Seth watched as the goblins lined up before him, their eyes glinting with an eerie intelligence.
The Tier 2 goblins, crude but effective, were already restless.
The Poison Goblin, towering over its smaller brethren, stood still as a statue, its venomous aura palpable even from where Seth was observing.
The goblin had potential, but Seth knew that raw strength alone wouldn't win this war.
"Makeshift soldiers for a makeshift battle," Seth muttered, pacing around the main chamber.
His mind churned through strategies, counter-strategies, and what-ifs.
His Elite Shade, ethereal and silent, hovered nearby, awaiting its master's orders.
It had proven valuable in defensive tasks, but Seth was ready to put it to a true test in a raid.
A direct assault on the rival dungeon seemed like the logical next step, but the unknown still gnawed at Seth.
He wasn't the type to dive into an attack blindly.
But he couldn't afford to sit back and wait for them to strike again.
Waiting meant vulnerability, and in this game of power, the hesitation was the difference between survival and extinction.
"Alright then," Seth muttered under his breath, addressing his creatures.
"We move."
He gave the signal, and the goblins began to move toward the dungeon's edge, the Venom Goblin taking the lead as their silent guide.
Again it seemed to possess more than the usual intellect.
"This is an investment, not a risk," Seth reminded himself again.
His former life as an architect had taught him that success often came from bold, calculated moves.
If he could strike the rival dungeon hard and fast, he could throw them off balance long enough to secure more resources and expand his boundaries.
"Let's see what you're hiding," Seth muttered, following behind as his summons marched toward the invisible boundary where his domain ended and the outside world began.
His summons all matched out of the boundary, and he could tell that the goblins didn't exactly have it easy; it seemed as though they were sensitive to the sunlight.
No, rather it was their eyes that were sensitive to the sunlight.
However, when he reached the boundary, he hit an invincible wall.
"Okay"
He calmly stepped back and breathed in.
He at least got to see the sky and the forest surrounding his dungeon but it also explained a lot.
If the dungeon master were able to easily step out, it would lead to slacking off.
Another reason he couldn't follow Malia out of here, even if he could he wasn't sure he would.
This was a thought that popped into his mind but his fear blinded him.
Nevertheless, he looked at the summons that stood outside watching him.
Now he could tell that when they stepped out of his boundaries, his support stopped.
He couldn't passively provide them with the Mana that his dungeon gathered.
Obviously, it was more abundant around his dungeon.
Apart from the Venom Goblin who seemed to still be able to gather Mana, albeit slower, no one else could among the other goblins.
'Probably the difference between Tiers' he thought.
He looked towards a nearby tree; to normal human eyes, it was a tree, but to him, who has a connection with his summons, Elite shade stood there, melded into its shadows.
Though the effect seemed reduced, he allocated that to the fact of it still being noon, probably late noon, not too bright, not too dark.
"So how do I control them? what happens if I stay far away from them.?"
[You still maintain a connection to summon regardless of distance]
[As monsters, The weaker one follow the stronger ones lead]
[In case of multiple strong monsters, other criteria are tested]
"What's up with the sometimes human-like reply and sometimes robotic reply"
[Attributed to dungeon developing sentience...]
[Sharing of senses between summons is also possible if conditions are met]
"Really? What are the conditions"
[....Conditions met, Authority Granted ]
He immediately tried it, and he could see and feel from each of their perspective, but the issue though was their eyesight was not human-like.
But still, the knowledge flowed in, and he immediately adapted to it like it was his.
Another thing he noted was that the goblin's eyesight was sensitive to the sun, so they seemed to have an extra lid protecting it at the cost of range.
At least the venom goblin has.
He tried feeling the air and atmosphere from its body, but it didn't feel normal; it felt extra sensitive.
He tried moving but found out that he could only see and nothing else, even his thoughts, weren't able to be projected.
[Conditions for possession not met.]
He understood and returned his senses to his body.
He flicked open the system panel to check something he should have checked long ago.
The stats of his summons;
[Summon Name: Poison Goblin (Tier 4 Variant)]
Type: Humanoid Monster
Rank: C+
Height: 6 feet
Affinity: Poison
[Attributes:]
HP: 1800
Mana: 300
Strength: 65
Agility: 85
Endurance: 70
Dexterity: 80
Intelligence: 45
Perception: 60
Poison Resistance: 90%
[Skills/Abilities:]
[1. Venomous Strike (Active):]
Infuses its weapon or claws with potent venom. Upon striking, deals 30% additional poison damage over 5 seconds.
Mana Cost: 50
Cooldown: 10 seconds
[2. Toxic Aura (Passive):]
Exudes a constant poisonous miasma within a 3-meter radius, causing gradual poison damage to nearby enemies.
Deals damage per second to enemies without poison resistance.
[3. Rapid Regeneration (Passive):]
Regenerates 2% of maximum HP per minute if not in combat.
Increases to 5% when in toxic or poisoned environments.
[4. Poisoned Fang (Active):]
Bites target, injecting a paralytic poison that stuns enemies for 3 seconds.
Mana Cost: 40
Cooldown: 20 seconds
[5. Toxic Skin (Passive):]
Any melee attacker receives 10% of the damage dealt as poison backlash.
[Weaknesses:]
Fire Vulnerability: Takes 20% extra damage from fire-based attacks.
Light Sensitivity: Functions best in low-light conditions, suffering a -10 penalty to agility and perception in direct sunlight or bright environments.
.....
[Summon Name: Elite Shade (Tier 3)]
Type: Spectral Warrior
Rank: C-
Height: 6 feet
Affinity: Darkness, Stealth
[Attributes:]
HP: 1600
Mana: 250
Strength: 60
Agility: 85
Endurance: 70
Dexterity: 80
Intelligence: 55
Perception: 70
Darkness Resistance: 90%