger off, Grinder. You should have used your stamina attacks to…” Mad Dog started.

Grinder immediately retorted, “Get stuffed, Mad Dog. I did, my level is too low to trigger the special debuff effects.” Blood Crisis was drinking a healing potion while the two argued, and Black Beauty moved closer to me.

She leaned in, “He is upset because we will not get the first clear bonus for any floor at this rate. Grider volunteered a while back to be the target of his frustrations. Helps with the party dynamics when you know to expect it.” I nodded as the fight against the elite fox and two of the subordinates took almost fifteen minutes. When Mad Dog finished venting, we opened the reward chest in the snow marked by the frost lotus. The loot didn’t help Mad Dog’s mood. From the encounter, we gained the fox pelts, two lesser cold essences, a frost lotus, a few coins, and a ring, which Swan identified.

Uncommon Ice Spike Gloves (18), +3 levels to ice spike spell, +5 magic, +5 channeling, +5 charisma.

It was an excellent item, but Mad Dog’s problem was the number in parenthesis indicate the minimum level required to wear it and have it function. Forgotten Swan took the ring and would store it in the guild warehouse unless she reached level 18 on this delve. She didn’t have the ice spike spell and told me it was a terrible spell anyway. Maybe one of the new mage members of the guild had invested in the spell and would want it.

We tried only to combat the easier single foxes as we moved toward the other end of the floor and got more and more efficient at cutting them down. We could zero out their health in less than forty seconds when the front line used heavy stamina skills, but then it took them two minutes or so to recover without potions. The good news with the elite foxes was they always protected a small chest and sometimes a valuable lotus as well.

I braved to ask Mad Dog, “Are we going to be able to defeat the giant at the mountain?” We had fought the boss at the end of this level before, but we were at such a high level that it was easy.

“We need to be at least level fifteen, I think,” Mad Dog said congenially. He had gotten past his frustration and was back to his normal self. “I am almost level 12 after half a day grinding, so maybe three days of this will get me there. The experience is actually excellent. I expect another day for the others and you to catch up to me.” He grinned at me.

I checked, and I was 80% of the way to level 12, probably about the same as him. “We are only halfway to the mountain,” I noted. “Are we going to circle back to the entrance?” I was mostly concerned so I could check my messages. Not knowing what was going on in the outside game world was disconcerting.

“Yes, lets turn around now,” Mad Dog nodded. “I think we can try tackling the elite foxes,” he said happily.

That’s what we did: refining our combat against the elite foxes and gathering more loot for players between levels 18 and 20. When we reached the dungeon exit, I eagerly checked my messages. Nothing catastrophic had happened. Danny was posting updates about her steam skyship every few hours. The operation of the Duchy was running smoothly and growing at an increasing pace. The only issue was the influx of players and spies from other guilds.

Chaotic Heart had taken up tracking the players with the obelisk and logging the other guild’s actions in the Duchy. It was clear that a number of guilds were scouting Malcum, Plainsrider, and Goatyah. We were no longer under the radar. Fortunately, the massive game world had hundreds of interesting events, quests, and other things to fight over. Perhaps Disciples of the Horde winning the dungeon rights was not a terrible thing. Just mentioning their name seemed to evoke some awe in the forums.

One interesting thing that happened in Malcum within the last day was the arrival of a succubus NPC. Succubi are a subclass of the demonkin race, and in a game where you can customize your appearance, the idea of a beautiful demon woman is not as alluring. They possessed some interesting talent choices, but overall, the mythology surrounding succubi was not game-breaking.

It seemed this NPC succubus was now indirectly employed by me. Kuba, my archaeologist, had hired his assistant—and that was this succubus. As long as she increased the old man’s efficiency, I was completely on board with it. In my town interface, I could the succubus line.

Felona, Mistress of Efficiency           Demonkin: Succubus              F 168

Her profession, mistress of efficiency, was a support class that enhanced only a single NPC or player. Mad Dog and Grinder appeared to have found the information, and they were loudly discussing its implications. Black Beauty rolled her eyes at the pair as they brought in Blood Crisis to discuss things further.

I did make some slight adjustments to my NPC army, shifting a few more giantkin infantry to Goatyah and Plainsrider. The average level of the giantkin was now level 33, and the players would pass them in a few months. Maybe I could draft a building for training up their level quicker. I made some notes and planned to research military facilities when we finished in the dungeon. I also moved some NPC builders around, trying to balance all my projects.

The next three days saw us looping through the icy wasteland and returning to the exit as we grinded for levels. We were making excellent progress compared to the general player population. Mad Dog and I were already level 15, and the others were getting close. We were also making a little over 600 gold a day. A massive sum of our levels, but more importantly, the magical gear we would be adding to the warehouse, would draw in some better players.

The best gear we were finding was a seven-piece level 20 set called the Ice Sorceress Mantle. We had only found the robes, necklace, and sash. After the first piece, each piece had a 4% enhancement in all stats—for a total of 30%--the complete set enhanced the bonus slightly. The complete set also tripled the mage’s damage for all ice spells. That tripling was after all other spell enhancements as well, making it ridiculously powerful.

Blood Crisis gave his thoughts on the set, “This should carry Mermaid to level 40. Maybe as the dungeon scales, it will also offer a better version of the set.”

Forgotten Swan was not as excited, “I can always switch over to becoming an ice mage if you give me the set. Just the stat bonuses are worth it.”

Mad Dog put an end to the discussion. “If we put together the set, it is for Ghostly Mermaid; she specializes in water magic and already has one ice spell. After we rest, we will push for the mountain next.” Mad Dog’s announcement that we would try the floor’s boss had everyone get serious. We were much stronger and could probably cover the distance to the mountain in less than ten hours.

When we approached the familiar mountain, its massive doors slammed open and the giantkin riding the snow-white fox came rushing out. His dialogue hadn’t changed, “You have entered the tomb of the Eternal Phoenix King! I am his second son, Balomore. To progress further, you must defeat me!”

“Ginder, it looks like he is pointing his spear at you,” I whispered to the demonkin. “I think he remembers that you killed him last time.”

Ginder shifted uncomfortably. “Nah, couldn’t be. This is a new avatar, after all.”

The giantkin charged on his fox toward Grinder, smiling in anticipation. Yep, that monster was definitely charging him. We moved with ease into our formation as I began casting summon boulder at the large fox he was riding. Mad Dog’s plan was to get the giantkin off his mount as quickly as possible to reduce his mobility.

The three warriors kept him occupied, and I had to use my restore health spell to heal them as Sunflower couldn’t keep up. My healing spell was too weak for the task, and before the fox fell, Grinder did as well, as the giantkin focused on him relentlessly. Blood Crisis could not draw the aggro from the level 20 floor boss. This was not unusual, as dungeon bosses had more freedom in fights. Without Grinder, the fight was quickly turning against us.

Finally, the giant fox mount collapsed under the giantkin, and we had him on foot. However, the wounded fox charged at Black Beauty while we tried to finish it. I pulled back, summoned my two-handed axe, and went to shield her. It didn’t take much to draw the fox’s attention, and soon, I was fighting for my life. My armor was decent, but the level disparity was a hindrance, as each bite attack took almost 20% of my health, and a claw took about 5%. Sunflower was focused on healing Mad Dog and Blood Crisis.

I bravely sacrificed myself, soaking up the damage. The fox was tantalizingly close to death when I died. I was sure Black Beauty finished it, but the question was whether the four had defeated the giantkin. I watched in my astral form as the fight continued. Black Beauty finished the fox a few moments later and returned to support the others.

They whittled down the health of the giantkin as Sunflower consumed magic potion after magic potion to keep her healing going. Mad Dog and Blood Crisis also needed healing potions but outlasted the giantkin. As the giantkin fell, and combat ended, I was allowed to revive where I was. I had lost a whopping 10% of my experience toward my next level—about 2 hours of grinding in the dungeon. My skills only also took a 10% loss. This was not as rough as a penalty outside a dungeon, as your skills and level of experience would be reset to zero.

The best part of the loot was getting another piece of the Ice Sorceress Mantle: the leggings! This gave us 4 out of 7 pieces of the set. Mad Dog looked happy but told us it was time to go. “We’re not going to try the next level. I’m down to less than sixty healing potions, out of stamina, and less than a dozen magic.” Mad Dog carried all our potions and resupplied us as needed. I’m not sure how many potions he brought with him, but we had gone through hundreds. Black Beauty offered some optimism, “We still have six days before the Disciples of the Horde get their first to delve.”

Mad Dog waved it away, saying, “No, we’ll have Danny and a couple of NPCs help. We will get the first clear, but the loot will be nerfed. I don’t think we’ll see another piece of the Ice Sorceress Mantle unless we’re close to level 20. One thing the game did well was reducing the value of the loot you received if you weren’t fighting challenging battles.”

“Who goes?” Grinder asked.

Mad Dog looked at me, “Tallis, do you want to come?”

“While the levels are nice, I think my time is better-spent drafting and building. You can take Mira and Danny. Will that be good enough?” I offered.

“Danny is not a great player, but her level makes up for it. What about Medea?” Mad Dog inquired.

I was slightly shocked that he wanted the High Priest of the Sullen God with him. The priest was level 151 and difficult to deal with. “If she will go, you are welcome to her.”

Sunflower exhaled, “Guess that means you are replacing me.”

Mad Dog soothed her, “The second set of the Ice Sorceress Mantle we collect is yours. It is not a legendary set.” There were some sets in the game where only one of each part existed—these unique sets were considered legendary. This appeased Sunflower. “I will cycle in others to get the first-floor clear bonuses for the 2, 3, and 4th floors. For the 5th floor, Tallis you should join us.”

I nodded as there was an accolade for clearing a dungeon’s floor for the first time. “But the second tier of the Dungeon Delver accolade is at five floors clears. I wouldn’t get much benefit from it.”

“There is another accolade for being the first to defeat a dungeon!” Mad Dog smiled deviously.

I checked, and the tier one of the Dungeon Delver accolade was +1 to all stats. I found the Dungeon Conqueror accolade in the forums. Tier one of that accolade was also +1 to all stats. Mad Dog sent me a different accolade, Dungeon Pioneer. This accolade was awarded for the first time a dungeon was cleared, and the tier one provided +5 to all stats. Mad Dog was grinning as I read it. “Dungeon Conqueror just means any dungeon, even if it has already been cleared. First clears of dungeons are much more valuable. You would get +6 to all stats from the combined bonuses.”

“Sixty free stat points!” I said, surprised.

“That’s why clearing dungeons is so competitive in the game. Tier 2 of Dungeon Pioneer requires five first clears but grants +10 to all stats,” Grinder added.

“Any dungeon?” I asked, thinking high-level players would travel the game world looking for dungeons.

“Yes, you could be level 300 and delving into a level one dungeon as long as it is the first clear it counts,” Black Beauty added to the conversation.

“Thankfully, the game’s boundaries are ever expanding, and new dungeons appear in those lands,” Sunflower said.

“Also, there are some quest chains that will cause new dungeons to spawn,” Mad Dog said.

There were many ways to accumulate power in the game. Dungeons seemed like the fastest option due to leveling, loot, and accolades. Unfortunately, I had to split my focus. It had been too long since I sat at my drafting table, and I needed to stockpile funds for the next NPC auction in seven days.

I rode Titan back to Malcum and reacquainted myself with Jaesmin and Joy before taking a long nap.

© Copyrighted 2024, 2025 by AlwaysRollsAOne

No Permission is given to translate, copy, or repost this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon it has been stolen without my permission and is a violation of DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyright law. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in violation of DMCA.