Time to collapse: 6 days 19 hours
After a few hours of cozy safety, I decided to join the fights in person instead of just controlling drones from the protective shell of my APC. We had been grinding for hours, trying to get the most possible out of the tutorial floor and making our way towards an armor reward room. The setup for this one was less blatant than the previous one and included a boss battle.
The room was inside of a barracks that had been guarded by a horde of small goblin-like monsters armed with tiny, ineffectual rifles; they were closer to children’s toys than actual weapons. After we breached the outer line of guards a boss battle had triggered and a small tank had rolled out of the barracks.
The tank didn’t even have a cannon, just a little turret that was about as frightening as the goblin rifles, but it did have incredible armor plating. It could also manufacture drones which it sent to harass us. We had taken cover behind a sandbag wall and were taking turns shooting down the drones that came periodically. I had thrown my turret out to the side and it was unleashing a steady stream of bullets at the tank but they had no effect against its defenses.
“It’s like they put all of their points into defense during character creation,” Parson said.
“Yeah no kidding. Good thing one of us has a weapon designed to handle heavy armor plating,” I said, looking at Cascadia. She scoffed.
“Oh please, I already indulged you today, I’m done wasting time with inferior weaponry for now. Watch this.”
She stood up and walked out of cover, extending her staff. The tank’s bullets were about as effective against her shield as my turret’s were against its armor and she ignored them as she approached. She elongated her staff, riding it up high before coming down, swinging the staff with devastating force. I cringed before impact, expecting a deafening smash, but the tank armor must have had some sort of inertial damping ability and the mighty strike landed with only a soft Cascadia stood, staring in disbelief as the tank continued to pepper her with tiny bullets. Her shield finally fell and she swatted at the bullets before retreating back to cover.
“Ridiculous,” she said. “If I can crack a giant cyborg turtle shell with my staff there is no reason I shouldn’t be able to take down this tank with it.”
“It’s ok,” Parson said. “We can starve them out. I’ve got snacks.” He pulled out a bag of dried fruit he must have gotten from a saferoom vending machine and offered it to us. I took some.
“So what’s it gonna be, Cas? Are we gonna wait a few days to starve out the goblins? I bet there is an achievement for that. Or are you going to get over yourself and use your gun?”
“This is probably going to use the last of my batteries,” she grumbled as she pulled her rifle from her back. She came out of cover and walked over to the tank, hopping on top of it to melt off the entry hatch. It did take two full battery charges, but she got it off and easily dispatched the goblins inside. A victory announcement played and we entered the barracks, using a looted key card to open the Senior Staff Only Armor Room
New Achievement. The Best Defense is a Good Defense.
You have found an armor reward room. Not every great warrior has great armor, but there is something undeniably inspiring about a heavily armored hero shrugging off attack after attack as he sets fire to the village. Your defense defines much of what you can and cannot do in the dungeon. Some armor can protect you from fire. Some can shield your mind. Some can stave off explosions. And some do absolutely nothing but look really cool. So choose wisely.
There were far more options in this room than the others. Over twenty different mannequins had risen out of the ground, displaying different armor pieces and sets.
“So are you or Parson taking this one?”
Parson and I looked at each other.
“I think this one is still you,” Parson said. “I’m waiting for the exotic chemical reward room.”
“That’s not a thing, Parson,” I said.
“Really? Dang it, I had been fantasizing about that ever since the first reward room.”
“Focus up you two, we don’t have all day to choose. I need armor less than either of you; I’m faster, tougher, and more durable. One of you should take it.”
“Nah. Look, it’s pretty clear that Gellen and I are the supports and you are the hard carry. You always power up the carry first, it’s the strongest strategy. Plus, I don’t want any of these anyway; I’m looking for some very specific apparel.”
Cascadia turned to look at me.
“Jasper is right,” I said. “You’re the one who’s going to be taking all the heat. And now I’ve got the oh shit! button if I ever get in trouble. This is your room.”
Cascadia hesitated for just a moment but turned to regard the choices. She walked through the manakins, which wore everything from a full set of obviously enchanted old-timey plate armor, to a set of leggings made of interlocked, still living beetles, to a glowing helmet with a meter long, rainbow colored horn.
Cascadia considered each of them in turn.
“Well boys, I’ve got a problem; Jasper brought it to my mind earlier. Most of these items are aesthetic defining. I can’t wear those cosmic juggernaut esque shoulder pads if I’m going for a cyber assassin vibe. And I certainly couldn’t make that fantastic cloak work if I end up targeting a warrior-queen aesthetic. And while I absolutely love those armored rocket boots they just wouldn’t fit with a don't talk back to your mommy look.”
“What the hell is a don’t talk back to your mommy look?”
“Shush. There are really only two options; either I take the NanoSkin Base Layer, which is neutral enough to work with most styles. Or we find out what a Technosigilist Runeplate does.”
The runeplate was a thin, rectangular piece of metal with a complicated, circular pattern and lines of unreadable script. There was a small hole in the top with a red string looped through it; the mannequin was wearing it as a necklace. Cascadia reached out and selected the mannequin.
“I do love a good accessory.”
We exited the reward room as Cascadia examined her new item, which she decided to try wearing as a large hair pendant. I was confident it wouldn’t work because she already had her nanobot hair accessory, but when she affixed it, using her nanobots to create a small attachment for it to dangle from, the system properly equipped it. I surmised it was because her already equipped hair piece didn’t have any actual stat benefits, but Cascadia said it was because the runeplate was equipped to her hair and the nanobot accessory was equipped to her skull. We would ask Jasper later. I had never heard of either technosigilists or runeplates before and Cascadia pasted the item description into the chat.
Technosigilist Runeplate
Technosigilism is an esoteric system used to access ancient technological powers. The secrets required to create this technology have been lost to the ages, but the methods to utilize it remain. No one knows for certain why the creators of these remarkable powers designed such a complex, difficult to use system, but most agree it was probably just gatekeeping. Even the most primitive ruling class understands the need to keep power out of the hands of the unwashed masses, after all.
Regardless of the reasons, if one is equipped with the appropriate conduit and can master the complex sigils required to use it, great power is there for the taking. This runeplate is a basic defensive conduit, allowing access to the Indestructible Golden Disc of the Ascendant Star Walker ability. Most people just call it Disc Shield. The runeplate will provide the wearer knowledge of the correct technique but will not automatically imbue them with the skill to use it.
The ability allowed Cascadia to create a golden disc composed of complicated geometric patterns that was immovable and indestructible. It would last for thirty seconds and had a one hour cooldown. At level one, it was two meters in diameter and would increase with level. In order to use the ability Cascadia had to trace the correct patterns in the air with her hands. She hadn’t yet been able to do it correctly and she was getting frustrated. Every time she tried the pattern would start to form, but fizzle out and dissipate.
“Fuck this. Let’s go find some mobs, I’ll figure it out later.”
We spent the rest of the day clearing out the neighborhood, using the neighborhood map to efficiently hunt down mobs. At a little over ten hours left in the day we found a safe room to open our boxes, shower, eat, and close out the day.
The saferoom had a cyborg proprietor who greeted us upon entry.
“Welcome to the finest saferoom on the second floor! We have beds, showers, battery chargers, television screens, tables and chairs, and the best cook in the dungeon! That’s me. Stacktron.”
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Parson came to the bar excitedly.
“What can you make?”
“Anything! I am an expert chef, capable of making whatever it is that you desire.”
“Ok great, I want cobalt pixonut sauce noodles.”
“And for you two? What can I serve you today?”
“Steak for me, please. She only eats ration bars.”
Cascadia had sat down at a table to open her boss box. The dungeon had apparently decided that she had gotten enough gear for the floor because all she got was another five hundred credits. That was her second credit only boss box of the floor and I imagined they would become increasingly common until the next level.
Parson and I both got great loot. Parson got a labcoat that gave him immunity to acid damage and bonuses to constitution and intelligence. It was also ridiculously fashionable for a lab coat, with a very sharp collar. I got an operator helmet. It looked like a futuristic space suit helmet and gave me plus two to dexterity and plus two to intelligence but also had a blackout mode. I could make the viewplate completely opaque, which would render my natural eyes worthless, but give me plus five to the Swarm Controller skill. I checked the skill and saw that I actually already had it, but it was only level three.
Cascadia came over to check out our new equipment.
“Looking good. Your aesthetics are coming together nicely. I can’t wait till we can do some shopping.”
Stacktron came back with our food. He put a beautiful steak sandwich in front of me. The bread was thick and crusty and the meat was leaking fragrant juices everywhere. He set another sandwich in front of Parson. This one had thin, blue bread, cooked crispy, with layers of what looked like nut butter and sweet fruit paste in between.
“This isn’t what I asked for. I asked for cobalt pixonut noodles.”
“You don’t want that. You want this. This is better.”
Parson took a hesitant bite.
“I can’t pretend this isn’t very good. But Tabaka would never mess up my order like this.”
The cyborg huffed.
“Tabaka is a talentless hack who can’t make anything but derivative noodle dishes.”
Parson stood up and pointed a finger at Stacktron. “You take that back right now.”
My sandwich was one of the most delicious things I had ever tasted and I ate without complaint while they argued. Cascadia watched me for an uncomfortable minute before she left and found some space to train.
After the hanging from chains boss battle incident she had decided to improve her pistol skills. Specifically her ability to reload with one hand. She alternated between pistol practice and trying to draw her sigil. She tried several methods including tossing the revolver into the air with the cylinder open and throwing the bullets into it, shaking bullets from a wrist mounted strap into the gun, and holding the gun in two fingers and using the other three to reload. None of them had worked so far but she did get much better at her two handed reloading.
At nine hours, thirty minutes sharp, we went to bed. Cascadia was still sticking to her sleep heavy schedule and I wasn’t complaining. I drifted off, satisfied with our progress so far.
The next morning I enjoyed a remarkable mushroom centered breakfast sandwich while Cascadia and I watched the recap. We ignored Parson and Stacktron, who had restarted their argument of the previous day almost immediately. The recap was unremarkable except for the fact that we were not on it. As the episode ended and the daily update sounded I cringed, waiting for Cascadia’s reaction. It was even worse than I had feared. Her voice was calm, but the contents of her words were calamitous.
“It looks like they haven’t chosen us as regulars yet. Makes sense, we haven’t put together the most compelling storyline. That’s ok, it just means we will have to rely on extraordinary achievements for the time being. I think it’s time we revisit our discussion about city bosses.”
I imagined Jasper pulling his fur out and I could empathize with the sentiment. Even Parson cut off his diatribe against noodles in sandwiches to join the conversation.
“We are doing so well this floor, I think we should take our win and just coast out the rest of the level. Get the reward rooms, level up some more, maybe find some new crafting materials. No need to do something crazy. We’ve been on the show once, we’ll be back once we accelerate on the next floor.”
I thanked the gods that Parson was on my side for this one.
“I don’t think so. We still have almost six days of activity left, we don’t want to waste it. I’ve already pretty much stopped getting loot and experience gains are really slowing down. We can level up our neglected skills, sure, but we need to keep pushing to be in the best position. And building a strong audience base early can’t be a bad thing.”
“I’ve already made it clear that I think too big of an audience can be a bad thing, but I’m not drawing a line in the sand there. The main issue is that, at least according to all the evidence we have; game guide statements; recap highlights; and extrapolation from the differences between mobs, neighborhood bosses, and borough bosses; we have every reason to believe that city bosses are orders of magnitude more powerful than borough bosses and we have no way to properly prepare for such a fight. There is potential reward, but the risk is disproportionately high and the rewards can be gained through a more conservative approach anyway if we just wait for a while.”
“That was a lot of words, Parson. But you both misunderstand my intention. I’m not saying that we should try to take on a city boss ourselves today. We should continue to grind, and build up a large group. If we could get a few dozen competent crawlers together, we could do it. None of the groups we’ve seen fail city bosses on the recap had a strong enough core. We can provide that core, and with adequate support, we could be the first to take down a city boss.”
This discussion continued for a time and Parson and I reluctantly agreed to start trying to gather a group. Cascadia would reach out to professor Carrie, I would reach out to Taron, the mercenary we had fought with, and we would use neighborhood maps and Cascadia’s Come Get Some ability to search for more crawlers. We would continue to grind and hit reward rooms, but if we could organize a group, we would try to meet up towards the end of the floor to finish with a bang.
After I finished my dungeon codex review and our standard training, we set off in the direction of the seafood reward room, on Parson’s insistence.
Gellen: Hey Taron, how’s it going? You find a group to work with yet?
Taron: Hey Gellen. I’m paired up with another crawler at the moment. We make an….ok pair. Anything is better than going solo though. I don’t know how or why the mech suite guy does it.
Gellen: Yeah it seems miserable. Anyhow, we are trying to get a group together to try a city boss. Are you interested?
Taron: Sounds suicidal, but if anyone can pull it off it would be you guys. I don’t know how you plan to gather people though, there’s no way to find each other in these tunnels.
I didn’t plan on gathering people as I hoped that the plan would fail, but I didn’t tell Taron that.
Gellen: We got a much bigger vehicle and I can scout like crazy with my drones. We’ll figure it out. Just keep your eyes out for a city boss and any landmarks and keep me posted.
Taron: Copy
“Taron said he is in, though I have no idea where he is. Probably back close to where we started, so like twenty plus hours of driving. Are you sure this is a good idea? You hate driving days.”
“Carrie and her group are in too. And they have been working with some other crawlers that they will try to bring along. They are only a few neighborhoods away from where we started, so we know the direction to head. And we can split up the driving. Six hours a day gets us there with two days to spare and some extra buffer for detours for reward rooms and stuff.”
I didn’t see how this could work but I was happy to just let it fail on its own. If it weren’t for my Surveyor skill we would have no chance of finding our way back, but since I could view any part of the minimap we had ever been to and had a habit of taking notes on everything, another perk of the Surveyor skill, navigating was trivial. We drove and fought our way to the seafood room, making oblique progress towards our meeting location.
The path to the seafood reward room offered me a unique opportunity. As we drew nearer, we encountered a series of small pools we had to cross. Each of the pools was filled with mobs, a different theme for each pool. I recalled Bartholomew’s letter to us, suggesting that we try to get achievements for elemental damage kills. I held back Cascadia and Parson and used my Endothermic Field ability. The first pool froze solid a few seconds later the red dots turned to X’s and we got some experience. A few seconds more and I got what I had been hoping for.
New Achievement! Extra Ice, No Pulse.
You have killed a mob by lowering its body temperature so low that it stopped functioning. That’s cold man. Ice cold. Bad puns aside, this is an impressive feat for the early floors and is a strong indicator that you will die alone. Cold and dark and afraid. Don’t blame me, I’m just the messenger, I tell it how it is.
: You’ve received a silver Frosty box.
I repeated the process with each of the pools. I didn’t get any additional achievements but it was very easy experience and my Endothermic Field ability leveled twice. We had not yet reached the reward room when the tunnel ended. There was another small pool at the end, but unlike the ones before it, this one was deep, so deep we couldn’t see where it went, and there were no mobs in it.
“The reward room is past this wall?” Cascadia asked. I nodded.
“Ok then, seems simple enough. I’ll be right back.”
“Wait!” I said, grabbing her arm. “We don’t know how far it goes, or what’s in there. It could be dangerous, and it might be too far for you to swim.”
Cascadia gently pushed my hand aside.
“I’m a superhuman athlete at this point, and I’m a fantastic swimmer. I think I’ll be fine. If your so worried though, can’t you send one of your drones down first?”
I paused at the idea. Conventional drones couldn’t be used underwater because the radio waves couldn’t travel through the water, but dungeon tech didn’t really follow the same rules as the outside world. I eased my all-purpose drone into the water, and sure enough, the connection was fine. The repulsors worked fine as well. I gave Cascadia a thumbs up and launched down into the pool. It led into a long, thin tunnel that went for about fifty meters leading up into a small, dry chamber with a large stone door. I conveyed the information to Cascadia.
“Fifty meters seems like a long ways to me,” I said.
“It is long, for a normal person at least. But I am stronger and have more endurance than any human ever has. And I can be almost frictionless. This will be easy. You can follow me with the drone to keep an eye on me if you’re worried. And I’ll take your oh shit button, so I can teleport back if something goes wrong, yeah?”
It was a solid plan and I gave her my button.
“Don’t forget, get the thing that looks like it has the most docosahexaenoic acid. For your brain!”
She made a rude gesture towards Parson as she took a short run up and dove into the pool, disappearing from view. I followed her with my drone as she shot through the water like a torpedo. Her skin and clothes glowed as she used her friction manipulation skill. She cleared the tunnel in half a minute and came up into the chamber, dripping wet. She pushed open the stone door and I watched as she explored a room with four treasure chests. One was full of what I assumed was tinned fish. One had a small seaweed garden in a tank. One had a large roasted sea creature I didn’t recognize. And one contained what appeared to be a hi-tech fishing rod and a bunch of accessory gear. Cascadia inspected each option for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and pulling the fishing rod and accessory gear bags into her inventory. The other chests snapped shut and Cascadia dove back into the water, reaching Parson and I a minute later.
“Aww man!” Parson exclaimed when Cascadia showed us what she had chosen. “A fishing rod has zero docosahexaenoic acid…”
“Don’t worry Parson, I’ll catch us some fish. I’m sure there is a big body of water somewhere in this dungeon.”
