Chapter 7

Erin’s mood changed completely the moment she realized Ryan wasn’t planning on using the bodies he had found as his mobs. In fact, now she seemed almost as excited about mob summoning as he was.

“So, first I’m going to explain the basic mobs you can make as a Bronze-level dungeon.” She had his full attention. “There are two main mob types: skeleton and zombie.”

As she spoke, she flashed images of both to him.

“But, as a Bronze dungeon, there are four types you can summon, as each main type has two sub-types: beast and human.”

Now we’re getting somewhere.

“Beasts are broken down based upon their sizes. As you get stronger, you will be able to create larger beast-type skeletons and zombies.”

Ryan shuffled through his knowledge on what types of beasts he had absorbed. He had found complete skeletons for rats and squirrels, an incomplete deer, and an incomplete wolf. He had also found a single human skeleton, but it was missing an arm for some reason.

“At Bronze level, your human-based skeletons and zombies are limited to basic versions, but when you level up, you will be able to make them tougher, and even give them armor and weapons to use.”

“So, can I make fifty human skeletons?” Each mob counts as a point, right?

“No, different mobs have different point values.”

Ugh, so much to learn.

Erin held up her fingers, and started ticking away at them, as if trying to remember the information herself.

“Small beast skeletons are worth one point, small beast zombies are worth five points.” Oh, that’s easy enough to remember. “Normal human skeletons are five as well, and human zombies are ten.”

“Are their values based on their strength?”

“More or less. A single human skeleton is stronger than a small beast skeleton, but five small beasts might be able to take on a human skeleton. Variety in dungeons is key. It will take you a while to figure out the combinations that will enhance your dungeon. Most high-ranking dungeons even modify each and every floor to hold different mob types and adapt them to highlight the strengths of those mobs.”

“Why do zombie beasts cost five times as much as skeletal beasts, while human zombies cost only twice as much as human skeletons?”

Erin stared at him for a moment, mouth agape. After a second, she shook her head.

“These are just the starting costs. At Silver, your medium skeletal beasts and zombie beasts only differ by five mob points, or twice as much.”

“Then why such a large difference now?” He really wanted to know.

“No one really knows why mobs cost what they do, Ryan. However—” She paused, her face growing dark. “There is a belief that the God of Death wanted to tempt dungeons into summoning more human mobs than beast mobs early on.”

Ryan shivered at this. Just what type of being was the God of Death?

“Well, that was dark.” Ha. “So, what do you recommend we make?” he asked Erin. He was at a total loss, not to mention nervous about taking the first step to becoming a powerful dungeon.

“What do your collections look like?”

“Well, I have full sets of rat and squirrel bones. My deer and wolf sets are almost complete as well, and my human is missing all the bones of his right arm.” He wondered if something had dragged away that arm after the human died.

“Hmm. The wolf and deer are both medium beasts, so you won’t be able to use those yet.” Darn. “Rats and squirrels could be interesting, and a human missing an arm.”

Erin fell silent, thinking.

“This dungeon building is hard,” Ryan whispered, trying to imagine the best possible combination. Fifty points suddenly didn’t seem like much for his three rooms.

“So, I think we should use a human skeleton for your boss,” Erin finally said. “And if we mix up skeletal squirrels and zombie rats for the other rooms, we can at least give adventurers a bit of a scare, and maybe kill one or two to help you get a little stronger.”

Ryan started doing some basic math. A human skeleton for his boss would cost him five points, leaving him with forty-five points spread across two rooms. Should he try to even them out? Or should he make the mobs harder as adventurers came deeper?

“Just a single skeleton in my boss room? Isn’t a five-point mob pretty low for a boss? The other rooms are going to have forty-five points divided between the two. Seems a bit off.” Shouldn’t his boss room be his strongest?

“Oh, bosses are different. They cost five times the basic cost of the mob you use. Your single skeleton is going to cost you twenty-five points and will be unique.”

“What?” That would leave him with twenty-five points for the other two rooms. That hardly seemed adequate.

Erin ignored his outcry and continued. “So, Ryan, how about you put five skeletal squirrels in the first room? And two zombie rats with ten points of skeletal squirrels and rats mixed in for the second room?”

The numbers added up, though Ryan still couldn’t get past the massive cost of his boss skeleton. Why was it so high? Oh, well. First things first: skeletal squirrels.

“Well?” Erin broke the silence that had filled the room.

“How do I make a mob?”

“Oh!” Erin started laughing, and while Ryan loved the sound of her laugh, this time he was annoyed. She was laughing at him, and it hurt.

“I’m serious.”

“I–” More laughter. “I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you.” She had tears falling down her face. “As a dungeon, not only do you learn everything about the things you absorb, but you can then create them at will.”

He would have smacked his own face if he had one. He had been creating dirt to fill holes and manipulate his dungeon, but he hadn’t realized he could do it with other things, too. He turned his focus back to Erin as she continued.

“Think of your squirrel skeleton, and push mana into the image, willing the bones into existence.” He started to concentrate. “In the first room!”

Whoops. He had been about to try and summon the skeletal squirrel in the room with them.

Ryan focused his attention, looking over the skeletal remains he had absorbed, and pushed his mana into imagining a skeletal squirrel in his first room. He felt the dark mana respond, and suddenly a pile of bones appeared out of the ground in his first room. Ryan repeated the process four more times.

“Now what?” The bones weren’t moving; they were just piled up.

“Now, push your mana into them, imagine them as alive. Your darkness affinity will do the rest.”

“Easy enough.”

He did as she said, and suddenly, a dark mist swirled around the bones. Then, the bones began to clatter, and suddenly Ryan had five very animated skeletal squirrels scampering around. Neat.

“Those little guys will follow orders you give them and will instinctually attack anything that enters the dungeon.”

They clattered around, the sound of bones on stones echoing throughout the room. It was a rather creepy sound.

“Next, your zombie rats.” Right, he wasn’t done. “By absorbing the rat’s bones, you understand the creature as a whole, correct?”

“Yes.” He knew everything about rats.

“Good, so imagine a decayed rat, and summon that body.”

“How decayed? Does it matter?” He was curious whether the amount of decay would affect its strength.

“Your dark energy won’t let you make a living creature, and part of a zombie’s strength is its potential to spread diseases. So perhaps give it enough decay that the flesh has begun to rot, but not enough that it’s falling apart.”

Oh yeah, really clear instructions. Thanks, Erin.

Ryan focused on the task, imagining it as Erin said. In his mind, he could see the rat, fur falling off, flesh exposed and beginning to decay. He knew that would enable it to carry disease and make it dangerous to whoever it attacked. As before, he pushed his mana into the image, and when the rat’s body appeared, Ryan sent his dark mana into it.

With a squeak, his zombie came to life, its decayed eyes glancing around the darkness cautiously as it seemed to sniff the air. Ryan quickly created the second rat and then spread a mix of five squirrel and five rat skeletons to the room. He was left with twenty-five points, just like they had planned.

Next up: his boss mob.