Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 341 (Patreon)

Chapter 341 – Prepared

My ‘boss room’ in the center of the pyramid was a fairly simple affair. A throne of carved and polished obsidian sat upon a dais in the middle of the room, which was lit by braziers in each of the room’s four corners. The dais was a square roughly twenty feet on a side, and it was the only ‘safe’ portion of the room.

Well, safety was relative. After all, that is where my avatar sat as the boss, with my pets Nichole and Clarissa at my side. Everywhere that was not the platform was only safe temporarily. The tiles of the floor, each three feet on a side, were all trapped with different effects. However, the traps were not always on. Every six seconds, half the traps would be armed, and the others disarmed, in a checkerboard pattern.

So far, so good. However, the trap pattern changed partway through the fight, moving from a checkerboard, to having entire sections of the floor arm themselves, and then later a sweeping motion like a wave circling the room, or having the traps closest to the platform arm, and it spreading out in a wave from there, before ‘bouncing’ on the back wall and coming back towards the platform.

That was just the traps, mind you. The dais also had a magic barrier around it, preventing magic from crossing the barrier, even helpful magic. That meant that anyone who wanted to use spells against me, or to heal their party members, needed to get in close, where they would be in danger. Not ideal for mages and healers, obviously. But that wasn’t the worst of it, not by far.

The barrier did not prevent physical attacks from penetrating, either way, and creatures could pass through easily enough. However, anyone thinking that they could stay back and shoot from safety would have to deal with the traps, and the undead that spawned in the room at regular intervals. And the traps were all made so that dungeon creatures would not set them off, allowing the undead to move freely to chase anyone standing in the back ranks, or come up to the platform to attack parties that tried to rush my throne.

None of the traps were instant-death things. Not on this difficulty, at least. They were actually set to random magical effects, which changed each time the traps cycled to their armed state. So, some would have lightning bolts, or jets of flame, while others would petrify the unlucky adventurer, hit them with one of the stripping beams from earlier in the dungeon, or conjure spikes to skewer someone in ways that would be painful and debilitating, but not immediately fatal, unless they were shorter than average. Even then, there would be enough of the body remaining for resurrection magics to work. But there was no way for anyone but me to know what effects would come out of a trap when it was tripped before it was actually unleashed, making defending against the traps incredibly difficult.

The idea was to force the group to either get in close, where the squishier members of the group would be vulnerable, or to constantly be on the move, paying as much attention to their footwork as they could, while also avoiding enemy attacks. Doing that would drain their concentration and stamina more and more as the fight went on. That meant that, the longer the fight lasted, the more likely someone would make a mistake that would take them out of the fight. Losing one person would affect the team, hopefully like the first domino to fall causing a chain reaction.

However, I wasn’t completely heartless. Even on this difficulty, I wanted things to be tough, but fair. There were some safeties tossed into the room’s settings to keep people from being completely overwhelmed. Someone who set off a trap could not set off another trap for thirty seconds. Someone disabled by traps (such as by being petrified or having spikes impale large portions of their body) would not set off any more traps until they were no longer disabled. So, people had at least a little room to make mistakes and learn the patterns.

Clarissa Matthews

Ninetailed Adamantinefur Kitsune Female

Level 7 Soulsworn Aegis of Kuronoth / Divine Weaponsmith

Titles: Reborn, Slave, Dungeon Bound, Devoted, Tough

Market Value: 54,243,250 gp

Of course, my pets had advanced, along with everything else. The former Kitsune fighter had blossomed into an absolute beast of a defensive fighter, since her fur was as tough as adamantine plate armor, and the armor she wore only improved her defenses, to say nothing of the shield she carried, which was enchanted with [Spell Reflection]. For a weapon, she had the improved version of her [Foxfire] to use magic to attack, as well as a khopesh, a sickle-shaped blade that looked like the bastard son of a sword and a battleaxe.

Nichole Scji

Sinsterly Sanctified Human Female

Level 7 Binder of the Demonic Horde / Grand Overseer

Titles: Genius, Slave, Dungeon Bound, Devoted, Quick-tongued

Market Value: 53,450,900 gp

Nichole, on the other hand, had progressed down the path of a Warlock to become a Demoncaller, and then finally her new, Tier 3 class. Her black robes were slit up either side, allowing her to move easily, and the dagger in her hand was a powerful focus to enhance her spells. Meanwhile, the amulet around her neck made summoning and controlling demons far easier for her. If one gave her enough time, she could bring an entire army to bear, easily enough to destroy foes even ten or twenty levels above her. Unfortunately, the nature of the dungeon did not play to her greatest strengths, in that regard.

Kazoluth

Greater Balor Male

Level 7 Abyssal Flameblade / Slayer of the Sanctified

Titles: Familiar, Tough, Brute

Market Value: 42,34,502 gp

Which was not to say that Nichole did not have servants at hand. The Greater Balor kneeling by her side had been thoroughly tamed by her, and made into her familiar. He stood easily fifteen feet tall if he was an inch, and wielded a blade of pure Abyssal Flame in one hand, and a whip of the same in his other. Fire and shadow roiled about him as the demon bowed his head submissively to my pet, but that did not mean he was harmless. Any attackers who took this demon lightly would not survive long enough to use their escape charms.

Nameless

Godtouched Soul Slime

Level 7 Untouchable Soul

Titles: Magic-Eater

Market Value: 67,240,500 gp

And the final bit of the dungeon fight for this floor was a single slime, which I had given the Name of Nameless, as a joke. Soul Slimes were interesting creatures. They lacked a truly physical body, so they primarily used Possession to take over a creature’s body, like the Wraith slimes earlier in the dungeon. However, a Soul Slime was immune to even magical weapons, and could only be harmed by spells or similar effects. Unfortunately, this beast had a title which gave it increased resistances to magic, reduced magic damage by half, and caused the slime to heal by 10% of the original effect’s damage. While the thing had barely any HP, it was one of the nastier monsters in the dungeon that wasn’t just completely unfair or a boss in its own right.

Honestly, this was not the original form of this boss room. However, with how long it had taken anyone to get past Shai Hulud and actually get to this room, I’d had time to make tweaks, and changes, especially on this more difficult version of the dungeon. If the adventurers didn’t want me to get ‘creative’ with things, then they shouldn’t have let me get bored.

“How long until our guests get here, Master?”

I chuckled as I reached out to stroke Clarissa’s chin, “Now, now, pet. Don’t get too hasty. They have come a long way, and fought hard through the dungeon. The Priestess and her trick with the altar gave them quite the fright, I believe, so it is only natural that they would take a moment to catch their breath and recover.”

“Yes,” Nichole nodded. “That spell their priestess used was quite effective, but it definitely appeared to take all her mana, and probably left her with a debuff, as well. They’ll wait for that to clear, or use consumables to rid her of whatever penalty she got, before coming here. They’re too smart to do otherwise.”

“True,” Clarissa nodded. “But it has been ages since we got to do anything, so I was hoping that they would hurry. Not that I enjoy fighting these enemies in a kill or be killed battle, but something to change things up, you know?”

“I understand your frustration, Clarissa. And it is important for me to keep my pets happy. So, what would you like, in order to get this ‘change of pace’?”

Clarissa’s breath caught in her throat, as she looked at me. She took a moment to compose herself, and then said, “Well, Master, if possible, could we visit Swamptown? Or the moon annex? Or one of the other areas within the dungeon’s domain? I understand that we cannot leave the dungeon’s territory without causing trouble, and a version of us will need to be here for any challengers, but that doesn’t mean we have to stay below all the time, does it?”

“So, you want permission to go visit some of my other holdings, then? Well, I can understand that. What do you think, Nichole? Do you also wish to see the sun again?”

“With respect, Master,” Nichole bowed her head to me, “that would be a very welcome gift. Either that, or allowing us to rotate through the other floors. For instance, if we went to the first floor for a spell, and allowed Dana and Mari to take a spell here at your side, where they could rest a bit, while we got to play?”

“An interesting idea,” I said, leaning back to consider her words. And, in truth, it was a fascinating idea. It would allow me to shake up the early floors without actually increasing the difficulty too much, or going through the trouble of reshaping the floor. Perhaps rotating all the girls on a schedule? Even the Vampire and his brides? There was something to be said for that kind of ‘fun’.

On the other hand, that type of randomness might serve to discourage the different dungeon delvers. After all, they had worked hard to develop different tactics to face the bosses, in the environment where they were found. Changing the boss fights like that would make a lot of people upset. They liked things being predictable, since knowing the bosses they were up against meant that they stood a better chance of coming out of things alive.

That said, I couldn’t discount the idea entirely. Perhaps a scheduled day for the randomness? Like a ‘Shuffle Saturday’, or something like that? On that day, the bosses would get mixed around, so my pets could enjoy a change of pace, and people would have new challenges to overcome. A slight boost to XP and loot when facing a ‘shuffle boss’ would entice people to continue diving, even on the days where they won’t know what is coming.

Yes, I could see this idea having legs. “I will consider that proposal, Nichole. I think a meeting with Miguel, to get his opinion on things, and give the adventurers some warning about this in advance would be good, but I like the idea of it. And, Clarissa, if you do well in this upcoming fight, then we shall go to visit the moon annex. Or perhaps we can go and visit some of the other dungeons that I have ties to. Yes, I think if you all do well, then rewarding you pets with a field trip outside the dungeon would be perfect.”

I held up a hand to stop any further conversation, and turned my gaze to the entrance. “Enough for now. Our guests have arrived.”