Unholy_Student
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[Dungeon of Stories] 36 β A Crisis on its way
🕑 Added 2024-06-07 05:04:40 +0000 UTC[A/N: Chapter shorter than usual, sorry]
A week later, Kohl found himself proficiently prepared as he added another monster spawner to each biome, bringing the total to twelve. Already, the number of monsters inhabiting the biomes had increased twofold, and the human explorer parties noticed. The humans began growing concerned by the increasing number and strength of the monsters.
Though the rise of the monster's numbers was noticeable, it wasn't as much as it could be, as the monsters continued to fight each other and level up thanks to the first and currently only rule established by Kohl for the dungeon, [Survival of the Fittest], a rule that he established so long ago that continued to improve the strength of his monsters with little interference from himself.
Though thanks to this rapid rise in the monster's number and level, Kohl's first monster had reached level 100, and of all things, it was a damn tree that reached it, evolving to become a [Lesser Vampiric Oak Tree]. In contrast, simple in name, this tree put the young blood drinker tree that the human party encountered to shame, as it was easily towering over the trees around it with its bark pulsing with red veins, its trunk filled with blood from the many monsters it killed.
Trailing not far behind was the last and final Blood Wasp Swarm, its level reaching level 98, shy of two levels before it would evolve and become even more frightening. After it was the Elementals, of course, who were all but invincible to most of the monsters that dwelled in their domes.
Kohl was tempted to make the tree the 'boss' of the monster wave, but he declined, as he had a different monster in mind for that role, and the tree's inability to move and its defenses made it too formidable a foe for the humans. This monster, which he will dub as Beast Lord, would be the Monster to lead and push the monsters out from the biomes. The monster? Of course, the Blood Wasp Swarm, it was becoming a problem and needed to be culled.
...
Kohl wanted to see what would happen if he tried making a mixture of an elemental and a monster. The result? [Shadowmane Wolf - Level 88], an entire pack of wolves led by this mutated experimental monster that was a truly fearsome foe. The Shadowmane Wolf was two times larger than the other wolves, its claws razor-sharp and capable of easily tearing through anything the humans would have.
After some thought, Kohl wanted each biome to have a Beast Lord. These Beast Lords would be so strong that they'd force the other monsters in the area to flee, only the direction they'd flee would be directly towards the ARK, and subsequentially, where the Humans live through the ARK's guardians and enforcers would end up helping them a bit, that would only be protection against the Arctic Forest and the Swamp, even then some monsters are bound to make it through and attack the Humans from behind.
Using a bit of mana, Kohl rose the levels of the four Beast Lords to 100, where they would evolve into their next forms. The Shawdmane Wolf became a Shadowmane Direwolf, becoming even larger and boosting its stats and attributes, making it even stronger and more dangerous to fight.
Level 100 was the first 'stage' in the system. It's where Classes and monsters would evolve and where monsters and 'awakened' become noticeably stronger compared to someone a few levels below them. Of the beast lords, there was the Shadowmane Direwolf in the Arctic Forest, the Onyx Giant Scorpion in the desert, and the Rock-shell Giant Crab from the Swamp.
All these monsters were large, and most were the strongest of their ecosystems outside the elementals. All of the Beast Lords rivaled a human truck and had enough power and strength to either shear or crush through the metal and plastic of such a car. Another thing to note is that these beast lords were not alone. The Onyx Giant Scorpion had many smaller Giant Scorpians that were its brood and acted as loyal little soldiers. The same was the case for the other beast lords, though the Blood Wasp Swarm was a notable exception as it was a singular entity. The other beast lord's spawns could level up and grow independently of their parents, but the Blood Wasp Swarm could not. Despite that, the Blood Wasp Swarm, now the Ravenous Wasp Swarm after it evolved, was more than capable of fighting the other beast lords and taking little damage from them.
However, humans would likely have an easier time fighting the Wasp Swarm due to its weakness against magic and AOE attacks.
With some last-second preparations and edits, Kohl issues the quest across the dungeon.
...
/=========+=========\
Alert! A new Quest has been assigned!
Quest Name: Trouble on the Horizon
Quest Type: Region Quest
Quest Description: Due to the rapid and unrestrained growth of Monsters within the Dome Recreational Park, a Monster Wave will soon be upon the poor souls calling the area home. Run or fight, for soon, the monsters will leave their homes.
\=========+=========/
Across the entire dungeon, everyone at once received a quest alert, including Bright and his team, who were currently camping at Ranger Station Beta, which they turned into a decent hideout to rest, retreat to, and recuperate after their exploration trips. It was barricaded, and they could take plenty of escape routes if it were ever attacked. It was stocked with weapons, armor, and whatever else they could need, and the station acted more like a forward-operating outpost that could be used to expand their exploration range.
"Bright, you see this?" Someone asked, looking over to the surprised Bright.
Silently cursing, Bright rushed to his feet and ordered, "Get ready, we are heading back!"
Grabbing everything they needed, they quickly returned to the settlement, where all hell broke loose.
From a distance, they could see a pillar of fire as the settlement seemed to be on fire, and people attempted to put it out, to no avail, even with the plenty of IKEA extinguishers available across the store.
By the time Bright and the others reached the settlement, multiple buildings had burned down, including some of the settlement's most important buildings: the community kitchen, the apothecary, and the workshop. The fires were certainly the work of multiple people and were intentional. Vernon died in the fire.
...
Kohl was both surprised and unsurprised by the humans' reaction. The fact that a group of humans immediately worked together to sabotage the other humans before fleeing. Their actions got them quite a bit of experience, and while most of them who betrayed the other humans didn't have any sort of combat classes, they could still fight.
The direction these 'bad' humans fled was towards the Arctic Forest with whatever they could carry. The settlement now had little to no food; they lost one of their council members and had to worry about their weapons and where some people would sleep.
With that, humanity had officially split among themselves, and Kohl couldn't wait to see how both groups would progress if the betrayers managed to survive and thrive in the Arctic forest.
Comments
Biazar Lockhart
Nice... Also welp Vernon became good eatings for Kohl
Shira_Ori
Thanks for the great chapterπ
