The Tower in the Shadows

"EErrrww."

I came back to awareness. Levelling was so unpleasant. It's not as bad as dealing with corruption, but terrible.

It takes a few minutes to collect myself, but the excitement soon kicks in.

"Level five, baby!"

Looking around, I see Larry and Puck in my core room. They both come here when I am levelling. Was it to be present or to protect me in my vulnerable state? I was unsure.

It's time to deal with the notifications and status sheet.

"Status screen. Bhaldor. Open"

Name

Bhaldor

Essence

0%

Race

Dungeon Core

CP

182(575) 5 phr

Level

5

Corruption

0%

Floors

5

Health

100%

The rest of the sheet had not changed, so I ignored it.

"Hold on! What's up with my CP total?"

That was not the number I was expecting. The first notification after the level announcement gave me the reason.

Congratulations!

You have reached a significant milestone!

It is not easy for a Core to walk its Path and develop in the world, but you are making headway. For achieving your fifth floor, you are awarded an additional 25 CP points.

Continue to gain more rewards!

"Ok. Was not expecting this."

This made my options for the fifth more interesting. I had more to play with now. I checked the Dungeon before I started the new floor. It was late at night, so I kept my Dungeon closed as usual. Larry and Puck were still hanging around.

"Time to start."

I focused on the ground below the room. I would not rush this, but I was not going to use my aura manipulation. I was going to go slow, but not that slow. My aura was expanding down into the ground.

The ground below is almost solid rock. There was tight-packed earth down there was well. I began cutting away the area below the ground, making what would become the entry/exit point and the Core room when the floor was finished.

The room was quickly formed. Nothing interesting was found. The collum for the stairwell was left—time to think how I would do this.

"South."

Turning my attention that way, my aura moved forward—more rock and earth. Then, suddenly, it flooded forward into a void. My CP dropped fast. I stopped expanding my aura.

"Shit!"

I started using my aura manipulation skill and began working at the edge of the cave. It was about the same size as the others on the floor above. There was no stream or any attached caves.

I pushed my aura into the cave, finishing taking it over. The cave is different as it has a loose earth floor. There were no stalagmites or stalactites in it.

"Strange. Water did not create this space."

Inspecting the walls, I noticed that there were what appeared to be teeth marks on the wall. Something had eaten this room out of the bedrock.

"What did this?"

I reached out and connected the room to the cave. Next, I created the stairs and linked them to the floor above. I had more than enough CP left to cover it later to stop Adventurers from coming down. Larry and Puck were hovering around the first room, exploring the new space. I was….

Something was in the cave. I sensed it and an alert appeared.

From the loose earth came a very large…. Worm?

It was about a meter long and a quarter thick, pale pink in colour and making its way to a wall.

Alert!

A Greater Eater Worm has entered your Dungeon.

"Who the hell names these things!"

Well, come to think of it, it was just a giant earthworm. It had reached the wall and reared up like a cobra. The front of it opened in four sections, revealing dozens of tiny teeth. It lunged forward, biting at the rock wall.

"Holy Shit! I was not expecting that!"

It was trying to bite the rock, but it was now infused with my aura that had strengthened far more than it used to be.

"Larry, Puck, get over here and kill this thing!"

The two perked up and moved into the new cave. Puck shot forward and engaged the worm. He released his spells onto the worm. This was not very effective. Puck's spells focused on causing his opponents to become disoriented by primarily attacking their sense of sight. Here, this opponent did not have eyes and seemed to ignore him.

"Well, it seems it's up to Larry then."

Larry charged into the room and the worms turned just as fast as they could to face him. The loose earth was a minor issue, but he moved well. The worm had coiled up, waiting for his approach.

"Shit, that's not good!"

As Larry approached, it opened its "mouth" and lunged forward.

Larry jumped to the side as it lunged. It was close, but he moved out of its way.

Turning fast, his green stamina bar fell as he triggered a skill. His front claws lashed out, slicing along the worm's side flank. The skin was opened and a light grey fluid oozed out.

It swung around, lashing out at Larry again. It did not bite him, but its body knocked him to the side. His health bar fell slightly.

Larry lashed out again. The stamina bar dropped more as he used his skills again. More wounds opened up as Larry slashed more into its hide. The fight was in Larry's favour.

The worm kept lashing out, but Larry was faster as the wounds he inflicted wore it down. Larry was clipped a few more times but was not in danger.

It reared up and then collapsed, dead.

Alert!

A Greater Eater Worm has died in your Dungeon.

Essence gained!

Greater Eater Worm designed gained for your Dungeon!

"Well done, Larry!"

He was strutting around, celebrating his victory. I gave it to him.

I was looking up my new minion option. It was an interesting addition to my Dungeon. Could I use it?

I planned to use wasps on this floor, but now I had to think about this. Puck did not affect them, as they had no eyes and tracked threats through vibrations in the soil. A weakness? Yes and no.

"Wasp or worm. Wasp or worm."

I looked around, thinking about what I would do without creating minions.

"How about a new resource node?"

I turned my attention to the eastern side of the cave. My CP count was still good, so I expanded my aura in that direction. It went forward and I took control of the rock and earth.

I started cutting away at the rock; a new corridor was forming. I continued to expand, noting what I was finding. Nothing new was being added to my resource list. I started on the first room.

My CP count was falling, but I could go a bit further. I had to be mindful to leave enough to seal the floor. I claimed a large area and had to stop as dawn was approaching.

"Alright, you two back upstairs."

Larry and Puck were still hanging around, watching the new floor take shape. They soon departed as I turned my attention back to the core room. As soon as they passed, I covered the entrance to the new floor. Dawn was soon to be here.

"Time to wait."

I opened my Dungeon, and soon Adventurers were coming in. The first group went down to the fourth and checked to see if the new floor was open. They left disappointed.

As the day wore on, I ignored the groups and focused on what would be placed on the fifth. Traps were going to be a thing, and initially, wasps were the minions, but the worm had changed things, I had realised.

"I could enhance the worms with earth mana. I could cover the floor with a top layer of soil or even have deeper sections to be used as ambush locations."

The more I thought about it, the more attractive it became. The basic worm costs two CP. It's not outrageous and could be built upon.

"Traps and worms, then. With a resource node."

This was good. Then, a thought hit me.

"How about dividing the floor?"

All my floors went in a basic circle. This was a sensible idea as the stairs were the way to reach each floor. But what if I split this floor?

"The resource node is to the east, and the rest to the west. I could add a few minions and other rooms to the east, but most of the traps and minions will be in the west."

This was getting interesting.

"I have one room done and can put two or three more in the area I have claimed. Maybe expand a bit more to the north and make larger rooms?"

That could work, but what resource will the node supply?

"It will need to be something they want."

I opened my resource list and reviewed my options.

"Move the copper? No, leave it alone. Iron? Tin? Definitely not gold or platinum."

I thought about all the conversations I had overheard for inspiration. The locals had found a rich iron vein in the mountain nearby, so that would not be used.

"Something practical and valuable…."

Silver was an option. I looked at the copper vein again.

"Replace the copper with tin and bring the copper down here?"

I was at a loss at the moment. What to do?

As the day progressed, I mulled over this issue. By the end of the day, I decided. Tin will be located on the first and copper will be placed on the fifth. I watched the miners working on the vein and wondered what their reaction would be to the veins moving.

I was straight down to the fifth floor as soon as they left.

I expanded the area I had taken control of to the north.

"The cave will be 5A. The first room to the east will be 5B."

I created a U-shaped corridor that exits this room in the south. The next room is only a short distance from the first. These rooms are on the larger side.

"This is 5C. Now, do I create another room or make this the resource node?"

I had plenty of space to make another room, but I was feeling devious and wanted this to be represented on this floor, so I added a third room, 5D, to this section with a short corridor linking it to 5C. I made the floor loose earth in all the rooms and corridors.

"Let's do this. Worm first."

Opening the minion creation screen, I went to work.

"Six CP and two Earth mana will be what I will use."

I focused on creating this new minion in the cave on this floor. The motes of light gathered with the wind, stirring the earth below. My new minion came into existence with a pop and flash of light.

Congratulations!

You have created a new minion—a Rock Worm.

Designed gained – Rock Worm.

I looked over my new minion.

It was three meters long and half a meter thick. Its body was covered in tough, rock-like hide. Opening its four-section mouth, its teeth were more prominent and even nastier-looking.

"Let's get into the details. Open status screen. Rock Worm."

Name

Rock Worm

Level/Class

1 - Dungeon Minion

Race

Worm

Essence

0%

Health

120/120

Mana

20/20

Stamina

120/120

Corruption

0%

STR

8

8 Damage base

DEX

8

AGL

8

END

12

VIT

12

PER

4

INT

2

WIL

2

LUCK

2

Equipment:

Bite: 4 DAM(Piercing) + STR

Perks/Restrictions:

Tough Hide: -3 DAM

Blind: Poor PER outside of the earth.

Burrow

"That's interesting. What's Piercing?"

It was one of those rare times I got an answer.

Alert.

Piercing is a modifier that ignores the armour of the target that it strikes.

"Thanks?"

Well, now I know.

"Well, this is a decent minion. It is around the same level as the spiders on the floor above."

I assigned the worm to the cave.

Loot Assignment.

The following rewards will be generated randomly after killing the Rock Worm.

Cythian Copper coins x6 (Chance – 80%)

Cythian Copper coins x7 (Chance – 20%)

The odds and types of rewards may be set manually, but this will increase the room respawn's overall support cost.

Do you wish to alter the rewards: Yes or No?

"No."

I reached into the ground and extended the floor, allowing the worm to bury itself.

"Best leave the resource node to last. But what can I do with these rooms?"

I worked out I could finish this area and start the next section with the CP I had left.

"Traps to start. But what?"

I decided to start simple. I created a thin but strong tripwire a foot off the ground across the entrance to 5B. Next, I made a pitfall trap across the area of the floor where someone would fall when tripped. I covered the pit with the usual thin layer of stone and added an additional layer of earth to camouflage it. On this floor, I improved the spikes in the pit. I removed the flint heads and replaced them with serrated iron arrowheads.

"Looking good."

I took a moment to admire my latest trap. True, it was only a variation on the ones upstairs, but I was still proud of it. I knew it was going to be a waste of space, so I left the rest of the room empty anyway.

"I do not want to make this section too hard."

As I moved along the corridor, I decided not to add anything. 5C was going to be the resource node. Upstairs, I had left it open to exploitation, but I placed two worms to guard it here. I deepened the floor to allow them to burrow again. This was going to be standard in every room with any worms in it.

Loot Assignment.

The following rewards will be generated randomly after killing the two Rock Worms.

Cythian Copper coins x12 (Chance – 80%)

Cythian Copper coins x14 (Chance – 20%)

The odds and types of rewards may be set manually, but this will increase the room respawn's overall support cost.

Do you wish to alter the rewards: Yes or No?

"No."

One last room. I was going to be a bit flashier and do something different here. First, the room had two more worms added to it. Now, to the good stuff. I created a half-circle in the wall. Within the circle, I raised a circular platform. A chest was placed on this platform. It was a simple box and just a larger version of the one sitting in the first room as you enter. I add small additional weights to the chest lid.

I placed a pitfall trap before the platform, but this was just the start of my plans. I put a pressure plate under the chest. Above the platform, I integrated a series of large and heavy cylinder-shaped stone weights. The weights are held in place by chains. I attach them to a release mechanism, which, in turn, is connected to a wire linked to the pressure plate. This is all done behind the floor and walls to protect these mechanisms.

When the chest is opened, the weights shift on the pressure plate, triggering the trap. When triggered, the weights drop, aiming to crush the adventurer below. The last thing was what to put in the chest.

"Something precious. But not too valuable."

Silver coins were to be placed in the chest. A small leather bag with three coins was also placed in the bag.

"Time to move on."

Returning to the cave, I opened the rock face, forming a new corridor.