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[Dungeon of Stories] 38 – Rising Odds
🕑 Added 2024-09-07 19:55:44 +0000 UTCEach day, the monsters gained strength, becoming more fearsome to face. Still, with the rise in aggression with the monsters, all non-pack monsters fought each other for dominance, rising in strength but far fewer in number. At the same time, the Pack Monsters grew even stronger through their teamwork, but the Humans also rose to the challenge, as more than seven individuals had reached the second stage.
However, four of those Humans belonged to the Dark Faction, as they constantly fought to protect themselves against the monsters that surrounded them. The Hunter, the leader of their pack, had chosen the rare Hunter evolution [Primal Hunter], a class specializing in survival in the wilderness and taming monsters, significantly contributing to the group's continued survival. However, the class had its weaknesses. For one, the amount of monsters that he could have under his command was limited on his level, as right now, he could only have a single monster. Despite that, he searched for a strong monster and ended up taming a Frost-tip Hawk, though at a great price, as one of the humans died in pursuit of the bird.
However, the Hawk proved to be quite the ally due to its size, speed, and skills. At will, the Hawk could throw a 'Gale,' a wind attack launched from its claws, causing a whirlwind in the air that cuts apart any enemy it strikes into. Its second ability causes Frostbite to any it cuts with its talons, while its third and final ability allows it to launch its feathers as if they were quills. After becoming imbued with the Hawk's mana, only these feathers become as sharp and hard as iron, allowing them to pierce deeply into flesh and fur.
Due to the bird, the Humans faced little trouble from the land monsters, as the Frost-tip Hawk could quickly kill them from afar and up in the air. However, it was far from the only aerial threat. There was the wandering Frost Elemental, more powerful Frost Hawks, and, of course, the various 'strong' monsters around the Biome, such as the Bone Bear, the Snow Owl, and the Beast Lord.
The Bone Bear was notorious for the bone-like armor that adorned its fur and the sheer strength and endurance the bear had, in fact, due to its unusual evolution, with it being among the monsters to reach the second stage, the bones that adorned its fur acted as natural armor, even having the durability of iron, making it a formidable opponent to fight, not including its unusually large size and sharp claws allowing it to take on the weaker packs of monsters that roamed the Arctic biome.
Some humans from ARK fled in hopes of joining the Dark Faction, but without knowing where the Dark Faction's encampment was, they simply marched to their deaths, feeding me their souls and mana.
I noticed something about the deaths of the humans in my dungeon. I figured I would only get their mana, but that was not the case. I obtained their essence as well, their souls. I knew this, of course. However, I didn't know that these souls would meld with my core, refining it further. With each soul that melded with my core, my mana capacity and regeneration increased by very slight amounts, as in the single digits in units, with the quality of the soul being determined by what 'stage' the human was at.
It fueled my desire to inspire conflict within my dungeon and establish a permanent inhabitation of these humans, as a farmer would for cattle. However, if I wanted to make the farm more proficient, I would need to set up more fields for more crops and spread the crops out so that one plot doesn't end with all of the others being destroyed along with it.
This plot before me was the first; I would need to experiment to ensure the others to come are strong and healthy. This first experiment involved releasing locusts upon the plot and seeing how the crops would handle the pressure. Already, some humans have proved to take the challenge and thrive in conflict, while other humans unsuited for the environment have perished, leaving the stronger humans to struggle more and grow further. It was an endless cycle.
Unfortunately, humans had a slow maturation cycle; some of the female humans in ARK were already pregnant, but it would take around six months before a human baby is born and another eighteen years till the human reaches a maturity that most humans consider to be an 'adult.' The humans could not produce fast enough to replace the lost humans, meaning I'd need to either integrate more humans into my Dungeon to replace the losses or find some way to speed up the process of birth and maturation.
However, the first option was not viable at this time as I had closed the connection between my Dungeon and the IKEA. A few of the humans managed to flee back into the IKEA, where they thought they'd be safe. If the humans thought they had a sure way to escape, they wouldn't fight and struggle as hard as I desired.
With the gateway closed, Humans lost their easy source of metal, food, water, and medicine. In exchange, I increased the yield of medicinal plants within the biomes and water, leaving humans to fight for their food and search for what little metal I scattered across the Dome.
Unfortunately for the humans, they had only a few more days to cull the horde, and they were failing at this task.
...
Meanwhile, in the IKEA, five surprisingly organized and extensively equipped teams were wandering around. Each group was outfitted with military-grade armor, weapons, and communications.
These groups had enough supplies and camping tools to be on the move constantly, mapping out the IKEA and exploring its innards. The Foundation on Earth received the logs they made, and what they heard was concerning.
Log 1 (Day 3, Team Alpha) - Three days have passed since arrival; in that time, we have come across four different settlements within fifteen miles of one another. According to the inhabitants and our findings, most settlements are somewhat close to one another in case of emergencies in which the Settlement may fall from a siege by the 'Staff.' In exchange for some of our rations, we managed to trade for information regarding all known settlements within the area as well as information regarding any abnormalities they may have come across. According to the settlers, they believe they are all from different 'Earths' as they all remember different historical events; one of the settlers even believed that the Foundation was a formalized government in charge of the entire world.
The settlers also informed us of an increasing Staff presence around the area a few miles out, which was apparently drawing the Staff away from the settlements, significantly reducing attacks on the local settlements. Tomorrow, we plan on scouting the general area where the Staff are congregating. Captain Gorbov out.
Log 2 (Day 4, Team Alpha) - Fuck! Both Tom and Jerry are dead. A few hours ago, when we set out to search for the anomaly, we came across an unusual and strange scene of giant mounds of flesh pouring into the IKEA. Actively repelling and fighting these mountains of flesh was an unending horde of Staff and the two strange machine-like creatures we were briefed on before entry into the IKEA. It was a slaughter. The mounds of flesh easily took out the staff, but just as unending as the flesh was, so was the Staff. The most notable combatants were the Machines, who tore apart the creatures with glowing blades around their front limbs and tails, which easily stabbed deep into them. Yet, despite the machines' evident damage to the mounds of flesh, the flesh kept screaming and thrashing. That's when we saw it. These mounds of flesh were melted together into forms of humans, dogs, cats, birds, everything.
Then...then one of those things grabbed ahold of Tom with a long meaty appendage, and before we could react, it dragged him into its folds, where we were forced to witness Tom meld with the creature; his screams still haunt me. Jerry got draged not long after, we were forced to flee. Get us the hell out of here!
