Nicholas sat in the room with the tiny salamander. It couldn't speak, but still communicated some things to Nicholas. The most important was that the salamander could channel some powers of the dungeon itself as one of its champions. Nicholas was testing and found that Inventory and Analysis both worked while within the salamander's soul.
He wasn't sure about skills, but assumed most of them would still work. Maybe not something like Slimy Harvesting, since the salamander's body couldn't replicate it. Maybe the languages too, depending on whether it could even understand language.
The outside of the cave they found themselves in was rather wet, given the waterfall. Strangely, the cave also had small stones giving off either a bright blue glow or a deep blue one.
Nicholas had the little salamander analyze the stones, finding that they were either a material called mana crystal or one called water essence crystal.
The discovery of naturally growing crystals and the rate at which they were growing caused Nicholas to double back with the salamander. Nicholas wanted to collect these stones.
One benefit of a Champion was that they could sustain others within their aura, even outside the territory of the dungeon. Nicholas still barely understood auras, but they seemed rather built into dungeons at least.
Since the territory of the dungeon didn't include the cave beyond the rock formation hiding the core, Nicholas needed a way to gather, without the little salamander just wandering around gathering everything it could. That would take hours, and despite not having an immediate deadline, Nicholas still felt like taking too long on just gathering rocks would use up time they didn't have.
So Nicholas envisioned the salamander again. It wasn't hard, considering he'd already seen it from the outside when it first spawned. As the second salamander crawled from the abyss where the eye had pulled back into the heart's body, Nicholas just watched in fascination.
[You have spawned a new monster. +1DP]
Seeing or even throwing bolts of purple energy stained with golden light was pretty and everything, and the stat screens were weird, but compared to watching a fully formed salamander crawl out of a giant heart, they just didn't feel as magical.
But one salamander wasn't enough. Nicholas wanted ten. The problem was the rate at which the little monsters spawned.
Nicholas could only spawn one salamander at a time, and even with seeing the salamander again, it only cut down the time to visualize it, instead of the time to spawn it properly. So Nicholas used the one other thing they got from advancing the core's faction to two.
[Select Dungeon Perk]
[Available Perks:
Champions and Generals I
Duplicate Summons I
Inferior Mutation Manipulation I
Dragon Specialization I
Salamander Specialization I
Lizard Specialization I
Acid Specialization I
Autonomous Spawner Creation
DX Gain Boost I
DP Gain Boost I
Inferior Monster Creation Specialization I
Additional options will become available depending on your feats]
The list wasn't that vast, at least in comparison to Azotreh's already expansive titles list. But it still required some thought. Nicholas had seen Champions and Generals before, but wasn't interested in improving Champions, since he knew very little about them.
Before even thinking any further, Nicholas fully retreated from the salamander and returned to Azotreh's soul. He knew himself well enough to know that he was indecisive, but it wasn't just him to ask. Even though they'd left Azotreh to some slight recovery, Fuzem and Errazorrus were still present.
The dragon was dutifully cleaning up the astral infection and converting it into Astrum. Unlike the other options that escalated in cost, one gram of the purple metal always cost the same to the ability.
When Errazorrus noticed Nicholas striding purposefully towards the ego obelisk, he instead waved the skinny man over. When Nicholas finally got within a few feet of the dragon, a different system window appeared in front of him.
[Would you like to convert Astral Infection to DP?]
Nicholas waved the screen away and stood before the towering dragon. While Errazorrus liked his humanoid form much more, he'd discovered that the massive claws of his true draconic form were better for ripping up the spreading weeds from the astral sea.
"You gonna explain to me what the hell DP is? Or why I got it as an option for conversion after you spawned that little salamander?"
Nicholas paused for a second before saying, "It's another resource, but one seemingly only for dungeons. All I've gotten from it is that 10 of them can ascend one of our salamanders to become a Champion monster."
"Do you want some more to play with, or should we keep making astrum nuggets?"
"I got one for spawning a monster, so keep making astrum. I have no idea where we'll get more without that hole. Anyway, come with me, I have something to discuss with you and Fuzem."
Errazorrus nodded before following Nicholas into the obelisk. Fuzem was watering the flower representing their inventory again before she looked up at them. Or something equivalent from the ball of translucent slime.
Errazorrus sat in one of the chairs, and Fuzem climbed up into another before Nicholas took the third. While the fourth remained empty, none of them felt Azotreh's absence too harshly. Despite sharing a soul, or maybe because of it, they knew that Azotreh's presence would be worse for the kid. They wanted to give them some normalcy before something crazy inevitably happened again.
Nicholas spoke first, pulling up the perk options on the big screen beside the vision through Azotreh's eyes, "As you can see, we can choose one perk out of this list. We apparently got the option as a refund for not getting a blueprint. Do either of you have a suggestion?"
"What do we need right now?" Errazorrus asked.
"We don't really need anything. Azotreh's main body is safe, and so is the nexus. All we need is time and resources, which is why I'm proposing that we ignore all of the specialization options."
"Why wouldn't we specialize?" Fuzem asked, "Wouldn't that make our monsters stronger or something?"
"We don't know that. None of these options come with descriptions. Trust me, I tried to get one for all of them. Trying to select them just asks if you want to choose it. However, assuming that you're correct, I'd still advise against it." Nicholas said.
"I concur," replied Errazorrus, leaving Fuzem a little confused. Errazorrus responded simply, "We don't need stronger monsters at this point. We need quantity over quality for now. Unless choosing a specialization grants the monster double the power at half the cost, it's simply not worth it."
Nicholas nodded as Fuzem took in the information. Eventually, Nicholas continued, "I'd also advise against DX and DP gain bonuses for now. I think they'll be worth it down the road, and normally I'd suggest them immediately, but there are two I've had my eye on."
Nicholas pointed at Autonomous Spawner Creation and Duplicate Summons I. Both were based on quantity over quality, which seemed like the obvious path for now. After explaining that to the others, they agreed with the assessment.
At first, none could choose which was better, until Fuzem suddenly raised one tendril.
"I'm advocating for Autonomous Spawner Creation. Isn't the problem we're facing a combination of time constraints and mental focus? Why not leave it to an automatic process? The only reason we've made it this far is that there are four of us. If one of us is occupied spawning monsters while Azotreh enters another deadly scenario like the tribulation, that ruins our advantage."
After some slight bickering, Fuzem eventually brought the other two around to her opinion. Finally, after the three came to a complete agreement, Nicholas selected Autonomous Spawner Creation as their first perk.
[Congratulations! You have selected your first perk. +100DP]
[Autonomous Spawner Creation - create a structure within your dungeon that will automatically release monsters of one specific variety. This structure will spawn Lesser Monsters as a baseline, with a 10% chance to summon a standard, and a 1% chance to summon an elite. Monsters spawned by this structure will not take up space within your mana pool.
This structure cannot spawn miniboss or above monsters without additional perks.
Requirements: A monster of a specific species with the Broodmaster title, a room dedicated to the spawner, 10 additional monsters of the same species, 1,000DP, 100 Maximum Mana]
They all sighed immediately after. One thousand dungeon points for a single spawner? And an entire room? They didn't even know how to make a room yet.
Looks like they had more work ahead of them.
Mason trudged close behind the others. They'd had a couple of close encounters in the forest, mostly with the strangely large number of monsters, but also with other inhabitants and even other adventurer parties. While the purity priests remained on the forest path, projecting their auras to keep the monsters and beasts at bay, the parties had begun to fight over the rare sighting of a target.
Leo was sure that AZ was still alive somewhere, but even his normally stoic wife was trying to tell him that the child hadn't made it. Maybe the quest had made a mistake, and that blast of light they saw really did kill the kid. But Leo was sure otherwise.
Oddly, both Zinni and Izia also seemed rather confident that the child had survived whatever had happened with that flash of silver lightning. Mason wasn't sure.
At the very least, Mason had found another pet alongside his Vine Cat. A big cat with two tails. It was currently stalking the trees around them, on the lookout for any enemies.
Just as Mason was going to reach out to the cat, it sent a psychic warning to him. He called the others to a stop and stared into the forest where the cat had warned him.
From the forest stepped three massive forms. Easily seven feet tall, these behemoths of green skin and powerful muscle were well known across the world. While their red cousins were rare, the green orc was a common sentient enemy.
The three orcs were staring down at the party with distaste, one of them even spitting into the grass. While they didn't move, the adventurers did immediately, moving into positions. Mason, Zinni, Izia, and Alabast at the back, with Leo and Maria at the front.
One of the orcs chuckled at their attempt before grabbing a massive hatchet from the empty air. The others snorted as one clouded itself in black smoke, and the final orc pulled on a pair of clawed gauntlets. The smoke around the third orc cleared and revealed the mountain of a humanoid in solid iron armor.
"Sapient! At least able to use the Inventory and Armor Swap features!" Alabast half shouted as he conjured needles of pink and purple energy in his hands.
The orc in front said something in a language none of them knew, and the orc in solid armor stepped to the front. A massive curved shield appeared in his hands as Maria moved like the wind. Her feet fell on the ground only once as she leapt into the air.
Mason chanted out three buff spells in quick succession just before her fists landed on the shield. She punched it three times before kicking it and landing behind Leo. The shield was left with a couple of dents, but her hands were bruised and bleeding slightly.
"Retribution damage and bleeding enchantments. At least uncommon rarity, but no higher than rare." She reported as Leo fast cast a hexagonal barrier in front of himself to block the massive hatchet.
Before the pugilist could move in for his own attacks, a massive shadow fell from the trees above the orc and bit into his neck. The mass of muscle yelled and reached back to grab the suddenly attacking cat. The cat bit and clawed into the orc's back, but the orc was stronger and threw the cat into a nearby tree.
Mason winced as the cat hit the thick trunk, but stayed focused on combat. Intelligent enemies with enchanted weapons were no joke. Even without a mage, they would be bad news to any party.
Alabast threw three of his needles at the orc with the shield. He winced as the needles hit the shield, but ultimately passed through. The orc behind the shield yelled in pain as Alabast began to chant again.
Izia raised her axe and brought it down to the ground, causing the earth below their feet to rumble as thick roots sprang up and wrapped around the hatchet-wielding orc's legs. They pulsed red as the orc began to bleed.
Mason took the opportunity to throw a Fur Bolt at the pugilist orc, still bearing down on his new cat. The bolt was almost harmless, but it left three small claw marks on the orc's back. Three marks that began to shine red as the orc finally crushed the head of the large cat under one fist.
"Rage!" Mason shouted as the pugilist orc turned back to the main party. None of them expected a proper orcish rage from any of them, so each put up further guards. Mason mourned his cat, but knew it was a loss he could recoup later. He barely knew the animal.
While the others were distracted by the pugilist, the orc with the hatchet swung brutally into the magical shield wall from the side, not breaking it, but still cracking it. The still confused armored orc took that opportunity to charge into the wall with full force. The shield shattered, and the orc charged right for Izia.
Izia raised her sword, clad in some kind of holy fire shining a bright green, and swung into the orc's shield. Small burns appeared on her robe as the sword hit, but it did slow the orc's momentum enough. With the orc stopped, Zinni raised her axe and swung it into the orc's shield, also taking some retributive damage. But she didn't stop with a single swing.
Only after a dozen swings of the axe did Zinni finally stop. The vine cat around Mason's neck sprang down and wrapped around the armor-clad legs of the orc, further holding it in place. As the little cat dug its thorns into the legs of the orc, Mason felt as if thorns were hitting him as well. He watched his vitality slowly drop until Izia raised her sword again.
In a single flash, her body was covered in wounds. Small thorn wounds, massive gashes, and bruises around her knuckles. She began to chant while the others continued to hold off the hatchet orc and raging pugilist.
Mason watched as the sword in her hand was illuminated once more in the crimson aura of life expenditure, before she swung it once into the armored orc. The shield between them shattered like glass as the sword kept moving right through it, and the orc behind it. His armor began to melt as he was cleanly sliced in two.
The other two orcs only began to attack harder and faster as they watched their comrade get cut down, but it didn't help them. The shield orc was the biggest problem for the team, since most mana-based attacks would be weakened against the iron armor and would have been reflected on its caster. Even so, the attacks of the pugilist kept growing in strength as they kept hitting the toughened hide it called skin.
Thorns, vines, and more psychic attacks from Alabast hit the orc over and over, making it stronger and stronger as it kept fighting. Maria kept the one with the hatchet at bay by making it swing its powerful axe into nearby rocks and trees. Only Leo could have survived a direct hit from that weapon, and Maria was not suicidal.
As Leo kept using more mana to shield the rest of the party, it began to put a visible strain on the armored knight. Even under the heavy plate, they could see him concentrating on weaving spells of protection until the massive orc finally began to slow.
Once it began to run dry on its vigor, Alabast used the nearly forty needles now stuck in its head to hit it with waves of psychic damage. Its brain melted under the assault of the psychic mage, and it fell over dead.
Finally, the whole team turned on the final orc, as it cleaved apart trees and massive fungi alike, chasing the faster Maria. Orcs are powerful, but aren't too fast. Maria was built for similar effects, but invested more in her speed. That little bit saved her life.
The rest of the team held the orc down and pummeled it until it stopped breathing. It was rather easy once Leo used Shield Charge to break one of its legs, and Maria broke the arm with the hatchet.
[Congratulations! Your party has slain Orc x3]
[Base EXP: 100]
[Grade Disparity Bonus: 2x]
[Rank Disparity Bonus: 1x]
[No items detected.]
[You have gained 600 EXP as a party. Each member gains 100 EXP]
Mason leveled up as he collapsed on the ground.
"What was that?" He asked, panting a bit. Even when he put on a strong face, the loss of a pet was hard on the young man. Not just for the magical backlash, but emotionally.
Leo fell to the ground opposite the young man and began polishing his shield. But it was Izia who responded, "That was combat against intelligent enemies, kid."
She sighed as she sat gracefully on the grass, with Zinni joining her a moment later. Maria sat on Leo's lap, while Alabast sat on his own stump.
It didn't take long for them to discuss implications. There was clearly at least a village of orcs nearby to have gear like that. It wasn't something they wanted to encounter, so they quickly stood up and left the clearing, with Mason looking behind at the decapitated cat one more time.