The Tower in the Shadows

Another short corridor was now added to my Dungeon. Room 5E soon followed. A rectangular room as all were on this floor so far. It was facing west.

I stopped to take stock. It was approaching morning and my CP was running low.

"I have time to finish this room and another before opening."

With the dawn approaching and my CP dwindling, I knew I had to act swiftly. Extending my aura into the west, I shaped a corridor and another room. A worm was assigned to 5E, but 5F had a different fate.

"New trap room!"

Three pitfall traps were placed in this room. The first two were next to each other at the doorway from 5E. A trip wire was placed along the doorway, and a pitfall trap was placed where a person would fall. The second was placed slightly northward of the first. The idea was that someone trying to get into the room would take a significant step or jump past the pit. If they went northward, they met the other pit.

The third pit was placed on the other side of the room where I had started the next corridor leaving this room. No worms in this room. I had big plans for later rooms and had to conserve my resources.

For now, time was the factor I was most aware of. Dawn was almost here.

I went up to the entry room and unlocked the doors. The first group rolled in about half an hour later. The day had started.

## ## ## ## ##

"Any sign of the fifth-floor entry opening?" Elian asked one of her office workers.

"Two teams have gone through so far. We asked the first to check, and they have said there is nothing yet."

"Thank you." She went back into her office.

It was not unprecedented for this Dungeon to keep the next floor closed until it was ready. Gran's team was on the roster for today, but she had already warned them that they would be escorting her again when the fifth was open. She could assign it to another, but it got her out of the Guild and away from the endless paperwork.

Looking out her window at the fine late spring day, she saw that the town was a hive of activity. She had not installed glass panels yet and the shutters were open. The sound was loud and yet strangely comforting to her. It was the sound of optimism for a better life.

Merchants were hawking their wares, people were yelling, and there were sounds of construction. The town was getting bigger every day and more were showing up. The brief closing of the Dungeon had not slowed anything. It was seen as a sign of even better things on the horizon.

She sighed and returned to her desk and work. Albrot would be here soon.

## ## ## ## ##

"Right, hurry up! Out! Out!"

The miners had finished for the day and were filling out the door. No deaths but a few injuries marked the day. Ten teams ran the Dungeon between the first and third floors, with one team getting half away through the fourth before turning back.

The only highlight was Gran and his team's return. They went straight to the third and cleared the floor, stripping every boar on it. They ignored the rest of the Dungeon.

It had been a long day, as I wanted everyone out to work on the fifth floor. I could have left the Dungeon closed, but I decided not to allow my CP to regenerate.

The miners left and closed the door behind them.

"Time to get started!"

My focus shifted back to the fifth floor. I was back in the half-finished 5F. I continued pushing my aura westward. I did not go far, as I planned, only another room before shifting north. The room was quickly formed and I began the corridor out of the room.

I planned something special for this room.

"This is not going to be easy."

Understanding the theory was easy, but putting it into application was hard.

I focused on my plan, starting with a pressure plate within the doorway. Above the doorway, I cut out a section of the ceiling running the length of the wall, where I placed the pendulum. The pressure plate would release the pendulum, which would swing down from the right as they walked in. Its arm was weighted to keep it swinging on its axle. The end of the arm was a half-moon blade.

The mechanisms to release the pendulum were built into the floor and wall. After some experimenting, I weighted the pendulum right to keep it swinging when released. The blade was iron and the arm was wood, all cheap to make.

I tested the trap when I had finished the last alterations. I triggered the plate, releasing the blade. It swung down, crossing the doorway. Anyone caught by it would be in a world of hurt. I watched the pendulum swing to the point it turned back. It continued to do this a few more times, each swing less as it lost energy. I reset the trap.

"Bloody hell, that was hard!"

This was the second complex trap I had created on this floor, and I felt mentally exhausted. This new trap had drained my CP total badly and I was loathe to make another. But I was damn proud of both of them!

"Worm or not to worm."

Looking around, I decided to make this room harder. Two worms were added to the room and the rewards were approved.

"I have just enough CP for another room."

I was not in a good place time-wise. This trap had taken most of the night to make.

"Right, one more room and then I will be done for the night."

I expanded my aura to the west, then turned north. What was I going to do with the next room? I wanted something trap-based but different, as it was cheaper to make.

I suddenly realised I had gone further than I had planned and stopped.

"Shit! I have to stop daydreaming while I work!"

Looking over the claimed ground, I could place two rooms within it.

"What to do?"

Dawn was two hours away at most and I was thinking about what I could do.

"Something cheap and sneaky."

I went through my memories of the adventurers travelling through my Dungeon looking for inspiration. The one thing that kept drawing my attention was the first-floor guardian room. The spike-covered floor had caused a series of injuries and a few deaths.

"Something similar?"

I thought about it for a while, and inspiration hit me only an hour before dawn.

I made a round room. Then I dug down, creating a circular pit in the room, filling it with the serrated arrowheads. The ring around the pit was wide enough for a person to walk, but they had to be careful. This I layered in stone apart from four sections. This I angled at ninety degrees into the pit. I camouflaged them with a thin stone layer like the pit traps.

When the hapless adventurers stand on the outer layer, their feet will go through, causing them to overbalance. This led to one of two outcomes: they would fall into the pit (my preferred outcome), or they would be able to catch themselves on the other side.

"Most will see this room for what it is. But I can always hope for idiots."

My CP was low and dawn was about to arrive time to wait for another day.

Again, it was a slow one. It did have one highlight when the first-floor guardian knocked a young Tin grade onto the spikes, killing him. There were a few more injuries over the day, but no threats of party wipes.

I listened to the conversations within the groups. They were mostly the same old things I had been hearing: discussing supplies and their costs, discussing tactics, or occasionally gossiping.

There was still tension among the churches. The merchants and crafters were now established and supplies were getting easier to acquire. A large iron vein had been discovered nearby that supplied the town's current needs. Construction was ceaseless.

The miners showed up and went to work. I had been hesitant, but now I knew the copper vein was going to the fifth floor and a tin one would replace it.

After all, copper + tin = bronze.

They dug out the copper ore and packed it up. I was getting antsy as they worked.

As soon as they were out, I secured the door and returned to work.

My CP was better but not fully restored, but I had plenty to work with.

"Another two or three days and the floor would be finished. I hope."

The round room was 5H and I continued north with a short corridor and another room. This was 5I and was not as large as the others. I had spent the day thinking about what would make up the last rooms.

"I wanted a spear trap, but I need a spring for that!"

Working with what I had, I chose another deadweight trap like in 5D. I created a chest and placed three more silver coins in it. But this time, I rigged the lid so that when opened, a cylinder would drop from the ceiling onto the front part of the chest and, hopefully, the adventurer who opened it.

"Let's throw in a worm to keep things interesting."

It's time to go eastward now. I created an S-shaped corridor linking to the next room. Another small room, I labelled 5J, was made and assigned a worm. The next corridor went south and east.

I had earlier decided to be more traditional with this floor, which meant an increasing number of minions in the next one to two rooms. I still had not decided on how many. I was near to completing the circle of the floor as I was close to the stair room.

"Okay. I need to think about this. How much room do I have to play with?"

I expanded my aura out, almost draining it, but claimed the last area my floor would be in. Dawn was still a few hours away, but I had time.

"Right if I… No, that won't work… Unless…. That could work, but how do I…. That's it!"

I had a plan!

There will be three rooms, including the guardians', one with an additional trap. I checked my CP level. It is too low for any more work tonight. I could carve out one more room, but I had developed a habit of leaving some in case I needed it.

"Another bloody day!"

It passed painfully slow. It was more of the same: no deaths but a few more injuries than yesterday.

Time wore on so slowly!

Yes, I am frustrated, eager and excited. The fifth will be finished tonight! As long as I have enough CP, I have at least no issues with Earth mana.

"Come on day, hurry up!"

What I was experiencing now was, in many ways, the opposite of what I was during my long periods of inactivity. Days would drag as I had nothing to do; now they dragged as I had too much!

It did not help that the days were still getting longer and more teams were running the Dungeon due to this….. well my essence count did appreciate it.

Eventually, the miners left for the day once more.

"Finally!"

I secured the door and went down to the fifth.

"No matter what, I am finishing tonight!"

The only good thing from the day was that I was able to plan out the last three rooms.

5K was made first, then to the north 5L and then to the east 5M. A corridor to the south linked the last room to the stairwell room.

Time to get the floor done!

Resource Node Created!

Congratulations! You have created a resource node (Copper seam, Quality—common). Do you wish to make this a permanent resource node? If you select yes, once every 24 hours, the node will be regenerated back to its initial amount of copper (60 pounds). This will cost twelve Creation Points to permanently assign to this resource node.

Do you wish this to happen: Yes or No?

"Yes."

I changed the copper vein on the first floor to tin and got thirty-five pounds of tin for the same cost as the original node.

With this done, I turned my attention to 5K. This room has nothing special about it apart from the two Rock Worms I assigned to it.

On to 5L and here would be my last trap. I cut out an additional section on the north wall, creating an alcove and placing a pedestal there. The alcove was small and deep, requiring you to reach in to get to the pedestal. In it, I created a small pressure plate that would trigger if the gold coin I placed on it was removed. When triggered, the guillotine blade would drop at the alcove's entrance and hopefully chop off a limb.

I tested the trap a few times to make sure it worked, and then I added three Rockworms to the room.

Loot Assignment.

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

Cythian Copper coins x18 (Chance – 80%)

Cythian Copper coins x21 (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."

The last room was the guardian and here I took a moment, well an hour or two, to recover some CP.

I looked around, happy with my work, but a small part of me asked….

"What have I become?"

This stopped me, putting out the warm, glowy feeling that the floor was almost finished.

I had always thought of the consequences of my actions as a Core. The death and injuries I was causing, but recently, these thoughts and feelings were more and more abstract.

"Am I losing my humanity?"

This question scared me on one level yet did not bother me anymore on another, which frightened me even more.

The floor I had almost finished was not a death trap but designed to be extremely dangerous and even fatal to the unprepared. Those who are quick, smart, or just lucky would get through it. In my opinion, it is fair.

This brings me to another thought.

In many ways, I come to think about most, like being a Dungeon Core.

I mull over these thoughts until I realise I have wasted most of the night that was left.

"Fuck! Get your head back into the game Bhaldor!"

5M guardian room.

I opened up the Rock Worm design and added additional CP and Earth mana until it is 20CP and 10 Earth.

The motes of light appeared many coloured a rich brown. The cyclone began spinning and growing… and growing.

The pressure in my mind was also growing, but I mentally gritted my teeth and fought through it. I stayed focused; the new floor guardian appeared with a flash and a loud bang.

The release of the pressure on my mind was sudden and I mentally "staggered" for a few seconds.

"Damn, that was hard!"

Refocusing, I looked upon my newest creation. I ignored the alerts in the corner of my vision.

The worm was really big! It was fifteen meters in length and two meters in width. It was not as large as Queen above, but it seemed denser. It was armoured in rock-like scales and when it opened its mouth, the teeth became even more intimidating. A dull brown in colour, I watched it start to move around. Then it dug into the dirt, covering itself.

"Okay?"

I dealt with assigning it to the room and, as the floor guardian, then moved to the following alert. I read the reward list for killing it and made some alterations.

Loot Assignment.

The following rewards will be generated randomly after killing the 5th Floor Guardian.

Cythian Copper coins x60 and x1 Iron Ore (uncommon) 1kg (Chance – 50%)

Cythian Copper coins x80 and x1 Iron Ore (uncommon) 1.5kg (Chance – 40%)

Cythian Silver coins X3 and x1 Iron Ore (uncommon) 2kg (Chance – 9%)

Cythian Gold coins X1 and x1 Iron Ore (uncommon) 4kg (Chance – 1%)

The odds and types of rewards have been set manually, but this will add to the overall support cost of the room respawn by 2 CP.

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

"Yes."

Adding iron was a new take for me. It was an experiment to see how the adventurers would react. I mirrored Queen's rewards. Money-wise, the fourth was a better source of income. This completed the guardian apart from one small thing…

"Open status screen. 5th floor guardian."

Name

5th Floor Guardian

Level/Class

Floor 5 Boss

Race

Earth-Infused Greater Worm

Essence

0%

Health

300/300

Mana

40/40

Stamina

300/300

Corruption

0%

STR

25

25 Damage base

DEX

10

AGL

12

END

30

-4 Dam from attacks

VIT

30

+10% Poison Resistance

PER

4

INT

4

WIL

4

LUCK

3

Skills:

Charge: 1 – 0% (12 meters. END + 6 impact damage) Cost: 10 Stamina.

Spells:

Harden – Cost 10 Mana (Duration: 30 seconds)

Equipment:

Bite: 6 DAM(Piercing) + STR

Perks/Restrictions:

Rock Hide: -10 DAM

Blind: Poor PER outside of the earth.

Burrow

"Shit! This thing is a pure tanking beast!"

Dawn was fast approaching, and I needed to finish. Triggering the automation of the traps resting cost me another 25 CP points, which was outrageous! I grudgingly approved it. I opened the stairwell connecting the floor to the rest of the Dungeon and moved my Core room down.

I was down to less than twenty minutes-ish.

"Right, am I done? I think I am done."

I looked around, but something was nagging at the back of my mind: I had forgotten something. But what?

"Minions. Check. Traps. Check. Rewards. Check. What is it?"

Then I remembered.

"Lighting!"