Chapter 335: Rebalancing

Over the next few days, the search for more dungeons outside the city intensified.

As Sanchez and the others had predicted, the gap was too large, and only a limited number of compositions could safely do the dungeon if you were under level eighteen, and after a failed attempt that almost cost them an entire team, experimentation by lower level members was abandoned.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to get stronger, it was just that they didn’t want to die trying.

So, that left them with the Ogre dungeon, far below their power level, and then a gap. But if they could find one more in the middle somewhere, they should be perfectly suited to a smooth progression.

That search led them to do a much more intensive survey of the area, cataloguing many new species of animals and monsters, most of which they didn’t bother to investigate further.

If it wasn’t a threat, it could stay where it was.

And with that continued data, Kalli was able to build a moving map of the region, noting where the monsters were last seen, where they had made camp before, and the estimated population of everything that might be a threat to Marimgar.

There were many other groups in the region, including Gnolls, Bugbears, Ogres, and the ever friendly Trolls.

The trolls were actually considered to have a good relationship with the humans at this point, though they had never spoken. During one trip, Vinnie and his team encountered a group of mutated goats in a fight with a monstrous bear, and took down the bear.

Mostly to see if it was edible, but they didn’t have any space to take the goats, so they simply left them.

However, the Trollish goatherd, who had been less than a kilometre away having lunch when the fight started, took that as a sign that the humans were willing to help him protect his flock when they could, and that they were not hostile to the Trolls in general.

So now, even when a scout group was investigating something and happened to see a Troll, both sides simply waved a greeting and continued about their days.

"Are you sure that they are not playing some long game?" Sanchez asked as he came to trade in his mission rewards.

Kalli shook her head, and the Sergeant noticed that she had added a long jade hairpin to her style for the day, which appeared to be Rare Grade. Most likely it was traded in by someone, and kept by the Coordinator.

She had also swapped out her usual bodysuit for a form fitting Cheongsam style dress, red with a floral pattern, that she had purchased from the store for herself.

Somehow, it went with the blend of high-tech and magical decor in the Hall of Heroes, especially now that Kalli had started to decorate the place a bit more with tokens and treasures that people had brought back.

It was all stuff that was cool to look at, but not valuable or with stats that made it pointless to use. But it gave the place a much more lived-in look, and made it feel like a more established shop, not a brand-new space, less than a year old.

There were even thick cloth curtains over the windows, made of the local tuber fibre cloth, and dyed the same red as her dress.

Kalli looked up at the Sergeant and smiled, "No, I have investigated myself, reviewing the footage, and the Trolls seem to simply accept that we’re on different teams for the trials, but aren’t on a mission that requires us to be hostile.

So, they’re doing what they have to do, and we are doing the same, without malice, but not helping each other because that would be silly when we’re technically rivals in the Trials.

You don’t help others pass when you could use that time to help your own people succeed."

Sanchez nodded. "You know, you have a point. I will keep that in mind the next time that we meet up with them. Knowing that there are non-hostile species near us is a great relief. At least it means we’re not likely to have to fight them like we did the Giants, and we will be able to do our scouting missions in peace.

Has there been any news on other dungeons?"

Kalli shook her head. "Nothing yet. We’ve got a couple of possible leads that the scouting teams are checking now, areas that are overgrown, or that were drastically changed from earlier trials. There is a chance that they might have hidden the dungeon entrance.

If that’s the case, there might be a handful more that we simply haven’t seen yet, thanks to the floods.

However, there is a chance that the dungeons never formed because of it.

I know that we’re all desperate to find that missing link, the one instance that will let us push our heroes smoothly up the ranks, but I fear that we might need to go further out if we’re going to find them.

It might be that they formed for other factions, so we should search near where they used to be.

Actually, I will make that a mission. The System should let me."

{The Lost Factions} Search the sites of vanished factions to find an abandoned dungeon or other resource. Easy Difficulty. Maximum 10 group members.

Kalli nodded in satisfaction. "There we go. It won’t change the number of scouts that we can send out, unless I buy more equipment for the city, but it will change the way that they search. Actually, since you’re here, I have an idea. I would like to blow a bunch of credits and make an elite armoured force for the city."

Sanchez smiled, "You have my attention."

"What I would like to do is buy some of these mechanical war walkers, along with more teams of flight suits to go with a bunch of larger utility speeders and helicopters. The goal is to have a fully mechanized force that can defend the city when the heroes are busy.

Like a mechanized militia to make up for where we’re lacking, without putting everything on the shoulders of the strongest few."

Sanchez nodded. "Bring them up, and let’s see what you’ve got."