Worthy Core - Chapter 37

A number of days had passed since Alizz's visit, and it had generally been the longest calm period in Xenia's short current life. Down at Grassbrook the Challengers camp was putting the finishing touches on the temporary facilities they would need to prepare for a wave of Initiates, although building the permanent infrastructure they needed would require months more. Few had yet arrived though, and the only 'intrusion' in recent days had been the DF team using up their free pass before moving on from the region. Xenia had let Lollyp play host on that go-around, and the slime had successfully managed to actually get the team's autographs on her pinups, while receiving more than her share of other attention as well. If any of the trio found anything odd about her behavior or intelligence, her constant stream of flirts and innuendos apparently served well at keeping them too distracted to ask questions.

Xenia didn't mind the opportunity to continue working on her new floor uninterrupted, though it did begin to feel a little odd going entire days without life or death struggles being a regular occurrence. Before she could get too bored however, Guy came by just after midnight one evening to present her with a number of new achievements.

Xenia looks over the list in a bit of surprise. "Hey, hold up now. It sounds like some of these are bonuses we could've missed out on if we hadn't turned out to be so dang popular. Guy, why didn't you warn me we might be missing out on stuff?"

Guy does their usual shrug-bobbing motion. "Well, for one, I wasn't actually aware of them until they came up. But mostly I believe this ties into the logic I mentioned earlier - if I were to specifically say, 'oh Dungeon Master, we must achieve this specific objective', then it would be considered undue influence on your behavior and design priorities."

The dungeon master is a bit unconvinced. "Well duh, obviously it's an influence on my design priorities. Why would they even have these things if they didn't want me to do be doin' the shit they talk about?"

"Well, I think it's important to not get too caught up in trying to earn every possible achievement there might be. Instead, you should consider these to be rewards and encouragements along the paths you've chosen to walk on your own. If there was, as an example, an achievement for rewarding fifty gold coins worth of dungeon rewards within twenty-five days, it would probably be something to further progress a strategy of being very generous. That isn't something we've aimed for though, and apparently our focus has been on being rather high-traffic - at least by the standards of a very young dungeon, anyhow."

Xenia hrmms. "I guess...I hate thinking that there could be some, like, super-overpowered bonus I missed out on just because I didn't do some stupid random shit, though. Maybe if I'd made more monster types, or got more floors real fast...ugh, guess we'll never know. So, me bitching aside then, what's this challenge mode one about?"

Guy seems to grow more animated when moving to this topic. "Ah, yes, Challenge Modes! It's a particular type of spell with a specific ingredient - a reward item of decent quality, at least for the floor you place the challenge on. You then cast the spell on a floor or some portion of a floor, with some special requirement adventurers must achieve, and if they do so then the reward appears for only them. You aren't required to tell them what the challenge is, but it would ruin most of the purpose if you don't. Which is, the purpose is generally to encourage adventurers to take more risks and thus have a higher chance of being slain."

Xenia thinks for a moment before shouting down the hall. "Hey Lolly Pop! Design question, get your 'dungeon apprentice' butt in here!"

The slime wanders in a minute later, looking a little grumpy. "What? I know we don't need to sleep anymore, but I feel like work hours end after midnight, y'know? Also, I'm Lolly Pop now?"

"Sorry, the gig comes with bad working hours and bad nicknames. Anyhow, we unlocked challenge modes. Didn't the pervs ask if you had one of those the other day? What kinda thing would that be for a boss?"

Lollyp sighs, and stares at her boss. "...Xe, they were pervs. They were probably asking if there'd be a bonus reward if they could get me to juice, or something."

Xenia stares back. "...Do ya want there to be a bonus reward if Challengers can do that?"

She sucks in a breath, and grits her non-existent teeth. "Please, please don't tempt me. I'm already worried a little now that both of us are gonna get a reputation, and I am honestly scared about how little that scares me. A more serious answer though, for a Boss Arena challenge, would usually include an activated challenge mode."

"Eh? Activated challenges?"

Guy steps in. "Ah, yes, a special version. A normal, passive challenge would simply be something like 'beat the boss in five minutes'. But Lollyp has a point, a challenge mode for a boss would generally be something the adventurers specifically activate, by triggering something or actively issuing the challenge to the boss verbally. A stored amount of mana may then be released towards a particular pre-set purpose, significantly increasing the difficulty of the battle - or at least, it will if the challenge is properly designed."

Xenia thinks. "Huh. Well...Floor Three is still untested, which means you're still our star player, Lolly. Maybe it'd be putting all our eggs in one basket to set it on your arena, but at the same time, a buffed-up you is probably our best shot at handling all those goddamn Experts and Masters who keep fuckin' wandering around in here. Want the perk?"

A glow shines in the slime's eyes. "Can I design it myself? I've got some ideas..."

The dungeon master grins. "That's a terrifying fuckin' statement. Go for it."

Alpine Scout Tafyaf patrolled the Challenger camp yards for the second time today, wondering again if his luck was good or bad. He had really expected to be released back to his scouting duties days ago, or at the least assigned to the western patrol camp to help keep watch for Valleylanders. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Commander Paulados seemed to find his 'unattached' status too valuable for his own purposes. Even with the Fort's recent reinforcements the officer still had barely enough men to do the usual tasks that the garrison was generally assigned to perform. So it was that Tafyaf made an ideal candidate for 'extra' duties that needed to be performed...like playing the part of military liaison to the Challengers.

As much as the gnoll enjoyed roaming the wilds, he didn't entirely mind getting such an easy assignment, at least for a while. He got to enjoy a warm meal at The General every night, with Grayana joining him for company as often as not. He was actually a little surprised the elf was interested in spending so much time with him, but he got the impression that she too was taking advantage of his special status. Over their conversations it had seemed apparent that she didn't care much for most of the Fort's garrison, but she also had little in common with the local townsfolk, which made Tafyaf the most agreeable local dinner companion by default. Still, he had no complaints over her motivations, as found himself starting to warm up to her caustic wit the more time they spent together himself. Which isn't to say they were spending those meals as anything like a couple's dates, either, as they were often joined by a third recent acquaintance...one that Tafyaf noticed walking up to him now.

"Ah, Mister Kelsey, good afternoon. Camp seems to be in good order today, as it does every day, yes." Tafyaf pauses in his patrol to allow the kobold to catch up, not that he was really patrolling for anything in particular. For the most part he was just making himself visible in case anyone needed to talk to him, or if anything happened that needed reporting to the commander, and it seems at least one of those is the case now.

The kobold snorts. "C'mon kid, I told ya like four times already, I don't need any of that 'mister' or 'sir' stuff. Hells, I'm more used to folks callin' me 'flamebrain' or 'shitlizard' or whatever than being all respectful or whatnot. But eh, not the point. How'd you like to make some extra money?"

The gnoll considers for all of a second, maybe, before nodding. "That would be much appreciated, yes." A part of his brain tells him he should probably at least make sure it wasn't some sort of bribe offer before saying yes, though odds are the only difference it would make would be in the volume of his response.

Kelsey grins. "You're a smart guy. So, I was thinkin'. You're here to assist the Challengers with local issues and all of that, yeah? And, as it happens, you're still the only person around the camp to successfully lead a team through the dungeon, other than Alizz herself. Which, I don't know if you know this, but that makes you a pretty valuable kinda guy."

Tafyaf scratches at an ear. "Does it, perhaps? I have already told many what we encountered in the dungeon, yes, and your visit is more recent than mine. Out of date, my scouting report is now, yes."

The Challenger officer nods. "Yeah, that's true. But there's more you can do than just give tips and draw shitty napkin maps. We've started getting some Initiates wandering in, and they're not real happy about us tellin' em to stay away from the second floor. Lot of em spent a lot of time and money getting here, and if they're just gonna do one floor of a dungeon they could've done that almost anywhere. Even a lot of the old ones keep their top floor pretty basic, y'know?"

"So...you want me to help you convince them to not visit the second floor, maybe?"

This time the kolbold shakes his head. "Naw. There's a team gettin' themselves ready for a try, but they're willing to hire you on for a 'guide'. Our team, Alizz's team, can't be goin' around babysitting every batch of fresh-hatched Initiate kids who wanna take a tour, but there's still literally no one else here hangin' around higher than Initiate right now. Not since the freak trio left the other day, anyhow. You're Advanced though, and a local expert. So, the team's willin' to hire you on. Bit up front, plus a double share of the loot. Interested?"

Tafyaf takes a moment to consider. It's possible the commander wouldn't be happy about him moonlighting on the job, but then as Kelsey had said, 'assisting the local Challengers' was his job, so he technically had some cover. And it would be nice to stretch his legs a bit. "Hrm. Yes, maybe, willing to consider at least. Shall have to talk to the team, ensure they are up to the task, yes."

"No problem, I'll take you to them." The kobold pauses and leans in. "But remember, like I told you the other night...the second floor boss is no joke, especially with only you at Advanced. If the team's taken a beating, forget the pay and hightail it out of there, right? And if you move on, remember the slime-killin' tricks, yeah? Energy-based shit, death by a thousand cuts, and all that."

The gnoll nods. "Trust me, more interested in the pay than the glory I am, yes."

Kelsey chuckles and slaps Tafyaf on the shoulder. "Smart guy, like I said. Alright, come on, they've got their tent set up this way."

The pair of them arrive at a tent in the 'residential' area of the camp which is markedly different from the others that have been set up. So far, most of those in the camp have a certain uniformity to them, Challengers Association standard issue, aside from a handful of contractors who brought their own. The one Kelsey leads Tafyaf to however has a distinct 'second-hand discount' appearance to it, with a number of patches and old stains, although it was certainly larger than the average traveling tent an adventurer might carry around. And it apparently needed to be, as the two step inside to find a half-dozen armed men and women inside waiting for them. Tafyaf did a quick scan noting the diversity of the group: two humans, a dwarf, an orc, a gnoll, and some form of demon in a full cloak.

Kelsey takes charge of the introductions. "Everyone, this is Alpine Scout Tafyaf, local dungeon expert. Tafyaf, this lot is - and let me see if I remember all of y'all - Taslush of Bug'kurc, Tane, Sincere, Kilari, Pipyif, and Winfrey, is that right?" The group nods along, the kobold apparently having a good memory for names.

"Very large, this group is. Six Initiates, you all are, yes?"

Taslush, the orcish woman, answers for them. "Didn't start out as one group, actually. My party was me, Kilari here, and Tane." She points to the dwarvish and human men in the tent. "Pipyif and Winfrey were a duo, and the demon here came on his own." She points next to the two other women in the tent, the gnoll and the second human, before shrugging in the demon's direction. "Weren't really planning on all teamin' up at once like this, but the Agent in charge keeps drillin' it into our damn ears that the place is more dangerous than we're expecting. Idea came up of hiring on a guide, and if we're doin' that, may as well all chip in and spread the costs, eh?"

Tafyaf eyes the group, not particularly liking what he sees. Initiates can be bad enough, but a group that's never worked together before could be disastrous. Plus, if the group is this large, then his cut of the loot could be much smaller than he was expecting. Still, a cut of something is better than the nothing he'd get if he turns them down. "Hrmm, hrmm. May be willing to agree to the job, perhaps. I'll need to hear a little more..."

A number of days had passed since Alizz's visit, and it had generally been the longest calm period in Xenia's short current life. Down at Grassbrook the Challengers camp was putting the finishing touches on the temporary facilities they would need to prepare for a wave of Initiates, although building the permanent infrastructure they needed would require months more. Few had yet arrived though, and the only 'intrusion' in recent days had been the DF team using up their free pass before moving on from the region. Xenia had let Lollyp play host on that go-around, and the slime had successfully managed to actually get the team's autographs on her pinups, while receiving more than her share of other attention as well. If any of the trio found anything odd about her behavior or intelligence, her constant stream of flirts and innuendos apparently served well at keeping them too distracted to ask questions. Xenia didn't mind the opportunity to continue working on her new floor uninterrupted, though it did begin to feel a little odd going entire days without life or death struggles being a regular occurrence. Before she could get too bored however, Guy came by just after midnight one evening to present her with a number of new achievements. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: SURVIVOR 1 YOU HAVE SURVIVED TWENTY-FIVE DAYS. ONE 'CHALLENGE MODE' USAGE UNLOCKED, PLUS ONE PER FIVE FLOORS CONSTRUCTED.------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: BLOODTHIRSTY YOU HAVE SLAIN AT LEAST TEN MORTALS IN YOUR FIRST TWENTY-FIVE DAYS. NON-DUNGEON HEALING SPELLS, POTIONS AND OTHER HEALING EFFECTS ARE 20% LESS EFFECTIVE WHILE WITHIN DUNGEON BOUNDS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONS AT LEAST TWENTY MORTALS HAVE ESCAPED YOUR BOUNDS WITHIN YOUR FIRST TWENTY-FIVE DAYS. MANA GAINED FROM ESCAPED MORTALS IS INCREASED BY 50%. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xenia looks over the list in a bit of surprise. "Hey, hold up now. It sounds like some of these are bonuses we could've missed out on if we hadn't turned out to be so dang popular. Guy, why didn't you warn me we might be missing out on stuff?" Guy does their usual shrug-bobbing motion. "Well, for one, I wasn't actually aware of them until they came up. But mostly I believe this ties into the logic I mentioned earlier - if I were to specifically say, 'oh Dungeon Master, we must achieve this specific objective', then it would be considered undue influence on your behavior and design priorities." The dungeon master is a bit unconvinced. "Well duh, obviously it's an influence on my design priorities. Why would they even have these things if they didn't want me to do be doin' the shit they talk about?" "Well, I think it's important to not get too caught up in trying to earn every possible achievement there might be. Instead, you should consider these to be rewards and encouragements along the paths you've chosen to walk on your own. If there was, as an example, an achievement for rewarding fifty gold coins worth of dungeon rewards within twenty-five days, it would probably be something to further progress a strategy of being very generous. That isn't something we've aimed for though, and apparently our focus has been on being rather high-traffic - at least by the standards of a very young dungeon, anyhow." Xenia hrmms. "I guess...I hate thinking that there could be some, like, super-overpowered bonus I missed out on just because I didn't do some stupid random shit, though. Maybe if I'd made more monster types, or got more floors real fast...ugh, guess we'll never know. So, me bitching aside then, what's this challenge mode one about?" Guy seems to grow more animated when moving to this topic. "Ah, yes, Challenge Modes! It's a particular type of spell with a specific ingredient - a reward item of decent quality, at least for the floor you place the challenge on. You then cast the spell on a floor or some portion of a floor, with some special requirement adventurers must achieve, and if they do so then the reward appears for only them. You aren't required to tell them what the challenge is, but it would ruin most of the purpose if you don't. Which is, the purpose is generally to encourage adventurers to take more risks and thus have a higher chance of being slain." Xenia thinks for a moment before shouting down the hall. "Hey Lolly Pop! Design question, get your 'dungeon apprentice' butt in here!" The slime wanders in a minute later, looking a little grumpy. "What? I know we don't need to sleep anymore, but I feel like work hours end after midnight, y'know? Also, I'm Lolly Pop now?" "Sorry, the gig comes with bad working hours and bad nicknames. Anyhow, we unlocked challenge modes. Didn't the pervs ask if you had one of those the other day? What kinda thing would that be for a boss?" Lollyp sighs, and stares at her boss. "...Xe, they were pervs. They were probably asking if there'd be a bonus reward if they could get me to juice, or something." Xenia stares back. "...Do ya want there to be a bonus reward if Challengers can do that?" She sucks in a breath, and grits her non-existent teeth. "Please, please don't tempt me. I'm already worried a little now that both of us are gonna get a reputation, and I am honestly scared about how little that scares me. A more serious answer though, for a Boss Arena challenge, would usually include an activated challenge mode." "Eh? Activated challenges?" Guy steps in. "Ah, yes, a special version. A normal, passive challenge would simply be something like 'beat the boss in five minutes'. But Lollyp has a point, a challenge mode for a boss would generally be something the adventurers specifically activate, by triggering something or actively issuing the challenge to the boss verbally. A stored amount of mana may then be released towards a particular pre-set purpose, significantly increasing the difficulty of the battle - or at least, it will if the challenge is properly designed." Xenia thinks. "Huh. Well...Floor Three is still untested, which means you're still our star player, Lolly. Maybe it'd be putting all our eggs in one basket to set it on your arena, but at the same time, a buffed-up you is probably our best shot at handling all those goddamn Experts and Masters who keep fuckin' wandering around in here. Want the perk?" A glow shines in the slime's eyes. "Can I design it myself? I've got some ideas..." The dungeon master grins. "That's a terrifying fuckin' statement. Go for it." Alpine Scout Tafyaf patrolled the Challenger camp yards for the second time today, wondering again if his luck was good or bad. He had really expected to be released back to his scouting duties days ago, or at the least assigned to the western patrol camp to help keep watch for Valleylanders. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Commander Paulados seemed to find his 'unattached' status too valuable for his own purposes. Even with the Fort's recent reinforcements the officer still had barely enough men to do the usual tasks that the garrison was generally assigned to perform. So it was that Tafyaf made an ideal candidate for 'extra' duties that needed to be performed...like playing the part of military liaison to the Challengers. As much as the gnoll enjoyed roaming the wilds, he didn't entirely mind getting such an easy assignment, at least for a while. He got to enjoy a warm meal at The General every night, with Grayana joining him for company as often as not. He was actually a little surprised the elf was interested in spending so much time with him, but he got the impression that she too was taking advantage of his special status. Over their conversations it had seemed apparent that she didn't care much for most of the Fort's garrison, but she also had little in common with the local townsfolk, which made Tafyaf the most agreeable local dinner companion by default. Still, he had no complaints over her motivations, as found himself starting to warm up to her caustic wit the more time they spent together himself. Which isn't to say they were spending those meals as anything like a couple's dates, either, as they were often joined by a third recent acquaintance...one that Tafyaf noticed walking up to him now. "Ah, Mister Kelsey, good afternoon. Camp seems to be in good order today, as it does every day, yes." Tafyaf pauses in his patrol to allow the kobold to catch up, not that he was really patrolling for anything in particular. For the most part he was just making himself visible in case anyone needed to talk to him, or if anything happened that needed reporting to the commander, and it seems at least one of those is the case now. The kobold snorts. "C'mon kid, I told ya like four times already, I don't need any of that 'mister' or 'sir' stuff. Hells, I'm more used to folks callin' me 'flamebrain' or 'shitlizard' or whatever than being all respectful or whatnot. But eh, not the point. How'd you like to make some extra money?" The gnoll considers for all of a second, maybe, before nodding. "That would be much appreciated, yes." A part of his brain tells him he should probably at least make sure it wasn't some sort of bribe offer before saying yes, though odds are the only difference it would make would be in the volume of his response. Kelsey grins. "You're a smart guy. So, I was thinkin'. You're here to assist the Challengers with local issues and all of that, yeah? And, as it happens, you're still the only person around the camp to successfully lead a team through the dungeon, other than Alizz herself. Which, I don't know if you know this, but that makes you a pretty valuable kinda guy." Tafyaf scratches at an ear. "Does it, perhaps? I have already told many what we encountered in the dungeon, yes, and your visit is more recent than mine. Out of date, my scouting report is now, yes." The Challenger officer nods. "Yeah, that's true. But there's more you can do than just give tips and draw shitty napkin maps. We've started getting some Initiates wandering in, and they're not real happy about us tellin' em to stay away from the second floor. Lot of em spent a lot of time and money getting here, and if they're just gonna do one floor of a dungeon they could've done that almost anywhere. Even a lot of the old ones keep their top floor pretty basic, y'know?" "So...you want me to help you convince them to not visit the second floor, maybe?" This time the kolbold shakes his head. "Naw. There's a team gettin' themselves ready for a try, but they're willing to hire you on for a 'guide'. Our team, Alizz's team, can't be goin' around babysitting every batch of fresh-hatched Initiate kids who wanna take a tour, but there's still literally no one else here hangin' around higher than Initiate right now. Not since the freak trio left the other day, anyhow. You're Advanced though, and a local expert. So, the team's willin' to hire you on. Bit up front, plus a double share of the loot. Interested?" Tafyaf takes a moment to consider. It's possible the commander wouldn't be happy about him moonlighting on the job, but then as Kelsey had said, 'assisting the local Challengers' was his job, so he technically had some cover. And it would be nice to stretch his legs a bit. "Hrm. Yes, maybe, willing to consider at least. Shall have to talk to the team, ensure they are up to the task, yes." "No problem, I'll take you to them." The kobold pauses and leans in. "But remember, like I told you the other night...the second floor boss is no joke, especially with only you at Advanced. If the team's taken a beating, forget the pay and hightail it out of there, right? And if you move on, remember the slime-killin' tricks, yeah? Energy-based shit, death by a thousand cuts, and all that." The gnoll nods. "Trust me, more interested in the pay than the glory I am, yes." Kelsey chuckles and slaps Tafyaf on the shoulder. "Smart guy, like I said. Alright, come on, they've got their tent set up this way." The pair of them arrive at a tent in the 'residential' area of the camp which is markedly different from the others that have been set up. So far, most of those in the camp have a certain uniformity to them, Challengers Association standard issue, aside from a handful of contractors who brought their own. The one Kelsey leads Tafyaf to however has a distinct 'second-hand discount' appearance to it, with a number of patches and old stains, although it was certainly larger than the average traveling tent an adventurer might carry around. And it apparently needed to be, as the two step inside to find a half-dozen armed men and women inside waiting for them. Tafyaf did a quick scan noting the diversity of the group: two humans, a dwarf, an orc, a gnoll, and some form of demon in a full cloak. Kelsey takes charge of the introductions. "Everyone, this is Alpine Scout Tafyaf, local dungeon expert. Tafyaf, this lot is - and let me see if I remember all of y'all - Taslush of Bug'kurc, Tane, Sincere, Kilari, Pipyif, and Winfrey, is that right?" The group nods along, the kobold apparently having a good memory for names. "Very large, this group is. Six Initiates, you all are, yes?" Taslush, the orcish woman, answers for them. "Didn't start out as one group, actually. My party was me, Kilari here, and Tane." She points to the dwarvish and human men in the tent. "Pipyif and Winfrey were a duo, and the demon here came on his own." She points next to the two other women in the tent, the gnoll and the second human, before shrugging in the demon's direction. "Weren't really planning on all teamin' up at once like this, but the Agent in charge keeps drillin' it into our damn ears that the place is more dangerous than we're expecting. Idea came up of hiring on a guide, and if we're doin' that, may as well all chip in and spread the costs, eh?" Tafyaf eyes the group, not particularly liking what he sees. Initiates can be bad enough, but a group that's never worked together before could be disastrous. Plus, if the group is this large, then his cut of the loot could be much smaller than he was expecting. Still, a cut of something is better than the nothing he'd get if he turns them down. "Hrmm, hrmm. May be willing to agree to the job, perhaps. I'll need to hear a little more..."