ALL NOVEL Oh Hey, New People – Chapter 255
Outside of the dungeon, time moved on. While to Ace and company, it might not seem like they’ve been in there all that long, once you add up all the breaks and the sheer number of monsters to fight it certainly isn’t morning anymore. Though it certainly doesn’t help them keep track of time now that they all have a decent amount of physical stats. What only a month or so ago would have exhausted them, not just requires a short break before they’re ready.
This isn’t true for everyone, but a certain out-of-town team is at this very moment taking advantage of this to blast through the first five floors. The group are good sorts, similar to Ace and the other people in the inner circle except for the fact they didn’t end up with a dungeon nearby. They even ended up having to protect their settlement from wolves, though this was a more classical defense involving a much smaller pack taking people on the edges.
Still, the system rewarded them, and new paths opened up. In fact, they probably could have measured up to Ace and the others if they had arrived at the dungeon early. As it is though, they’re playing catch-up, not that they realize that. As far as Henry and his five friends are concerned, they’re as strong if not stronger than Ace and the others.
Now they’re finally delving into the dungeon and since they just got there, that includes the early floors. This was actually almost enough to draw Doyle’s attention away from Ace’s delve. It had been a while since the last team of true delvers had shown up, as compared to all the farmers.
In the end though, Henry and his team make it through most of their delve unwatched. Though when it comes to the end, Doyle couldn’t help but pay attention as the team, in turn, pays attention to something others had completely ignored. The giant, super obvious, kobold monument.
Not that other teams hadn’t seen it. In fact, for a while there, Doyle basically had an alarm set up for whenever someone entered the fifth floor just so he could see how people reacted to it. And how did they react? They didn’t.
Oh sure, they oohed and aahed over it a little, but at this point the people running the dungeon were all aiming for the sixth floor or sticking to the first three floors. So, the only people fighting the boss hadn’t been there before and didn’t stop or pay attention too much. Though if Doyle was to be honest, it was slightly his fault that no one reported it.
After all, he let the kobolds build their town anew after every defeat. That meant that people expected the kobold town to be different every time. Sure, the addition of the monument was impressive and didn’t quite match the rest of the place, but how were the delvers supposed to know?
They’d never seen the floor before and wouldn’t be seeing it again. Henry and his team were different, though. Instead of just looking at the monument or touching the lowest step, they actually searched around it and climbed up.
This made all the difference as the farther up the steps you go, the more pressure the monument puts off. Doyle had been able to notice it right away when the thing first appeared because it was literally in him. For others, though, it would be hard to pick out from the slight pressure his dungeon has already. Henry and friends were the first to climb the step pyramid and thus notice that the monument itself wasn’t normal.
Henry reached the top of the pyramid section and placed his hand on the obelisk section. “Hey Trevor, I’m feeling something really heavy from this thing. Is it pinging any of your magic stuff?”
Trevor rolls his eyes, “Sir, we both know that isn’t how that works. Though if you’re just asking if it’s magic? Well sir, it isn’t. Not a drop of unnatural energy to be found. In fact, if not for the pressure that I can already feel down here, I would just say it was a fancy bit of dungeon stone.”
Henry snorts, “Well it isn’t and I haven’t heard news of this yet. You think it is new?”
A lady in a cloak speaks up, “Not new new, but certainly recent. I’ve heard a few of the dungeon farmers mention seeing it, but there aren’t any official reports.”
Henry, “Good catch Alice. Anyway, going by that I’m assuming no one has actually reported it to the guild yet. I bet we can earn some rep if we do. Is everyone up for ending the dive here? We’ll be able to hit up the sixth floor next time, anyway.”
The other lady in the party nods, “I didn’t have to heal too much, but without a refresh I might not have enough mana if someone gets seriously hurt.”
Trevor sighs, “Susie, you really have to up your mana pool.”
She shrugs, “I’m working on it. I figured you would prefer me to have the proper stats to reattach limbs first.”
A guy wearing a muscle shirt laughs, “Good thing I’ve got enough Con to regrow a limb if I need to!”
Susie rolls her eyes, “And how long will that take? I don’t mind if you’re willing to step out of the party for a month or two. Maybe by then we will have replaced you.”
Henry fake coughs, “Ah, Susie, let up on Chad, will you? I know neither of you really get along, but we’re a team. Anyway, it sounds like we’re ready to.”
Then he turns to the last party member, “Unless you have something to add? Remember, even though you weren’t an original part of the team, you are still a part of the team.”
The guy shrugs and Alice sighs, “Just let him be. He’ll speak up when he needs to. Not like he’s mute or anything. After all, he managed to introduce himself as Ion.”
Henry nods, “Fair enough, now let’s report this to Jim! Maybe if I get enough reputation I can take over from him. After all, I should be stronger than him. He’s just been here on easy mode, grinding away at the dungeon.
“The only challenge they faced was a few wolves. Hah! We fought a wolf pack as well and we didn’t feel the need to rename our town after it. Sure, Jim has an in as a local, but a guild like the adventurers guild should have the strongest lead.”
Susie sighs at this, but doesn’t speak up and so the group finishes gathering their things and leaves. Once on the surface, the team splits. Half going to turn in their harvested meat, the other led by Henry head directly to the guild.
In the guild, Jim is going over various reports. Stuff like how the drop rate for actual equipment is 10% for guild members and the fact that somehow there has already been over 10 gold in fees paid. There isn’t anything too exciting and Henry is about to fix that.
Well, he will once he manages to actually meet with Jim. Even in a new guild hall like this, it isn’t easy to talk to the guild master. Though with the news they do have, they eventually make it through to him.
Jim, however lets them stew a little as they stand in front of his desk. While he might like political nonsense, that doesn’t mean he is clueless. So, for an up-and-coming team like this, he makes certain to keep up with the various protocols.
Though once he finishes reading the report in his hands, Jim looks up and addresses them. “So, there has been a significant change on the fifth floor?”
Henry takes a step forward and begins to explain what they found, as well as why it isn’t just a new bit of scenery on the floor.
Suffice it to say, this news does not make Jim a happy camper. Not only does a monument like that bring its own load of worries, he also isn’t able to go and take a look quite yet because Ace is currently in the dungeon. While it does mean the two won’t ever be able to dungeon dive together in the near future, both Jim and Ace agreed that one of them should be outside at all times. You never know what might happen when delving a dungeon.
Though in the end, since the monument is on the fifth floor, it won’t immediately affect anyone from the town’s inner circle. At this point, even the purest crafter has been boosted through the kobold boss fight.
Still, with the reports of kobold sightings around town, something will need to be done. The only thing that eased Jim’s worries was the fact he didn’t have a gut feeling about it. So, whether the outcome ends up being good or bad, it won’t be too far in either direction.
Of course, back in the dungeon, Ace and his team have no clue about what was happening up top. Instead, they’re shocked by the ninth floor. So far, each floor has been unique in its own way.
As for the ninth floor? It is almost too straightforward. The hallway isn’t too big, though the ceiling is definitely taller than not and the width a little wider than a small room. Besides that, though, there isn’t anything much else going on past an aggressive curve that manages to cut off their view after about fifty paces. Though when Susan gets the distance, it is quickly revealed that the hallway continues the curve.
Oh, and there are sunflowers, a lot of sunflowers. This is a nice discovery as not only are the seeds a nice treat that will add more variety to people’s diet, but they have medicinal and magical properties. The medicinal side of things is simply enough. They’re good for basic inflammation relief.
Though it is on the magical side where things really light up. Ace, in particular, is quite happy to see them. “This is perfect! I’m not going to say I specifically needed sunflowers, but there are a few rituals I’ve been imbued with by the system that need them.”
Ruby laughs, “It isn’t just you who can use them. We’re going to have to make sure someone is harvesting these, though that might be hard. We’re a bit far from the start here.”
Ace shakes his head, “You don’t get it. I received those rituals for being the person in charge of the town. More than that, specifically for being in charge of one of the world’s first true towns. The various rituals I know of are weird and varied.”
Susan nods, “I could see how sunflowers would be useful for someone in your position. As far as I remember, they’re generally connected to things like the sun, luck, loyalty, and of course fertility.”
Ace nods, “The sun part is neither here nor there as we aren’t exactly planning to worship a sun god anytime soon. The other three, though? While I can use any material that matches those aspects for most stuff, a few rituals are more specific. In particular, the dried sunflowers, stalk and all, make wonderful ritual staves for certain holiday celebrations.
“Of course, even without worshiping a sun deity, the whole sun connection makes them great for rituals on both the shortest and longest days of the year as well as spring in general to welcome the sun back. Though in the end, as the ruler of a town, what interests me the most is that loyalty but. Sunflowers aren’t some mind control cheat, mind you. However, with the right holiday celebrations, I can make it so that people generally feel better when loyal to the town and worse when being disloyal.”
Susan raises an eyebrow, “No, that is basically mind control, if on a low level. Though at the very least, it is a frightening level of hidden positive reinforcement.”