Dungeon of Assassins [LitRPG Through the Eyes of the NPCs]

Selvara floated high up in the shadows between the stalactites on the cave ceiling and watched the battle at the entrance to the cave. The Dungeon Heart watched intently through the bond that connected him to his familiar.

<Interesting. Dungeon hearts seem to be immune to nausea and dizziness. Those constant pans and changes of direction would certainly have been quite exhausting for me as a human.>

"I'm starting to feel sick. The smell of the undead wafts up here. And all the blood and rotting guts... Horrible. Whoever forces revenants to enter our world must really hate them."

<This is also an interesting topic in the scientific community...>

"Not now. Look, the undead are retreating..."

Malvorik watched as the knight came out and the negotiations began.

<Can you understand him from up there?>

"No. Just mumbling. The others down there won't shut up either. Shall I fly down and listen?"

<Preferably not. Dungeon fairies are hardly known, but fairies were generally very popular prey for revenants. The chronicles mention several times that fairies were sold as pets at horrendous prices.>

Selvara instinctively whirled a little further upwards and bumped painfully against the stone ceiling.

<Don't worry. They were mostly bought by high-ranking magicians.>

"As familiars?"

<Mostly... and sometimes as ingredients for exotic alchemical elixirs.>

"Malvorik!"

<Just kidding...> Malvorik kept quiet about the few recipes that actually required fairy wings, fairy hair or fairy blood. He himself knew only one: the tincture of long life. Water from a natural source of healing, grated unicorn horn, blue lotus flowers and three drops of fairy blood.

"Something's not right." Selvara sounded worried.

Malvorik looked through her eyes, but didn't understand what she meant: <What do you mean? The negotiations seem to be going well. No one has drawn their weapons yet.>

"Do you see the four of them back there?"

<The two young people, the duskgnome and the dryad?>

"Exactly. Can you see them whispering and looking worriedly towards the entrance?"

The two watched through the same eyes as the group discussed frantically, then they started moving. Selvara had trouble keeping an eye on everyone at the same time.

<Look at the duskgnome!> Selvara followed the excited request and saw that the duskgnome was holding something glowing in his hand. Golden threads of light shone out from between his fingers. The gnome shouted something that even Selvara could hear above the omnipresent murmuring below: "Betrayal!"

Then he threw the glowing golden vial. <Close your eyes! This is a sunlight elixir!">

Selvara closed her eyes, but even through her eyelids she could see the blinding light that filled the cave. Malvorik's voice sounded awestruck: <Sunlight, bound in a Solenium Glitter solution. Do you know how long it's been since anyone has seen Solenium? I thought it was all used up in the war against the necromancers.>

Selvara opened her eyes, blinking. The cave was brightly lit, like a desert in the midday sun. The situation had changed fundamentally. Leather-clad revenants stormed in at the entrance, others were already engaged in combat among the defenders. The negotiator had put his helmet back on and drawn his sword.

<This is getting more and more interesting. He's using a blood drinker blade. Well, have fun with that. I hope he agrees with the artifact soul.>

"What? What's happened? Where did all these shady guys suddenly come from?"

<Attackers hidden in the shadows. The light wave has unmasked them.>

"But they were just about to come to an agreement."

<I fear the attackers were not entirely honest. If the duskgnome had not noticed the attackers in time, they would have unexpectedly stabbed the defenders in the back.>

The two watched the chaos for a moment. The fighting was wild and completely confused. A defender was hit in the back, his attacker went down under the blows of several defenders. Fighters switched between opponents, defenders struck at one attacker in threes, while other opponents were able to get into position without resistance. Then the attacker groups split up again and went after different opponents. It took time for pairs to slowly form. More opponents stormed in through the entrance.

Selvara was distracted by Malvorik's exclamation of thought: <Oops!>

One word. But it sent an icy shiver down her spine.

"What is it?"

<I...> He hesitated. Selvara's nervousness ticked up a few more notches. Malvorik had never hesitated to say or do anything. That was what often drove her so crazy.

<I wasn't paying attention. The fight... The elixir of light... It distracted me too much.> Guilt surged through the emotional connection of the familiar.

"What have you done?"

<I have stopped digging the tunnel>.

"So?"

<Before I started, I had already earmarked the caves down here to be included in my sphere of influence. I had everything set up in the menus until we discovered the duskgnomes and I sent you down. Since then I've been working on the tunnel at maximum speed. I can only use a limited amount of mana in a given period of time. I put that into building the tunnel. First the tunnel to send you down, then to enlarge the tunnel and add foot holes.>

The dungeon fairy raised her hands uncomprehendingly: "What's the problem?"

<I never canceled the order to expand my sphere of influence. I just used the mana elsewhere. I just stopped working on the tunnel because I was watching the battle. My sphere of influence has expanded.>

"You've taken over the corridor? The duskgnomes are already in there!"

<I just got the warning message. Intruders. All construction activities are blocked. I cannot continue building the tunnel while they are in the area.>

"It's already taken far too long for them to finally get in there. We don't have time to send them out. It's a battlefield in here. You can't send them back into the middle of a slaughter!"

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

<We have no other choice. I can't talk to them. Only you can do that. Take off! Shoo them out.>

Selvara folded her wings and went into a dive. Below, she saw the boy charging at an armed warrior with a rusty knife. She looked at him as he flew by with an analysis skill. A shepherd, level 1, his opponent an elven level 6 assassin with a mace.

She braced her wings against the airflow and directed her momentum to move forward at lightning speed. Just above the heads of the surprised fighters, she glided towards the exit tunnel. Lightning bolts and small fireballs shot through the room. Arrows shot from the elevated archers into the turmoil. Almost without aim, as the archers were blinded. Her little head was buzzing. She couldn't send the gnomes out into the chaos of battle. That would be murder. She looped around to get a look behind. Armored warriors rushed in through the entrance. Closely followed by the undead. The attackers were securing a bridgehead. If they managed that, they would simply overrun the cave through superior numbers.

She fluttered through the projectiles towards the exit and inside. Immediately afterwards, the first duskgnomes appeared in front of her. She threaded her way between the ceiling and the heads.

"There must be another way."

<I can't come up with any>.

"How far have you extended your sphere of influence?"

<The whole corridor. And a straight line, one step wide through the cave.>

"You and your geometric experiments... Wait... Is the battlefield already included then?"

<No. Not yet.>

"So, you're not getting any XP for the fights right now?"

<Unfortunately no. A terrible waste.>

"You only need 471 XP until you can raise Dungeon Master to level 7. Then you can choose a new special skill. Sanctuary would allow you to offer guests a contract. They would no longer count as intruders."

<To do that, I would have to extend my area of influence to the battle zone. Then there will be people in there that I definitely don't want as guests. They also probably won't accept an agreement to that effect. I could hire a few of them as dungeon servants. I can only do that for one person per level, but I don't need a new feat for that. No, that won't work. What else?... I could wait until they start slaughtering the duskgnomes in the hallway and then collect the XP.>

He was silent for a moment and then continued: <This would be critical in terms of timing. We'd have to place some easy high-level victims in the back and then hold off the enemies with fighters as as I level...>

"Malvorik!"

<All right. I don't like the idea either. Morally reprehensible, and I'd have to tell some revenants that they're in a dungeon and offer them something to convince them to work for me. I assume that we don't want to ask any duskgnomes to sacrifice themselves? I could throw a few rats through the hole. If they catch them, so they don't die on impact and don't fight back...> He fought off the wave of indignation that came at him through the familiar: <It's all right! Let me see if I can somehow reduce or erase my area of influence...>

"That's not possible. Dungeons don't give anything back once it's been conquered."

<But... There was something... In one of the construction menus...> The commentary broke off while Malvorik used his enormous intelligence to read through various menus faster than most people could leaf through a book.

<I can create a temporary outpost... But I have to decide that before I claim the area. It will only last a month, or until I give up the claim.>

"That can't be true. I've never heard of that."

<There is a hint text, something about version change and update...>

"That means it's something new the gods have given dungeons. Seems like our best bet, so use that. And hurry up! The first zombies have broken through down there. The rangers won't last much longer."

<Yes, yes... Area defined, calculate costs... Damn! That costs four times as much as normal. After that, I'm empty and can't finish the tunnel anymore.>

"Do it anyway. Hurry up."

<But...>

"Come on, that'll work. You'll see in a moment."

Malvorik worked his way through the menu system and confirmed the command. Mana flowed out of him, into the designated area. A circle spread out from the end of his linear sphere of influence. Warning messages popped up as the first fighters entered his area of influence. His mana began to flow faster than ever before. The sphere of influence snapped into position. More messages appeared.

Warning! An unacceptably high number of intruders are involved in combat within the dungeon.
Violation of Golgoroth's law!

Fair Play rules activated!
Number of intruders exceeds 100, maximum level activated.
Loot system deactivated. Dungeon monsters will not disintegrate after death and leave no loot behind.
Dungeon Mana regeneration x20
Dungeon Mana utilization speed x10
Dungeon Restrictions on the number of monsters lifted
Dungeon Control limit lifted
EP profit +20%

<What by all the gods?>

"I'll explain later. Now we just have to kill revenants quickly enough. Preferably attackers."

<The shepherd up ahead should be the first. Llurd's mercy that he has survived in the midst of all this turmoil so far.>

"Is there anything else you can do?"

<I am sorry. All I can do at the moment is wait. I could send a swarm of rats down the tunnel bore, but neither the rats nor the duskgnomes in the passage would probably like that. I don't have an area here far enough away from intruders that I could summon monsters there.>

Down below, a spell broke through the defenders' barrier magic and exploded shortly behind the exit in a shockwave of glowing, concentric circles. Although these did not injure anyone, they threw friends and foes alike off their feet. The attackers took the opportunity, which they had obviously expected, to move away from the entrance. No sooner had the tight front around them dissolved than the undead stormed into the cave. A wild and chaotic battle now broke out in a much larger area. The entrance was not yet clear, the next attackers had a hard time getting through, but now it was foreseeable when sheer numerical superiority would overcome the defenders.

Malvorik was able to observe what was happening in the area that was now part of his dungeon perfectly, as if from up close.

The barmaid named Trulda sprinted with unexpected speed after a cultist trying to break through to the back of the cave. His two scimitars easily fended off the untargeted attacks of the blinded defenders he ran between. When he came upon the fugitives, he would slaughter his way through the ranks. She could see the duskgnome standing in the way with his warhammer, but in front of the cultist he looked small and vulnerable. Almost like a child. Trulda gave free rein to her anger and roared. Blood coursed through the veins of her eyes and, as if she had activated an inner reserve, she accelerated even further. The cultist didn't even see her coming as she raced past him and slammed her mace into his back with one hand. His spine cracked and he fell uncontrollably to the ground, where his face skittered across the stone floor before disintegrating. Malvorik waited for an indication of how much XP this would earn him, but there was none. Disappointed, he realized that the fighter was still beyond his reach. And next to the narrow corridor that connected him to the area around the battle zone. Trulda slowed down and stood next to the duskgnome, panting and snorting.

Malvorik turned his attention back to his sphere of influence. Now someone just had to die!

A ranger fended off his opponent's short sword, binding and deflecting it as he used the greater reach of his rapier to lunge and strike the cultist directly in the neck. The critical hit caused him to drop his weapon with a gasp. For a moment he held his neck in a vain attempt to stop the fountain of blood, then he toppled forward and dissolved into the white sparks of a revenant. A gold pouch and a dagger were all that fell to the ground.

<Selvara!>

"Yes?"

<It does not work!>

"What do you mean?"

<I don't get XP for defeated opponents.>

The fairy was silent for a moment, then she clapped her little hand to her face: "Of course. I am so stupid. I should never have passed fairy school. I should have ignored the glow and studied for a few more years. Or just teach you the whole program, no matter how much you know. I'm the most useless dungeon fairy ever..."

Malvorik interrupted her sternly, with the practiced mental catch of a father who had raised several children: <Selvara! More explanations, less self-reproach.>

"There are no clear fronts. None of the revenants fight for the dungeon. The system therefore does not recognize fights between revenants as a victory for you. You only get XP for opponents who are defeated by locals."

<The undead are currently pretty weak. And the duskgnome is outside my sphere of influence. But if I extend this any further, I won't be able to abandon the outpost afterwards. I'm already at the maximum that this menu allows.>

He flew over the battlefield. Analyzed. Thought.

<Tell the shepherd it all depends on him>.

"What?"

<Do it. The female barbarian is in rage, you probably won't be able to talk to her. The duskgnome has to stay as a last defense. The shepherd is the only one left in my sphere of influence who isn't a revenant.>

Selvara hesitated for a moment, then took to her wings and dropped. Flapping her wings lightly, she took aim at the shepherd and caught herself next to him with her wings fluttering at head height.

Any semblance of formation had dissolved in the cave. There was a mad scramble in front of the entrance, where everyone seemed to be fighting against everyone else. The undead stood confused at the entrance, no longer able to tell friend from foe. The necromancers, who could have solved the problem with a few commands, did not come into view as the tunnel was blocked by indecisive zombies. For the moment, the onslaught was slowed, but some of the undead already had an opponent, which they continued to fight. Only one of them had chosen a cultist who had appeared in the midst of the defenders at the wrong moment. The cultists themselves were slightly outnumbered, but only needed to hold out for a few moments before they would receive further reinforcements and flood the cave.