Day Three, Early morning.
Another day, another rough night. The monsters in the forest are generally animals and humanoid type so they do not do night raids. A monster did intrude earlier in the night but it was merely scouting the vicinity since it was alerted to both the greatly increased mana presence of the dungeon and the effects of the new ‘Vengeful Beacon Slime’. I have learnt in the past few hours that everytime I cuss at this creature and call it an ‘obsolete’ or ‘darned’ thing it will emit a greater beacon signal which tends to ruffle the surrounding creatures more.
To prepare for the coming search parties I will need to prepare some traps at certain locations that will deter future pryings of our neighbours. Originally I had hoped to find some nice monsters that I could purchase with DP but the listing is too abusive on my poor and strained DP finances.
I currently have 630/660DP , so going by my funds and efforts to save some DP for a rainy day I can only create some lower end pothole traps and some of the more costly pitfall traps.
Right now the plan is to find an established battle location that will allow our ragtag team to output the greatest amount of efficiency with the lowest effort by memorising trap locations, luring the enemy into them and abusing them by using our infamous combo attacks, that’s right it’s the feared mob lynching tactic.
Now as for location, it’s impossible to stake it all by having a decisive battle at the dungeon’s entrance. If anything if we were to pull our full force and be wiped then it's the end of the road for me. We can’t put traps in the front either because when the adventurers come then the danger rating of the dungeon will increase and they’ll just send higher level and more experienced adventurers to conquer us.
Likewise we can’t put this fight in the core room either, the room can prepare for a battle but the issue is if we let them through and they damage the core it's over. It’s too dangerous a tactic for me to employ, it only worked the first time because of the nature of Tyren’s party.
Also there is the added factor that traps cannot be deployed in the core room either. Perhaps one day I can dig downwards and use this place as a prime battle location or maybe a boss room but today is not the day.
…
“It is difficult. With the appearance of our new slime compatriot, the planning and prep phase’s length has greatly shortened. Needless to say, choosing a correct battleground is vital to our path to tomorrow.”
“Agreed, as the one who holds ownership in all the stakes have you decided on a plan of action?”
I waltzed around my small screw, I inspected everyone of them and tried to assess the limits of the capabilities.
A Kobold, a freak of it’s kind but somehow isn’t identified as even an uncommon monster.
A Slime, filled with hate from the very depths of its soul. We might as well be mortal enemies.
Crimson, my companion and the dungeon core - She can beat the crap out of me with a cypress stick but she’ll refuse to enter real combat so I’m just not sure.
A pair of goblins, Level 3 and Level 2. They’re mainly scout forces - I’ve given one of them a dagger for good use.
“Our strike force is too weak. I hate to say it but odds are stacked against us in a prolonged numbers game unless we shake things up.”
“And how do we do that?”
“We have to get a better idea of our enemies first, but if we strike…”
I hesitated.
“Then we strike to kill.”
“Isn’t that a given at this point?”
“You don’t understand… if we fight then we have to lay our lives on the line to ensure that none will escape. I will create the trap layout and place them in the third room. It is a mid sized room and will be large enough to house a battle for up to 10 or 15 people. With the trap layout we must remember the exact locations to avoid any accidents on our side. Am I clear?”
“Also I have to advise you that you should be free to use them without concern. I’ve questioned the system and the traps will repair themselves over time. This means they are not only value efficient but can be used in a very strategic manner.”
The monster subordinates, Crimson and I discussed until midday. It was decided at that point what our path forward would look like. Since we are not strong enough then we will simply fight and abuse the enemy's weakness. Until we can build a small enough force to deter our enemies then this is the best that we can do. Forget about winning enemies over to our side, I’m too weak, this place is too weak to afford their loyalty, after all I’m not the charismatic type. If I will rule, then I will rule through power and power alone.
“ 7 pothole traps, 3 pitfall traps and one arrow formation. It wasn’t much but it was still pretty expensive.”
[7 Pothole traps have been purchased for 140 DP]
[3 Pitfall traps have been purchased for 150DP]
[1 Arrow formation has been purchased for 200DP]
[You have 140/660 DP remaining]
“140 DP as emergency rations. I have to use it sparingly or else if something really does occur then it’ll be troublesome for me.”
First we have the entrance room, I’ll station a goblin as a warning scout to cover any fallacies in my <<Sphere of influence>> ability. It’ll be another set of eyes to alert me. The passageway leads to a forked path, the left winding path will lead to a small room, lets call it room 2, which has no purpose as of yet. I might renovate it to be an item drop rate room in the future.
Room 3 is the path that follows on the right and is the most balanced room out of them all - it is best for small scale battles and skirmishes. I have placed traps throughout places within the room, the potholes will limit mobility of smaller scale creatures and will open them up to a volley from the arrow formation. The goal is to have our goblins lead them into the potholes and trigger it this way. The pitfall trap once triggered will allow for me and the kobold to take decisive maneuvers and use the reach of our weapons to assert terrain dominance.
In regards to the other rooms, Room 4 again has no standout features; it is smaller than room 3 and can be modified in the future for further use. The passageway becomes narrow in and out of room 4 to room 5 and out of room to the current core room.
“Half a day’s worth of peace. It’s a blessing that a monster party has invaded as of yet.”
[Monsters have been scouted within the vicinity]
[A small detachment force of monsters has arrived at the dungeon entrance]
“Ahh right on time.”
[The dungeon danger rating has increased to 20%]
“I still don’t know how dangerous that is.”
[Confirming monster party composition]
[The monster party data is accumulated below]
Goblin (Level 2) x 3
Goblin (Level 3) x 2
Goblin Scout (Level 3) x 2
Goblin Archer (Level 4)
Goblin Warrior (Level 5)
“A fair composition if I would say. They have a ranged attacker that can deal with the situation and scouts to supplement their knowledge of the environment. This is a good scouting party that has a goblin warrior to deal with brunt of melee attacker damage. They also have a number of fodder level goblins to expend for trap disposal.”
I’m rather lucky today, 9 smaller class monsters that are suitable with the traps that I have put in place.
“I guess the theme park has finally opened its doors.”
I faintly skim my fingers along the rust covered sword, thinking to myself, perhaps I’m a lot like this sword. We can rust away and become forgotten…
“Or we can shine brightly through battle again.”
I stood up, filled with determination, I held my sword straight pointing forward in the direction of my enemies.
“Let me come welcome you to my humble abode.”
----
Author’s Note: The novel will now start resuming with plotter and battle development :O
Also did you guys see me mention that he’s rather lucky today? *smug face * It would be a shame if something were to happen in the later chapters :-D
Hi Guys, I've added in a prologue chapter at the time of posting this as well. I thought I might as well since we've gotten this far and it would be good to have something that helps match the description of the novel summary that I had written. It doesn't touch upon dungeon concepts and is really just a sizable chapter that touches upon one of the few origins of the main character and future characters that I will put in the novel. I tried to put a bit more effort in it but I still feel like I left out a lot just to make it match with the sizability length of the chapters I'm currently posting. Anyway I hope you like it : )
