Chapter 15: Constructing 'Holy Constrictor' [Part 3]
While a miniature version of Obsidian was watching from the corner of Rest Area, Briggs and Krotos were currently dueling with each other. Obsidian, after being deployed, decided to switch to his energy-saving form. This meant that Obsidian transformed into a Dire Wolf Puppy, significantly smaller than his 10-foot form. This was possible thanks to the domestication feature of the dungeon, which was designed to give us more room for mobs. Luckily, Obsidian would still be powerful in his 10-foot form but significantly shorter.
Despite it being 2 hours since they agreed to their duel, Briggs and Krotos were still fighting. For the first 30 minutes, they fought each other with training swords that Briggs made. Since this was the first time I saw Briggs fight, I was impressed by his sword skills. However, Krotos and Briggs were evenly matched for the entire time they fought, which led Briggs to challenge him to a different competition. Briggs, Krotos, and Bose went to the forest and got the materials they needed to make an Archery Target stand. After it was built, they tried competing in an archery contest for an hour. Since Briggs was mostly an Archer, he consistently performed at a high level. However, since Krotos was a Griffin, his eagle-like sight allowed him to also perform well. Since that competition eventually became indeterminate, they agreed to a fistfight. That's what they've been doing for the past 30 minutes.
"Well, shit! I have to say Briggs, you are more impressive than you look! I thought most Dwarves were nothing but drunken Architects! It seems you are a unique case, my friend", Krotos said.
"You aren't too bad yourself! I've forgotten the last time I've had an equal in combat!", Briggs said grinning.
Judging from the tone of their voices, it seemed that they finally earned the respect of one another. Around an hour ago, Krotos' wife and kid popped into the dungeon to see how he was doing. They were in a similar form to Krotos, with their Griffin wings on the back of their human form. For the last hour, they've been sitting in the air watching them fight. Krotos' wife looked to be around 25 while his son looked to be 5. Krotos told us during the Dungeon tour that his wife's name was Elizabeth and his son's name was Bruce. They seemed to be nice Griffins on the outside but they asked if they could eat any intruders we didn't need if they appeared in the Dungeon. Unsurprisingly, I agreed with their request.
While they were all focused on the duel, Orai and I walked around the Rest Area. As you probably know, 10,000 square feet is a ton of space to work with. We also had a 100-foot ceiling that cemented the room's status as a 'Giant Room'. However, Dungeon Rooms are made to be customizable so we decided to edit the room. Included in the purchase of every room was the ability to add stairs, ceilings, walls, doors, and more that was free of charge. Since this was a Rest Area, we decided to divide the room into sections. First, Orai and I divided the room horizontally so it could have a top floor and a bottom floor. This allowed the room to be a two-story structure that featured 2 [100 x 100 x 50] foot rooms. We also added a staircase along both sides of the wall so we had multiple ways of reaching the second floor. After that was done, we divided the rooms in half so we could have four rooms that were 50 feet wide and 100 feet long. With that finished, we were done preparing Constrictor for any intruders. All we had to do was wait for anyone dumb enough to enter. Since I wasn't human anymore, I didn't care what happened to intruders. Even if they turned out to be human, I wouldn't be afraid to kill them. "Dungeon Masters who hold back are Dungeon Masters who will perish". That was one of my favorite quotes from Hidarus' book. I still didn't know if I was going to be an evil dungeon or not but any intruders who move past the Rest Area will die for Trespassing. That was unavoidable for any true Dungeon.
I also checked the list of all the deployed mobs in the Dungeon, which looked like this:
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Young Cerberus [C]
Lich [C]
Giant Serpent [C]
Elementals x 2 [C+]
Golems x 5 [C+]
Orcs x 5 [C]
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"Yikes! We'll need to buy more mobs in the morning tomorrow! Luckily, the adventurers are only C+ so we shouldn't be overwhelmed", I said.
"Yeah. We should have a window of time in the morning to use our daily allotment of DP. I wouldn't worry about it", Orai said.
We walked through the 4 rooms that we created for the rest area, which was the plan that I wanted to implement. Briggs gave me a few tips but I already had a good idea of how I wanted the Rest Area to be. The entire Dungeon used a variety of lighting fixtures but the main ways to light the Dungeon were by the use of Wall Lanterns and Torches. Those came free with the purchase of the Prefabs but we could buy or make better ones if we chose to. After we checked all the rooms and verified that they were ready, we walked back down to the bottom floor of the Rest Area. It seemed that Elizabeth and Bruce left the Dungeon while we were upstairs. We also saw that Briggs and Krotos were laying on their backs. As we walked over to them, they both turned their heads towards us.
"Ugh! I'm going to be honest lads, I think we took it a little too far. Not only am I sore from the fistfight and martial arts, but I'm also not as young as I used to be! Good thing I already finished those traps earlier", Briggs said.
"Indeed, Dungeon Master Jordan. This Dwarf may be old but he is a persistent one! Hahaha!" Krotos began to laugh while laying his head on the ground. Briggs quickly joined him in laughing at their situation, as they agreed to recognize each other's merit.
After that, Orai inscribed the magic circle onto Krotos' hand so he could teleport to D1. We spent the rest of the day preparing the Dungeon for its first visitors.
Briggs was drawing the plans for the second floor of the Dungeon at his desk in D1. It would most likely utilize a different design and be more complex than 'Holy Constrictor'. His plan was to have a max of 10 floors to the Dungeon. Since the floor size of the Dungeon was unlimited once it went underground, Briggs couldn't contain his excitement. It was possible to actually have a floor be as large as a Town or City if you wanted it to! You could even make a floor covered in nature and install an Artificial sun on that floor using Crystals. It would be extremely expensive but the possibilities were literally endless. Briggs was unsurprisingly happy to begin his work.
Krotos was in his Griffin form sleeping in front of the Corridor. He would be the first person that Intruders see other than Obsidian, who would also be near the front of the Corridor. Krotos would be the one to warn intruders that entry into the Dungeon would be certain death. He would warn them but he would never stop them from entering. If things got serious then he would teleport to the Dungeon Core Room to defend the Core with us and Briggs. However, I felt that we didn't have to worry about that for now.
Bose was building some of the objects needed for the Rest Area with the instructions that I gave. Things like Campfires, Wooden Benches, Training Dummies, Archery Target Stands, Storage chests, etc. that would help make the room more into a Rest Area.
Obsidian was outside of the Dungeon looking for beasts to hunt. He was in a hunting party with Elizabeth and Bruce since nothing could really stop them from getting their prey. Since it was the Evening, they both needed to hunt for Dinner anyway.
As for what Orai and I were doing, we were currently relaxing in D1. Ever since she was beaten by Briggs, her new hobby has been practicing her Swordsmanship and Martial Art skills. She still liked to cook for us and read Ambri's cookbooks but it was clear that she became more serious towards her Dungeon Responsibilities. She told me she realized her tendency to think about food was hindering her progress as a Core. Thus, she would start to train and prepare for intruders who would dare threaten our peace!
I was currently reading the Dungeon Building Book by Hidarus to see what I needed to do next. It seemed that 'Dealing With Intruders 101' was the next thing I needed to read. As Orai, Briggs, Obsidian, and I ate our dinner, I was reading the chapter intensely. The things that Hidarus suggested were downright genius ways of interacting with your intruders. Even after dinner, I read the chapter until I finished it. It was around 11 pm when I completed my education for the Dungeon and I couldn't stop smiling.
Orai stayed up to practice her martial arts so we both went to sleep at the same time. However, I barely got any sleep that night, as I was excited to meet the adventurers tomorrow. Orai notified me earlier that the Dungeon predicted the arrival to be around 1 pm, allowing us to spend our 1520 DP before they arrive. As I sat in the bed with Orai sleeping next to me, I could only think of what Hidarus wrote.
"Manipulation is a Dungeon Master's most important skill".
"Give a DM an intruder, and you feed him for a day".
"Teach a DM to attract intruders, and you feed him for a lifetime".
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