Chapter 341: Defend The Dungeon

The wait began to wear on the teams as they sat outside, wondering what had happened to the teams inside. If they had failed, and died in the dungeon, that would be a tragedy. But if this was just a super long dungeon, it might be a great win for them.

Over four hours after they entered, the first team exited looking exhausted and battered.

"So, how did it go?" Kalli asked cheerfully, earning her a hateful glare from the team.

"How do you think it went? We were in there for nearly five hours, the swamp and the monsters both tried to poison us to death, and there are five bosses. Five!"

Kalli nodded happily, the movement somehow translating perfectly through her flight suit, and the team leader sighed.

"I know what you’re going to ask next. Yes, the loot is good. Yes, it drops at every boss, so there is a chance to do it partially, though the best stuff is on the last boss. But if we don’t have items for poison resistance, it’s going to be a nightmare to keep going there every day.

It’s a lot of work for the healers, and even with the bodysuits completely enclosed, that only stops the poison from the dungeon itself, not their attacks."

"See, that was easy, All the information that I wanted in one spot. I’m not sure that I have something that will actively and continually prevent poison, but if your battle armour is enough to keep the dungeon from poisoning you, then just an accessory or item with poison resistance should be enough, and you can swap them between dungeons.

It will mean a lot of added gear to get everyone optimized, but it could be worth it."

The team thought about that, then the leader nodded. "If we had a bit more resistance, even a little, it would make a huge difference. The tank takes the most, obviously, so getting the poison damage down would go further than more cleansing.

We just don’t have a lot of gear that affects poison right now, and we only got one piece that does from that run."

In the waiting group, Alexei smiled. "That means it drops here. Most of the dungeons drop items that are good for clearing them. Ice resistance in the Frost Giant dungeon, physical damage reduction in the Ogre Dungeon, and so on.

So, we just need to do this one a bunch of times, and we will start getting enough gear that it gets easier. What level did it come in at?"

"Sixteen or Seventeen. Say seventeen just to be safe."

Kalli nodded in agreement. The dungeon indeed identified it as a level seventeen portal.

"It’s easy enough for most of you to do it, not nearly as bad as the Frost Giants, but it’s not going to be a walk in the park. Especially as it’s such a long run," she agreed.

"That’s the real killer. The first boss or two wasn’t bad, just buffed up Naga warriors. The third one is a Shaman, the fourth is a very large warrior with four arms, and the fifth is called a Naga King.

Four arms, water magic, very nasty. But by the time that you get to him, you’re exhausted, and there is no option in this one to do them in any other order. You progress through the dungeon and exit by the portal at the end instead of walking all the way back.

But it only appears after the final boss is dead."

That was enough to assure the other teams that they wouldn’t have to walk for an hour after a four hour dungeon, but that also meant that this really was a five hour dungeon.

Not exactly encouraging when the whole place was supposedly toxic.

"Alright, I will keep notes of who is changing their routine to include this place, and I’ll build another bunk house here. However, with the dense foliage, the lasers are going to have a very short range, so it’s advisable to keep a guard on duty at all times.

If we want to have someone stay here, like with the towers, we can do that too."

Sanchez poked her forehead. "Why not just build the tower over top of it? Then it’s secure, and we get a fortified watch station in the swamps. It might not be optimal, but as long as the top floor is over top of the trees, it should be fine.

At least it will give us a few moments to stage if there is an attack, and we can use Earth magic to build up the inner courtyard, so it’s not just a swampy mess."

The dungeon portal itself was on solid ground, so that was good enough. But if they built a watch tower, it would need more space for a yard inside the walls. Keeping a proper yard was essential to giving the defenders enough space to regroup and defend the building.

"Alright, I will build a tower over top of the dungeon, and see how that goes. I’m not one hundred percent sure that the System will let me, I get the feeling that these are supposed to be public locations that the factions fight over.

But if it does let us put it inside, or even inside the walls, that will be enough.

Why don’t we start by building up the base, so that we have room to work? Let the mages clear some room for the tower, and see if there are any restrictions on their work. Just don’t mess with the portal, or the shrine around it.

We wouldn’t want the place collapsing and causing the new dungeon to destabilize."

There would be no arguments against that. It was nearly the perfect level for them, though it was still a large jump from the level ten Ogres. It would allow the teams who had reached level sixteen but weren’t strong enough to effectively clear the level twenty-two dungeon to fight somewhere that had a lot of enemies, and therefore a lot of experience gain.