Dungeon Core Online 50 Chapter 50

"Well, if I had to guess, I think we're good for the boss on this floor." Z was glancing at his party as they finished taking down a Tri. So far, they had come across two Spys, three velocity raptor packs, and the Tri. Each battle had lasted less than a minute, and James had noticed Z's pet was doing a really good job of alerting them to nearby enemies. With that and its ability to detect traps, the group had been making short work of his city.

"This just isn't fair." James grumbled as he watched them finish looting the mob and began down another street. He glanced around the city, checking where all of the mobs were, and seeing what they would run into next. If they continued on their way, they would encounter a treasure chest, as well as a third Spy in the next few minutes. His city still had four velocity raptor packs, three Spys, plus the ability for the five steamers and five remaining Tri's to wander in. Not to mention, B.L.U. and the Terminus.

"Well, you are the one who didn't upgrade your mobs. Nor did you use your extra 20 mob points." Rue smirked at James as he turned away from her scolding, throwing his tentacles up in the air.

"I didn't expect this to happen." James pulled up his character sheet, noting he was finally nearing his next rank. When he hit rank 3, he would have 40 mob points to spend on his floor, and two upgrade points for all of his mobs. Add that to their increase in levels, and they should begin scaling nicely.

"Besides, the Knights are just better than everyone else." He grumbled as he watched the Knights march cheerily along, cracking jokes and playing with their pets as they did. It seemed they were getting too used to the honey badger detecting threats for them, that their guard was down. Though, given how easily they were defeating mobs, James didn't blame them.

"Oh, and in your gaming days, you didn't waltz into areas that were supposed to be hard, and clear them out?" Rue raised and eyebrow as she watched James. "I though you were supposed to be some high and mighty legendary player."

"That's different." She had a point. James had been an elite gamer, and there were many times he entered areas that challenge many others and was able to clear them on his own. However, new content had always proved a challenge, at least in the beginning. Though, he would then do just as the Knights did, and farm until he was overpowered for the area, before conquering it. So, really, he was just getting angry at the Knights for actually being good. He was becoming a hypocrite.

"Part of being a successful dungeon, is knowing how to craft your dungeon around your adventurers. You can't always build just based on what the top players are doing Glyax. There are thousands more who are unable to even make it to the second floor yet. It wouldn't be fair to overpower your second floor just because of the Knights." The pixie's tone was scolding, but her eyes were full of mischief.

"What are you thinking then, Rue?" She had an idea, he just knew it.

"Nope, I'll tell you after this is all done." She turned back to the instance, summoning some hot chocolate. "I'm enjoying watching this, and so is your audience." Sure enough, chat was going on and on about his floor, and the Knight's weapons, as well as their strange farmer garb. James forgot he hadn't told any of the other dungeon cores he had chosen random as his mob type. He made a mental note to create a forum topic about it after the Knights finished their dive.

"You're such a tease." James's mirth had returned to his voice, as he turned back to the Knights, watching as they hesitantly approached a chest. It wasn't trapped, but they still sent the honey badger to check it out. The little guy sniffed it questioningly and slashed at it once. After nothing happened, he turned back to Z and let out an appraising snarl. At its signal, Oak walked up and opened the chest, and the group began checking the loot from the chest.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Rue winked as she sipped her hot chocolate, causing James to simply shake his head, though he could still feel heat rising in his body. Once again, he was glad he was just a floating orb with tentacles, it hid the otherwise visible flushes and effects his durned pixie had on him when she made comments like that. Worst and yet best AI design ever, in James's mind.

"Alright, well then, where are they heading now?" The Knights, having finished with their treasure, had decided to take one of the alley ways instead of staying on the main street they had been on. James had trapped his alleyways, but he figured with Z's pet, those wouldn't be a problem. What caught his attention though, was the alleyway they had decided to take, headed deeper into the city, and directly into the lair of the Terminus.

James zoomed the instance out a little, for the people watching via live stream, just to confirm his suspicion. Sure enough, the alleyway led directly into the coliseum formed from fallen skyscrapers, where the Terminus lurked. In fact, there were no other cutoffs from the alley, so the group was bound to end up in the arena. Glancing at the Terminus, James wondered if his boss mob would be able to take on the Knights. On the instance, all people could make out was the Knights making their way through a narrow alleyway towards a strange, large coliseum filled with sand and rusted, broken cars. The Terminus was asleep in the hidden overhang James had created for it. This meant, both the other dungeon cores, and Z's group once they reached the coliseum, would not be immediately aware of the boss mob's presence.

"Wanna place a bet?" Rue's eyes sparkled as she set her hot chocolate down on a table, she had summoned in front of her. She waved her hand and a pile of coins appeared before her.

"Not this time." James was planning on beginning to trade her resources for coins, to start stockpiling for the update. However, right now, he didn't want to worry about a bet. Instead, he wanted to see what was going to happen. Especially because on his second floor, with the boss getting its own designated area, James had been able to implement a new feature to his floor. The moment the Knights exited the alleyway, stepping into the dusty arena, all of the entrances and exits into the arena sealed themselves. It wasn't a trap, so it couldn't be detected. Instead, it was a feature he had been able to activate for five resources per entrance. Until the boss was defeated, or the party wiped, no one would be able to enter or exit the arena.

He glanced at chat and could see walls of text flying by. People were beginning to speculate about what his boss mob would be, and what the chances were for the adventurers. The other dungeon core players knew tier 2 floors could have a miniboss and boss, and they knew the boss on his dungeon, based on the level of his basic mobs, was level 26. So, there was a lot of active discussion and excitement building in the chat. It matched James's emotions, and he tore himself away from the chat, resisting giving them answers about his boss mob. He decided they could discover it at the same time as the Knights. Oh this was going to be good.

Chapter end