I watch as they slowly make their way from room to room. They don't quite make it to the boss room, or even the mini boss room for that matter, but I think it will probably happen during the next delve or the delve after that. Shortly after they leave another team arrives on the fifth floor. They've actually been waiting for quite a while. Unfortunately, they don't even make it out of the first room. To their credit though, they did kill a significant number of wood golems before the leader called for a retreat.
After that I kind of lost interest in watching specific teams and just let my awareness spread throughout the dungeon. I wasn't human anymore so why limit myself to a single field of view. There where so many parties inside me now that the difference in skill levels was easy to see. I was even starting to get a feel for which delivers had a knack for this sort of lifestyle, and who would not be alive long if they didn't find another line of work. Some, like the ones who would clearly rather be anywhere else and just want to make it out alive. were a bit obvious. Others were less obvious.
There were of course those that looked like they were in the soon to die group. They could barely hold their weapons and fumbled through every rat encounter. The difference is that instead of just trying to make it out alive they were paying attention to the situation. I could see it in their eyes. Every failed thrust, every spell that didn't go quite right, every defense that was bypassed, it all taught them something. To anyone else they may appear to be fumbling through, but they never made the same mistake more than two or three times. Usually, they only made the same mistake once, however there were rare exceptions. In such cases the other two times would be under slightly different circumstances to make sure it wasn't a fluke. After all, it wouldn't make sense to give up on something because it failed due to some random coincidence the one and only time, they attempted it.
It was rather peaceful watching the delvers work during the day and converting most of that day's mana to world energy at night. Eventually saving up enough to purchase another large room. I placed the room so that the entrance would be near the top of the room. Then I started filling in the stone and dirt turning the entire room into a sloping hill. I was going to go with a 40-degree slope but figured that might be a bit much, so I opted for a 30-degree slope instead. Still incredibly steep but much more manageable.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
This room will teach delvers to pay attention to their footing, which is important for what I have planned for future rooms. As for the type of mobs I first add a few fliers. Namely hippogriffs and Morning deaths. I give the hippogriffs the razor claw skill which basically turns their talons into knives. The morning deaths get an ability called feather toss which despite the name is rather deadly. It essentially allows them to throw their feathers like throwing knives. The tradeoff being slightly reduced aerodynamics with each feather they toss until eventually they lose the ability to fly altogether. They both get the swift strike skill as well, for a little extra spice.
As for the type of land-based mobs I toned it down a little. I used basic dire wolves. Mainly just to keep them from focusing entirely on the sky. It wasn't that I couldn't think of anything else to add, but they would be fighting on a slopped surface. I did want the fights to be winnable after all. Plus, this was the first room where retreating might pose a challenge in itself. Checking over everything one last time I smile to myself. This will be excellent practice for later on. It's important that they get good at fighting on all kinds of terrain conditions. Naturally I made them all level 31.
The next room was pretty much the exact same except that they would be climbing up instead of down, oh and the mobs are all level 32. Not the most creative I'll admit but it gets the job done. This pair of rooms combined with the room containing the giant hill should be enough to get teach them that they won't always have access to flat ground. It's the next room were things really get crazy. The reason for that is because I decided that this would be the location of the first water level. The entrance is once again up high. there is a more gentle slope leading to a sheer drop off about 10 meters away from the entrance and exit.
Next, I fill most of the room with water then I lower the ceiling in the middle so that delvers have to spend time underwater. I did add several air pockets though: I'm not a complete sadist after all. As for the mobs I added bone sharks which is exactly what it sounds like. I gave them the razor fin skill. I also added several types of squid and a few octopi species. The octopuses were mainly so that I would have something that could attack delvers who lingered around the shore. For the finishing touch I added a treasure chest at the bottom guarded by four giant lobsters.
As for what was in the chest, I included three each of health and stamina potions, six water breathing potions, two random pieces of copper rank gear and a few gold coins. This floor will contain the first copper rank boss after all. Not that the gear will be easy to get with every mob being level 33.
