128 Chapter 128 (1/2)
Chapter 128
”Well, now they're really screwed.” The group had managed to finally defeat the snuggle-woofs, though it had cost them not only most of their cool downs, but also a few consumables. On top of that, only two of the Knight's had actually survived the encounter, allowing them to level up, while everyone else had fallen. James, of course, was fine with that, as they, combined with the deaths from Skar's party, had given him the experience he had been waiting on. Grinning, he glanced for a moment at his character information. He was halfway there.
Glyax Tier 3 Rank 5 Dungeon
Mob Type: Random
420,069 xp
29,931xp to next Rank
179,931 to next Tier
Resources: 1386 of 4,900
Currency: 89 copper 17 silver 11 gold 0 platinum
Dungeon Tokens: 20
Of course, the player deaths and his subsequent level up, meant that his mobs had once again leveled as well. This meant all of his base mobs on his third floor were now level 34. The worst part of that though, was that the boss mob, whom they still intended to face, had leveled as well. A quick glance confirmed James's fears, as Grandma Jenkins was now level 44, and her pets, were each level 39. If before it had been impossible for the raid party to defeat the boss, now, it was just laughable. All James could hope, out of the fight, was that everyone at least survived a single round, so he could see some of Grandma Jenkins's mechanics. After all, he was extremely excited to see what his third-floor boss was capable of.
Currently, all of the Boss Slayer's were level 30, though four of them had fallen in the fight against the snuggle-woofs, meaning they had lost all the experience they had gained since coming to the third floor. Of the Knights, only Elm and Oak had survived the snuggle woofs, which had allowed both of those members to level up to level 33, while Z, Faust, and Med Ic now had to start their experience gain over towards that level. It was a slight blow, but still one that James knew they parties would be able to overcome. After all, they still had at least three more dives into the dungeon for the day, before the dungeon wars would start.
With the rate at which they were able to farm floors, and the fact they could not only easily handle this second floor, meaning they could farm it for full experience, but also now knew all the tricks of his third floor, James was sure they would be able to all level at least one or two more times, before the next day. This setback then, wasn't too much of a drawback for anyone, and the experience gain had been important for James. Now, he had four skill points to apply to his mobs once they drew closer to the start of the war. James was also pretty sure he would be hitting Rank 6 before the war started, considering how hard the players seemed to be going at his dungeon that day. Already he had hit max instances, and players seemed to be lining up to eagerly dive into his dungeon. It seemed they were all doing the best they could to prepare themselves for the dungeon war.
”I mean, they didn't even have a thread of hope before that fight.” Rue raised an eyebrow towards James and grinned. All he could do was groan in response. Of course, she would choose now to break out a cheesy pun.
”That's not the…point.” Alright, so he wasn't above cheesy puns either. Besides, they had a few minutes to spare, as the raid party was making their way extremely slowly towards Grandma Jenkins's location. James knew they were biding their time, to allow for their cooldowns to at least refresh. Considering the outcome of the snuggle-woof fight, and the amount of lost experience, they really had nothing to lose challenging her now. Which meant they were going to go all for it.
”You reap what you sew.” Rue stuck her tongue out at him and motioned towards the party. There had been one other additional outcome to the fight, that at least had Z in good spirits. The Beastmaster had gotten a unique drop from the Alpha Snuggle-woof, one which James hadn't even known was an option. He really needed to get back to his loot research.
At Z's side, a miniature Alpha Snuggle-woof trotted alongside him. That made two of the 10 members now with third floor pets, though the Alpha Snuggle-woof was without a doubt the better of the two. He was practically the size of an actual dog, maybe standing about three feet high if you held your hand to his ears. Z had promptly given him the name Dagr, and then started talking to him in a cutesy manner, bragging about how good of a boy his doggo was. It was obvious, that a few of the other members of the raid party were jealous of his mob drop. James could already foresee what the favorite pet drop was going to be for his third floor.
”That one, really doesn't work.” Like, James got the reference Rue was trying to use, but it didn't quite fit. At least, in his mind it didn't. The pixie just stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to the party. They had made their way to the single clearing that was Grandma Jenkins's home.
”What do you think the boss is going to be?” Olivia asked as the group paused, their eyes scanning the location. James had actually been really surprised by her during the last fight. The Boss Slayer's cleric had managed to get an extremely quick resurrection off on Med Ic and managed to then launch a cleanse on Oak and Skar, allowing the two to return to tanking without worrying about the 30% defense debuff. By her quick thinking, she had managed to prevent what James had been certain was going to be a party wipe.
”Please tell me it isn't her.” Faust pointed towards the front of the house, where Grandma Jenkins sat, quietly knitting what appeared to be a scarf, as she rocked gently in a large wooden rocking chair. Of course, that was exactly who the boss was.
”I'm pretty sure this is the right location.” Z made the motions indicating he was once again checking his map, before looking at the shack. ”The boss was definitely listed as being here.”
”So, we have to fight an old, innocent grandma?” Troll'd looked like he wasn't sure if he was going to laugh, or cry. ”Like, what's she going to do? Kill us with kindness? Bake us poisonous cookies and pies? Because honestly, I'd gladly die from eating too many sweets.” He licked his tusked mouth to further prove his point, drawing a small amount of laughter from his party members.
That was the other thing that made these two groups stand out from most. Even though they had just nearly party wiped, and a few of them had lost good chunks of experience, they were still having fun. No matter what challenge got thrown at them, they always came back laughing, wanting more. It was parties like these two, that really made James's life as a Dungeon Core extremely enjoyable. Well, them and the groups that stumbled across his mimics. His video of Dwight getting eaten by a mimic had been viewed by over 100,000 dungeon cores. He only wished there was a way for him to share it to players as well.
”Maybe she's not the actual boss.” Z looked back at Troll'd. ”Maybe she has a hidden dog named Courage, that actually comes out to defend her when we move to the house.” Z's comment got chuckles from his party members, and Rue, but Skar's party, and James, just stared at him blankly. Guess that was another reference from way before James's time. Though he was starting to wonder just how much old school pop culture Rue had been exposed to. She definitely seemed to act similar to his age, but she had knowledge that seemed to be from an older generation.