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The infinity dungeon 91
🕑 Added 2024-09-22 13:40:40 +0000 UTCChapter 91
“You skipped the last two sessions together, is everything okay?” Stephan’s voice was strange over the phone. The man had an old model that barely qualified as a smartphone, but he refused to get a new one unless his current phone stopped working. “Phillip, of all people, has been asking about you.”
“He has?” Michael was surprised.
“He has. You made quite the impression last time.”
Despite months of personal-time having passed, Michael remembered what had happened there quite well. He had lost himself in a sort of trance, performing katas helped by his [Okinawan Mastery] skill. Too bad he never really trained it ever since. He said as much to Stephan, earning a snort from Travis. They were driving to the OA’s meeting location, a few hours out from Site 00.
“It’s only been a couple of days, it’s no problem,” said the Sensei.
“More for me.”
“How much time did you spend… down there?” the man asked, careful not to mention the dungeon by name over the phone. It made Michael smile, although perhaps his Sensei was actually smarter than he himself was, with the OA potentially keeping an eye on them as they approached.
“A long time. A lot has happened since we last met. Perhaps we can grab a bite, catch up. How about that?”
The man hummed, “something tells me you won’t be coming to the dojo much anymore, will you?”
“I don’t think so. At this point, it’s just a distraction.”
Stephan didn’t respond for a full ten seconds. “I understand. Tell me when and where and we can chat.”
“You sure it’s wise?” asked Travis after Michael ended the call.
Michael shrugged, “it’s fine.”
“Whatever you say, man.” Travis said, but Michael knew that the former CEO and now head of Candle Light division wasn’t going to let the matter rest. In fact, he didn’t even want to know what sort of surveillance Stephan had been put under, and how much it was going to intensify following what Travis had just heard from the call.
“Be discreet with it, okay?”
“Naturally,” Travis said, not even losing composure. “Put me through to David, would you?”
“Sure, boss.” Michael said, then made a face. “Wait, wasn’t I the boss? Are you sure you can order me around like this?”
“Ha ha. As if you haven’t been ordering me around for months in the Valley. I think I’m going to have nightmares about the aura exercises you had me do for years to come.”
“Good, because you will need to keep doing them. Nightmares will be a decent reminder to do your homework. Here, hi Dave!”
“Michael. What’s up?” Old Dave’s voice boomed in the car, Michael’s phone now connected to the speakers.
“David. No time for pleasantries. I need you to handle something for me. Did you read the dossier on Redbud Ridge?”
Old Dave’s voice lost all warmth and friendliness. Not out of animosity, but because in an instant the man became laser-focused and serious. “I did. It should be your job, but I appreciate the trust you are putting in me. Should I follow protocol?”
“For now,” Travis stated, “you know how these things are. Stick to protocol for the initial assessment. We both know how quickly plans can fall apart in the field. The mana cloud’s ETA is less than an hour, but we have some anomalies popping up already.”
“Ahead of time? How?”
“Unknown. Pester Johanne about it.”
“I will. Alright, I’m going. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Good. Bob is on-site already.” Travis said, mentioning the chauffeur-turned-Operator. Level 2 at that, too. “He will bring you up to speed.”
The rest of the trip was spent getting up to speed with current events. Travis had a lot to report about yesterday’s operation, when they sent the Operators in the dungeon to power up. Since it had been the first time they sent people in en masse, not only was there a lot of logistics involved after the fact—much more than Michael would have ever imagined—there was also a lot of data.
Trevor had been tasked with compiling the data, forwarding it to Johanne and then preparing reports together with Jennifer. The results were interesting.
All operators sent to train in the dungeon reported that the floor was just as they had been told it would be. Which was, according to the leading theory, the maximum difficulty for such a shallow floor. Johanne concluded that this was now the default setting for everyone entering, no matter if they were there for the first time or if they were returnees. To balance things out for the first-timers, the dungeon made sure to provide the means to defeat the floor to anyone who didn’t have them, giving more powerful magic as rewards and even tools in the first room before the fighting even began.
This raised the question of the dungeon’s motives. Theobond’s threat that the dungeon was after people’s souls was beginning to sound flimsy, as it would make no sense for the dungeon to help people survive better if it was after their souls.
“Unless it wanted strong souls, which meant that it wanted to train people up before it ate them.” Travis supplied.
“Sure. Or perhaps using magic creates more magic and the dungeon wants to create more mages to stock up on more magic. Or it’s using us for entertainment. We can’t really know, can we?”
Travis could only grunt at that, grumbling about letting the geeks figure it out while he tried to keep everyone alive.
The other results they talked about as they approached the meeting point were about what happened at the end of the first floor. As they spoke, Johanne was tasking people to challenge the first floor again and even go to the Valley, if they could, even taking some of them there herself to get more data. The results, summed up, were:
• People originating from the Valley (Monsters, Johanne, etc.), after beating the first floor can only proceed to the Valley.
• 100% of the human delvers given access to the Valley are presented with the choice of whether to proceed to the second floor or to the Valley itself, as if the Valley did not count as a floor for them.
• If they choose to go the Valley, the next time they complete the first floor they can choose again. Within the Valley, they can proceed to the third floor as normal using the stairs. No Operators have been sent in yet, therefore there is no data about what the third floor is like.
• If they choose to proceed to a normal second floor, then:
• 85% of them get a normal second floor, resembling the first and third floor. Is presents the same way for all of them.
• 15% of them receive a challenge floor. It is different for each of them. So far, none of them have completed the final stage of the challenge. The rewards hinted at have been Rare, Epic and Mythical equivalent.
• There is no difference in second floor distributions between people allowed to go to the Valley and normal delvers.
• If people go to the Valley, the local Valley-time is sped up so that even though ten minutes pass on Earth, the time that passes in the Valley reflects how much time passes for the person who spent the most time there has.
• None of the delvers have yet happened to reemerge from the dungeon after more than ten minutes, lending credibility to the leading theory that time dilation loses its effectiveness on stronger Aura individuals.
• If more than one person goes to the Valley, but they enter the dungeon at different Earth times within the ten minute window, the first person will see the second person arrive after a random amount of Valley-time.
• If nobody is in the Valley, Valley-time is the same as Earth time.
“Fucking dungeon,” Travis muttered, “why is it so weird?”
“Magic,” Michael said, enjoying Travis’ reaction to his dismissive words.
Their mirth didn’t last long at all, because soon enough their destination became visible as they crested a dusty hill.
“The O-fucking-A.”
Michael’s eyes widened. “So the meeting location, was their main base?”
“Yep.” Travis didn’t seem too shaken, but there was no knowing what his intelligence gathering had already told him about the place. “See the shimmer?”
“I can see it alright,” Michael said, covering his eyes with a hand, “glows like the sun. Is it what I think it is?”
“Huge amounts of wasted magic, that’s what it is.”
As his eyes, metaphorically speaking, adjusted and his [Magic Sense] recovered from the blinding effect of that much magic, Michael began to study the curved dome. “I can see why they feel safe in there.”
“Should we be concerned?” asked Travis. “It’s not too late to turn around. I don’t think they can give chase. Not to us.”
“Getting cold feet? What did your intelligence gathering tell you?”
“That we shouldn’t have reason to worry. I’m not getting cold feet, Michael, I’m just being thorough. Intel suggests we’re clear, but it never hurts to double-check. There’s no need to walk into the dragon’s den unless we are sure we can slay it, or at least get a clean escape.”
“We can,” Michael stated confidently.
“You sure? I can see the shimmer with my bare eyes. I don’t need a sight Card to know that it’s a lot of magic protecting the place.”
“It’s a lot of magic alright,” Michael conceded, “just like there’s a lot of magic surrounding the dungeon back at Site 00 right now. It is a lot, but it is no higher than Copper quality, and quality trumps quantity all the time. Besides, there’s something wrong with this magic.”
“You know what it is?”
“Ancestral mana. The same I sometimes see drifting about in clouds. I recognize it because its colors are dim and there are absolutely zero elements in it.”
“Ancestral mana can be strong, though. I have at least one ancestral anomaly on file that even you would struggle against.”
“Sure. And Copper mana can give birth to Gold-rank anomalies. It’s not the case here, though. This is weak, plain Copper-rank ancestral mana.” He squinted. “Take the shield, for example. The magic is concentrated, but evenly distributed. The shimmer is actually… huh, grains of sand hitting the dome and making it flare up. From how the magic is swirling, I am pretty sure the dome isn’t able to redirect energy. It’s just as strong as its weakest link, nothing to worry about.”
“Noted,” Travis curtly, focusing on the road.
“Hiding my aura now,” Michael said.
“I’ll do the opposite. Let’s stick to the plan for now, and improvise if needed.”
There was a small compound hidden beneath the shimmering dome, half visible through the curtain of glassy magic that protected it. Squat, concrete buildings and a couple towers surrounded by walls and barbed wire. A single road led to a manned gate, surrounded by hidden guards and heavy weaponry. Using his Card to spot heat signatures, Travis pointed them all out to Michael, discussing strategy
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Got a few bad ratings on RR after Chapter 69. If you have read this far, please consider hopping over on RR and give me some stars please! I'll even give you the link to do it faster: The Infinity Dungeon [LitRPG] | Royal Road
Candle Light: CL-000.01, "Infinity Dungeon - First Floor"
Magic Class: Silver (Variable)
Danger Rating: Copper (Variable)
Containment:
Containment of CL-000.01 is focused on observation and controlled access. The entrance to CL-000, formerly designated "Entrance to Hell" (See file CL-000, [REDACTED]), is located at the southern focal point of Area of Influence CL-001 and is currently sealed with a reinforced steel door with multiple magical wards. Access to CL-000.01 is restricted to authorized Candle Light personnel and requires adherence to strict entry and exit protocols. See document [REDACTED - Jennifer] for detailed access procedures, operator schedules, and approval protocols.
Description:
CL-000.01 designates the first floor of the Infinity Dungeon (CL-000), a multi-layered extradimensional structure accessible through CL-000. The first floor consists of three distinct chambers: two "normal" rooms and a "boss" room.
Normal Rooms (CL-000.01-A and CL-000.01-B):
These chambers contain a variable number of hostile entities classified as CL-000.01-01 (Goblins) and CL-000.01-02 (Skeletons). CL-000.01-01 entities exhibit rudimentary intelligence and are capable of utilizing basic weaponry, while CL-000.01-02 entities are animated skeletal remains exhibiting extreme mobility and melee combat capabilities.
A subset of CL-000.01-02 entities are protected by a translucent film of magical energy that repels physical force. This magical barrier is hypothesized to be linked to the ambient mana concentration within CL-001.
Boss Room (CL-000.01-C):
This chamber houses larger and more powerful variants of CL-000.01-01 and CL-000.01-02, designated as CL-000.01-03 (Goblin Brute) and CL-000.01-04 (Skeleton Warrior). These entities possess enhanced physical attributes and combat prowess compared to their counterparts in the normal rooms.
Reward System:
Upon successfully clearing each chamber, challengers are presented with rewards that materialize on the floor. These rewards can include mana coins (CL-002) of varying tiers or magical items belonging to various thaumaturgical systems (SKILL, DECK, TOME, GRIMOIRE).
If the challenger possesses an established magic system, the rewards will be tailored to that system. For individuals without a pre-existing magic system, the initial reward upon defeating CL-000.01-A will be an item that grants them a specific magic system. In rare occasions, challengers without a pre-existing magical system have reported being taken to an extra room, in which they found items meant to kickstart their magic. Subsequent rewards will then adhere to this newly acquired system.
Note:
According to Level-0 Operator "Owner" (Michael Lexington), the initial difficulty of CL-000.01 was significantly lower. The current level of challenge emerged after repeated explorations by Operator Lexington, with the dungeon's difficulty seemingly adapting to his increasing strength until it reached a plateau. Level-1 Operator "The Magician" (Johanne of the Roses) theorizes that the current difficulty represents the maximum sustainable challenge level for CL-000.01, given the existing mana density within CL-001.
CL-000.01 remains under continuous observation for any fluctuations in mana density or changes in the dungeon's difficulty level.
Addendum CL-000.01-01:
Further research into the adaptive mechanisms of CL-000 and the potential link between mana density and dungeon difficulty is ongoing. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for developing effective strategies for navigating and utilizing the Infinity Dungeon's resources.
Addendum CL-000.01-02:
Refer to document [REDACTED - Jennifer] for detailed access procedures, operator schedules, and approval protocols.
