A Dungeon’s Survival

Cameron

The coast was clear, and I eventually emerged from my hiding place. The invaders didn't even raid the rest of my Dungeon. Adraugon's hoard and Sir Archibald's laboratory were left entirely intact. They did retrieve their dead, though. That infuriated the little dragon. I did my best to ignore his ranting as I got to work.

I may have gotten rid of the group for the time being, but the time that my little stunt had bought me would not last forever. I had no doubt that they would soon realize the crystal fragments they had left with were not me, and when that time came, they were likely to be back with a vengeance, and even if their group was two members lighter, they now knew my tricks. Another fight was not likely to be tipped anywhere near so drastically in my favor, so I was moving to remedy that. The first thing I did was move my core room.

I had thought keeping it hidden in an early area of my Dungeon where people weren't likely to be searching for it was a good, strategic move. I had been wrong. Newly aware of my folly, I shifted the locations of the room and the important ones connected to it to the end of the Dungeon. Then, I raised them as far up as I could.

Anyone who wanted to get to them would have to find a way to climb up a shaft in the center of the ceiling now. It was something that was only possible due to the extra space I had gained from creating a second floor in my Dungeon. I also added a few rolling boulder traps with a similar diameter to the hole that would get set off by anyone who tried to scale it. Who said I had to play fair? The people who wanted me dead sure hadn't been.

With that done, I was left with little else I could do. I prioritized the move over respawning my monsters, but even so, it had taken me a while to accomplish the task. My title that doubled my mana regeneration was good, but after having my mana pool bottomed out and most of the corpses I could absorb for mana either stolen away or already absorbed, doing anything was time consuming, especially with the cost of shifting that much stone. By the time I was done, it had been long enough that I could summon Archie again.

“Oh my, that was most unpleasant!”

Yeah, I'm sorry that happened to you. It looked painful, but you bought me the time I needed. I made it out of that thanks to yours and the others' sacrifices. Thank you.

“Think nothing of it, but I was referring to the time I missed out on that I could have been practicing alchemy! To lay down my life for the mistress's sake is only to be expected.”

Ha, never change, Archie.

“Sadly, I cannot promise such a thing. Change is the essence of life. Imagine how dreadfully drab and boring things would be without it.”

I don't know about that, but speaking of change, I think it's time you were given the recipes Fabian got from the council. As much as I wanted for you to wait until after you'd hit level five in Alchemy first, after what just happened, I don't think we can afford to wait any longer.

“If I may, mistress of the stone, I do believe I am nearing a breakthrough. If you could allow me but a few more days, I am confident I could complete the task!”

I don't know. It would be amazing if you did. but I don't want to get caught in another situation where I need resources I could have but don't just because I'm too focused on the long-term. That achievement, though … How sure are you that you could do it in the next couple of days?

“It shall be done, no matter what. I will make sure of it.”

The determination flowing from him reassured me and made me appreciate the mushroom mage even more. I would need to find a way to properly thank him after all of this.

I will leave you to it, then. I have faith in you.

“I shall prove undoubtedly that it is not misplaced. I will begin my work at once, that is if you find that to be acceptable, mistress.”

Of course. Good luck.

He turned and marched off, leaving me to wait for my mana to replenish. In the meantime, I looked back over the choice the System had given me. I had been thinking long and hard about it.

[Please select a class.]

Fabian had been baffled when I showed him the abridged list of my notifications. In fact, he hadn't waited for longer than he needed to in order to confirm my safety and let me know the coast was clear. After that, he immediately left for the Fairy Council again. It was enough to make me question my decision to tell him, but if I was going to go through with picking one, he needed to be told. I couldn't hide something that significant from him, even if I tried, and I didn't think trying would go over too well in the first place. I needed his knowledge and expertise, things I couldn't ask him for without informing him as to why.

Luckily, while unsettled by the development, he didn't seem outwardly upset by it. He was mostly just confused and filled with a sense of urgency to report back to his people. I couldn't fault him for that. I didn't like it, but I could understand it. I just hoped nothing bad would come out from his doing so. Unfortunately, though, that left me alone with little I could do beyond the basics of slowly fixing my Dungeon.

I had checked my options a few times, but they left me feeling conflicted. I had originally been worried they wouldn't be anything I could use, but as it turned out, each had their own merits, but they were also all extremely limited in scope. I could get something out of each one. I just needed to figure out which one I could get the most out of.

[Class: Heroic Healer

Description: A magical class that specializes in healing. This is a Heroic variant of the Healer class with greater versatility.

Effect: You will receive either the Healing Light or Cleanse spell. Additionally, every time you level up, you will receive +2 to SOUL, +1 to MIND, +1 to WILL, +2 to COM, and +4 unassigned stat points.]

My first option was solid. It gave me a use for my mana outside of summoning things to protect myself. It could keep my monsters in a fight for longer and help them recover afterward. The downside was that I was unlikely to be able to heal them during a fight without my core being present, and if it was, I would likely have bigger problems than just injured defenders.

Who knew, though? Maybe I would be able to cast the spells from anywhere thanks to my omnipresent vision within my Dungeon, but that was hopeful thinking. There was no precedent here, so it was impossible to know for sure. The option was a gamble.

[Class: Heroic Summoner

Description: A magical class that specializes in contracting with and controlling monsters. This is a Heroic variant of the Summoner class with additional capabilities.

Effect: You will receive either the Ethereal Summon or Bond Familiar ability. Additionally, every time you level up, you will receive +2 to SOUL, +1 to MIND, +2 to WILL, +1 to COM, and +4 unassigned stat points.]

It was redundant, but theoretically useful. My entire existence was already built on top of the capacity to summon things. This option changed nothing. I could potentially gain additional monsters to protect me, but I wouldn't be getting any new development paths. Taking it would be doubling down on my current role, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

The main thing that kept me considering it was that it allowed me to summon monsters. I was unsure of how it would interact with my Dungeon powers, but there was the potential for overlap there. If my achievements and such affected monsters summoned through the class too, or even vice versa, it could open up new doors to me. It was hard to envision how it would work with what I already had, though, and how it did would determine its usefulness. I would consider it.

[Class: Heroic Architect

Description: A crafting class that specializes in designing structures. This is a Heroic variant of the Architect class with magical aspects.

Effect: You will receive either the Hyperphantasia or Accelerated Thought ability. Additionally, every time you level up, you will receive +1 to SOUL, +3 to MIND, +1 to WILL, +2 to COM, and +3 unassigned stat points.]

This was one of the two odd ones out. Every other class I was offered was a combat or support class. This one was a crafting class of sorts that offered nothing that could help my monsters in a fight, but looking at it another way, I wasn't a fighter to begin with. Having utility abilities had the potential to be even more useful to me, but that depended on the abilities themselves.

Hyperphantasia, the ability to perfectly envision anything, wasn't as useful to me as it sounded since my mind no longer processed things in the same way as a human's. I could already envision the changes I was making to my Dungeon to some degree. It was still potentially useful, but I doubted it was worth choosing the class for on its own. On the other hand, being able to think faster would be incredibly useful. I could get more done in less time. There was also the potential for future abilities to give me other mental enhancements. That would be good. I would consider it.

[Class: Draconic Defender

Description: A physical class that specializes in enduring damage. This is a Draconic variant of the Defender class with a focus on overwhelming might.

Effect: You will receive either the Draconic Endurance or Drake's Momentum ability. Additionally, every time you level up, you will receive +2 to FORT, +1 to VIT, +1 to STR, +2 to END, +2 to COM, and +2 unassigned stat points.]

Just like the Heroic classes offered to me, I was given the choice of three Draconic ones. Draconic Defender was the first of them, and similarly to Heroic Architect, it was one of the two that greatly differed from the rest. It was the only option for a physical class presented to me. That was probably for good reason, though. I was immobile. I couldn't make use of such classes.

Draconic Defender was the exception. With it, I didn't need to move or fight. I could simply use it to become more resilient. Perhaps it could save me should someone attack my core, but just like Heroic Healer, if I were to be in a situation where I could make use of it, things would have already gone irreparably wrong. I'd have bigger problems than anything that the class could offer me could solve.

[Class: Draconic Mage

Description: A magical class that specializes in the casting of spells. This is a Draconic variant of the Mage class with a focus on powerful spells with high mana costs.

Effect: You will receive either the Draconic Flare or Dragon's Might spell. Additionally, every time you level up, you will receive +1 to VIT, +2 to SOUL, +1 to MIND, +2 to WILL, +1 to COM, and +3 unassigned stat points.]

It had the same flaws as Draconic Defender. If I needed to use it, it would already be too late. The difference was that this class offered an offensive solution rather than a defensive one. With it, I could potentially finish off an invader who was left on their last leg, and I could do so extremely well with my Dungeon Core mana pool. The problem was that, no matter how big my pool was, I never seemed to have anything left in it by the end of a fight. My preparations always chewed through everything I had before I got to that point.

[Class: Draconic Enhancer

Description: A magical class that specializes in bolstering others. This is a Draconic variant of the Enhancer class with a focus on powerful spells with high mana costs.

Effect: You will receive either the Imbue Draconic Strength or Imbue Draconic Power spell. Additionally, every time you level up, you will receive +1 to VIT, +2 to SOUL, +1 to MIND, +1 to WILL, +2 to COM, and +4 unassigned stat points.]

It was my last option, and it was a support class comparable to Heroic Healer. It was at least more useful than that one, though, since I would be able to buff my monsters before a fight instead of having to wait until after they got hurt to make use of it. As far as last lines of defense go, it could do a lot for improving mine.

That was it. Those were my options. Since I had time, I was back to considering them, but the choice was hard. Out of the six possibilities, I could only dismiss one outright. Draconic Defender offered the least to me. That left five options.

Instead of dismissing them one by one until I was left with the my selection, I decided to lay out what I was looking for and pick the one that best fit my needs. My criteria was as follows: I needed something that could bolster my defenses, something that I could get consistent use out of, and something that could grow into a powerful tool for me.

All except for one of my options fit the first requirement. Of those that remained, one definitely didn't fit the second criteria, and as for another fitting it, it was questionable at best. The last requirement failed to eliminate either of the remaining options. They both had potential for growth and could become integral assets to me in time. Rather than how I would shape them with my growth, though, the question was how I wanted them to shape me as I progressed.

Quality versus quantity, power versus versatility, restrictions versus freedom of use, the known versus uncertainty, the straightforward path versus one I would have to pave for myself, both options that remained had merit but in different ways. It was a choice I had been uncertain about, and it filled me with anxiety, but I was ready to make my decision. If I waited, I didn't know what would come of Fabian's visit to the Fairy Council. Perhaps he could offer me additional information, or maybe he would try to force me down the road he saw as being the most logical. Either way, I was determined to make the choice for myself, and the orthodox path had never been the one for me.

My choice had risks, and it could easily prove to be the wrong one, but it suited me. Finding synergies and alternate paths where others saw only inefficiencies they dismissed outright was something I had grown accustomed to and enjoyed. My subpar choices had gotten me this far, after all. What was one more? I would do this my way, so at last, I reached for the option I wanted. My choice was made, and new information was added my status screen. I hoped I hadn't just made a mistake.