Dungeon Core Online 54 Chapter 54

"What the hell is that?" Dwight and his teammates had been traveling for about fifteen minutes through the grass of the wastelands, making their way deeper into James's second floor. As they had discussed, they avoided the city, their goal the largest mob on the floor, larger even than the Terminus. The break-i-asarus.

The break-i-asarus, aka breaker, cost James a total of 10 points to summon, and was his most expensive mob alongside the Spy's. Unlike the Spy, the breaker specialized in defense, and did little in the form of actual damage, using instead its large health pool and high defense. Its main attacks included a massive tail sweep, and an aoe stun, which involved the clockwork beast rearing up on its hind legs, putting it over thirty feet in height, before crashing back down.

Z's group could fell one of these level 18 mobs easily. Skar's group suffered little damage but took some time to chew away at the mobs defense. Dwight's group, well as far as James could see, they didn't have a chance. There was no way a party of level 13 players, which consisted of four orc warriors and one bard, would be able to even put a scratch on the mob. James had been confident his mob could survive, but realized the group would likely either flee, or just not take enough damage before time ended. He had started to worry he wasn't going to get the party wipe he wanted.

At least now, he no longer had that worry.

"I think that's a steamer D." KingSlayr was out in front, his shield raised uncertainly as he observed the massive mob. The steamer cost James 9 points and was a hybrid mob. It was slow moving, with a decent armor plating, but also was able to put out a good amount of damage. Not only that, it had a special skill. A very special skill, that ensured D's group was going to wipe if they were dumb enough to attack it. And if James knew D's group, they were just that dumb.

Steamosaurus (9) lvl 18

Type: Gear'd Up Dino

HP: 500

MP: 50

Atk: 50

Def: 50

Unique Traits

Adaptive Gears- Steamosaurusus can switch between three special modes (Panzer, Jaeger, Schneider), depending on the situation. Each mode will apply buffs and debuffs appropriately. A three second stun is applied to all adventurers within 5 meters of a steamer as it activates a mode.

Siege Mode Panzer- Steamosaurus who have aggroed onto adventurers will enter Panzer mode when the target is greater than 40 meters away. While in Panzer mode, mobility drops by 90%. Atk and Def increase by 60%

Gains access to the Steam Cannon- Utilize the power of steam to launch a spiked cannon ball towards enemies. Cannon ball will do 50 + lvl damage to enemies within 2 meters of impact, and 10 + lvl damage to enemies within 5 meters of impact. Cannon balls will critical for an additional 150% damage on direct impact. Can fire a round every five seconds.

Gains Armor Plating- Steamosaurusus take 20% less damage from physical attacks. (After def is applied)

Hunter Mode Jaeger- Steamosaurus will enter Jaeger mode when the target is between 10-40 meters of it. While in Jaeger mode, there are no buffs to Atk, def, or mobility.

Gains access to spike barrage- Steamosaurusus can launch the spikes from their tail at enemies. Spikes will do 30 + lvl damage and ignore 5% of defenses. Six spikes can be launched each attack. 20 second cooldown.

Gains access to plate mines- Steamosaurus can launch explosive plates from its back to the area around it, setting up a mine field. Plates will detonate when an adventurer is within 1 meter of them. Plate mines will do 70 damage + level in a radius of 3 meters. Plate mines will disappear after 1 minute.

Proximity Mode Schneider- Steamosaurusus enter Schneider mode when their target is within 10 meters of them. Steamosaurus will gain a 50% increase to movement speed, gain 75% in attack power, and lose 50% of defense.

Gains access to chain blades- Chain blades deal 100 + lvl damage per strike, and cause 15 seconds of bleed. Bleed damage deals .2% of max hp per second.

Gains access to explosive armor- Plates around the Steamosaurus become explosive, dealing 80 + Atk damage to enemies on contact. Attacks that impact with explosive plates deal 60% less damage but destroy the plate. Destroyed plates return after 1 minute.

"Obviously that's a steamer. I can see that with my own eyes." D hit KingSlayr in the back of the head with his sword. "I want to know why it is here, and not a breaker."

"According to the forums, a couple different mobs seem to roam outside of the city." Rick had his lute out and was eyeing the mob hungrily. So far, the steamer had not taken note of them.

"What else do the forums say?" Dwight asked.

"Man, I don't know. I just know people listed them on the rankings under breaker's and spys." The bard pointed his lute off into the distance, where the hulking form of a breaker could be seen. The Steamosaurus was in their way.

"Well then, let's kill this thing quick, and take on that breaker. We have less than 30 minutes before we get kicked from the game." Dwight pointed his sword at the innocent steamer, who was minding its own business, munching absentmindedly on a piece of scrap metal.

"Buff us Rick, and let's do this."

Rick strummed down on his lute, and James instinctively flinched. However, the sound that came from it was surprisingly not bad. If James had to guess, Rick was utilizing bard skills to make his playing actually decent. What sounded like a mixture between hard rock and classical music flowed from the instrument, and all five members began to glow red.

"Attack buff applied. I'll keep strumming while ya'll get running." The way Rick grinned at that, James figured he was quite proud of his rhyme.

"Ohhh, are we going to see Schneider mode?" Rue had her bowl of popcorn in her lap, and her eyes were filled with excitement as the four orcs charged towards the steamer. Usually, groups choose to either bring steamers down quickly from long range with magic spells or choose to activate jaeger mode. No groups had attacked a steamer in full on, close range, melee. Mainly because most of the groups on the second floor actually knew how to kite and engage mobs.

"Seems that way." The orcs closed the distance between them and the mob surprisingly fast. When they got within 12 meters of it, they all let out fearsome growls, causing their muscles to bulge and their bodies to glow an even darker red. James knew this was a bloodlust skill for orcs in particular, which increased their damage output by 20% for 1 minute. It had a 30-minute cooldown though, and James doubted they realized they wouldn't be able to use it again if they made it to the breaker.

"They just blew their CD, noobs." James laughed at the pixies comment, agreeing with her fully. Any experienced MMO player knew better than to burn their CDs, especially when they had a larger target they needed to face.

"This is going to end so badly for them."

Even though they made noobish mistakes, it did seem they at least charged in with some sort of a plan. Just as the group reached the steamer, the three DPS warriors slowed just enough to allow KingSlayr, the tank, to get ahead of them. From there, the warrior slammed his shield into the steamer with a loud grunt. James could see his shield was glowing and knew he had just tried to taunt the mob.

It would have been the smart move, if not for a few factors. First, no matter how large the orc, trying to shield slam a dinosaur that was nearly 15 foot in length, 9 foot in height, and made of metal, was never a good idea. Second, by aggroing the steamer at such a close range, they had activated Schneider mode. Which, from what James could read, was about to be the worst nightmare for a group of lightly armored warrior DPS players.

Upon impact, the steamer dropped the piece of scrap it had been chewing on and let out ear shattering roar. The roar rolled off in visible waves from the beast, washing over Dwight and the other three orcs with him. Only RickRoll'd wasn't affected by the stun, as he had stayed 15 meters away from the beast, jamming out to the music in his own head.

As Dwight and the others stood frozen in their stunned shape, the steamer began its transformation. The spikes at the end of its tail shifted along the length of it and locked into a track that existed along it. The moment they locked in, gears along the tail began churning, and a sound like a chainsaw revving could be heard. A split second later, its entire tail became a rapidly churning chainsaw like appendage.

If that wasn't fearsome enough, the armor plating covering much of the steamers body dropped off, and blades dropped free from behind the plates, protruding for about three feet from each of the steamer's legs. Each blade had rapidly moving chainsaw teeth running along the edge of the blade, threatening to completely destroy anything they touched.

The final bit of the transformation involved the massive plates that lined the back of the steamer to shift and move all along its body, laying flat against its metallic form, offering bits of protection in the form of massive plates. Not only would those plates protect it, James knew any adventurer that struck one of those was in for a nasty surprise.

The transformation took exactly three seconds, meaning Dwight's group was freed from their stun even as the transformation ended. Oblivious of what had just happened, Dwight started laughing.

"Its armor is gone, hit it with all you've got."

To make his point, he lunged at the steamer, his sword driving into its exposed side. Thanks to its transformation, the mob now only had 25 defense, meaning the under-leveled, poorly equipped warrior, with his double attack buffs, was able to do an okay amount of damage. Like, instead of 0, James saw Dwight managed to do a whopping 60. That level 13 orc deserved a medal.

"Bets on how long this fight lasts?" Rue's question came even as she munched on a few pieces of popcorn, and James couldn't help but laugh.

"10 seconds, maybe, for those four. And I'd say maybe a total of 30 for Rick?"

Just as James finished his sentence, one of the other orc warriors, named TotalPwner, swung his blade down at the steamer. It was a heavy strike, his sword glowing with energy, meaning he had utilized a skill. Unfortunately for him, the steamer shifted even as the sword impacted, causing the blade to hit one of its explosive armor plates. The damage from TotalPwner's attack was instantly mitigated by 60%, as an explosion responded to his attack. As the dust cleared, the orc managed to start sputtering a curse, before a Chainsword cut into him, and he erupted into a floating orb.

"What the hell King? Ain't you supposed to be tanking." Dwight's cry caused the tank to flinch, and the poor orc looked at the leader of the party just as the steamer swung its massive tail towards him.

"I'm-" was all he got out before the tail crashed into him. The tank instantly died.

"Seriously?" Dwight cursed under his breath, disengaging from the steamer just in time to avoid being severed in half. The remaining orc with him turned to him, and after they made eye contact, they both turned to flee. Rick had already started running away.

"Oh no you don't." James spoke on behalf of the steamer, as the mob let out an enraged bellow and chased after the orcs. Dwight, ever the sorry excuse for a person, actually tripped the other orc, pushing him in the way of the steamer in an attempt to slow the charging mob.

"Screw you Dwight." The orc, B@DA$Z, called before the steamer smashed into him, ending his life and filling James with even more experience. He was so close to leveling, he just needed Dwight and Rick, especially because everyone else, it seemed, had started to leave his dungeon instances. If these two didn't go down, he would have to wait until the next day to hit Rank 5.

"Get back here and give me a speed buff Rick." Dwight called after the fleeing bard, who sure enough appeared to be glowing a slight blue, having given himself a speed buff as he turned to run. The orc flipped Dwight the finger as he started laughing.

"Nah man, I ain't losing this experience."

"You're going to-" Dwight's threat was cut off as the Steamer cut through him. The mob's eyes narrowed on the fleeing bard, the last member of the party that had attacked him. The bard's music was now the only thing capable of drawing its aggro. A fact James was sure Rick didn't realize.

The steamer let out a roar, activating its next change. Rick was over 40 meters away and was slowing down. James was sure the bard figured there was no way the mob, with its blades, would be able to reach him. He was safe. He swiped his hand in front of him, making a motion James recognized as calling up his player screen. With a grin the bard pressed an option, and his body began to glow white. He had just chosen to log out, and action that James knew would take 10 seconds in a dungeon. The developers were not about to give players a way to immediately avoid death blows, after all.

"Yup, he's dumb." Rue pulled out a silver coin and tossed it towards James. He managed to catch it in midair with one of his tentacles, willing the tentacle to expand to create a baseball mitt. He had been spending some time playing around with his tentacles and had decided they were quite versatile.

The three second transformation ended, leaving a steamer that was covered from head to toe in thick metal plates. The mob was so heavy that it literally began to sink into the ground. Its tail had lifted all the way over its back, nestling atop it like a giant artillery cannon. It almost looked like a monstrous hybrid between a tank, and a long-range artillery gun.

Steam blasted from the exhaust points all around the steamer, billowing out from underneath, as its cannon fired. Sure, the bard was roughly 50 meters away. Sure, the cannonball was only about a foot and a half in size. However, a stationary target was extremely easy to hit, and James's mouth, had he had one, would have been hurting from the size of the smile that grew on his face.

He watched as the spiked projectile blasted through the air, flying in a deadly ballistic arc directly onto the unsuspecting bard, who had been looking down at his status screen, likely laughing about escaping death. On impact, Rick's character burst into an orb of light, and the cannon ball left a small crater where the orc had stood. Eagerly, James opened his character screen. He had done it. He had wiped Dwight's party, surely-

Glyax Tier 2 Rank 4 Dungeon

Mob Type: Random

179,999 xp

1 xp to next rank

120,001 xp to next Tier

Resources: 119 of 2500

Currency: 0 copper 0 silver 5 gold 0 platinum

Dungeon Tokens: 6

"You've got to be kidding me." James groaned. Just as he closed his character screen, a loud chime and a bright flash crossed his vision.

Achievement Unlocked.

Chapter end