Dungeon Oasis

Dungeon POV

Well, that was interesting. I would have put money on them making it further than they did. On the other hand, I guess adventurers don't live long without a healthy amount of caution. The sudden realization that they needed to keep an eye out for traps while fighting probably contributed to them ending the delve early. It was rather comical seeing the look in his eyes when the ground under his feet was suddenly no longer there. I could just read his mind and know for sure why they stopped but so long as they plan to delve again, and I get the impression they plan to return as soon as possible, it doesn't really matter why they stopped this time. Until then I can finally get back to building the second floor.

One change I make right away is hiding a chest in the abandoned cabin the first archer hides in. It isn't visible from outside so the only way to find it is to actually enter the abandoned cabin. Inside the chest along with the usual gear I raise the chances of a minor healing potion spawning to 100%. I realized watching Clyde's fight that While the archer wouldn't even be a speed bump for more seasoned adventurers, newer adventurers are almost guaranteed to have someone in their party be seriously injured at this point after reaching it for the first time. Even so I still want to encourage them to explore since I do get a small amount of mana from them just being here. More so than on the first floor. I suppose that is yet another reason whoever is in charge tried their best to make it so dungeons can't just make an effectively endless floor.

After that I go through and make sure every spot that should have a chest has a chest. Which for right now aside from the cabin is the dead end I had just finished when Clyde's party decided to challenge the first-floor boss. Getting back to actually building the floor I create another room to the south of the room that is east of where the path splits. In this room I place a group of four level 8 fighters and two level 8 rogues. I place a few chokeberries around the edge of the room, but I leave the center mostly open. The reason being I suspect that fights at this level will start to be about more than just swinging your sword really hard. With that in mind I want to give them as much room as possible to really show off.

The next room directly south of that is basically the same with the only difference being one of the rogues was replaced with an archer and they are all level 9. I also added a few shallow pit traps that just like with the traps on the wolf path are slightly harder to spot but not intended to be fatal. This time however I create one additional room to the south. I leave this room completely open with only grass being placed for the sake of it not looking ... like an empty room. Not that it helps much but it does help. In this room I plan to test the delvers. Aside from the various traps I also place four level 10 fighters. On top of that I add two level 10 rogues and two level 10 archers. To properly compensate anyone who manages to win, since this is a completely optional room, I place a chest with low quality stone tier gear instead of wood tier gear.

Stone tier gear was a significant leap in cost from even high-quality wood tier gear which means it should net a healthy profit when looted. On top of that I also included a 50% chance for a normal health potion to spawn. Going back to where the path splits, I then place a room to the north of the room that is to the east of that room. In this room I place more chokeberries, but this time scattered around to provide cover. I specifically don't put traps in this room because I feel like they are far less effective if they're just in every room. I want delvers to wonder if the room they're in has traps. As for encounters I place two level 8 fighters as well as a level 8 rogues and a level 8 archer.

I'd love to just keep building but for the first time in a while I don't have the mana. Fortunately, word has started to spread and about three or four different Parties have attempted the first floor. They all seem to be fresh young adventurers who are just getting started. Apparently one of the few things well known about me is that I only have one complete floor. I say three or four because one of the parties consisted of survivors from two other parties that let their egos get the best of them. I'm still not sure if that actually counts as a new party since they have all technically delved me before. Either way they have made several attempts and by now are actually starting to get pretty far. They may even be ready to challenge the boss in another month or two. Assuming they continue to delve every few weeks.

It takes a while but eventually I'm able to create a room connecting the wolf and skeleton paths directly north of where the path originally split. In this room I create a small hill with blueberry bushes at the top of the hill. For the encounters I plan to use a combination of two level 10 skeleton fighters followed by a pack of five level 10 wolves. Now while I wait for more mana to come in, I'm debating about continuing the second floor or going ahead and placing the boss room. The reason is rather simple. A bunch of features unlocked when I got my second floor. So will I get something for moving to a third floor or was that a onetime thing. There is also the problem of the core being in the way as it tends to stay as far from the entrance as it can get which is usually the room I just built. Thankfully the core being there doesn't affect my ability to place things in the room.

The fact that I get more mana just for them being there the deeper they go may also play a role if I'm honest. It's still not a lot. In fact, it wasn't until they reached the second floor that I just barely began to notice it.

After thinking it over for a while I decided to go ahead and place the boss chamber ... as soon as I get enough mana. It's not like I can't place more rooms later. Besides I do want to actually place the stuff that I have planned to put in the room connecting the wolf and skeleton areas just before what will be the boss room. I was also vaguely curious about Clyde's party. It had been nearly two months at this point since there last delve. Perhaps that last delve shook them up worse than I thought it would. Just as I was considering whether to lower the difficulty of the second floor, I felt a brand-new party enter.

The first man was way too high a level to be slumming it in little old me. What really caught my attention though was the party he was with. They seem to barely be capable of holding their weapons and didn't seem to have a single experience point between them. I'm not sure experience points are even a thing, but levels exist so even if they aren't called experience points, they must exist on some fundamental level. At any rate the gap in ability between the first guy and the other four is even wider than between the dungeon inspector and Clyde's party.

As they begin the delve and I listen in things start to become clear. "Alright everyone, remember what you've learned, and remember to keep your guard up. This isn't the training hall, and you aren't just sparing this time. While I doubt the dungeon can do anything I can't heal, especially in the first few rooms, there is always that possibility. You are here to get practical experience in a real dungeon after all so while I will try to keep you safe your safety cannot be guaranteed."

Hm, apparently they think I'm some kind of training dungeon. Not that I plan to dispute that it just feels like surely there is a dungeon much closer to whatever academy or training facility they came from. I'm in the middle of a desert after all. I'll have to remember to as Clyde about it later. It was interesting watching that guy lead one group after another into the dungeon. These groups made so many rookie mistakes that I started to feel bad for them. I refuse to go easy on them though because that would ultimately be a disservice. They are here to learn after all, and mistakes are inevitable.

After watching him lead the fourth group through I finally have enough to create my boss room. I could have placed a small boss room earlier, but I wanted to give them room to maneuver during the fight. That goes for both the delvers and my boss. As for what the boss would be naturally, I planned this from the moment I started the second floor. After designating it as my boss room I place down the dire wolf pattern I purchased so long ago. For once it turned out exactly how I expected. The dire wolf is about three times the size of the normal wolf. On top of its size and being level 15, I felt like it needed more. It needed a skill, but which one. Looking through the various options a found one that seemed to fit perfectly. My new boss would have the skill terrorize.

In other words, my new boss doesn't just look scary. It can actually induce fear in the delvers. Actually, if the level of the delvers is too low it can induce full blown panic.