Life continued on and delvers continue to explore. Most of them only came once. The number of regulars however was steadily increasing. It had now gotten to the point where I was getting at least one group per day. So far I haven't had two or more groups inside the dungeon at the same time but that now felt inevitable. Eric's group continued to come every three days like clockwork. So far the only team to reach the second floor. The spiders are proving to be a hard stop for everyone else. I'm sure that will change with time but for now it means Eric's party essentially has a monopoly on the goods found on the second floor.
During all this time I've increased the fox spawners to level 5. I've also increased the echinacea and witch hazel to level 3. So now the first two floors are officially done. I could do more but I feel like improving the nodes would be spoiling them and improving the spawners would make the floor unnecessarily hard. While killing them does grant DP I get far more from keeping them alive. I'm about to select the template for my third floor when I feel Eric's party enter my first floor. I decide to postpone making my first floor to watch them delve. They still haven't made it past the wolves yet so I'm not worried. Granted that's mainly because they still need to carry stuff back out manually, the level 5 loot node has been rather stingy with the space rings, though they are still just level 4.
Not that they haven't gotten anything out of the level 5 chest. Eric is wearing leather armor enchanted to increase fire resistance. That's on top of the fire resistance ring he is also wearing. The effects of which actually stack which makes for some interesting implications down the road. Each peace only increases his fire resistance by one percent but the fact that they stack means it's possible to reach more than 100% with equipment that offers greater fire resistance. He also has an ice resistance ring that increases Ice resistance by one percent as well. Along with that he also has leather boots that increase movement speed by one percent, leather gloves that increase strength by one percent, and a leather helmet that increases perception by one percent.
Aside from him Amy also has enchanted iron armor but only two pieces so far iron chest armor the increases defense against physical attacks by one percent and an iron helmet which protects against lightning damage by one percent. Rachel and Damien both have robes that protect against physical attacks by one percent. Everyone has at least two rings with various resistance related enchantments. Which bring us to their weapons. Eric's short sword, which he seems to prefer, is enchanted to resist damage. Amy on the other hand switched to a double headed battle axe that is enchanted to make it one percent heavier than it would otherwise be. It looks extremely inefficient and impractical but she seems to be able to wield it just fine.
Damien eventually gave up his sword for a staff that makes his healing spells one percent more potent. That may not sound like much but it could literally be the difference between life and death. Rachel on the other hand received a staff enchanted to slowly replenish the wielders mana. It's only one percent faster than her doing it without the staff but that's still a world of difference. All the enchanted gear they posses would probably be called trash on other worlds but it makes them the most powerful humans currently alive as far as I know. I watch as they make their way through the first floor. It has become rather routine at this point. The boss still requires a bit of effort but that's about it. They have noticed the ore nodes but they mainly ignore them. The ore is simply to heavy plus they don't have a way to actually use it as far as I know. I know it's too heavy because I heard them discussing it.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
They would probably still try if the ore quality was higher but it's only a level 2 ore node and at most I could get it to level 5. I'm not going to though because it's only the first floor and as I said earlier I don't want to spoil them. I feel like I'm already being far more generous than any other dungeon core would be. True most dungeon cores at this stage would be going purely on instinct from what I've been able to piece together. The doesn't change the fact that I'm already extremely generous. They now have access to enough material that they're in no danger of going extinct baring some natural, or unnatural, disaster.
As Eric's group approached the fifth chest I paid close attention. I don't have high hopes but I knew the space ring had to drop eventually. To be fair it wasn't that the space ring had a low spawn rate but rather that there were so many things that could potentially spawn inside a level 5 loot node chest. Not only stuff from the level 5 loot table, which was rather extensive in itself, but also items that first appeared in the level 3 and 4 loot node table as well. On a related note they have gotten a lot of gear that they chose to not use for one reason or another. In fact I'm pretty sure they could open a shop if they wanted to. Considering the five chests they loot every three days.
Eric POV
I'm seriously considering hiring someone to carry stuff for us. Two of the four backpacks are already full and we haven't even set foot in the next area yet. Plus, they are bulky when full and hinder our ability to move quickly. The main question is what would we pay them with. those copper coins we keep finding are listed as currency but until shops start accepting them their just worthless copper. Not that that stops us from collecting them 'just in case'. I could pay them with food but that's assuming I could find someone willing to face danger for just a few days worth of food and nothing else.
Going through the stuff that we got from this last chest I pay extra attention. for some reason the stuff in this chest has been really good lately. Not all of it is stuff that we can use but it's all good. Besides we can always sell it eventually, When the delusion that this world will someday return to how it was finally falls away and people start to accept the new reality for what it is. This time however there is something new. New things aren't particularly unusual but this one is rather unique. It's apparently a space ring according to my identification skill. According to that skill it has an internal space of a cubic meter. Unfortunately there are no instructions on how to actually use it.
If I can figure this thing out it would save us a lot of energy, especially if we can get more of them. Putting it on I can somehow sense that the ring is empty. I still have no idea how to actually use it but that's a start. I decide to experiment by touching the ring to one of the other items. To everyone's shock the item vanished. "What the heck was that!" Rachel exclaimed while jumping back like the chest was about to attack her. I probably should have said something before starting to test it out I suppose.
"This new ring is called a space ring" I say holding up my hand to show it off. "It has an internal space of one cubic meter"
"Can you get the items out once they're in there, cause if you can't it's just a dangerous trinket" Amy says looking unimpressed. Not that I can blame her because impressive things aren't as impressive as they once where. Like these backpacks, which when fully loaded can weigh as much as 20kg or more. Yet even Rachel's childlike frame can easily handle it. Well, maybe not easily but she can handle it. Besides Amy does have a point. If I can't figure out how to get stuff out of the ring putting it in there is the same as destroying it.
I start to concentrate on retrieving the item from the ring. Nothing happens at first but then Damien suggests turning my hand over so that my palm is facing up. The next attempt I try focusing specifically on the item that I want to retrieve with my palm facing up. Suddenly a longsword appears in my hand and my fingers instinctively curl around the hilt. This could definitely prove useful. Further testing is needed but that can be done when we're not in the middle of a dungeon. For now I'm just happy that we won't run out of room as quickly as we have been.
