NOVEL NEXT Chapter 39: Valhalla
Geth was satisfied with the progress, he hadn't been gone that long, and someone always had to stay back to watch the children. "How's the situation with enemy creatures or other people approaching?"
"I've only encountered Goblins out in the woods, mostly lower Levels with an occasional 10 or 15. As far as other people are concerned, we had a large group of individuals show up and demand entry." She replied. "They were all lower Levels. None were worthy of concern. I scared them off."
Zolis looked proud at that last statement. Geth couldn't help but wonder what she'd done to scare a group of people. "All right, have you added any cores to the terminal?"
"Those of us that have been out gathering have donated a few cores, but nothing substantial yet."
Geth nodded as they walked through the barrier. He glanced around and saw a pile of materials gathered near the living area. The kids were chasing each other around with the toys he'd made a while back.
After walking towards the middle of the cave, he stood in front of the pedestal. He began pulling cores out of his Inventory Satchel.
It was a shame that he couldn't clean out the cores lying on the battlefield. Even so, he and Til had managed to gather over 160 Goblin cores on their travels.
He had also managed to grab the Level 15 cores from all 30 Goblin Mages. He couldn't have achieved that without Bruce's help. Touching the pillar caused it to project a screen and begin a prompt.
:Cores detected nearby. Dungeon experience is currently 21,445/100,000. Would you like to contribute? Yes / No:
Geth was quite surprised. He hadn't expected his family to earn so much in that time. He clicked the 'Yes' option floating in the air. The familiar formation started to branch out and light up. Cores began to disintegrate, causing the small mountain to slowly turn into a small pile of dust.
:Enough experience gathered to upgrade, continue absorption? Yes / No?:
'That's a nice feature.' He selected the 'No' option and stored the cores. Albus had told him they had many uses, and he was curious.
:Dungeon Crystal (Lvl 2) Lvl 1 functions are still active. The number of Guardians increased to 7. Barrier HP increased from 5,000 to 25,000. Resident Limit increased to 25.
Cavern expansion available, dwelling area will increase in size by 1 acre. Two upgrade options are included in the expansion.
Station Upgrade, Options:
Option 1: Basic Smithy- Simple station used to craft equipment.
Option 2: Basic Enchanter- Simple station used for Enchanting equipment with cores and gems.
Resource Upgrade, Options:
Option 1: Simple Iron Mine- Can harvest the basic resource, Iron Ingot. Small chance to find uncommon resources.
Option 2: Simple Gem Mine- Can harvest basic gems. Small chance to find uncommon gems.
Note: Stations and Mines can be upgraded using cores.
New Contribution and Inventory Systems unlocked. Residents can further contribute to Dungeon by supplying ores or gems. Contribution points can be traded in for donated equipment or Skills in Dungeon Inventory.
Owner: Geth:
Geth clicked Option 1 for both prompts. There was no need for thinking. What was the point in having the items and the ability to upgrade equipment? They had no equipment to upgrade.
A bright flashing light interrupted his thoughts. The formation on the cave ceiling lit up brightly, one of the Runes began glowing a bright green. Tremors began to rock the entire Dungeon.
The shaking grew more and more intense until a bright flash blinded Geth completely. Rubbing his eyes for a few moments, he opened them to find he was outside of the Dungeon, along with the rest of the residents.
'This is definitely something I'll have to remember,' He thought while everyone looked around incredulously. Luckily, no one had been caught in an awkward situation. As everyone was looking around, they noticed Geth and the other men standing with them.
The children thought it was a game and started running around again. As soon as the three of them saw Geth, they jumped on him. All three of them kept trying to talk at once.
"Calm down, calm down, one at a time." He laughed at their enthusiasm while everyone else was smiling.
"Dad, are we gonna live here forever?" Stark asked, the excitement apparent in his eyes.
"Well, it's possible. For now, we just need to make sure that everyone is safe." He smiled and tousled his oldest son's hair.
Geth then looked up at the questioning gazes of the others, "I'm honestly not sure why we ended up out here. Why don't we go and take a look at the changes?" He just shrugged.
The door in front of them had changed. There had once been thin wooden doors embedded in the rock. It was apparent that a major change had taken place. The outer area had once just been a hill with a big hole dug in it.
Now, the face of the hill was completely flattened. It had turned into a hard stone that would be difficult to dig through. In the opening of the cave was a 10 foot tall set of double doors. The doors were a dark-colored wood and looked very thick, iron-studded the outer edges and down the middle.
In the middle joining the two doors, was a five-sided crystal that looked very similar to the Dungeon Crystal. Geth was the closest to the entryway. He pressed his hand to the Crystal to open the door. As he did, a prompt was projected in the air.
Most of the people behind him gasped at the holographic screen that appeared before him. After all, even back home, it wasn't basic technology.
:Owner, Geth, detected. Welcome to your Dungeon. As Dungeon has reached Level 2 and become an appropriate size, the Owner must select a name:
'Hmm, well, there is only one name I ever used for my guilds and communities back in the games I played.'
He looked towards the door again and spoke a single word.
"Valhalla!"