Dungeon Oasis

The next room does slow them down quite a bit. Mainly because Chandra is looking for traps that aren't there. The archers manage to get off a few shots before Darrel could raise the water wall. One of them hits Cole in the shin, somehow managing to pass just under his shield. Luckily the shin guard keeps it from going too deep. Unfortunately for them, that was just before the wolves actually made it to them. The other arrow just misses Clyde by centimeters.

Sadly, that bit of help didn't accomplish much as far as actually helping the wolves. The wolves used their agility to their advantage forcing Clyde to use his movement skill to keep up. It was only a wood rank skill, so it didn't boost his reaction speed that much, but it was more than enough. Meanwhile the wolf attacking Cole couldn't seem to get past his shield. In the end the wolves weren't able to actually accomplish anything aside from stalling them for a few minutes. Still the fact that they actually had to try to defeat the wolves that time gave me hope for the future.

Chandra eventually figures out that there weren't any traps and began focusing on the archers. She had apparently used her last level up to improve her stealth skill, because the archers had been completely ignoring her. Right up until they received a throwing knife between the eyes. I'm guessing there must be a range component to her stealth or she would wave just walked up behind them and taken them out.

Note to self, gives mobs the ability to detect stealth on later floors. To be fair I'm reasonably certain the wolves could have sniffed her out if they weren't preoccupied. The next few rooms should let me test that theory. Assuming Clyde's party plans to continue and it looks like they do. Meanwhile another team just started a delve on my first floor marking my first time ever having two groups inside me at the same time.

Well, I was hoping to put it off a bit longer. At least until I finished my third floor. It would seem however that I'm going to need to get that dungeon rule that prevents delvers from proceeding until the floor ahead of them is clear sooner rather than later. For now, Clyde's team has just made it into the next room so I'm going to focus back on them. The other team is only level 3 to 4 anyway, so they probably won't make it to the boss.

Clyde's party is understandably on guard seeing the berry bushes. Clearly, they remember the last room with berry bushes having wolves hiding among the berries. I don't think they were prepared for the number of wolves this time though. The last room like this did only have two wolves after all. Either way the second pair of wolves coming at them from either side manage to catch them of guard. One wolf lunges at Darrel who just barely manages to get his staff up in time to protect his throat.

The wolf targeting Lily is intercepted by Chandra who manages to get between them. She is then able to stab it in the throat. Receiving a rather nasty bite on her forearm for her trouble. Darrel on the other hand has received several deep gashes in his abdomen from the wolf's claws. Despite that he is still able to summon an ice spear which he begins using like a sword to stab the wolf. Lily rushes over to begin treating Darrel when a fifth wolf appears.

Fortunately, by this point Clyde and Cole have finished with the wolves they were fighting. Cole immediately uses his taunt ability to get this new wolf to target him. The tank and fighter working together are able to overpower and eventually kill the wolf, but they can tell it's stronger than the others.

Chandra uses her one good arm to consume the healing potion they just got a few rooms ago while Lily uses a combination of healing potion and healing magic to stabilize Darrel. Thankfully they're in a room full of healing items. A fact which Lily is happy to exploit. Not that I mind. They are more potent when used in a potion but eating them raw does have some limited healing potential. Harvesting them earns me mana either way so I don't really care how their used.

At this point Clyde decides to head back. Recalling the other high-level healers that often escort some low-level groups it's easy to see why Clyde decided to end the delve here. Though I get the distinct impression he'll be back on the second floor soon. Although she has improved since they started delving Lily's talent as a healer is still only wood rank. I can tell she is close to leveling up now that I have seen enough level ups to know what to look for. Still wood rank, but one step closer to stone rank.

Once they're out I take a moment to check out what I got from that delve. It's not possible to isolate what mana came from Clyde's group with another group on the first floor. The fact that I get exponentially more mana for mobs being killed the more it costs to place them makes me kind of glad they are starting to get more expensive to place. It does make sense though seeing as I need ever more mana to build ever more expensive floors.

Before getting back to working on the third floor I take a moment to search through the dungeon rules. The rule that essentially locks portals if the floor ahead is occupied by delvers is rather expensive. Which is why I wanted to put off getting it. At the same time, I'd rather have it before I actually need it. Having two groups inside me at the same time signals to me that I may need to have it very soon.