Holiday Dungeon Core: Novella 1-5, page 47
Such information was relatively easy to come by nowadays since they had the wealth to pay for it, something that they hadn’t had to worry about since the early days. Each of them had a sizeable nest egg put away in case they were to die in a dungeon, though they had all spent some of their hard-earned money on upgrading their gear. For herself, Annabella had all-new, reddish-brown robes that were enchanted to give a 40% boost to her Mana regeneration in addition to reducing the cost of all her spells by 15%.
When coupled with her new, hollow, basalt-stone staff, which further reduced the cost of blended fire and stone spells (at which her Magma Witch Class excelled) by an additional 25%, she could cast most of her arsenal of spells at a 40% reduction in cost. She also wore a necklace that she had found in Garvington further to the south, which sped up her casting time by 30%, which had proven to be highly beneficial in many fights in which she didn’t have a lot of time to think.
She wasn’t sure of the specifics for Garth’s armor and shield, but the former Defender – and now Shield Knight – had a full, high-quality, steel/quicksilver alloy suit of armor and a large shield shaped like a door that was so heavy that Annabella could barely lift it, let alone try to block anything with it. Charvene, their former Battle Alchemist and now Enhancer, had ditched the vials she used to utilize for healing and other effects, and was in a silver, form-fitting robe that matched perfectly with her long, blonde hair pulled back and clipped together just below her neck. Annabella sometimes wished she had the same color of hair that seemed to attract all sorts of attention, but after seeing the mostly negative attention from which Charvene suffered, she was happy with her own dark-colored hairstyle.
Emeryl looked almost exactly the same as she did before, dressed in rags so that very little of her skin actually showed, though she had improved the quality of the various fabric pieces. What she spent most of her extra money on was an improvement to her knives, which were enchanted to inflict a paralyzing effect upon anything with a bloodstream or a small, concussive blast to those without. They were surprisingly effective against just about any monster in the dungeons they had been delving through, so the knives were well worth the expense.
Lastly, Kedinth, the Runic Practitioner who’d had his soul grafted to he-who-will-not-be-named, the Soul Manipulator that had nearly captured all of their souls to use against them against their will, had merely upgraded his outfit to a black, dark blue, and silver-colored robe that had runes embroidered throughout the fabric. It was a bit flashy, in Annabella’s opinion, but apparently it had some advantages to his new Class of Runic Artificer.
“That’s good to know, Emeryl, because my feet are starting to kill me,” Garth said with a smirk at Charvene and Annabella, both of whom stuck their tongues out at him in response.
The Shield Knight knew well enough that he was basically tireless even while wearing his heavy armor, but as for Annabella and the Enhancer, they still couldn’t walk for more than half a day outside of a dungeon without their feet hurting. Inside of a dungeon, there was enough stopping and starting that they could probably spend a whole day delving through without trouble to their feet, but then they would probably be exhausted for other reasons – such as fighting dozens of monsters and navigating safely through one trap after another.
Almost 15 minutes later, just as the Veiled Shadowstriker had estimated, they saw the town outside of the dungeon up ahead. Annabella tried to see if it had changed much since the last time they were there, but other than possibly one more building on the outskirts of town, she didn’t see much. Thinking about their last visit, she involuntarily shivered; it had been a very strange experience that she didn’t want to think about too much. All she could remember of it was that they had managed to get to the dungeon’s boss, a giant eagle with projectiles strapped to its wings, and they had been in the middle of the fight… when everything had suddenly stopped.
She woke up on an altar in the Goddess of Rebirth’s nearest temple along with the rest of her group, and at first she thought she had somehow died – despite not being anywhere near death. When she sat up, however, she found that she wasn’t naked – which was the normal state of being after having her soul resurrected into a new body after 30 days. Instead, she and her friends were all fully clothed with all of their equipment, and none of it was missing – something that caused quite a stir at the temple, as something like that had never happened before. Thankfully, the Goddess had apparently informed her priestesses at the temple not to be alarmed, so they weren’t detained under any false suspicions, but even that wasn’t the strangest thing.
As soon as they asked how long they had been gone, the Adventurers had been stunned to learn that not even a day had passed since they were in the dungeon fighting the boss. In fact, if they were correct, they had appeared at the temple within minutes of everything stopping inside the dungeon.
What it all meant, no one could or would say, so they tried their best to ignore the event. After they recovered from all the sudden shocks, they had journeyed to speak to trainers and upgrade their Class specializations, which was how they had acquired their new Classes – and the trainers had given each Adventurer a noticeable step-up in their abilities to stay alive and fight their way through dungeon after dungeon. Of course, they never delved through anything that was far above their Level in terms of difficulty, but everything had been challenging enough that they didn’t have to.
There was a flurry of activity inside of the town that got Annabella’s heart pumping in anticipation because she had seen it happen in this very town a few times before. As they got closer, she heard snippets of conversation, each of which made her even more excited that they had decided to come at this time rather than at a different time. She looked at her group mates and saw that they had heard the same thing.
Inside the Adventurers’ Guild Inn, Tom – the bartender that had been a fixture behind the bar since the Inn was first built – confirmed what they had overheard.
“Yep! Seems as though the dungeon blocked off a large portion of its entrance either early this morning or last night,” he informed them as they sat down at the bar. For the middle of the day, the Inn was fairly empty, though she knew it could fill up to standing-room only later in the night. Though, now that I think about it, there weren’t as many people outside as I’m used to seeing.
“Any indication when it will reopen?” Garth asked, putting his helmet down on the bar with a *thunk* and a grateful sigh from the Shield Knight.
“Nope, but it’s been a long time since anything has changed, so this might be a big one,” the bartender said. “In fact, the novelty of the dungeon has worn off a little over the last few months, so we’ve been seeing fewer and fewer new Adventurers show up here, so the change will be good for business.”
Hmm, that would explain why there weren’t as many people, as well as the town not growing much bigger.
Annabella could well understand why there wouldn’t be as many Adventurers, as many of them had probably outgrown the difficulty of the later sections inside the dungeon. As a matter of fact, they had nearly left before that strange delve months ago, and they had been planning on it after they defeated the dungeon’s boss – but that had turned out differently than anyone had expected, of course.
“Well, that’s good news for us, I suppose, as hopefully it will give us a good spot on the list.” Charvene had looked tired from their journey before, but now she appeared excited and refreshed – and her tone only backed up that fact.
Annabella certainly hoped that was true. “What’s the Guild rep doing right now? I can only assume they’re being bombarded by requests to be the first inside.”
Tom wasn’t sure, but he told them where he thought the Guild’s representative might be at that time of day. The only way to get inside the dungeon when it opened up again was to get their names on the schedule, so they needed to act fast before all of the spots in the first day filled up. They thanked the bartender, and Annabella slipped him a silver coin for his trouble before they headed off on their next goal.
“I’m sorry, we’re already booked up for 4 full days in the higher-Level area when it opens again. I can slot you in on the fifth day, if that works,” the Adventurer’s Guild rep told them as soon as the group hunted him down near the entrance to the dungeon. He appeared exhausted, as if he had been worked hard all day, and what was left of his balding, grey hair was sticking out in all directions.
“4 whole days already! Where did they all come from?” Garth asked, which was exactly what Annabella wanted to know. She hadn’t seen nearly enough people in town to warrant filling up the schedule that far.
The Guild rep shrugged. “We’ve got existing schedules from a multitude of groups that aren’t in the area, but who demanded to be put on the list as soon as the dungeon closed down again. As you know, the unique loot from this dungeon has made those who discover it first quite wealthy when supply is low. I’ve been sending messages most of the day to let those groups know, and this is the first time I’ve been able to get some fresh air,” he said, exasperation thick in his voice. “Now, do you want to be put on the schedule 5 days out?” he continued, a modicum of professionalism back in his tone.
Annabella looked at the others, who shrugged in mimicry of the guild rep, before Garth said, “Yes, put us down. We’ll be back on the evening of the fourth day, so as to be ready for our turn – whenever it is. The dungeon typically doesn’t take long to make its changes—”
“Very good. Now, if you don’t mind, I have some other business to attend to before I can—hopefully—get some sleep tonight.” After quickly taking their names, he took off at a fast walk back toward the dungeon town.
“Well. That was unexpected,” Charvene said once he was gone.
“Yes, indeed.” They certainly hadn’t anticipated such a thing, but in hindsight, the Magma Witch recognized that they should’ve assumed that it would happen eventually. “Well, I guess that gives us time to go to the Boundless Forest Dungeon?”
“I believe so, though we’ll have to leave now in order to make it back in time,” Emeryl spoke up softly, startling Annabella because the woman was so quiet.
They knew that the Shadowstriker knew her way around better than anyone else, so they had no reason to question the rag-wearing Adventurer’s estimation of their timetable. After a quick discussion, they headed off toward the east and the dungeon that would help them waste time while they waited for their turn in line.
Chapter 4
Elmer was enjoying himself despite the impending doom hanging over his soul, if only because he found that he could take his time. While he wasn’t necessarily dilly-dallying, he didn’t feel the same pressure as before to open up as quickly as possible after construction. He would take as long as he needed and didn’t need to rush, because he wanted to stretch out the time his soul was still alive and decorating as long as he could. It was what he and his wife would’ve wanted back on Earth, to decorate for holidays until their last breaths, so he couldn’t think of anything else he’d want to do on another world. All-in-all, he was extremely glad that he had let Keebles convince him to shut down and construct a whole new section, because otherwise, his dungeon would’ve felt… unfinished, he supposed.
Moving on to the next room, just after the Pumpkin Patch, Elmer expanded the space so that it was nearly 500 feet long and 150 feet wide, before filling it similar to the previous room. Colored walls seemed to stretch out into the distance, a black ceiling held lights acting as stars, and a very similar “moon,” on the lefthand side of the room, shone down on a dirt field that stretched the length of the space. Instead of pumpkins, however, the Core used his Dungeon Mana to create tall stalks of corn, so tightly bunched together that it would be nearly impossible for even small animals to navigate their way in between the stalks.
The Dungeon Core left a clear—but narrow—pathway through the corn, however, as he created a maze that led through the vast field. While he already had a few mazes in his dungeon, this one was different in his mind, if only because this type of maze was common back on Earth as a fun pastime for children during the day and for teenagers – as well as some adults – when the sun went down. However, many movies he had watched when he was younger, especially one of his favorite horror movies, had transformed a simple cornfield at night into something quite a bit more terrifying.
To achieve something as similar as possible, Elmer started by adding more than a few Minions to the maze.
Corn Children
Mana Cost: 100
Minion Cost: 10
Potential Threat Deterrent: Medium-Low
Each of his Corn Children Minions was actually 20 separate entities, but collectively, they were counted as a single Minion, as far as the Minion Cost was concerned. Each of the 20 Children were constructed of woven cornstalks that were in the shape and size of a 10-year-old child, but they were anything but innocent figures. Instead, they had sharp and stiff leaves wrapped around their arms that acted like blades, extending 2 feet out from their stalk arms. In addition, the tassels on top of their “heads” almost looked like hair, but they were able to be shaken, which released seeds into the air at a target, swarming over their victims and potentially blinding them temporarily. Lastly, they were able to pull out and throw 2 ears of corn from their bodies, which would explode upon contact with an object. The detonation from an exploding ear of corn wasn’t very powerful by itself, but when multiplied 20 times by the number of Children, then it could be both destructive and deadly.
The best part of his Corn Children was the fact that they could navigate their way through the corn stalks lining the maze and hide within, making them virtually invisible when among the rows. When they emerged, they did so near-silently, meaning that they could easily ambush Adventurers as they made their way through the maze.
The downside to the Children was that they were relatively weak in the defense department, as they could be chopped up or set on fire without any resistances to stop the attacks. Unlike the rows of corn, which he made sure were highly enchanted to be resistant to damage from physical means, magical cutting, or flames – he didn’t want the entire maze to be cut down, after all – the Corn Children were sadly vulnerable to many different attacks. However, their numbers and stealthy approach would hopefully be enough to make a difference.
In all, Elmer created 7 groups of Corn Children around the maze, with 4 groups of them by themselves at random places along the pathway. The other 3 Children were moved to the perimeter of a large clearing he had created near the end of the maze, located very close to the exit. This circular open space was approximately 50 feet across and was filled with broken stalks, scattered ears of corn, and thousands of dried leaves, which left the area a little treacherous when it came to footing.
Inside of the clearing, backed up by the 3 groups of Corn Children, was the room’s boss, another Minion that was perfect for the cornfield.
He Who Scares Behind the Crows
Mana Cost: 220
Minion Cost: 18
Potential Threat Deterrent: Medium-High
He Who Scares Behind the Crows was a combination of a scarecrow, which was basically a straw-filled figure meant to fool pilfering crows into fearing that a person was nearby watching them, and a mythical fertility demon that controlled the entire field. This scarecrow was only similar in shape, however, because his room boss Minion was 18 feet tall, was made of corn stalks instead of straw, and didn’t have any clothes to make it look like a person. Instead, He Who Scares Behind the Crows was formed of living stalks of corn that constantly undulated around its figure, which was humanoid in a general sense. A pair of glowing, red eyes were located on its “head”, though head was a bit of a misnomer; rather, it was simply a grouping of cornstalks that stuck straight up like some sort of ‘80s punk rock mohawk.
That was the “scarecrow” part of the Minion, but the demon parts were present in its abilities. First, it could pass through the dirt under the clearing as if it was burrowing without effort, and then pop up in a destructive show of force wherever it wanted. Second, it had the ability to stretch its limbs to freakish lengths, meaning it could stand on one side of the clearing and shoot them out at an Adventurer on the other side without trouble. Plus, when it extended its limbs, it could either use them to grab an unfortunate victim or stab them with sharpened corn stalks, impaling targets who possessed minimal protection.
Lastly, it was a fertility demon, which meant that it was very hard to kill because it could regenerate quickly. If it was chopped or smashed apart, it would rapidly regrow any missing limbs or parts of its body, though it would be unable to pass into the dirt underneath while doing so. The only way to kill it was either through complete obliteration via chopping it into hundreds or thousands of different pieces, or by fire. He Who Scares Behind the Crows’ fire resistance wasn’t necessarily as high as that of the corn in the rest of the room, but it was still quite high – enough that a simple fireball would only scorch its outer stalks.
Once that was all in place, Elmer thought it was time to add some Defensive Obstacles to the room. The first one he added was a relatively simple pit, which would open up under those walking along the maze pathway and send them plummeting down into sharpened stalks of corn at the bottom of the pit. He added 3 of these Corn Pits in different areas around the maze; he suspected that they would be relatively easy for those looking for them to spot, but that wasn’t the only thing he was placing within.
