So, either she was going to have to find some way to ensure they did exactly what they were supposed to, or Sandra was going to have to find some other potential “weapons” to use. Those “weapons” would, of course, come in the form of Dungeon Monsters – and not necessarily her constructs. They were already proven to be powerful against creatures and Monsters that could bleed with their various slicing weapons – such as her Shears, the Millipede’s mandibles, her Blademaster, the Jaguar Queens, and even her Sharp-bladed Digger (which was similar to the original, but could turn much faster and had very sharp edges on the “buckets”); however, against the Undead, many of their strengths were disadvantages because they couldn’t do enough damage to something that didn’t bleed.
That didn’t mean there weren’t Dungeon Monsters out there that might be better suited to eliminating the Nether-based Undead.
Therefore, Sandra brought up her Advancement Menu to see how many Advancement Points she had to spend on a little shopping spree. She was surprised to see that she had acquired a few more AP from somewhere; a quick perusal showed that they came from another Crafting Station, which she immediately assumed was the Distillery she had created. Not only that, but her “Bathing Room” and her Enchantment Repository (which was finally as complete as it was going to get) apparently were considered Unique Dungeon Fixtures; she briefly wondered why her growing room, her dining room, and even her VATS weren’t considered unique fixtures if that was the case. The only thing she could think of was that they weren’t “unique” and were seen somewhere else in a dungeon in the past, though that seemed…well, not impossible, but unlikely.
Advancement Points (AP)
Source
Criteria
Point Value
Lifetime Earned Points
Lifetime Spent Points
Core Size
Receive AP upon Core Size upgrade (does not count for Core Size 1 nor upgrade stages)
1 per Core Size upgrade
19 AP
(19X Core Size Upgrades)
19/19 AP
Number of Rooms
Receive AP for each distinct dungeon room at least 4,000 cubic feet in size (20ftx20ftx10ft minimum)
1 AP per qualified room
45 AP
(45X Qualifying Rooms)
45/45 AP
Unique Dungeon Fixtures
Receive AP for each never-before-seen fixture in your dungeon
2 AP per fixture
32 AP
(14X Crafting Stations, 1X Bathing Room, 1X Enchantment Repository)
26/32 AP
Creature Eradication
Eradicate sources of nearby creatures (i.e. lairs and spawning areas)
3 AP per eradication
72 AP
(5X Territory Ant Colonies, 6X Bearling Lairs, 4X Desolate Spider Clutches, 4X Crag Hound Packs, 5X Solitary Broat Spawn)
39/72 AP
Sentient Race Elimination
Eliminate members of sentient races
1 AP per 10 eliminations
8 AP (12X Orc, 71X Gnome)
8/8 AP
Sentient Race Bonding
Form a new Dungeon Visitor Bond with a member of a sentient race
1 AP per 2 Bonds
8 AP (1X Orc/Dwarf, 6X Elf, 9X Gnome, 1X Dwarf)
8/8 AP
Dungeon Core Destruction
Receive AP for eliminating another Dungeon Core
30 AP per Core
30 AP (1X Reptile Classification Core)
30/30 AP
?????
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
(?????) Denotes an unknown, unique Source of Advancement Points. Perform this unknown action to unlock more information.
Total Advancement Points Earned and Spent
214 AP
175 AP
Total Advancement Points Available
39 AP
Advancement Options
Current Advancement Points
39
Advancement:
Cost:
Choose 1 Dungeon Monster from another available Classification (Repeatable)
5
Give your Dungeon Monsters the option of having a chosen accessible elemental attribute in addition to their base element – Cost increases with each purchase (only works on Monsters capable of using/applying their element) (Repeatable)
10
Reduce the Mana cost of Monster Seeds by 15% – Cost increases with each purchase (Advancement 2/4)
60
Reduce the Mana cost of Dungeon Monsters by 15% – Cost increases with each purchase (Advancement 2/4)
60
Reduce the Raw Material cost of Monster Seeds by 15% – Cost increases with each purchase (Advancement 0/4)
15
Reduce the Mana cost of Dungeon Traps by 15% – Cost increases with each purchase (Advancement 0/4)
15
Extend your Area of Influence by 10% – Cost increases with each purchase (Advancement 0/10)
50
Advance a current Classification 1 level to acquire access to stronger and larger Dungeon Monsters – this also includes any “Advancement Unlocked” Monsters – Cost increases with each purchase (Advancement 1/3)
150
Select a second available Classification to hybridize your Core (This option is only available once)
150
All of that meant that she had a total of 39 AP to spend – and she was suddenly glad that she hadn’t purchased the Advancement that would reduce the Raw Material Cost of her Monster Seeds, because that would’ve given her much less to work with. As it was, she had enough AP to acquire 7 new Dungeon Monsters, though she was hoping to find something that might work before she spent almost all her accumulated Points.
Obviously, what I need is something that will directly oppose the Undead – who are Nether-based – so I think I’ll look at some options that are primarily Holy-based. There were quite a few to choose from, especially when she extended her search to include multi-element-Classifications, but she eventually narrowed it down to those she thought might have potential.
Dungeon Monster Selection (Base)
Unicorns (Holy)
Glowing Lemur
Mirrored Lynx
Bright Unicorn
Radiant Pegasus
Lustrous Bicorn*
Translucent Quadricorn*
Sparkling Pegacorn**
Resplendent Septicorn***
Angels (Holy/Spirit)
Innocent Angeling
Devoted Cherubling
Transcendent Angel
Pure Cherub
Celestial Authority*
Revered Virtue*
Sacred Archangel**
Immaculate Seraph***
Divine Beasts (Holy/Air)
Soaring Serpent
Climbing Cockatrice
Gliding Griffin*
Tenacious Thunderbird*
Hovering Hippogriff**
Kiting Kitsune**
Meandering Manticore***
Aetherial Dragon***
Phoenix (Holy/Fire)
Charred Salamander
Smoldering Firebird
Burning Sundog
Flaring Phoenix
Rising Phoenix*
Scorching Behemoth*
Searing Phoenix Elder**
Fiery Phoenoc***
*Requires Advanced Classification Level 1 (Complete)
** Requires larger Core Size and Advanced Classification Level 2
*** Requires larger Core Size and Advanced Classification Level 3
There was an interesting multi-element selection of Divine Beasts, which included Griffins, Cockatrices, and even a flying Serpent. If she was looking for something that could fly and could tear up anything else in the air, then those would probably be the way to go. Unfortunately, they would likely suffer even more from the attack by the Undead in comparison to her constructs, as they all s
eemed like creatures – at least from what she could tell from her limited knowledge of them from myths and legends – that were more about brute force than anything…which was pretty much covered by some of her current Dungeon Monsters.
The Thunderbird option in the Divine Beasts Classification, on the other hand, was something she could only imagine would be able to use elemental energy to toss out lightning bolts to strike its enemies. Again, something that sounded neat, but would it be useful against undead? She wasn’t quite sure, so she passed on that unless she couldn’t find anything else.
Sandra remembered when Felbar had mentioned using Fire to help defeat the Undead that he had fought against, and some of the choices would definitely contribute to that. The Phoenix-type of Monsters, for example, were flying creatures that could start assaulting the Specters up in the air – they were vulnerable to Fire from what he had said. Having an aerial force that could destroy the ever-growing numbers of Specters floating above the forest would be highly beneficial; at the moment, all she had that could attack them were her Shears, and those would perhaps take a hundred or more to kill a single mist-like Undead – not a good exchange on Sandra’s part.
As for the two Classifications that seemed uniquely suited to combating the Undead, there were two: Unicorns and Angels. The Unicorns list also included some Monsters on the list that weren’t unicorns – like the Glowing Lemur and Mirrored Lynx – as well as what she would classify as unicorn-adjacent options – like the Radiant Pegasus. She knew from stories that unicorns were reportedly supposed to have some sort of natural protection against elemental spells because of their horn on the top of their head, though she wasn’t exactly sure how it worked. The Pegasus, being basically a flying horse, was something that drew her attention; if it had some sort of natural protection as well, then it would be ideal.
“I can actually help you out there; I helped what I thought was a decent Holy-based Core once…which eventually tried to consume me, but that’s a different story entirely,” Winxa said abruptly as Sandra was mentally thinking about her choices. “Anyway, the horn on a Unicorn can provide a measure of protection to the Monster that negates nearly any elemental energy directed towards it, even going so far as to eliminate area-of-effect spells and effects. A Pegasus, however, is a bit more limited; they exude a Holy-based aura that does the same for those surrounding it up to a certain range – but it only works against Nether-based spells and effects. Essentially, Unicorns are protected against all elemental attacks themselves, while Pegasi protect themselves and others against only Nether-elemental attacks.”
Thank you, Winxa – that helps make my decision much easier.
With the valuable information that the Dungeon Fairy had provided, Sandra knew what she would choose from that list: Radiant Pegasus. While having a Dungeon Monster that was basically immune to elemental-based spells and effects would be helpful, having one that could help the other members of her planned Dungeon Core-destroying army stay safe against attacks was more valuable. She might eventually get a Unicorn as well, but for the moment the Pegasus was the more important of the two.
Lastly, there were the Angels, which was a multi-element Classification of Holy and Spirit. Neither Sandra nor Winxa had any information about them, though the Dungeon Core had heard stories of them when she was still Human. They were apparently beings made of pure Light that were the exact opposite of Demons – which she was glad she hadn’t met yet, because, apparently, they were quite scary. Of course, the Undead were bad enough, but at least they had a semblance of being something “normal” that had been alive at one time; Demons, on the other hand, were completely unworldly and unlike anything found in nature.
With no information about any of the other selections available, Sandra settled on three choices: Rising Phoenix, Radiant Pegasus, and Celestial Authority. That last was entirely a “shot in the dark” entirely based on the name – it sounded powerful, which was exactly what she needed. She still had more AP if she needed it to acquire more if her selections didn’t work out, but she’d rather save some for later if she had the option.
New Dungeon Monsters unlocked through Advancement!
Unicorns (Holy):
Radiant Pegasus now available!
Radiant Pegasus
Mana Cost: 10000 Mana
Angels (Holy/Spirit):
Celestial Authority now available!
Celestial Authority
Mana Cost: 18000 Mana
Phoenix (Holy/Fire)
Rising Phoenix now available!
Rising Phoenix
Mana Cost: 15000 Mana
Sandra now had 15 AP less to her total – still giving her 24 to use if she needed them. She was briefly worried that her new Dungeon Monsters were quite expensive, but it turned out that the Mana Cost listed on the notification didn’t account for her Advancements. Still, almost 13,000 Mana for a Celestial Authority was quite a bit to spend on a Dungeon Monster that she wasn’t sure would work or not, but there wasn’t anything for that but to try them out.
Over the course of the night, she stopped the production of her Rolling Forces and the build-up of her AMANS (which was able to reach nearly its previous total); instead, she used the Mana she was accumulating on Steelclad Ape Warriors, Unstable Shapeshifters, and her new acquisitions. By morning, she had managed to build her small army of constructs and Shifters back up to the point where they could go out and defend her entrance again if necessary, but not quite to the point where they could go out and start destroying the more-powerful Undead roaming around. With the addition of her new Dungeon Monsters, however, that could change fairly quickly.
The Radiant Pegasus was a resplendently white horse that was 8 feet tall when it held its head straight up, with a 12-foot wingspan when it fully opened the feathered wings that could lie flush against its sides. It was also capable of emitting a steady glow that seemed to infuse the air around it, extending up to approximately 15 feet on all sides; after looking at it closely like she could the Goblin Worker and Unstable Shapeshifter she had obtained earlier, she knew this was its special ability.
Radiant Pegasus
Current Elemental Energy:
Holy – 10000 energy
Special Ability:
Nether-negating Protection Aura: 2 Holy energy per second
It was an expensive ability at 2 Holy energy per second, but it could also last over an hour if it was kept on continuously; that could potentially extend if, say, she hung a Holy Energy Orb around its neck. Sandra didn’t really have a way to test it without going into battle against something that would use such devastating effects against her Monsters, but if it worked the way it was supposed to then it could be a huge benefit.
The Pegasus wasn’t just a winged horse that had an aura, however, because it had some potential for offense as well. She inadvertently found out – after she had it gracefully fly around her Home room a little – that it had trouble landing and stopping right away; this was in part because its hooves seemed to act essentially like small warhammers as they hit the stone of her floor, cracking the hard material as the Pegasus attempted to come to a complete stop just after landing. Apparently, the winged horse needed some sort of runway to slow down after touching down after a flight to avoid breaking the ground; nevertheless, the lesson she learned was that it could certainly defend itself if it were attacked up close.
The Celestial Authority was unlike anything she had seen or heard of before. Once she created it, she found that she couldn’t stare at it for more than a minute or so; it was a being of pure light approximately 5 feet tall that appeared very vaguely like a person – as in it had a head, two arms, and walked on two legs. It held what appeared to be a longsword made of the same light in its hand, which seemed to be its main method of attacking. Looking closer, she could see that it had other abilities that could be useful – expensive, but useful.
Celestial Authority
Current Elemental Energy:
Holy – 90
00 energy
Spirit – 9000 energy
Special Abilities:
Divine Light Explosion: All remaining Holy energy
Arrows of Spiritual Ascension: 1000 Holy and 1000 Spirit
Of course, she had to test them – outside of her dungeon, obviously, with a name that contained the word “Explosion”. She first tried the Arrows of Spiritual Ascension, which were interesting and powerful. After telling the Authority to activate it, the being would reach inside of itself and pull out an orb of light in its hand; as soon as it had it in hand, the Angel would toss the orb ahead, which would immediately fracture into 5 equal parts and shoot forward up to 50 feet…sort of like arrows shot from a bow, though they spread out in a narrow arc.
The Divine Light Explosion – the Celestial Authority’s other Special Ability – used all the remaining Holy Energy it had left to…well, explode. An extremely bright light – even brighter than the Angel itself – built up in the Authority’s form over the course of five seconds, before it shot out in all directions at once. She didn’t really have anything near it to test how destructive it was, but furrows left in the barren dirt of the wasteland where she was testing it gave enough evidence that it was fairly powerful – and final. After consuming all of its Holy energy in the explosion, the Angel was also consumed, leaving behind its Monster Seed in the process.
The Crafter's Dilemma: A Dungeon Core Novel (Dungeon Crafting Book 3) Page 27