Dungeon Robotics 9 - 13

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Regan

Less than a day after talking to Louella, my party was gathered in front of the tunnel entrance leading further down into Obolus’s dungeon. The drills had been operating for almost two days and had failed to breach more than half a meter. Obolus just had too much mana to reinforce his floors with.

I did find it ironic that I was about to dive into a dungeon as a dungeon core. The time with Alara felt like a different circumstance. I had basically blasted my way down to her core thus it wasn’t a true dive. I glanced at the gathered members of my party and grinned. They were probably some of the most powerful beings in the world right now.

Everyone was checking their gear, the ones that needed gear at least and getting ready for the dungeon. What information we had on it had already been explained to them. Alara and Soza were each hanging on my arms while glaring at each other. Well, Alara was glaring at Soza. Julie looked on with a jealous expression, but I did my best to ignore that.

Clearing my throat, I drew everyone’s attention. “I suppose as the leader of this little group it is only right if I gave some sort of speech.” My children laughed while Duilin just pounded his chest. “Unlike most parties, this one isn’t attempting to gain wealth or power. We already have that in spades. No. This is to prevent destruction. Evil of another form than the necromancers we’ve dealt with until now. Obolus would devour everything he can and then some. We will stop this from happening.”

I looked at everyone again and nodded. They didn’t need a long speech. They all knew me and we ready for what was going to come. I held my right hand out and a massive anti-particle cannon formed around my hand. Doing the same with my left, a shield that covered my entire body appeared. Metal continued to flow until my already adamantium body was further armored in heavy plates. Golden and orange, streams of energy washed off of it in places. It would take quite the weapon to get through my defense.

All my children did the same, pulling new armor and weapons Jarvis and I had designed over the months for them from the dungeon. Everyone in the party was tier three or four. Adding the new equipment would make us virtually unstoppable. At least, that was the plan. I would have to see how my technology matched up with monsters from over an eon ago.

Alara hopped up on my shoulder. I had suppled her with new equipment as well. Her armor was gold and green made with various plants I’d researched since coming to Murgin. She would be able to yield a much better result from them than I ever could. She just suited nature mana better than I did.

Soza walked next to me. She had a suit of bright red armor made from her own scales. A long sword that had to be close to four meters rested on her shoulder. From what I could see, it was her fang and made me wonder what would happen if she lost the sword before transforming back into a dragon.

Nova was my other side. He looked every part holy knight. With his suit of scaled armor being bright white and a shield that was equally as large as mine. It was shaped like a wing, much like Soza’s sword being her fang. I couldn’t picture anything getting through this new Nova.

Anubis and Vetur had seen some upgrades from their time in the wilds of the north. You don’t go through that much fighting without a little growth. They were both still the battle happy idiots of before though. It made me pleased to see that some things don’t change so quickly.

The mana rolling off the group was almost physical in form being so dense. The mana ahead of us was still denser by a level. I might have been able to burn a decent chunk of the mana that dungeon had available, but it was merely a drop in the bucket. Obolus had been on autopilot for the last five plus thousand years. His mana reserve would be frighteningly massive.

Moving into the tunnels, the environment quickly shifted from cold and dry to hot and humid. Given that Obolus’ form was snake, I felt that it would be close to the Amazon jungle or a swamp. Part of me was excited to see how another dungeon might operate given that the only dungeons I had technically been to, were both adversely affected by the necromancers before I was able to see them in their original form.

The tunnel kept its natural visual the entire time we were moving down through it. There were branches and offshoots, but I had been able to use some of the tech back in the camp to map the lower sections of the dungeon. Even without that, I could use my mana sight to follow the flow of energy through the structure.

Anubis held his hand up at the front of the line. “Father. The tunnel is changing.”

Striding up next to him, I peeked through the opening to see what was in store. I knew to expect of the size from the scans, but it was still ridiculous to see in person. A cavern that mimicked the surface spread out in front of us. Only the walls nearest us could be seen. Clouds and distance kept the much of the floor from being seen from the entrance.

A forest stretched out in front of us. Just from our spot at the entrance, I could make out four monsters that were the size of small mountains. From our scans, the cavern was well over two thousand kilometers in diameter. The path down was on the other side of the cavern, after that we knew about the next floor, but the mana blocked us from scanning through.

“And I thought I was the one for grandeur,” I said after looking my fill.

“Your dungeon is grand!” Alara said wrapping her arms around my head.

“Thanks.” I glanced back around the floor again but couldn’t find a path that one of the giant monsters didn’t block. Even flight would be difficult since from what I could see they could easily reach the ceiling if they desired. I wouldn’t put it past the dungeon to have other methods to deal with people trying to fly through the air since that’s what I would do.

The biggest issue was that the monster dungeons weren’t created to be fair like the dungeons back on the continent. I felt like they were almost a prototype of sorts and a lot of the fairness that would be inherit in a dungeon was lacking. I was sure there was going to be a floor that was designed to kill one hundred percent of the people that attempted it. My hope is that we had already blasted past it, literally.

“What do you want to do?” Duilin asked though I could see the desire for battle was burning in his eyes.

“We’re pressed for time. We’ll charge right down the middle. From what I can see the monsters are all tier four. We can assume that anything in front of us is equal in power. Don’t worry about mercy.”

“Just what I like to hear!” Duilin shouted slamming his hammer into his open palm. “Then enough waiting! Let us be on our way!” He rushed forward and jumped off the cliff into the forest.

“I agree! It is time that death visited this place forgotten by time!” Anubis said jumping after him.

“To battle brother!” Vetur was next.

I sighed but gave the rest of the party a grin before I jumped after the three. Falling close to a kilometer, I landed next to the three and was soon joined with the rest. We formed a circle more for show than anything. Each of the members of this party were walking one-man armies.

Speaking of armies, the sound of more bodies dropping from the cliff soon started to echo through the forest as the automata that I brought along joined us on the forest floor. They were all equipped with exo-suits and mechs that should help put them on par with the monsters we were going to encounter in the dungeon.

I tuned out the chatter of the force from my mind. The local network the automata used to communicate meant that they were virtually silent to outside observers. It also was a safety mechanism that would save the minds of any individuals that were destroyed in combat. The force was to secure a path of retreat should one be necessary while pushing forward with us. I felt comfortable knowing they had our backs.

~~

We had been in the forest for over an hour and I was being to wonder if the giant monsters were the only threat on the floor. Of course, as soon as the thought went through my head, a jaguar that’s back had over a dozen snake heads emerging from it dropped down on Anubis.

The poor creature didn’t even get to enjoy its successful ambush, as black blades ripped it to shreds from Anubis’s outstretched hand. The mana that made up the creature was then pulled into Anubis without wasting a drop. The green metal that made up parts of his body glowed before a black smoke billowed out.

“That was a bit of a letdown,” Anubis said with actual regret.

I patted his shoulder with a chuckle. “I’m sure there are more where that came from. As it was supposed to kill via ambush, it was likely weaker towards the frontal assault.”

“Of course! I shall hope for the next monster to be more of a challenge.” Anubis threw his fist into the air then turned to march on. I gave Alara a chuckle and we followed after him. I wasn’t sure about the other monsters on the floor, but the giant ones would give us some trouble.

The one we were heading for was a giant two head beast that I wasn’t even sure how to accurately describe. Given how much time had passed, I was willing to bet it was extinct in the outside world. It had six limbs with tow that ended in spiked fists that could only be used in crushing. I couldn’t see any eyes, but something told be it had zero difficulty in tracking its prey. Sound, mana, hell even smell. There were plenty of alternatives that it had at its disposal.

As we got closer to the giant, the smaller monsters became an increasing harassment. After the third attack, that Duilin easily dealt with, I began to notice that the monsters were overtly sluggish. For ambush monster, the timing between their pounce and attack was delayed. Without a long-term study, I wouldn’t know the true cause. Part of me, however, felt it was due to us being the first invaders in who knows how many eons.

“Sir.” I motioned for the party to come to a stop as I got a direct message on the network.

“What is it?”

“The forward camp has been established. We’ve encountered three of the creatures you warned us about, but all three were dealt with ease.”

“Very good. Push the perimeter as far as safely possible. Once we’ve defeated the Behemoth in front of us, I’ll let you know its safe to move up.”

“Understood. We’ll be waiting.” I closed the communication line and nodded to the others.

It wasn’t long after that before the Behemoth’s leg came into view through the trees in the forest. The only indication that the thing was even alive was the moving of its part of its body. I strode forward to get my first good close up of the creature.

The creature had been alive for so long that there were areas that had gained foliage of its own. Plants at the level of underbrush grew over the bottom half of the creature. I almost wanted to test leaving the creature be to see if we could just ignore it, but that option was taken from me as the creature started to move. Hostility rolling off it almost like water. It might be old, but it still answered to the dungeon that gave it life.

I rubbed my temple. “Time to fight a mountain.”

Alara placed her hand on the top of my head. “Probably for the last time either,” she said with a chuckle.

I laughed and gave her a kiss. “Probably not.”

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