Dungeon Core Online

Chapter 27

"Here we go." James had figured out that not only could he set his instance's screen to alert when adventurers were fighting his boss or specific mobs, he could also set up an alert to let him know when certain adventurers had entered his dungeon.

As such, James had set an alarm to alert him whenever Z and his guild entered an instance. Because of this, he had spent the last 12 hours splitting his attention from watching more demonic farm shenanigans, planning out his dungeon layout, achievement hunting, and watching Z's group.

The achievement hunting had been renewed courtesy of watching Z's group. Before James had started just passively collecting his achievements, having too much fun watching the events in his dungeon, while also suffering slightly from a lack of sleep. In fact, he had almost forgotten to start new research when his loot research completed, having only remembered when Rue asked him about it.

He had made a mental note to apply some loot and trap related to his changes soon, waiting though for the first time his boss was slain. For that reason, with a level of mob research started, James patiently began hunting achievements as Z and his group did the same. Achievements after all seemed to be a quick way to level, at least early on.

By the time Z and his group had hit level 6 and returned to the dungeon with their upgraded gear, James had managed to complete over a dozen achievements, many thanks to foolish adventurers, and his higher leveled mobs. These achievements had helped him nearly fill his resources back up, and pushed him past the 20,000xp mark, meaning he had another rank up available.

"You better hope they actually succeed." Rue had summoned her bowl of popcorn again, as James pulled up the instance with Z's group. "You have a lot of work you've been putting off for this."

She was right, he needed to rank up, apply upgrades to his mobs, all of which he had at least 2 upgrade points for, and begin modifying loot percentages. His mob research would also be done soon, and James was sure that would give him even more to do. He had to give it to the developers, they definitely made sure a dungeon would have plenty to do.

"I'm sure they will." James was glancing over Z's group, noticing they had all returned with noticeably new gear. Oak had a new iron shield, and his sword seemed a little heftier. He had also seemed to purchase himself new armor, replacing the heavy leather he had covered himself in previously. Now he was wearing leather armor that seemed to be studded with metal pieces. A definite improvement for the reluctant tank.

Z and Elm both had matching bows, new cloaks and leather armor, as well as what appeared to be quivers full of arrows that appeared to have dicken feathers on them. James was curious how effective those arrows would be, and was surprised when Z killed a sacrificial lamb with a single dicken arrow. They were definitely ready.

Faust and Med Ic appeared to have changed the least, and while their robes seemed to be of a slightly finer material, James knew magic classes would likely require higher levels to begin purchasing their beneficial gear. Generally mages and clerics utilized various forms of amulets and charms to improve their abilities and powers, and those types of items just weren't going to be available this early on. It would take a while for crafters to begin being able to make such items, and James knew precious gems and metals were going to be impossible to come by currently, simply because he hadn't put them in his mining area yet.

"Wanna make a bet?" Rue was grinning at James as the group approached Old Man Jenkins. The boss was relaxing against a couple hay bales, his hat pulled low as he puffed on his pipe.

"More resources?" When he lost his first bet to her, 10 resources had magically been pulled from his available resources, and James was curious just what the pixie would do with them. He had to admit, part of him was nervous about giving her more resources. But at the same time, he was a gamer, and gambling was part of his nature.

"But of course." The pixie flashed him a grin and a wink, as she nodded towards the group. "20 resources says Z dies again." So far, Z had one more death than the rest of his group, thanks to his surprise death by the sacrificial lamb. It was a fact the group had enjoyed mentioning every dive to the leader, much to his dismay.

"Deal." James was certain the archer wouldn't fall this time. He knew the guild leader would do everything he could to avoid further embarrassment. He was also slightly curious what would happen if he won the bet. Rue only had 10 resources that he knew of. Could the AI just generate resources on a whim?

"You sure we are doing this?" Oak, continuing to appear to hate his roll, was looking from Z to Old Man Jenkins. The boss currently was puffing away at his pipe, barely paying them any heed.

"Yup, there are a few groups that just hit level 5. You know they are going to be pushing for instance first." Z grinned as he raised a finger towards the sky, making what appeared to be a finger gun with his hand. "I'm not gonna throw away my shot."

"Really man, Hamilton? Again?" Faust and the others groaned as Z shrugged and grinned at them sheepishly.

"Hey, that soundtrack is still amazing."

"It came out in like what, 2017?" The rest of the group started to spread out as Oak spoke.

"And? How long ago did Monty Python come out? Classics are classics man."

"He has a point." Rue was smiling knowingly as the guild leader finished his comment and took up a position near Elm, nocking a dicken arrow in his new bow. James added Hamilton and Monty Python to his ever growing list of things to research when he woke up. He didn't like not getting the references this group appeared to be making.

"We start on your taunt Oak." Z drew his arrow back, and Elm did the same. Faust stood ready to cast a spell, and Oak nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!" As Oak yelled these completely meaningless words, a wave of force seemed to roll out from him, smashing into Old Man Jenkins.

The boss let out a roar as he stood, his eyes narrowing on Oak. Without warning, a flaming pitchfork was in his hand. If James had to guess, the taunt had worked.

"Let's do this." Arrows ripped free from bow strings and smashed into Old Man Jenkins, digging deep into the boss's flesh. To his credit, even with all of his roaring, he managed to keep his pipe in his mouth, even puffing out bits of smoke between roars. As more arrows sunk into him, the archers doing their best dps, magical bolts smashed into his chest.

James could tell all of these attacks were having more of an effect than they had when the group was level three, and he had to wonder just what kind of increases the party had gained with their new equipment. Old Man Jenkins had 25 armor and magical armor defense points, meaning he blocked a flat 25 points of each type of damage, per attack.

"Looks like they upgraded." Rue's comment pulled James from his mulling, and shaking his head, he pulled up Z's character sheet real quick. He didn't need to ponder such things, when the game would let him simply look up these stats on his own.

Z

Level 6 Archer

1550 xp

645 xp to next level

HP: 55

AP: 55

Currency: 47 copper 6 silver 0 gold 0 platinum

James glanced quickly at Z's health, noting he had appeared to gain 5hp per level, raising from his 30 at level 1, to 55 at level 6. James tabbed over to the next screen, looking at Z's stats. There were a range of numbers, all showing differing amounts for different stats, such as constitution, charisma, strength, and dexterity. James knew such stats had effects on everything Z's character would be able to do, and as he scanned the sheet, he found the stats he was looking at below.

Atk: 25+5+1

M. Atk: 0

Def: 10 + 10

M. Def: 0

Focusing on the bonuses to Z's Atk stat, he found that the bow the archer was using was giving him a +5 to his attacks, and the dicken arrows were giving him a +1. Assuming Z and Elm were running the same archer build so far, that meant each of their attacks was dealing 31 damage per arrow. Given that Old Man Jenkins defense absorbed 25 points per arrow, each attack was doing 6 points of damage to the boss. It wasn't much, but James knew those arrows, combined with the magical attacks from Faust, would dig away at the boss's 550hp.

"E-I" Had James been in his human body, he would have jumped at the boss's sudden booming voice. As it was nearly closed the instance screen in his panicked hurry to close Z's character sheet. He wanted to turn his full attention back to the fight.

"Group up!" Z's voice cried out and the party moved together, their eyes glancing at their feet. They were looking for the telltale pentagram to show who the target was.

"E-I," the glowing pentagram appeared underneath Med Ic. That was going to hurt.

"O." Even as the donkey's hooves appeared from the ground, Med Ic was knocked to the side, Oak taking his place. The warrior leveled his shield, allowing the piece of metal to absorb the kick, even as he was sent flying backwards.

"Scatter." The guild leader's voice once again echoed a command, and the three DPS members pulled back, resuming their attack on Old Man Jenkins, while Med Ic ran to Oak, his hands already glowing with healing light. The warrior was quickly back on his feet, rushing back towards the enraged boss.

"Oh, they are good." Rue's voice was filled with actual admiration as she watched the fight take place. Her eyes were darting around the group, and it seemed she was so focused she had forgotten about her popcorn.

"Well, they are probably mythic raiders." James had been a mythic raider in Warcraft Universe, a title applied to those who would enter the hardest raids and dungeons the day they were released, and who would continue to fight through them until they could clear it. Almost all instance first players were mythic raiders, and James had figured Z and his group were of the same caliber.

Even though they seemed light hearted, even as they joked and messed around, he could tell as he watched them fight now, that when they were serious, they were a force to be reckoned with. Old Man Jenkins had caught them by surprise at level three with his flaming pitchfork, but the group had likely used the knowledge of that attack, as well as he ability to attract mobs to aid him, as they planned for their next battle with him. In fact, the group had cleared all the mobs from around Old Man Jenkins before they began their battle with him. Very impressive.

"I guess this means I'm going to lose my bet." Rue's voice took on a pouting tone as she watched the fight. Oak had again taunted the boss, and the archers had resorted to launching two arrows at once into him, likely doing their best to burn him down while he was taunted. Faust's magic missiles were even larger in size, and James figured the archer skill, and larger missiles, were their level 5 skills. He had to wonder what Med Ic had gotten at level 5, a better heal?

"Guess that will teach you to vote against Z's group, eh?" James was in a good mood. Yeah his boss was finally being brought down, but this was just the first form of Old Man Jenkins. James had two upgrade points to modify his boss with, as well as another level to give him. The group would find their next fight with Old Man Jenkins to be much different.

"No, it makes me want to vote against his group even more." The pixie's eyes were filled with mischievous fire, and James guessed he and the pixie would be placing many bets against Z's group in the future. Hopefully his faith in the group didn't backfire on him later.

"Just a little more!" Z's voice pulled James and Rue back to the fight, as Old Man Jenkins fell to his knees, his eyes blazing with hatred as another arrow landed into his chest. The fire had gone out of his pipe, and his clothes were covered in various tears and blast marks. Countless arrows peppered his form, and as he leaned forward, barely catching himself one the ground, James knew it was over.

"Plea-" The sound was faint, and even as Old Man Jenkins seemed to speak, Oak's sword was swinging down on the boss's neck, finishing him off. It all happened so quickly, James had to wonder if he had imagined it.

"Huzzah!" The group erupted in cheers as the boss fell to the ground, and James noticed a message bar appear in front of him.

Attention: The [Guild] Knights Who Go Ni, have defeated Tier 1 Boss- Old Man Jenkins.

"That makes two!" The group was continuing to cheer as they all pulled up their screens, their emotions were infectious, and James couldn't help but cheer for them as well. They had tried so hard, he was glad they finally reached their goal.

"Aren't you Tier-ered?" Elm let out a laugh as he stared at his screen, and if James had to guess, that was the name the developers had given the achievement for clearing the boss first in the instance. If he had to guess, they had also earned an achievement just for beating the boss.

"Hey, you've read Dungeon Core and Litrpg before, you know we are bound to just encounter a lot of puns and bad jokes." Z's face was covered in a massive smile, as he made a motion towards his screen. "Besides, those two achievements, and slaying the boss, leveled us up to 7." More cheers accompanied his revelation.

"Now, how about we grab our loot and get ready to head back. I'm guessing this five minute timer is our limit to either get out of the dungeon ourselves, or we will be forcibly teleported out." As he spoke, he glanced at his screen, grinning as he collected his loot. James listened intently, but none of them let out an exclamation, and if he had to guess, none of them had received a piece of the unique set loot. Ah well, maybe next time.

"Pay up." Having figured the group was done for now, given they were about to be booted from the dungeon for an hour, James had time to do a little upgrading himself. But first, he could use the extra 20 resources Rue had just lost to him.

"Fiiiinnneeeee." Rue waved her hand, and as James glanced at his character sheet, noted his resources had jumped to 980 of 1100. He had gained 120 more resources during the 12 hours of waiting for Z's group to challenge Old Man Jenkins, putting him at 220, well 210 after losing his bet with Rue. Then, his achievements had bumped him to 960, and with his 20 from Rue, he was sitting happy at 980. He had a lot of plans for upgrading his dungeon, and he was going to use every bit of resources he had to do it. After all, as a dungeon core he was supposed to be constantly upgrading and evolving for the adventurers. He grinned as he went to work, at this rate, he felt he might be able to reach Tier 2 before his night of immersion was complete.