I had {Crowd Surfer} which was badly nad. I don't surf on the crowd, I weave between their legs. But whatever. I didn't need that perk because my mastiffs in their battle gear were aweso. They had a spiked collar and a kind of dog barding armor to protect their bellies, legs, and shoulders. Not the head because they needed mobility. Over the winter, I made them a fae silk bodysuit too. The amount of damage mitigation they had was astonishing. Now I needed to get them so levels.
I worked with them and so materialized ghosts from the soldiers that died around the capital. We trained techniques to fight together, including combat commands. I couldn't bear to spend all the ti butchering monsters, could I? I even gained a few dog-related Skills.
Riding [dog] (uncommon): Increase control and maneuverability of mount.
Animal Training [dog] (common): Increase the learning rate of trained animals. Allows for minor growth adjustnts when leveling up.
Animal Handling [dog] (common): Increase loyalty and discipline of managed animals.
The training Skill gives so control as to where the dogs spend their freebie Attributes, Skills, and Perks. At higher levels, it gives the trainer control over their Status and even so growth bonuses. I also trained a new Force spell to help them level but that's a surprise for later.
We arrived relatively late for the morning rush. I left the dogs outside, sitting near the door and entered the building. At the information desk, I asked about Cedric's party. They were delving. The gate records showed that they descended three days ago. Ard with that information, I picked what monster harvesting quests were available and registered them for . Then I went to the Dungeon. Baelor waved through without blinking this ti.
A Dungeon is almost like a giant ritual diagram. The more things die inside, the more monsters it spawns. The more people fight inside, the more monsters it spawns. The more creatures spend ti inside, the more monsters it spawns. Managing a Dungeon was an art. Leave it alone for too long, and a stampede occurs. Sotis it blows in the underground world and the surface people never hear of it. Mismanage it by letting youngsters die inside without culling enough monsters, and a stampede occurs.
That's why Baelor blocked the first ti. It was way less to keep safe than to keep from becoming a sacrifice to feed the Dungeon.
As I mused on the bizarre and fantastical ecosystem that was a Dungeon, the spirit motes swirled around the tunnels. This world was a living being. If it is conscious or sentient, that's another discussion, but here the Gaia theory was real. The world makes mana and it leaks out into the surface. The Dungeons leech energy off of these magic veins, or ley lines if you want a parallel with Earth terms.
As I entertained myself with Dungeon's ecology, my first test subject showed up. A monster was coming, sothing hard skitting on the tunnel floor. Maybe a multi-legged monster, I had no idea. And honestly, I didn't care. I used my new spell.
"{Force Binding}!"
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