Ch.28
Arthur's idea to train an elite group wasn't that bad; it was far better than some of the others he's brought to me, despite having agreed to some. But things were going to be slow, almost painfully so, the soldiers he chose were on the younger side of things and were still green around the gills as it were, but they seemed fiercely loyal to Arthur, if not his family. The problem came from their progress though, despite having a larger group than previous ventures into my lair they lacked critical experience and teamwork skills, often getting into each other's way during the fights with the floor one monsters, and even then, they only managed to kill a single spider because I had them go easy at first.
You'd think they would choose veterans and skilled fighters and magic users but evidently not, the kids were sent as part of some affirmation of their vassal's loyalty, most were second or third sons and daughters, kids who would never inherit their families' fortune or status without major tragedy. Still, Arthur thought they held promise so I would withhold my complaints for now, if nothing else they were proving amusing practice for my monsters.
"Liam, go right, no, no, your other right!"
"I am going right numbnuts!"
"Why you-!"
Ah, the careless memories of adolescence already coming back to me, how do I make it stop?
The group of 10 was engaging my clockworkers, cautiously but eagerly trying their best to get a hit or two in before getting cut or bludgeoned, they had managed to disarm one already, but their inexperience, wasteful movement, and bickering were already breaking them apart, several already sported nasty bruises and cuts.
The self-appointed leader of the group was desperately trying to get his 'comrades' to focus on working together, trying and failing to direct the others into something resembling a formation.
"Jerika stop wasting your magic like that, we're barely inside!"
Thankfully though they were able to get through it and destroy the clockworkers, sweating like pigs and cradling wounds that may or may not have come from one another. As much as Arthur and I want them to push forward I was going to call it there for today. What these kids needed was a proper teacher, not just some basic understanding of which side is pointy and how to not cut yourself. Unfortunately, Arthur agreed, but in the most annoying way possible.
"Agreed, but I can spare none, nor can Edward, if you think they need help then I trust you with that."
Then he walks off, reading some report while shouting at damn near everyone on the way out.
He's been irritable the last week, and not entirely without reason, what with the sects coming in a couple of months. But still, why the hell did he think I could help these brats, I could barely tolerate myself at their age!
Sigh
Thankfully I have a solution on hand for this, namely the ratkin. While they weren't masters of battle yet, they were skilled and intuitive enough to teach them how to fight as well as team tactics. As they walked down a level, I had the merchant whip up a quick note for anyone who came snooping, leaving it on the entrance. Soon they arrived at the barracks, cautious and afraid of what horrors I might unleash, instead, they had an upright rat with a nice little chef's hat serving them various cooked foods while the barracks captain worked out how to start training them. On my recommendation, as much as I could convey, the captain had them start on physical exercise, running laps, lifting weights (supply crates), and doing a simple form of calisthenics. The plan was to train them like a ratkin for however long Arthur was willing to let them stay and progressively have them move down a level until they were competent enough to handle themselves.
But with that in hand, I turned to other problems, namely the level 5 requirements.
While on the grand scale of things, six months is barely anything worth mentioning. But the next particular six months are doubtlessly going to be the most turbulent, and not only could the lack of supervision get me killed or enslaved, but I'd also be leaving Arthur and Ed out to dry. Although I could set things up a certain way so that my people and Arthur's could keep me safe during those months, reportedly they weren't due for about five and a half, give or take, and at worst I would only be asleep for a month and a half once they arrived. If I went with that then I'd need to make for absolute certainty that my dungeon was prepared, and I wasn't above spending DP on it either.
I had no plans of buying more monsters with the store, but I did have a good chunk of DP I could throw at it from all the people going back and forth. Some I knew for certain I was going to buy regardless, first some magical doors to keep people from rushing past without my say-so, a couple of surprise traps, some cheap decorative stuff, and finally a weak dungeon-wide boost to all monsters. Those upgrades were the essential choices in my mind, but these next few were more debatable, fluid even, and while the ones I had my eye on were far from the only ones, they were the more applicable ones to my current setup.
Core Blast 1
When a [Mechanical Construct] type monster dies, it will create a small explosion around itself.
100 Dp
Disorienting Mecha-Flies
Machine-type rooms will now host a small hive of mecha-flies which will attempt to disorient intruders.
120 Dp
Donation Bin 1
Creates a small box at the entrance where people may deposit goods, sometimes they will be given something back.
50 Dp
Trait Spawner
Allows the core to influence monster nodes, giving the core the ability to create otherwise rare monsters of that node.
200 Dp
Other-Worldly Restriction 1
Places a minor debuff on all invaders that are drawing power from a [celestial] or [infernal] being. Preventing the use of level 1 spells
200 Dp
Vermin Tunnels 1
Creates tunnels only accessible to vermin-type monsters, these tunnels are separate from the tunnels of previous floors.
50 Dp
Again, there were more but these were the only ones within my price range or were impactful enough to consider.
Going through them, the core blast was a suicide attack, a final bang as it were, while the flies were a distraction so my other monsters could take care of business, on the other hand, vermin tunnels were mainly just a mobility increase, giving them better maneuverability around their floor. The bin was interesting as it somewhat automated the whole process of giving compensation for stuff people bring me, but I'd have to see it in action to form a bigger opinion. The next two were far more interesting though, trait spawner gave me more control over what kind of monsters the nodes created, meaning I could create more magic or machine-focused ratkin and kobolds, while otherworldly restrictions actively worked against outside forces like gods or demons.
The cost though, was a point of consideration, after the first few upgrades I only had enough to buy one or two, sitting at a somewhat uneven 376 after the many 'invasions' from the camp. He wouldn't be able to afford both trait spawner and other-worldly restrictions, but he could do one of them and another, perhaps even the four less expensive ones instead.
Any chance I could ask what comes with level 5, aside from the usual stuff that is?
Negative.
Worth a try, but we can guess anyway.
If I take a bear nap and sleep for six months then I'll be able to build a fifth floor, get a fifth-level monster, a fifth-level focus and perk, as well as some more DP to work with, not much but any helps. To add to that, I would also have the combined amount of Dp from the six months, I couldn't count off the number right now, but I knew it would be a lot. That being said, I could also just wait around for the DP to roll in naturally and buy it in a month or two, I'd still need to sleep but I'd be more secure if I had the upgrades when I went, even if it meant more time asleep while the sects were here. Also, nothing was saying I HAD to buy these upgrades, useful to be certain, but my defenses were still good enough that it wouldn't hurt me anytime soon if I let the Dp roll in and checked the store again later.
This still left him with two choices though, either go to sleep and wake up a month or so after they have arrived, maybe don't even make up at all. Or should he wait it out for a bit, and keep an eye on things before sleeping, the ratkin could handle the trainees well enough if I slept, and I had standing orders to give them decent gear when they were ready. But what should he do, sleep or stay up?