-0-0-0-0-0-

The Dungeon, Medea Island

The Next Day

-0-0-0-0-0-

The day began as normal; utterly confused Silver and Gold parties stumbling through my maze.

With the reduction in difficulty on the first floor, a party of silvers could make it through mostly unscathed, further crowding the second floor. And it was indeed getting crowded; by focusing more on the 'maze' part of the floor and lessening the threat posed by the fish the guilders spent much longer stumbling around. Even with parties entering every hour, they often hung around for five or six hours before the attrition from the remaining fish caught up with them. By now they knew better than to spread out too far from each other, lest they get split up, though it did make it harder to find the correct hallway.

The fourth group to enter my halls today was a raid; composed of the two Platinum parties who had been making significant progress before the changes to the Flooded Labyrinth.

Both Litan and Matha were full Platinums, nearing the same level of power as Isid and Jerrad. Their party members weren't quite up there with them. I would, tentatively, call them entry-level Platinums. From what I'm sensing they likely only reached that level recently, though long enough ago to acclimate to their new level of power.

They passed through the Starlit Caverns without any trouble. It was a waste of resources at this point to just throw crabs at these people when they couldn't do more than be killed immediately. They fought the Crab Knight, of course. Unfortunately, they've fought this boss enough that they know how it moves, they know it's weaknesses and how to kill it quickly.

Upon moving to the second floor, they were confronted with my new and improved maze. They stuck together, preventing the traps that would split them from being effective. There were too many of them to set off the incinerator trap; not that anyone realizes it even exists yet. After an hour from their entering the dungeon, A new party of Golds entered and the intersections shifted. Parts that were previously hallways were now dead ends. Corners led in different directions. T intersections cut off one avenue at random.

Essentially, they had to rewrite their maps. There were only two locations that mattered in this maze; the entrance and exit. While the passageways leading from one to the other changed, they stayed immobile. Not that anyone has found the exit to confirm this yet.

Determined not to give up, they once again searched the maze, finding the exit before the next shift. I really need to figure out a more effective trap to split these raids up.

They fought the improved Bloodfish Sovereign and its guards. They took about twenty minutes to wear down the fish monsters enough to get in a killing blow. Tired, they quickly moved through the exit to the flooded stairwell. They rested in the entrance hall to the third floor, much like Litan and his party had done before.

Hm. Perhaps a timer set to make the back wall push inwards, to force them out into the jungle after a minute or two. Yes. A shorter timer the larger the party, linked to this wall. Maybe add some spikes, to really motivate them. I need to wait for these loiterers to leave, but they won't get such a restful stop next time.

I alerted a few new monsters I'd added to the floor that they had company. They spread their wings and left their dens, ready to hunt.

What? You think I'd expose my barely-trained kobold villagers to these elite guilders? They need much, much more practice before they're ready for more than a party of Silvers, or a couple of Golds.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Litan walked confidently into the jungle that filled the third floor. His party, his twin, and her party all kept their eyes open and scanning the brush. Just because they had yet to encounter larger monsters doesn't mean there isn't any.

His eye's searched for the sign's he'd left. After a minute he couldn't identify even one. He cursed. The path he'd cut through the undergrowth last time had been overrun with fresh vines and bushes already, perhaps thicker too. So, they needed to take a different path. Following their secondary plan, they cut around the edge of the jungle rather than risk becoming lost in it's depths. With the sheer rock wall to their right and the menacing jungle to their left, they walked.

"I'm glad for this armor," Matha commented, her burning eyes sweeping for movement. "This kind of humidity is hell on my hair." She finished, to some light chuckles. Litan smiled affectionately. His twin always knew how to raise the mood.

"Happy to accommodate you, sister mine." He said. "I'm sure you're appreciating the insect-repelling enchantments right now."

"Oh yes, indeed." she smirked, a little vindictive. "No damn, dirty insect will get the drop on me now!" Ah, yes. That revulsion still had it's hold on her.

They kept moving, the sameness of the trees and rock making it hard to tell how far they'd actually traveled, or how long it took. The dull roar of a raging river had been getting louder as they walked. Spying an abnormality, Litan called a stop.

Another thin track like the one they'd descended snaked up the rocky wall, leading up to what looked like a cave. A small amount of water washed down to the side of the trail, originating from the cave itself. Litan waved his bodyguards up first. The goat-track was relatively stable, though there were points where the rock crumbled away under their feet. When they'd reached the top, the rest of the raid followed in twos.

Gathered just within the cave, Matha summoned a flame to light the black tunnel. Litan had expected a natural-looking cave but what the orange light revealed was an intricately carved square room, with scenes carved into the walls of the ruins. His bodyguards and Matha's all brought out torches for Matha to light, brightening the room further. The water came from a slow drip, seeping from a crack in the roof of the room down a stalagmite and stalactite pair.

One of their number, Matha's friend, traced a section of the wall covered in text. If they could decipher the language of these people, perhaps more secrets of this dungeon could be revealed. On the back wall of the room, there was a broken section of wall. Bricks lay at the foot of the opening, the dust that covered them hinting that this wasn't a new feature. All four bodyguards moved through first.

The passage beyond proved to be narrow and winding. At one point they had to duck under a large section of rock, through a space barely large enough to admit their armored forms.

They emerged into a circular cavern. This was more like what Litan would expected from a natural cave. A light shined from a hole in the roof of the cave. The walls were covered in pictograms, much like what their ancient ancestors drew in their caves. Some seemed to depict a series of figures worshiping a gem.

As soon as the last man in the raid, Litan's childhood friend Stema, passed through the entrance things got interesting. A series of sconces built into the walls lit up in a teal light, the colour matching that of the pictographic gem. They prepared as a section of the wall pulled away, revealing another passage. From this passage strode a monster. It resembled a bipedal lizard wielding a mace and shield, covered in ill-fitting leathers. Likely taken from dead Guilders, Litan realized.

The reddish-brown scaled lizardman raised it's snout to the roof and let out a brief roar in challenge.

It posed no threat, Litan realized, as his sword removed it's head. Looking away from your enemies and revealing a weak spot in one move. Stupid.

The cave the monster had emerged from had closed behind it. The stone looked too thick to break through anyway. Stema took the lizard's weapon and put it in his pack. It was only right to return the weapons of the found dead to their party members.

The monster's core was fascinating.

To a casual glance, it seemed a normal manacore, drawn from any monster of the hundreds of dungeons in the world. on closer inspection, it seemed to have two dull nubs, growing on opposite sides of the sphere.

The implications... were severe.

Litan put it away before any others in the party could see.

"So, was that the Guardian?" Matha's friend Jessine asked. His sister shook her head and motioned to the room with her hand.

"If it was, the dungeon would have granted access to it's fourth floor. No, this wasn't the guardian. It was too easy." She frowned and drummed her fingers on her stave. "Likely, these are the monsters that populate this floor. Perhaps we need to seek them out to progress, rather than them blocking our way."

"What, so we need to find more of these things? Child's play. If they're all set up like this one was we should be done by sunset!" Polit boasted. He was Litan's other friend in his party. He didn't learn the names of his bodyguards. They were sworn to die in defense of him. Becoming too attached was counter-productive.

"It won't be that easy." Litan cautioned. "This dungeon seems to have been designed as a training ground. At least, these early floors look to be made that way. The first floor tests teamwork, fighting against multiple opponents and singular, overwhelming enemies. The second tests logic, your sense of direction and ability to fight underwater. From what I've gathered this floor seems to test endurance and ability to fight armed opponents." He explained.

"The jungle seems designed to exhaust those who explore it. The humidity, the exertion of cutting through the undergrowth as well as fighting off all those insects. I would imagine these," He motioned to the dead lizard monster, "these are scattered over the floor. Combat trials. If we pass enough, perhaps the Guardian will be revealed." His words were met with quiet agreement.

They turned and left. They had a fair amount of work to do.

-0-0-0-0-0-

That was disappointing. The Kobold Warrior was cut down in seconds, before it could react. That needs to be fixed. I quickly empowered the other mini-bosses, focusing on their strength and reflexes. They need to at least be a challenge.

Matha, Litan, Isid and Jerrads' early failures against the second floor must have blinded me a bit to how strong Platinums really are. Underwater really is a poor environment to fight in, requiring some time to really adjust to. After all, they had been totally unchallenged by more than a hundred crabs. I really should have focused more on that as a measure of their strength.

Along with the growth and improvements, I passed along every memory I had gained of fighting armed opponents to the mini-bosses. Hopefully they would have time to practice their new skills.

The Platinums continued around the border of the jungle. Mental note, make that harder to do.

Soon they found the river. They seemed awed at the waterfall which fed the white-water rapids. Not finding an easy path across, they decided to follow the river. They reasoned that there had to be a point they could cross.

They were technically right if you counted the large, unsecured moss-covered log about two-thirds of the way down the river.

Unfortunately, they seem to have underestimated how immense this cavern is. They only made it half-way down the log by the time the artificial sun 'set'. Darkness descended quickly on the floor. The pure dark of a cave, unlit by the pale, reflected light of a moon. The lights they raised in response were beacons in the night.

Bulky feline forms stalked them on the ground.

Bright orange and yellow feathers drifted from the higher branches.

They set up camp in a clearing, bordered on one side by the river and by jungle on the other three. At least three raid members were on watch at all times. For hours, I did nothing. More and more monsters arrived, completely surrounding the guilders.

The men on watch were extremely paranoid by this point. They had been hearing hoots, trills, low growls and breaking sticks all night. Straining their senses fully for so long was obviously exhausting, and it was as they approached a change in the watch that I struck.

Six dozen Tigers approached the guilders, who had let the allure of sleep distract them from their watch. The tigers had been mutated from a pair of cats I'd stolen from the town. These new monsters were multi-colored. Some mimicked the tigers of my old world, their striped forms clad in white, orange and black. Others were a little more... out there. Red with blue stripes, Purple with orange stripes and a couple of Green with brown stripes. Just as examples. The shadows around them jumped and shifted, revealing the shadow magic I had imbued them with.

That's right. I've figured out shadow magic. It's a little abstract, but if light can be produced by mana, then why can't it be removed?

From above, a flock of Phoenix descended. Enormous birds, with the largest having a ten foot wingspan, their plumage in the traditional colors of the mythical birds. Like their namesakes, they could light themselves on fire. I hadn't figured out how to make them immortal, but all the monsters participating in this attack had already produced at least one more generation of monsters.

In concert to the roar of the Tigers, the Phoenix dove, launching fire at the occupied tents with each pass. The Guilders within were driven out, having been sleeping in their armor. As their tents burned, Matha turned a new wave of fire from the raid. Litan raised his sword in defense of his sister, as did the others in the party.

The night was one of slaughter.

By the time half the empowered tigers had been slain, a score of phoenix lay dead. The groups' archers were too accurate for the birds to dodge.

My plan was coming together. The Platinums were distracted. Silently approaching from below, insects swarmed. There was a force that repelled them from approaching the Guilders, likely the enchanted armor.

When one of the swordsmen threw himself in the way of a tiger leaping for Litans' back, his armor was rent by the hard and extremely sharp claws. His armor flashed in a pink light, glowing runes revealing themselves for a split second before fading away just as quickly. Just like that, the enchantment was broken.

Millipedes, spiders, ants and more swarmed the unprotected man. He screamed as deadly, paralytic and necrotic poisons were injected through bites and stings. He reached for his teleport crystal, but a group of wasps had already made off with it.

He would have no respite.

-0-0-0-0-0-