Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Six. Alternate arrangements.

Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Six. Alternate arrangements.

Bob rubbed his temples, having closed his eyes already. The deep rumble of Monroe's purr did double duty as a low-grade shoulder massage.

"The reason that your Dungeon isn't being consistent in regards to monster respawns is because you've effectively used trenches for your mana flows rather than conduits," Bob mumbled.

"How do you even create a conduit for mana?" Derrick asked.

Bob opened his eyes again and looked around the cavern that the Dungeons and Dragons crew, Aussie division, had excavated. He had Mana Sight up as a persistent effect, and the silvery flows were clearly visible. He was reminded of the spiders that didn't weave the pretty, symmetrical webs. The space wasn't large, about forty feet to each side, and the mana was pulled in from the entrance at one side rather than down from the ceiling.

"I'm guessing you don't have mana sight yet?" Bob answered Derrick's question with one of his own.

"No," Derrick shook his head, "I'm level nine, and I have all the Elemental control spells now, and for my bonus skills, I took Animancy and Anima Blast, and then Shadowmancy and Mana shaping."

Bob managed to keep his expression under control. "So, being able to see the mana when you are trying to shape it is absolutely critical," Bob explained, "not only to make sure that you're creating even flows but to maintain an awareness of the natural currents of the ambient mana and how they will impact the conduits you're creating."

"As it stands," he continued, "the place where the largest number of monsters will spawn, and do so more quickly, is right at the base of the steps."

Derrick rubbed the back of his head. "Is it salvageable, or is it completely stuffed?"

"One of the things about the System is that with enough time and mana crystals, you can do almost anything," Bob reassured him. "My recommendation is to push to level ten and then take mana sight. I'll show you what to look for, and then you can try it again."

"That's going to be a problem," Dave chimed in. "While the original D&D group is still moving along nicely, thank you for the seventeenth floor; by the way, our Australian friends only made it to the ninth floor before another nine thousand marines arrived."

"They rushed up the levels working as fire teams," Amanda explained, "they aren't taking the time to max out their skills."

"Damnit," Bob muttered.

"Too right," Jessica nodded, "we were just going along, making sure to level our skills all the way up, when all of a sudden, the entire floor is flooded with marines. We finish up and come back the next morning, only to find out that we're not on the schedule anymore."

"It's only a matter of time, and not much of that, before the same thing happens to the original crew," Dave added.

Bob reached up to give Monroe's ruff a good scratching. The big cat appeared unconcerned with the recent developments.

"I've surrendered control of the access schedule at Glacier Valley," he admitted with a frown. "There just aren't enough hours in the day, and it was just a hassle I didn't need. I could shove you back into the mix, but I have a feeling this is an ongoing battle that no one really wants."

"We need to get up to level sixteen though," Jessica protested, "otherwise, we have to go back to Earth, fly back home with someone from the states, and then pop back over once we got there so we'd have someone who could jump back and forth."

"Which is making the bold assumption that the United States government hasn't noticed that we're here, and placed us on a number of watchlists, including a no-fly list," Dave said.

"Harbordeep is a probably a little empty these days," Bob suggested, "and while it's expensive, you can likely delve to your heart is content. Although," he frowned, "you'll need to speak Thayland there, which will require you to spend even more crystals."

"Rule six, yeah?" Jessica grinned.Read latest chapters at novelhall.com Only

Bouncing on her toes, she entered the tavern and spotted her friends at a table. She rushed over and claimed her chair, falling into it with a thump.

"Good afternoon," she beamed.

"Stars and stones," Charn grumbled, "there's little good to be found this afternoon, what with this place being so crowded."

"Ah, but I heard that Bob was going to be working on the eighteenth floor today," Nora grinned as her friends faces brightened.

As transplants in Holmstead, they'd found themselves supplanted in the Dungeon after Bob had left, leaving them with a wealth of crystals but no way to advance. Wayna had cheated a bit, leveraging her relationship with Eddi to sneak up the levels, but the rest of them hadn't had any sort of hook. They'd waited patiently as Bob dug out his new Dungeon, keeping themselves amused as best they could while Bob worked, but it appeared the time was drawing near. Charn and Orson were both eager to get back to delving.

They'd picked up a fourth to replace Wayna, who wasn't around as much, a young woman named Sarah. She was one of the original group Bob had brought back from Earth, but she didn't interact with them very much. Well, she didn't really interact with anyone, but she had taken a Druid path and was willing to delve with them, providing the security of both healing, controlling the battlefield, and when that wasn't needed, a rather nasty summoned plant that was every bit as powerful as the primary summons of the Endless Swarmers.

She'd been delving alongside, but not with the others from Earth, and when Nora had asked her to join them, she'd been initially hesitant but had accepted.

Nora was pretty sure they were growing on her.

"So another day or two, and we can get back to leveling then," Orson rumbled. His voice had dropped a bit over the past few months, and it no longer cracked.

"Finally," Charn agreed fervently.

"For today, we should go to see a movie," Nora smiled brightly.

"Didn't you say you were going to go see one this morning?" Orson asked suspiciously.

"I did," Nora agreed, "and it was amazing! But now I want to go see the next one, and it'll be more fun if you two come see the first one with me, which I'll happily watch again, then we can talk about them."

Orson and Charn exchanged a silent look that spoke volumes. Charn sighed. "Ok, I suppose we can go, it's not like we have anything else to do, and we have the crystals to spare."

"Shiny!" Nora squealed and lunged to her feet, reaching out to grab their hands, dragging them out of their seats.

"Slow down," Orson protested, "the movie isn't going anywhere."

"But there's a whole series of them!" Nora explained as she tugged them along.

"How many?" Charn asked.

"I think there are thirteen or fourteen, and then there's a double-length one at the end!" Nora pulled some more. They both had longer legs and higher physical attributes, so she didn't understand how they could be so slow.

"What is it called?" Orson tugged back, dragging her towards him, where he launched a sudden and unprovoked tickle attack on her ribs, causing her to yelp.

"Ah!" she gasped, freeing herself from her cruel tormentor. "That was not shiny," she sniffed, "and it's called Firefly."