"Shit quick Kyle you need to assign loot to Spooky so if they beat him they'll get something nice and realize its worth letting us grow instead of harvesting your core! To make better loot focus on that quiver you got and concentrate on dismantling it!" Tilly yells at me frantically as I follow her orders as fast as possible. As the quiver is dismantled I get a notification saying I've learned the basic enchantment swiftness and I can now enchant the loot my mobs drop. Following a hunch I focus on the hatchet loot and soon its enchanted as a [Whistling Hatchet of Rapid Strikes] and its border goes from a gray color to a blue.
"Perfect you beast me to it! Now put that on Spooky as his drop with a percent chance but guarantee it for his first defeat so people will know he has good loot and will come back! Also the border is the items rarity. Grey is either junk or gear that's been damaged or is to basic to really do much with. White is okay stuff, green uncommon, blue is rare, purple is epic, gold is legendary and red is mythic. Getting a rare piece of gear for your boss is a great start so as they come in you try to make more Castyr's so there's more than two monsters in your dungeon." Tilly says as I focus on creating another basic castyr in my core room as I watch the entranceway.
Soon shadows appear and voices can be heard before a small group of five shows up in the entranceway. There are five men standing in the hallway, most of their gear is leather but I also see a few pieces of chainmail and some other glints of jewelry on them. They seem to be pretty grungy and several of them have old bloodstains dotting their gear.
"They look like bandits, not exactly a great first group but they don't seem to be very strong honestly. But what's that behind the last one?" Tilly asks as I focus behind the last bandit and see a strange creature with its wrists and ankles chained together and being pulled around by the last bandit. Curious I inspect the creature.
[Species-Gilded Geckonian Condition-Enslaved/Wounded]
Geckonians are a common humanoid species of lizardkin that inhabit various swamp and humid forest area's. Peaceful by nature these creatures are unusually curious of the world and wander in search of new things to learn much to the delight of slavers and tamers. Although humanoid these beings are classed as monsters due to not having an established society or culture. Though small in stature they possess knowledge on many types of magic and can be formidable magical fighters.
'Poor little guy, looks like he was turned into a slave and now he's gonna die here but at least I'll get his blueprint! Magic gecko people here we come!' i say getting excited until I notice Tilly watching the geckonian with a pensive look on her face.
"I want to try something Kyle if that's ok with you? Can you order the castyr and Spooky to not target or cause damage to the geckonian? If we can get him to offer himself to you then we'll have a mage that keeps his memories and skills and maybe he can give us an idea of where we are and what's around us. Plus monsters like him are perfect options to turn into future bosses since they can already think and have experience instead of being born with nothing." Tilly explains as I nod along at her idea. Having an already strong person would definitely be cool plus it'd be a new person to talk to and we could figure out what's up with the ghost town outside! I give the order to the castyr and Spooky and watch as the group begin talking to each other.
"Never noticed no cave here a'fore. You sur this ain't no trick?" says one of the grungy bandits with a mace strapped to his hip.
"Tellin' ya that this here is one of thems dungeons that the venturers have. If we can beat it we may get some loots and be able to fight them betters plus look its small and only has one beastie, we got this." says a burly bandit that I assume is the leader considering all his gear seems in better shape and stronger than the rest.
"I say we make the damn scale skin lead the way, never know what could be hiding in these things. Worst case we lose a little gold and sell his skin instead of him." Says the bandit that's holding the chain connected to the shackles of the Geckonian. The rest of the group agree before shoving the small lizard man into the room first, its small body shaking in fear as it stares at the Castyr across from it.
"What's dis den? The beastie doesn't seem ta be an angry one, maybe Ol' Rolfy can tame the lil bugger and we can have a new playmate!" The leader says as a thin bandit makes his way to the front and approaches behind the Geckonian while watching the castyr. As he gets closer the Castyr finally looks up and stares at the bandits approach with a glint of anger in its eyes, but as it looks down its eyes settle on the Geckonian and it calms itself before going back to its feigned sleep.
"Definitely peaceful I just need to touch the lil guy and I'm sure I can turn him into a good pet. With a little training I can probably get him to evolve and get out of this slag shire." The thin bandit mutters under his breath as he walks past the Geckonian and towards the Castyr.
All of a sudden the Castyr chuffs once as he opens an eye and I swear I can almost notice a smile on its furry face before the thin bandit lets out a scream and fall into the hidden pitfall, his cries cut short as one of the earthen spikes pierces through the poor mans throat and ends him.
[Congratulations you have killed your first adventurer! Experience gained 15/100]
As the bandit group begin to get louder and one of them rushes in to try and pull the dead bandit the bandit that holds the leash of the Geckonian walks to it and starts beating the poor creature.
"You stupid damned lizard! When we say to scout that means you always stay in front of us you stupid*slap*damn*slap*monster!*squelch" the bandit screams in rage as he punctuates each word with another blow before his fist finally breaks the Geckonians leathery skin and a green blood flows from its eye.
"That's nuff Keegan. Can't kill it yet, we have a whole room to have it check and maybe others as well. Now little lizard get to trap checkin." The leader says as he pushes the lizard forward and it walks around the pitfall trap and limps its way towards the castyr before weakly striking it with its fist.
"Death be better than slavery. Kill me beast and let it be done!" It yells as the Castyr simply glances at it before finally rising to its feet and gently grabbing it with its teeth before running towards the boss room.
"Oh! It looks like your first mob has gained some sentience after killing those zombies! It's actually bringing that creature to your core so it can make a pact with you vs risking it being killed by those bandits. But without him there Spooky will still have to fight four on one so lets hope he's up for it." Tilly says as we watch the castyr run into the hallway of the boss room before diving into the wall of the hallway revealing a secret tunnel I ate up to maybe put a trap or something in.
As the bandits give up trying to get their dead friends body they follow the path the castyr ran before finding the hallway. Cautiously they enter and walk the short distance before finding themselves staring into the large round room with a single large beast sleeping in the center. As the group mumbles between themselves the castyr finally enters the core room and drops the Geckonian in front of us before staring at me while wagging its bushy tail.
'Good dungeon monster! Yes you are! Now go help Spooky! He's gonna need ya!' I say as I watch the castyr's face shine with joy and it does a little waddle dance before making its way to Spooky's room.
"Ah I know what this be. Learned from gnome long ago, this be the dungeon core which means you saved me life. Why?" The Geckonian asks in a soft voice that reminds me of islanders on earth. slowly Tilly floats down from my core and hovers just above the Geckonian so that it has to look up towards her.
"The great dungeon core Kyle has shown an interest in your knowledge and possible abilities and wishes for you to swear yourself to him and become one of his dungeon creatures. Do you accept?" She says in a loud, intimidating voice as she oozes with pure power. Trying to help I force my core to brighten slightly behind her making her appearance take on an ominous look.
"This dungeon be young it looks like. Much room to grow it has. Before I agree I must tell you I am still young. I have magics but not many and my wisdom is shallow. But if you'll have me then I, Slax, Submit to you oh great dungeon core." The Geckonian known as Slax says before a bright golden ball leaves his chest and flies into my core and a message appears.
[Slax Level 3 Gilded Geckonian Shaman has submitted to you and joined your ranks!]
'Sweet! Welcome to the team Slax! Now why don't you rest here and watch the show? It seems your old party is about to enter Spooky's room! So exciting!' I say as Slax jumps in surprise before turning towards the wall as an image of the group is shown.
"A'right you scum, seems dis ting in there is the boss but it barely be big as a hound so lets kill it get some loots and get out." Says the leader as everyone nods and walks into the room after him, each holding a different weapon as the leader puts his arm in front of him, a small shield attached to his wrist as Spooky stands up and stretches. As Spooky turns to face his visitors one of the bandits fires a small crossbow at the boss, missing by a hairsbreadth before Spooky growls and rushes towards the man.
Before the boss can reach the crossbowman the leader lets out a shout and Spooky seems to become obsessed with the leader, charging straight for him and leaping onto his chest as he gouges into the armor and shield with his claws before the mace wielder strikes his back.
"Hah! Way to go boss you keep it distracted and we'll whittle him down!" yells out the one named Keegan as he whips a new set of chains towards Spooky. Sadly for him the boss saw his attack and disengaged from the leader, curling its body midair as it whips it's tail towards Keegan and doing a mix of a howl and a snuffle as several poisonous needles embed themselves into the mans arms and face.
"Poison! Damn things got...veno..m.." Keegans screams turn into whispers as the venom on the needles takes effect and he begins convulsing on the ground before he becomes still.
Spooky watches the remaining three men as they watch the boss in apprehension before the crossbowman does something that causes the bolt he just fired to explode right in front of Spooky's nose. I watch as the boss staggers from the loud bang before the leader charges into him with a small short sword held like a lance, the blade piercing deep into the stumbling bosses skull, killing the poor guy.
"Leave da bodies to the dungeon lets loot this shite and get out of here." the leader says as he hears a scream followed by a meaty thud from behind him. As he turns to look he see's the original Castyr sitting onto of the crossbowman's chest with the mans throat locked in a death grip. The creatures head now holds a large dent as the mace wielder grimaces before looting the beast and his party member.
"Damnit! Only two monsters but dis dungeon killed us good.....but...oh my....ye be forgiven ye damn dungeon! With this here loot we may well get promoted! Take the bloody layabouts and thank ye for yer rewards!" The leader yells with an exhausted smile as he holds the new hatchet in his hand, admiring the now softly glowing weapon.
As the two men leave the dungeon the three of us sigh for different reasons and I turn my attention to Slax and my window of new loot.