Chapter 114

The first dungeon had a gremlin pack for a boss, which in this case was three gremlins. One warrior with metal armor, and two spear-throwing backup. It might have given them trouble if any of them had been level 5, but at level 1 the fight was almost comically easy.

Shadevine and Plus dropped down on the two support, beginning to drop their health before the fight had more than begun. Centoo charged the main armored gremlin and began tearing at him with his claws.

Frosty spat webbing to interfere with the spear-thrower's ability to move, disrupting their aim. Flomper built custom holes every time the warrior tried to take a step, throwing him off balance and preventing him from ever getting his footing.

Henry hissed gleefully and charged forward at the nearest of the spear throwers. Cen and Becca descended on the stumbling lead warrior with an unmatched fury.

Between all the minions' attacks, Levi barely had time to take a step forward before the first gremlin hit taming threshold.

"Gordon?" he called, as his minions backed clear of the injured boss gremlin.

"Dismay," Gordon intoned, and the boss's health jumped as its resistance dropped. A few quick slashes from Becca's claws brought it back down, and they repeated the process another few times before Levi's Tame finally took.

Tame: Success!
  Would you like to name ‘Horned Gremlin +’ at this time?

"Ward," Levi decided, and the nameplate adjusted accordingly.

Ward: Level 1 Horned Gremlin +

Available stat points: 1
Strength: 1
Health: 160/160
(+4/min)

Psyche: 0
Mana: 0/0
(+1/min)

Spirit: 0
Stamina: 100/100
(+2/min)

Interestingly enough, the gremlin's armor remained on his person. Levi hadn't tamed anything that came with equipment before.

"Hey, Skarm," Levi asked, curiously. "Do you know anything about this?" He gestured to Ward's tiny set of armor.

Skarm ran over to Ward and squeaked demandingly. He held out his hand, and Ward shrugged and wriggled out of his armor plate, handing the chestpiece to Skarm. Skarm slid into it with ease, then shrugged at Levi and took it off again, holding it up.

This time, it registered as an item.

Gremlin's Guard (Armor, Uncommon)

Abilities: None
Power stone: 0/1
Upgrade Slots: 0

Restricted: Horned Gremlin

"So if I tame something with equipment, it comes with it? But if I kill it, it disappears."

Skarm nodded.

Ward thumped his chest, which was vaguely bluish in hue, though trending more grey. Then he took off the rest of his armor. He also had a notably wider build and thicker physique than Skarm or Two.

"What are you doing," Levi asked with a sigh.

Ward pointed at Skarm, then held up the armor.

Skarm grinned, giving Levi a very good idea of what was happening. Still, he had put Skarm in charge of managing gremlins, so… if anyone deserved the armor, it was him.

"Hey, Levi? Want to tame these guys before we all die of old age?" Gordon called.

Levi looked up, finding the two spear-throwing gremlins still fighting but their health hovering right at 4% as the combined efforts of their minions held them at bay.

They weren’t as strong as Ward, but it would be good to have something with ranged damage on the team. “You want to take one?” Levi asked. “I don’t think I want to fill three of my four slots on the new team with gremlins, even boss gremlins.”

Gordon shook his head. “No thanks.”

Levi looked between the two spear-gremlins, one with mottled yellow-green skin a bit more on the yellow side than Two, the other a dark brown-orange with black stripes across his shoulder. Neither seemed to have much to recommend it particularly over the other. Levi tamed the brown one, for no better reason than that it was more visually distinct.

“Last chance.” He nodded at Peter “You want this one before we finish it off?”

“No thanks, I’ll wait for the ogre.” Peter patted his dilo encouragingly. “Go get him, Henry.” The dinosaur rushed forward and finished off the unwanted gremlin boss, granting both himself and his master a new level.

The team relaxed, Frosty going up apologetically to remove her webbing Levi’s thoroughly entangled new gremlin, who shrugged good-naturedly and waved away her limb-waving explanations.

He was having a hard time thinking of any names at the moment, then shrugged and designated him Gremlin Three.

Gremlin Three: Level 1 Horned Gremlin +
Available stat points: 1

Strength: 1
Health: 95/95
(+4/min)

Psyche: 0
Mana: 20/20
(+2/min)

Spirit: 0
Stamina: 85/85
(+2/min)

Two cackled, pointing at Gremlin Three with obvious glee, then puffed out his chest.

Levi was too busy comparing their stats, and came to a very interesting conclusion.

Ward:
Strength: +10 Health, +2 H-Regen
Psyche:  +3 Mana, +0.5 M-Regen
Spirit:  +20 Stamina, +2 S-Regen

Gremlin Three:
Strength: +10 Health, +2 H-Regen
Psyche:  +10 Mana, +2 M-Regen
Spirit:  +10 Stamina, +2 S-Regen

Unlike base creatures, which could be relied upon to be the same from dungeon to dungeon, as though all level 1 gremlins were built on the same template, plus creatures could be unique. Shadevine and Plus had the same stats, but they were both from the same dungeon and captured with the same parameters.

Ward and Three had very different builds, even though both had their initial point in Strength. Most interesting was Three's inclination toward magic. This was the first gremlin he'd seen who had any usable mana at all.

Levi put Ward's extra stat point into Spirit, since anything else would be wasteful of the ridiculous stamina bonuses. Three's, he put into Psyche, since gremlins were the most humanoid of monsters he'd captured so far, and he did want to get some magic attack going at some point.

"Do you want to lead their squad?" Levi asked, as Two strutted about in front of the newcomers. "I need to send some people to watch over Cassandra and Laurence, if you'd like to be in charge of that team..."

Two considered, looking between Levi and Skarm, eyes narrowing. Then he shook his head.

"Alright. Ward, you up for it?"

Ward shrugged, then gestured and Three came over to wordlessly stand at his back with a nod.

"Well, I know you're already a team, I meant are you okay with being the away team."

Ward scoffed and thumped his chest.

"Mission accepted, alright. Good. I'll try to get you a few more friends before we send you off. Skarm, are you going to give his armor back?"

Skarm grinned and shook his head. He'd already put it on and seemed quite pleased with himself.

Ward shrugged as though it didn't matter to him either way.

"Well, you are a plus, so your stats are already higher," Levi conceded. "If you're both fine with the arrangement, I won't stop you."

Not to be outdone in generosity, Three squeaked a quick consultation with Ward, then ran over to Two and, with great ceremony, presented him with three of his spears tied in a bundle. He and the other spear-gremlin had each carried three of these bundles on their backs, which seemed to refill over the course of a couple minutes.

Two took the bundle, turning it over in his hands, then shook his head and offered it back.

Three stepped back with hands raised, refusing to take it.

Two shrugged and strapped it on. It would leave Three with a bit less in the way of offense, but it gave Two the chance to do ranged damage on a regular basis. Given his stealth focus, being able to covertly throw a few spears seemed like a good upgrade.

Levi smiled in silent approval. It was good to see all his gremlins working together for a change, instead of being at each other's throats. Maybe having the newcomers would be good for Two and Skarm, if they saw themselves as a united duo and the newcomers their responsibility.

"You sure you don't want to lead the away team?" Levi offered again.

Gremlin Two hesitated longer this time, but then firmly shook his head, waving at Ward and Three.

"They've got it handled? Alright. Good enough for me."

This dungeon had provided two Destruction tokens, two health and one mana restorative, and most interesting of all, an armor item with a Destruction stone already installed in its center.

Destructive Plate (Armor, Uncommon)

Abilities: Corrosive Guard
Power stone: 1/1
Upgrade Slots: 1

Levi hefted the armor with a grin. It was at the upward bound of what a level 1 dungeon could possibly provide, likely due to the influence of his Secret Seeker title. Proving its value even in mundane dungeons.

“Upgrade time?” Peter asked, as Levi held up the armor. “Can I have your old one?”

Levi shook his head. “No, you can have this one.”

Peter’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Really. I’ll be fine. Your safety is more important to me than anything.” Levi put a hand against the chestplate, the lines along it lighting up in orange as he channeled mana into it, then fading when he released it. He handed it to Peter “If you’re ever forced into close combat, activate it. The Destruction power in it will cause damage to whatever hits it, be that an enemy’s sword or his fist.”

Peter slipped it on with the look of someone given the best birthday present ever. He posed, clanking about as he battled unseen foes, then ran up to Levi and hugged his chest. “Thanks, Dad!"

Even if they'd have to search further abroad to collect the all-important ogre, Levi left the first dungeon fully satisfied with the outcome.