Dungeon Oasis

The mana I got from Clyde's delve wasn't as much as I would have liked. The loot combined with the fact that I haven't suddenly become a murder hole did encourage them to do several more delves though. Apparently, Clyde intends to sell the loot to people entering the dungeon. A bit underhanded in my opinion considering they can get the same thing just from delving me. Then again, they do have to actually survive long enough to get to the loot. Plus, I'm sure between the random coins and being able to sell back the loot they get not many will actually complain.

As for me, I've been trying to work out exactly how I want to build the rest of the second floor. Right now, it's basically a straight line. I'm not interested in making every floor a maze but I'm not sure I want the floor to be a straight shot either. For the next room I decide to add two exits. They will eventually lead to the same place, but delvers won't know that. In this room I place eight skeletons. Two rogues near the entrance to attack the delvers just as they come in with two fighters on either side of the room that will charge towards the delvers soon after spotting them. Behind each pair of fighters, I also place an archer. Because there are so many I decide to make them all level 7 despite my usual pattern being to gradually increase the level of the creatures delvers face.

If delvers are smart, they would have just healed so these skeletons shouldn't pose to much of a challenge to any delvers that can make it this far. After that I keep it simple and just place four level 8 wolves in both the eastern and western rooms. That way I can guarantee that one way is not easier than the other. After that though they begin to diverge wildly. Although they do both have a path leading to the boss room and a path leading to treasure for those brave enough to explore. Of course, if a group of delvers stumbles upon the loot by going the wrong way I'm not going to complain.

The western path I decide to make the wolf path. From here on out though the wolves will be more organized. Instead of a group of individuals it will be a pack lead by an alpha. The next room in both the north and south path will have a pack of four level 8 wolves lead by a level 9 alpha. The room after that in the southern path, leading to the loot, will also have a pack of four level 8 wolves lead by a level 9 alpha. It will include a few simple traps as well. These will be slightly harder to spot than the ones they faced earlier although still not fatal. At least not on their own. The wolves aren't exactly going to sit back and let them climb out.

The next room will contain a pack of four level 9 wolves lead by a level 10 alpha. The room after that though will be a pack of six level 9 wolves lead by a level 10 alpha. It is in this room that I decide to place the chest. This time though I spend the world energy on a bunch of high-quality gear patterns. Well, high-quality for wood rank gear anyway. I'm about to get started on the northern half of the western path when something catches my attention. Clyde's group is making another run only this time they are once again challenging the boss.

This time around though they are all level 8 so even with the extra helpers I gave him the boss is defeated rather quickly. They are rather pleasantly surprised to see the new loot drop. Even more so when they see how high quality it is. They don't stop there though and decide to check out the second floor. Taking a moment to rest in the second-floor entry way. The first actual room is more of a hinderance than I would have thought. Despite only being level 5 wolves are just inherently stronger than rats. That's part of why there are only two wolves in this first room. While Cole is busy with one of the wolves, the other wolf is able to sneak up and lunges towards Darrel. Clyde was ready for this though and steps between them. The wolf's weight pushes him back a way, but he manages to not lose his footing.

At the same time the first wolf manages to get around Cole and lunge at Clyde's back. Fortunately, the armor holds up, so the injuries aren't too severe. A few water spears and a sword slash soon end its life. Meanwhile Clyde having been distracted by the attack from behind faces another lunging attack from the second wolf. The wolf manages to take advantage of the distraction and clamp down on Clyde's sword arm. Again though, thanks to the armor the injury isn't nearly as severe as it could have been. Unfortunately, with his sword arm rather occupied he is unable to properly counterattack. If he were alone this would be bad. A water whip and sword slash combination soon end the fight though.

Even though the injuries aren't as severe as they could have been it still isn't pleasant. The wolf's bite force still did considerable damage. Even without actually puncturing the skin. It's not too much for Lily to handle though and she soon has him patched up. After that they spend some time picking blueberries. Lily mentions that this will make a nice addition to the rat meat to which the others agree. Sure, they can have stuff shipped in from elsewhere but that takes time and costs money. Something I hadn't really considered if I'm being honest. The blueberries were meant more as a distraction than anything. Still, I get mana from them 'harvesting' the berries so I'm not going to complain.

Soon enough they are ready to head to the next room.