The group of Drow readied their weapons of short swords and crossbows as Luca buzzed over the mountain top. None of the Drow wielding crossbows fired, but they kept their eyes trained on the large insect.
Luca landed and folded its wings, “new friends-s-s?”
The Drow glanced at each other, unsure of what to say. One of them seized the opportunity to establish herself as an early leadership candidate.
Rick hadn’t realized it until now, but Luca had grown quite a bit. The floor boss towered over the Drow by several feet.
The female Drow’s skin was the color of muted iron. Her hair was silver, reflecting the dim purple light of the Creeping Tamalo. Her eyes – yellow, reminding Rick of a cat. “I am Nym. I sense your strength, beast,” she said with a slight bow of her head. “We have only just arrived, so we cannot say if we are friend or foe.”
Luca’s expression was impossible to read behind his insect eyes, “Beast? I am no beast. I am Luca. This place is mine.”
Rick contemplated interrupting the exchange by telling the Drow that Luca was right and that the mosquito was the Floor Boss. But, before he could do such a thing, another Drow flung a dagger at Luca. The dagger flashed blue for a moment before a glob of Luca’s mucus enveloped it, knocking it off course.
“So, a meal then?” Luca’s voice vibrated in pleasure this time.
Nym raised her short sword and charged at Luca with a snarl. The Floor Boss hopped over her with ease and impaled one of the Drow behind with his sharp mouth. Crossbow bolts hit Luca’s side, doing minimal damage. Before the Drow could overwhelm him, he jumped into the air, still clutching the impaled Drow, and flew away to explore the rest of the new area.
Rick watched as Luca quickly drained his cargo and let him fall to the ground, sending him to a quick respawn. Jimmy and Atrono were both glued to Atrono’s gadget, watching it all play out.
“Idiot,” Nym spat at the male Drow who threw his dagger which was now pinned to the ground in mucus.
The male Drow walked closer to Nym to retrieve his dagger, “Says the one who would befriend the dumb beast.”
Nym’s short sword glowed in the same blue light that the dagger had and cut off the male Drow’s path to his weapon. The male’s face flashed in panic as he realized his foolishness too late. Nym shot her arm forward, stabbing him through the neck.
She turned to the rest of the group, “Please tell me that the rest of you are more competent than him?”
The rest of the group looked at her with respect. Some smiled at the ferocity Nym had just displayed.
A male Drow, and the only one who wielded an ax stepped forward, “My name is Zyn. I suggest that we build shelter and a proper training area before anything else.”
Others nodded in agreement and Nym tilted her chin up, “Yes, let’s do that. As we all just witnessed, we’re unprotected against outside dangers.”
Rick projected his voice, “What do you need for lodging?”
All of the Drow dropped to their knees in a bow, reminding him of the lizardfolk.
Atrono visibly cringed and spoke out, “Rick, I forgot to mention. Typically, dungeons don’t directly communicate with their minions other than floor bosses. It can mess with their personalities. Not to mention, as you get more and more minions who all think they can speak to you directly, you will become overwhelmed.”
“I’m not going to just let them stand around like a bunch of lumps. I’ll at least give them some temporary hobbit houses and tools.” Rick quickly erected a cluster of hobbit houses and dropped some basic tools nearby. The Drow quickly proved Atrono right as they all thanked him profusely, making it impossible to listen to all at once.
The centaur had a smug look on his face, holding back a laugh.
“Yeah, yeah,” Rick said, refusing to tell the smug bastard that he was right.
Immediately after the Drow thanked Rick for the supplies, a fight broke out over who got which small house. Nym used her short sword to carve a square in the ground where the Drow began to fight over their preferred lodging in a tournament style, constantly being sent to respawn.
Jimmy wore a frown as he watched. “How do these people survive in the multiverse? Will all of this respawning leave lasting mental damage?”
“Once they establish an hierarchical structure, they will settle down,” Atrono explained. “Drow are not numerous in the multiverse, but their pockets of civilization are extremely powerful and dangerous.”
“Will they get pissed off that we’re using them as minions and broadcasting it for everyone to see?” Rick asked, imagining high leveled Drow coming in and crushing his core to dust.
“Some factions maybe, but for the most part, I think they are proud of it. Drow almost always turn out to be the most fearsome dungeon opponents.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Rick said as he turned his attention to the Dreadstrider spiders. They had already laid traps of webs, similar to Luca’s.
The Stalkers hadn’t moved to investigate quite yet, and Rick wondered if they’d ever venture over there. It was a long distance for the furry nightmares.
“What kind of magic are they using?” Jimmy asked as he watched them duel each other. All of their weapons glowed in a faint blue, but Jimmy couldn’t decipher the effects.
Atrono shrugged, “It’s Drow magic and unique to them. They will find new ways to utilize it, but it appears our young dark elves are using it to make their weapons stronger and sharper. But, I’ve seen them implement it in fun and terrifying ways as well.”
Jimmy raised an eyebrow, “Yeah? Like what?”
“Watch the one with the ax,” Atrono pointed out. “His name is Zyn, right? Anyway, I’ve already seen him discreetly experimenting. Watch his arm – the one holding the ax.”
Rick and Jimmy both watched the male Drow. He was on the sideline, awaiting his turn for battle. Rick noticed that the dark elf’s arm would suddenly sag as if he were holding a heavy weight before shrugging back up.
“It looks like he’s doing a workout or has some kind of nervous tick,” Jimmy said.
“He’s manipulating the weight of his ax,” Rick realized. “Every time his shoulder sags, a faint glow wraps his weapon.”
“I’m so proud of you two,” Atrono mocked, but his eyes said that he was telling the truth.
They waited until it was Zyn’s turn. He stepped into their makeshift battle area with a smirk on his face. His opponent was a female Drow with a pair of sickle shaped swords.
She wasted no time and tried to wisely close the gap between her and Zyn, blades raised. Zyn quickly swung his ax down at her – the female Drow’s blades glowed blue, intercepting Zyn’s attack. Zyn’s ax glowed just before connecting with her blades. The sickle shaped swords shattered beneath the weight of Zyn’s ax before it cleaved her in half like butter, sending her to respawn.
He looked down his nose at the gruesome sight and then eyed the other Drow, “Never let your opponent destroy your weapon. Now, even upon returning, she will be unarmed.”
The other Drow looked at Zyn with respect. All except for Nym who gave him a crooked smile full of mischief.
“Damn, you’re right, Atrono,” Jimmy said. “I could watch these guys all day.”
The centaur clapped his hands together, “That’s something we can agree on, Jimmy. Delightful display.”
Jimmy tore his gaze away from the viewing crystal for a moment. “Oh, Rick. Where are you going to put the door? It’ll take Challengers ages to reach the minions now.”
“You’re right,” Rick laughed. “Should I put it near the Drow? Luca is a lot stronger than them at the moment. The dark elves might be a good source of experience for Challengers.”
“I think they should be an ace up your sleeve,” Jimmy said. “They know to expect Luca, but not these monsters. Let them level each other up and then move the door’s location again.”
“Diabolical,” Atrono laughed.
“Yeah, you guys need some psychiatric help. At least this is actually in my nature,” Rick poked and moved the door to roughly the same area it was prior to the floor expansion.
Alex burst into the Auxiliary Room, distracting everyone.
— — —
“Okay, rumors spread and Marv took the bait quicker than we thought. He and a couple of men left the area. Diane honeypotted Gus too. We need to get these ships out of here ASAP,” Alex urged.
Rick spoke through Jimmy, “I wasn’t expecting this so fast. Where’s everyone else?”
“They’ll be here any second. How do these things work anyway? We didn’t think this through,” Alex ran a hand through his hair, panicked.
“Relax, Alex,” Jimmy said, speaking Rick’s words. “They are a lot easier than you think. It’s all automated. Once you’re outside, simply press that button on the side and they’ll do the rest. Just get the hell out of the way after you press it so you don’t get burned.”
Alex scrunched his forehead, “And then what? It’ll just take off and melt the ground? It’s a damn spaceship.”
“Look, it seems pretty easy,” Jimmy cut in on his own. “I’ll press the buttons while you and your crew clear the area.”
“Fair enough,” Alex relaxed. “I’ll go let them know.”
“Just make damn sure that Gus, Marv, and their cronies aren’t close,” Jimmy said.
“No shit,” Alex said as he sped out of the dungeon.
“Now that he’s gone, do you mind telling me how the hell we’re going to even get these out of here? Or how much time I’ll have to get out of the way before being melted?” Jimmy said into the air.
“I’m going to roll them out of here on the floor and expand the door,” Rick answered. Now that the Pest Control crafts were in his Registry, he knew exactly how they worked. “And don’t worry, they won’t melt you. You have five seconds to get at least ten feet away. Think you can manage that?”
Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief, “Yeah, that’s more than enough time. What happens after that?”
“They’ll pop off into orbit, but I imagine everyone in the area will see or hear them take off,” Rick said.
“And what am I supposed to say it was?”
“You don’t owe anyone shit. Tell them it’s one of my personal experiments and they can ask me if they have any questions.”
“Fair enough,” Jimmy chuckled. “Let’s get this party started.”
Rick answered by producing wheels under the ships that he rotated mentally using his Energy. In seconds, the ships reached the small door. He opened it large enough for the ships to go through and pushed them out. The wheels dissipated at the barrier. Rick imagined the Pest Control crafts screeching along the pavement outside.
“Well done,” Atrono commented.
“Hell yeah. See you in a few after I bop these off,” Jimmy said and leapt through the door.
Rick quickly shrank it back to its normal size and waited for Jimmy to report back.
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