World Sphere - 185 - Dungeon Seeding (Patreon)

Chapter 185 Dungeon Seeding

I watched as Adrial and Kiara tore through the first floor of the Progenitor Dungeon. Adrial experienced trouble with burning through her aether too quickly using her new haste ability. Adrial had a similar problem with using her tier four confusion ability on the tier one creatures. It was unnecessary, but she didn’t like dirtying her pristine white coat.

Talia and Sammie walked with me as I let the cats play and get accustomed to their new abilities. Sammie’s axe rested on her shoulder as she shadowed me and Talia. Talia was a descendant of Sana Velin and managed my delve teams. She was quickly becoming a very good combat mage as well. She divided her time equally between delving and administration. Adrial dropped another unihorn goat at my feet. I gave her a scratch and used my tissue extraction spell to harvest the parts.

Talia laughed, “If you don’t mind, I would like to borrow your phantom cats for my next run. Doing nothing for once would be a relief.”

“Maybe. I will see how they feel about it. They still have some growing to do, but I want them to get more combat experience. How are the harvests?” I moved the useful parts of the goat into the dimensional closet. I tossed the tiny aether crystal to Sammie as a bonus for coming with us. She must have over thirty by now.

“The three teams’ harvests are up 11% from last month. We should see an additional increase as Sana will hire us to escort the students at the Dungeon Academy through the level of the Frost Vault.” She smirked. Taking over the Dungeon Academy was partly to get all the guaranteed access times to the Frost Vault that the Academy owned. I had checked, and they owed one out of every three delve slots. In the past, if the Academy did not use them, they sold them to delve teams. That was not going to happen. Also, one hundred percent of the harvests from Academy delves were retained by the Academy. This meant I should be flush with honey for The Shiny Platinum to brew Frost Mead.

Three goats later, Talia said conversationally, “Did you hear about Lachlan?”

“I know Remy terminated him for stealing. He wasn’t paying for materials from your harvests and using them to brew potions to sell himself,” I responded. Lachlan Cade was the first alchemist I had hired at Talia’s suggestion. The twins, Mera and Fera, never liked him. He worked out of the Shiny Platinum next to the brewery to supply our delvers with low-quality potions. Later, I hired Otto from the lowlands, a much better alchemist.

Talia continued her story. “He opened a shop in the capital. He was stamping his wax seals with the Shiny Platinum logo.” She replied guiltily.

I looked crossly at her. “No, I had not heard that. Should I talk to Remy or even Loriel?” I asked as I felt my temper rise a bit. The Shiny Platinum and Shiny Platinum Delving logo was a nine-headed hydra. We put it on everything we sold as part of a branding campaign. We focused on quality, and \ outside parties using it could hurt our brand.

Sammie behind us answered me, “The boys and I took care of it. Went into his shop and took the stamp and broke the seals on all the potions with it.” The big blonde lumberjack-turned-delver was smiling. The boys she was referring to were Hadrian and Cesar, two brothers. Although Sammie was involved with Lana, I knew Sammie frequently drank with the brothers—as well as a number of other delvers. They were becoming a tight-knit family.

“So, is it going to be a problem?” I asked, thinking about Lachlan whining to the authorities.

Talia responded, “Unlikely. Lachlan filed a complaint, but Remy filed one first. It will come up in the courts, but when Remy fired him for stealing, he noted that the stamp seal was missing when his lab was inventoried with the Magistrates.” She took a deep breath and added, “Lachlan has been bad-mouthing you to anyone who will listen and just took a position as an assistant teacher at the Dungeon Academy in the Capital after he shuttered his shop.”

I wasn’t mad. I had enough good will among the citizens that all he was doing was angering people. “Interesting. So, the Adventurers Guild took him in then. Guildmaster Huckle is trying to irritate me. He will probably be the one irritated in the end.” I whistled for the cats. They plodded over, Kiara with a live squirming blink bunny in her mouth and Adrial, a dead unihorn goat. “Good job. Now, work together on the hippogriff.”

Adrial dashed off eagerly, and Kiara sent me a message. “Sister. Not. Think. Only Attack.”

“Well, help her understand strategy then. If she gets hurt, then it is your fault, too.” I said, but then the shriek of the hippogriff sounded not too far away. We all walked to find a happy Adrial with her jaw wrapped around the dead hippogriff. She must have dashed forward with her speed and got it before it could get airborne.

I just shook my head. “Let’s try the next level.” I pointed to the entrance in the mound to the next layer.  Adrial released the hippogriff and bounded on her six legs excitedly toward the entrance, soon disappearing. “Sammie, collect the reward,” I stated as I moved to follow the impatient phantom cat.

Kiara’s voice echoed in my head. “See. Not. Think.” But I could see Kiara’s tail twitching in anticipation as well. She may have talked a good game, but her body language revealed her true disposition.

The second floor was a massive orchard with blink dogs and kobolds. Adrial had already torn open a blink dog by the time we descended. Kiara soon joined her as they had not hunted on this level solo before. Adrial had some trouble with the blink dogs as they were much smarter than the blink bunnies.

More than once, Adrial would hasten herself and sprint forward, only to find the blink dog had avoided her charge. She would then waste Aether accelerating again. The second time she always got her prey as the blink dog ability took time to recharge.

Kiara was doing better. She relied on her camouflage ability to sneak up on the blink dog and then use her confusion ability to stun them. Then, it was just a matter of breaking their neck in her jaws. After four kills, she was bored. “Scaly. Little. Men. Now?” She asked.

“The kobolds are dangerous as they had ranged weapons. But we can move to that part of the orchard.” As we walked, Sammie was picking apples. These apples had sour vinegar tasting flesh. The vinegar was of excellent quality, and we had presses producing it and selling it as a finished product.

Remy had complained that the margins for the time involved were too small, but I overruled him and had the delvers continue harvesting. Vinegar was a rare product in Skyholme, and we used it to make our sourdough bread at the Shiny Platinum. It also allowed us to make pickles for the Shiny Platinum.

After a few hours, I found Adrial with her tail twitching and spying down the owlbear in the center of the orchard that guarded the entrance to the next. “Not today. I had to heal you a number of times from the kobolds when you got surrounded.” She growled in dismay at not being able to challenge the hulking creature.

Kiara was nearby, her white coat still pristine and free of blood. “Me. Try. Mind. Scramble.” I looked at the owlbear and then at Kiara.

“Okay. I will be ready to intercede.” Kiara crouched and started to sneak among the trees. Her coat shifted and blended in with the ground as she moved. When the bipedal monstrosity turned away from her, she sprinted forward. The owlbear never had a chance. It was frozen as its brain overloaded, and Kiara leaped onto its back and drove it to the ground.

Her jaws were too small to get purchase on the neck to break it. She spat out feathers and hissed angrily. Adrial bounded in and body checked her sister out of the way. Her larger jaws found purchase, and her fangs sunk in. She whipped her head, pulling the spine free with a crunch. Kiara was not happy with her kill-stealing sister. “My. Fight. Win. Adrial. Steal.”

“That was great!” I praised both cats. “You worked together like a real delve team to take down a dangerous monster!” Kiara tilted her head, considering my words. Adrial didn’t understand what I said but purred because it sounded like praise to her.

Kiara eventually spoke to me as Sammie was collecting the reward for killing the floor guardian. “I.Think. Adrial. Work.” I think Kiara was saying she was the brains of the operation. Adrial was the muscle. I explained what Kiara had said to Talia, and we laughed. We were not headed to the third level, a beach with water elementals and giant crabs. The creatures there would put the cats at too much of a disadvantage. 

We prepared to exit the dungeon, and I was proud of the cats. Half a day, they were already mixing their new abilities and not hesitating in combat. They needed to understand efficient aether management, but other than that, I thought they were ready for other easy dungeons; getting them experience with different foes would help.

Outside the dungeon were dozens of people from the Duskhunters. Crates lined the one side of the path, and Overseer Warren was walking the row of crates with Relik. I approached to see what was going on. “Ah, good. You are finally out! We didn’t want to disturb you.” The Overseer said jovially. “We have our first seeding run prepared.”

“Already?” I asked. I had been part of the post-dungeon survey or conversations about what the specific seeding would be. I only asked for spell books to be incorporated in hopes they would be added to rewards for defeating a floor guardian.

The excited, robust overseer answered. “The Duskhunters are extremely efficient! They got all twenty-three types of tier-one slimes here in less than a day!” Relik waved from a short distance away, and I saw Maerlyn caring for one of the crates. I recognized most of the thirty-some Duskhunters here.

“How will this work?” I asked, moving closer to peer into the various creates. Slimes were one of the most common monsters in dungeons. Their slow speed usually made them easy to deal with, but some varieties had unique surprises. Lightning slimes couldn’t shoot lightning but if you hit them with a melee weapon, they would send a strong bolt of current into you, potentially paralyzing you for a few seconds.

Overseer Warren unrolled the maps they had created during their survey of the five floors. “We will seed one type of each type on each level with two dozen tier 1 crystals nearby for them to feed on.  Timing will be everything! We need all the slimes released, consume the crystals, and get everyone clear of the dungeon. The dungeon should realize there are no delvers present and clean up the space, absorbing the slimes and the crystals. If we are lucky, it will assimilate the slimes; if not, we will try again.”

I was confused, “How will we know if the effort was successful?”

The Overseer pointed at me, smiling at my insight, “Excellent question! The answer is we bring in a few slimes and see if the dungeon controls them when we release them. If it does, then it has taken on the creature's unique aetheric pattern into its consciousness!”

There really didn’t seem to be much science involved—just luck. Talia was on my hip. “If they are already seeding, do you want me to head to the lowlands?” I had told Talia I would send two delve teams to low-land dungeons to try and farm dungeon spellbooks. We thought we would have a lot more time before their expedition.

“Yes. Take your two best teams. You can use the portal to reach the Silver Sand Dungeon in The Sadian Empire.” There were four tier-one spell books there and one tier-two that dropped regularly there. It might be easier to purchase the spell books, but the teams could use the experience in other dungeons. “Half of your harvest goes to Overseer Warren. Give the other half to Remy to sell in our Academy magic shop.”

A smile cracked Talia’s face. Sammie was just as excited as the two headed off to prepare. If the Progenitor Dungeon was being shut down for seeding, then it made sense to send my delve teams away. The lost income would be a problem and I needed to go pirate hunting soon. I stayed and watched the elaborate dance of the Duskhunters as they entered the dungeon with the crates. They had to time everything perfectly with the team that was going to the fifth level. Relik and his team made up that group, so I didn’t think it would be an issue. Maerlyn was standing next to me after everyone had entered, even the Overseer.

“How is it going?” I asked her. I had recruited her to help seed monsters into the dungeon. Stealing her from Gareth’s team.

She smiled, happy with her circumstances. “Amazing. I am barely needed, but I am learning so much. I am heading back to Lolth to help with the next capture. Relik told me to give you this.” She gave me a small envelope. Curious, I opened it to find an invoice and winced.

I handed it back. “Get this to Remy. He will handle it.” If the bill for just lowly slimes was twenty-thousand plus gold, what would stronger monsters be? Of course, according to the invoice, most of the gold was for the seventy Duskhunters involved in helping seed the dungeon. Relik and his delve team were probably worth more than twenty thousand gold themselves, so I shouldn’t complain.

The cats flanked me as I returned to the Black Spire to check on Toblan’s progress. A rumble through the ground, as I approached, told me he was still mapping the runes that protected the tower. I entered the Spire, and Bleiz appeared to my right. “Best to leave the gnome alone. He has been pulling out what little hair he has left.”

“So, no progress?” I asked, disappointed.

Bleiz hedged, “Maybe he is making progress, but he is cursing in a dozen different languages, so I cannot be sure.”

“I will go talk to him. Maybe I can take a quick trip and parlay with some pirates. I want to be here when he makes his attempts, though.” Bleiz fell in with me as we climbed to the tower’s fourth floor and the sealed door.

Toblin was sitting on the steps, looking at the door in a staring contest. “Progress?” I inquired.

He didn’t look at me, keeping his focus. “A lot. But it is like an onion. Every layer I reveal, there is another layer underneath.” He turned to face me. “And I hate onions.”

“When will your first attempt be?” I asked.

“A week. A month. A year. I don’t know. I can’t rush this. One mistake and I will probably die and maybe take the island with me. The wards are definitely connected to at least one powerful aether stone.” His eyes were bloodshot, and I was sure he had lost weight.

“Can you wait a week? I have an errand to run.” I requested respectfully.

He waved me off, “At least a week. Yes, yes.” There was a lot of doubt in his voice, and I started to think he couldn’t do it. It was clear he was putting his full effort into the attempt.

“Good. I will hold you to that.” I turned and descended.

“Are you leaving today? Isn’t Loriel’s ball two days away?” Bleiz asked.

“What? Really? I guess I will miss it. Aelyn can send my regrets.” I replied like I hadn’t realized that little fact.

“Give me a few hours to talk with the other Wolfsguard keeping an eye on the gnome, and I will go with you. Who else are you taking? And what is the mission?” Bleiz asked. By his tone, I could tell he needed a vacation from the gnome.

“The cats, you, me…” I thought for a few minutes. Just about everyone was occupied. I was sure Aelyn would come if I asked her, but if I asked her, she would make sure I waited two more days to attend Loriel’s gala. “Leda, Neoma and Tibault.” Leda was a great navigator and could be my backup pilot for the Maelstrom. Neoma and Tibault, two Wolfsguard, had been serving as my bodyguards recently.

“I will be on the Maelstrom getting ready. Gather everyone.” I turned and checked the Maelstrom. Remy had it loaded with crates going to Solaris City, so I pulled some Wolfsguard to unload them and used the communication stone to explain it to Remy. We resupplied from the Shiny Two.

Leda came up the ramp first, “You needed me for a trip? Are we headed to the Sadian Empire?”

“No. We are doing a pirate hunting loop.” I replied.

Leda’s face was blank. “I thought Loriel had a…”

“Yeah, I don’t think I will be attending.” Kiara now understood the conversation and seemed to snicker.

“I am not telling Aelyn,” Leda said as she moved to the maps to prepare. I gave her the coordinates and the bounty sheets I had obtained at the Goldreach Adventurer’s Hall.

Bleiz, Tibault, and Neoma arrived, and I took off. As soon as I was in the air, I used the comm stone to get Aelyn. “Where are you? Remy wouldn’t tell me and looks guilty.”

I winced as I spoke, “I am going to do a quick loop to look for pirates.”

“How long is a quick loop?” she asked suspiciously.

“A week,” I answered, bringing the Maelstrom up to speed.

“A week! Storme, the Gala is in two days! Can’t this wait?”

“No, deliver my regrets.” I could imagine Aelyn fuming on the other end. Rather than say anything, she cut the communication, which was probably worse.