Chapter Five: The Second Inspection
So, what am I to do with this sudden windfall of mana, thanks to those kids? Ive got enough to upgrade myself again, and I do want to, but I want to make sure Im prepared before I do that. My ant queen has been busy, her little workers finally hatched and all got to well, work. Ive been mostly spending my income to upgrade her, keeping my total above the point for me to upgrade myself, but not spending it just yet.
She can make majors now, which are just bigger and meaner ants. Theyre not all majors, still need workers, but invader ants are basically a solved problem now. Her workers have been digging into the dirt of the little Secret Sanctum, as I want my large marble of a core to be beyond the reach of anything strong. Fittingly enough, the ants are hard workers, and progress has been going pretty smoothly. A foot a day might not sound like much, but after a week, itd take adventurers with picks and shovels to get at my core.
Which makes me more willing to let delvers into the basement. I even grew a new chest down there, too. Nobodys shown up to try to get to it yet. My swarm is now level five and venomous, but I know its only a matter of time before some strong delver comes by to clear it out. Theres even a magic dagger in the chest, so thats sure to draw delvers.
Also sure to draw delvers are the new mushroom nodes. With my queen around, I can put new nodes in little other spots around the house for a discount. Theyre mostly in cabinets and cupboards and such, just a small patch for the ants to feed from, and for mushrooms to grow. Im kinda proud of my little ecosystem.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.
Oh hey, elf guys back. Maybe he wants that dagger? I focus in on him as he does a loop around my yard.
Dungeon has expanded since last inspection, crows refuse to shut up. Good crows. Patch of herbs in the back yard, not high level. Birds upgraded to crows, anthill appears heavily upgraded, but no obvious signs of ants outside. Appears Dungeon prefers to focus on interior at this time.
He gathers a bit of herbs from the patch before walking around to my porch and knocking. Hmm no movement inside after announcing my presence. Ah, so he could sense me shuffling my things around last time. He heads on inside and looks around the main room.
He decides to engage my scion instead of the swarm first, probably because with all the webbing around, he wouldnt be able to acrobat around like in the attic. He stabs poor Tiny, but the little guy seems to be able to take it. He webs one of the elf's feet as the swarm closes in, but that grin of his stays on his face. He kicks Tiny back and pivots on his stuck heel to unleash those windblades of his at the swarm, and the big mess of webbing. Theres too many spiders for him to keep them all away, though, and he gets many little bites.
I can even see the little poison effect floating over his head now. It doesnt seem to have dampened his spirits, though, even as Tiny jumps onto his back and sinks his fangs. Is he going to leave soon? I kinda like the friendly rivalry we have, I dont want to accidentally kill him.
Shadow Blade!
Oh. I didnt need to worry about that. He seems to melt into shadow before flashes of steel permeate the room, and he even kills Tiny! No! My swarm is done, too. I wish I still had eyes to glare with at the jerk who killed my Tiny!
Whew, boss encounter finished. Confirm had to use Shadow Blade, basement is for high level solo or medium groups. Grabbing loot before Scion respawns. Wait, respawns? I focus on my spider lair while the elf guy opens the chest to get the coins and dagger, and sure enough, I see a little portrait of Tiny with a timer counting down. I look over at my mana for that fight and if I had a jaw, Id need to pick it up off the ground. Thats a ton of mana from that fight.
Elf guy drinks one of his own potions as he ascends the stairs, and I let him go. I still feel a bit sore about him killing Tiny, but at least the little guy will be back before too long. As the elf reaches for the knob of the door, he pauses and glances back into the room. Don't spend it all in one place. Id hate to lose a dungeon like this.
Wait, lose?
