The first test of the intermediate route is similar to the first of the green one, except that instead of a narrow bridge, you find suspended platforms where the recruits have to jump carrying the weight of their weapons and armor, a challenge to which is added the stone throwing by goblins that Jim ordered to attack with rage.
Past the platforms is the coliseum. There are now three arenas more compact in size than the original to increase the fight's intensity and to avoid clashing with the limits imposed by Jim's Dungeon Core level. The enemies summoned in the second test of the intermediate route are primitive humans in a quantity equal to the number of soldiers doing the challenge.
As the final challenge of the route there is another puzzle with the skulls, although this time a paint drawing is on the door to help the invaders understand what is required. Dowmy did the drawings, they were rough and crude, but understandable enough to meet the objective, so Jimbo left them as is. The drawing of the easy route puzzle is an hourglass and the sun in its three main phases: sunrise, noon, and sunset.
Hilda gave her idea for the intermediate route puzzle.
"Instead of one fire for all, let it only be correct to light each torch with the appropriate counterpart"
«I remember you tried just that and it didn't work for you»
"Can you do it yes or no?"
«Sure I can work out something»
Jimbo is alert with the ether. It's a constant drain to keep the dungeon up and running, and any excess could throw the delicate scheme he built up with the training sessions to the ground. Practices that soon became popular among the soldiers for involving more than just doing push-ups or hitting fellow soldiers with a stick. The simulation inside the dungeon was the closest they came to facing real danger in a controlled environment.
Still, Jimbo worried that the soldiers would lose interest.
«Novelty is the most fleeting quality of all»
To address that risk, Jimbo came up with the idea of implementing a reward system.
«Nobody likes a video game where after giving your sweat and blood, the biggest prize is a turd or a sign with the word CONGRATULATION misspelled»
Nor could he go overboard with the rewards and let the win-loss balance get out of hand. To keep costs to a minimum, he decided to recycle resources already created. First blocked the entrance to the garden and hot springs with a fence, limiting entry.
Two stone chests are created. For the love of classic dungeons, Jim would have preferred to use wooden chests, but he continued to have the limitations of the Age. Using magical mechanisms, invisible to the guests, but unavoidable to the master pulling the strings or writing the code, Jimbo designed the chests to appear just after the puzzle was solved, behind the painted door.
The prize for easy difficulty: 1 mango for each member of the group.
The prize for the intermediate difficulty: A stone token for each member of the group, token that offers one free hour in the hot springs. If you collect five tokens, you get a massage from attractive cavewomen!
Mangoes are already very popular in the castle. Jimbo asked Dowmy to spread the word among the soldiers that the fruit has aphrodisiac qualities and is also great for preventing wrinkles and beautifying the skin. Consequently, mangoes became a much sought-after gift within the castle's confines - a gentleman who simply could not offer a mango to his bride was scum! And since it was a fruit never before seen in the kingdom, no one would be able to criticize Jimbo for lying.
Dowmy also heard that the soldiers started using the tokens as bargaining chips for favors. Are you lazy to take the next night watch? Well, I'll keep watch for you, in exchange for a token or two! Jimbo, happy to encourage free trade, tried to convince Hilda to agree that, with 10 stone tokens, any soldier could get out of mandatory training for three days.
The captain's answer: Negative.
Jimbo takes comfort in the knowledge that he tried.
Another recent cost he made was to create a warehouse to keep the mangoes fresh right next to the garden. Jimbo summoned some female goblin beads to gather and store the fruit, green creatures much like their male counterparts, but with more hair and cloth to maintain modesty (although goblins don't seem to mind going naked if they had the chance).
Would two summoned goblins biologically having children? It's an idea Jimbo tossed around, and the system concurs that it would, presenting a long list about genetics and special traits that Jim must have muted because the intense headache he got from that information dump.
«If I build a breeding system, I'd also have to create living quarters and daycare facilities, and.... No. One step at a time, Jimbo»
Jimbo tasked Dowmy with supervising the goblins, but after a steady disappearance of fruit and finding the imp with a more swollen belly than usual, Jim quickly decided to dispense with the imp's services and let the girl continue with her games.
«Now for the important stuff»
The red route.
For the hard road, Jimbo was honest with Hilda. The danger is real.
If he were a normal Dungeon Core in normal situations, the red path is what would have been constructed using his limited resources, to repel and harvest the energy of potential adventurers. He tried to make the challenge tolerable, still the first level and every dungeon by instinct avoids presenting its intricacies as impossible both to avoid running out prey and to tempt them to continue a little further inland.
As an act of goodwill, Jimbo created a windowed shortcut to show Hilda each of the trials and traps. After going over the matter for half an hour, the captain nodded conceding that the tests could be overcome by a novice adventurer with good instincts.
Already in the initial chamber, the captain was very accurate:
"Unless something happens or we are in wartime, a soldier rarely faces danger head-on. The adventurers, due to their profession, are used to looking for trouble. Hence, some adventurers feel superior to the troops"
«But they're right, no? From what you say, soldiers are more weak»
"Not necessarily... One thing the adventurer's guild avoids divulging, is the number of youths who die trying to make a name for themselves. The names that persist and resound are those adventurers who are stronger than average. The same is true in the military.... Warriors like Captain Lynel are above average. And I repeat, unless a war happens, losses in the army are not usually numerous"
«You are also strong. Although you used to be an adventurer, right? Tell me, why did you quit?»
"My interests changed" Hilda says with a blunt tone that gives no room to continue the conversation. The woman's eye travels to the door, where she expects to see the group chosen to try this new route enter.
«Are you sure you don't want to use death sentenced people for this?»
"We're not above the law, Dungeon Core"
«I'm just saying I'd feel more comfortable if the people who risk death in my domain deserved it»
Hilda glances at Jim's presence out the corner of her eye. In her mind there are doubts as to whether a monster creator can really have moral preferences like that, or whether it's just an act. Hilda thinks that maybe the dungeon core does possess a human side since the creator was also human. Although she would find it ironic and even funny that the supposed monster has more decency than the wizard who made it.
But there was no time to ponder too much about Jim's humanity, the door opens and a group of four people enter.
Marcus walks ahead of his companions.