Peter hid his face behind his palms before slowly bringing them down in frustration. What had he been thinking, asking a question like that to this group. Of course everyone would have opinions on how he used his new found riches. He had both 2 S tier design cards and 2 user choice cards. Not to mention the rare ‘tier up increase’ along with 10 new original card types. Why had he thought he needed to wait until the post congregation summit to crowd source various ideas.

  “Okay… Okay! One at a time… except for Gnther. If it happens, it happens, but I’m not going to try to specifically build you a new air mount. You already were doing quite well with the Tempest fowl,” Peter said, calming the room.

  “I should have a different mount based on the situation.” Gnther sat back in his chair folding his arms.

  “We clearly need a new commander of our forces. Glenda can’t be our main force of magic support and lead our armies. Not to mention someone to train and organize them,” We have had a huge hole since N’tuma fell and you refused to use one of the resurrection cards on him,” Khan said. His face had a disapproving expression.

  “Actually, I was going to suggest the opposite,” Glenda spoke up. “We need more dedicated mages. We need more fire power. I can’t have any of my moon elf subordinates fight with me unless we can find a better disguise method. It would be easier just to use something else.”

  Peter nodded. He had been starting to feel that need. Glenda and Armageddon had a lot of fire power but just the two of them were not enough. Khan had a point about Glenda holding down the leadership role as well, but he was not willing to say as much and give Khan the satisfaction. Luckily, one of her clockwork subordinates had taken some initiative, but it had likely only done so because it had recognized that Glenda was incapacitated. As it was now, it would not be too difficult for someone to take out his entire command structure on a battlefront.

  N’terrin was the next to speak up. “We lost our beast elites and our ability to make a beast army. The infantry is good for defense, but are too slow. Not explosive enough for major assaults. Of course dragons could just as easily fill that role.”

  Peter massaged his temples. If this was a game and he was just dealing with an AI he would build as many dragons as he had cards, but he was dealing with other people. People that might be weary of potential threats, jealousy, the whole gambit. Part of his strategy was diversifying his forces to somewhat conceal his power, or people would be more likely to conspire against him. It might seem like Elyra and him were making a lot of waves, but the older dungeons were all still far from concerned. If anything it was normal for rookies to thin the herd.

  They would just see it as a particularly fierce year group. It also was not completely unheard of for non millennial faction rookies to come out on top of the power struggle, although it was on the rarer side. Other than Helen most dungeons were not so exact on the data they collected from dungeons they considered well beneath him, unless there was something that drew their attention. If he had ‘say’... 10 S tier dragons that would do the trick. If he had one here or there acting in various roles over different forces that would be a different matter. They might think, ‘he is doing quite well as a rookie, but is still just a rookie.”

  “Other than a new alternate dimension S tier. I say we get someone who can cast curses,” Delilah said, holding her hands up mysteriously.

  “Or necromancy, or summoning or any number of strange capabilities,” Khan remarked gruffly. This raised a few eyebrows. “What? I can acknowledge the usefulness of having access to a wide array of capabilities. Having Michael proved that last battle. I just think we need to prioritize being good at the basics of our dungeon first.”

  “Its a bit tricky since we do not know who our opponent would be. Then again anything we prepare for will be different the year after that and so on. Perhaps we should start taking control of our destiny and challenging someone ourselves,” Michael said. This earned the vigil master several remarks in agreement.

  “And who should I challenge,” Peter asked, once again rubbing his temple.

  The opinions were even more varied. Khan wanted to challenge someone weak to conserve resources. Delilah and Glenda thought he should challenge based on the dungeon type cards he would receive. Boris thought they should finish off the undead. It devolved into the staff once again discussing what he should use the cards and tier up on.

  An hour later, Peter moved on to the puddle room. Delilah was once again his only companion. She allowed the silence seeing that he was obviously still contemplating his decision, which Peter was thankful for.

  Peter had already made up his mind. The smart thing would be to summon two S tiers using the S tier design cards. Then he should once again convert his user choice cards into epic maelstrom cards to get another 240 B tiers each year. However, that would not allow him to use the random S tier type card which he really, really, really, wanted to, so he had to come up with a bit of a compromise. He would make the 2 S tiers first and then decide. If the first maelstrom was on the cheaper side, he might want to pay in essence for the first few and use his ‘user chose card’ on something else.

  The real question he still wrestled with was which type cards to use in the combination. He of course had 10 new type cards which he was eager to experiment with, but he also had plenty of old ones that would allow some interesting combinations as well. Still it was not like he would only summon new tier S’s. He would also summon a handful of A tiers as well.

  “Would you prefer me to use ghost or phase on the first S tier,” Peter finally asked the dark elf walking in step with him.

  Delilah did not need to think about it. “Use a ghost card. It might be less versatile being slightly weaker in the physical realm, but it will give a better chance of ensuring you have a dimensional unit as one of your choices. Also they are stronger than us lowly phase card summons. Should help us lock down the alternate dimension, so I can use my new toy in the physical realm.” She smiled widely thinking of her long ass rifle.

  “Oh yeah… How much of my dark crystals did you expend in the battle?”

  “29,” Delilah replied excitedly. “The battle was on the shorter side so I ran out of manna several times over. Still I killed at least 7 or 8 B tiers, and wounded some others. Kind of hard to keep track or to confirm kills when they rest just swarm over their dead. I targeted all those little ant mages.” Delilah said with a delighted tone.

  “Little, those things were at least a few feet taller than either of us,” Peter chortled. The mages had been the smallest ones, but still were a good 7 or 8 feet tall. They might have seemed little because even the regular C tier ants were at least 10 feet tall although they sat lower since they did not walk upright like the mages. The B tiers had another good 3 or 4 feet, their mandibles would have been in level with his head. Peter was just glad he was not one of his infantry expected to hold off something like that.

  “Yup it was like popping bubbles…” Delilah said, imagining each magic barrier that winked out as the mage died.

  Peter once again looked at his options as he walked. One card would be his S tier design card. The other would be a ghost. He did not have any originals left for Ghost, but with 42 stock options and essence to burn, that was not a problem. The third option did not allude him for long. His eyes settled on gargoyle. Long range attacks and other methods were less effective in the alternate dimension, so things with high defense did exceedingly well. It was why spectral armor with its S (-) rank defense was able to reign supreme. Of course in this last battle it was because many of its opponents used venom or other methods that the ghostly unit was immune to. The gargoyle also would be more substantial in the physical realm, and would perhaps be capable of flight.

  Gargoyle Sentinel S (-): ATT: A(+), DEF: S, SPE: S

  Gargoyle reveler A (+): ATT: A (+), DEF: S (-), SPE: A (+)

  Guardian spirit S: ATT: S (-), DEF: –, SPE: S (+)

  “Well maybe gargoyle was not the best choice,” Delilah said looking at the options.

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  “Maybe stone and ghosts don’t mix well,” Peter agreed. Only one of the options gave an obvious indication that it might be capable of entering the alternate dimension. Peter chose spirit since it was both the strongest and gave the best potential shot at what he needed. He was a bit confused about the Defense attribute, but he would soon find out.

  It took a good hour for Peter to get a good idea on his new S tier and its B tier one off. The Guardian spirit was actually not capable of entering the alternate dimension. Odd for something with spirit in its name. Its special attribute allowed it to possess and even form a body from various materials. The defensive attribute’s strength obviously depended on which material was used, but the spirit would not be killed with the body just wounded. It would be much like the murder crow, difficult to kill since it could recover and come back in a new body. The spirit could also fight in its incorporeal form, but would be pretty weak, weaker than the average B tier, if it had just had its physical form killed. Perhaps mid A tier if it was at full power.

  The B tier one off worked the same way, but it permanently latched to the first body it possessed and would die with it. The B tier had constituted its own body from the stone, which only resulted with a C (-) in defense. The one offs were potentially useful, but perhaps not so deserving of the 6.9million it would cost to build a maelstrom for it.

  “Maybe if we had Greg build a body, or used higher tier resources,” Delilah had commented, hiding a laugh.

  “Great, just like you and your new dark crystal shooting rifle, it would burn through my resources,” Peter grumbled. She looked away to not show him her smile.

  Peter used the next S tier design card along with an A tier ghost and an A tier Dragon. The dragons had proved to work quite well with ghost, giving him at least one dimensional unit choice 7 times in a row the last time he had made the combination. He supposed one more dragon elite would be okay.

  Ghostly Flame Dragon S (+): ATT: S (+), DEF: S (-), SPE: S (+)

  2nd Chance Dragon S: ATT: S (+), DEF: S (-), SPE: S (+)

  Spirit catcher Dragon S: ATT: S, DEF: S, SPE: S (+)

  “Okay, these choices are better… My vote is on the ghostly flame dragon. Maybe it can’t go into the alternate dimension, but it sounds hella cool,” Delilah exclaimed.

  Peter looked at her, hella…? It was odd hearing her say that, but he had definitely used it to defend his position on a few summons in the past. Still he could definitely agree. Ghostly flame dragon certainly sounded the coolest.

  Second chance also sounded pretty good, although he assumed it meant the dragon would come back as a ghost for a second life. Would it be able to reconstitute its body over time like the murder crow? Perhaps it was a player for the alternate dimension, but Peter was almost 90% sure the spirit catcher dragon would certainly be. Honestly, they all sounded cool.

  But this was far from being the first time that Peter had been presented with cool options. He needed to be true to his purpose. The spirit catcher dragon was a rank weaker, but it would likely fill the need. He still had 40 more ghost stock options, perhaps he could get a ghostly flame dragon in the future.

  The spirit catcher dragon was a pale white almost luminescent beast just a bit bigger than the blink dragon which was the size of a large horse. On the small side for a dragon, but it’s hide was clearly tougher than the smooth hide of the blink dragon. It was also capable of movement into the alternate dimension, but it was more of a by-product of its special attribute, which was to fight against incorporeal beings. It could go into the alternate dimension since its prey could.

  The Spirit catcher was likely stronger than the blink dragon would be if the two were the same tier, but it clearly was not some dominant S tier. Its one offs also would not be the strongest B tiers. A B tier armageddon dragon would easily win in a 1 on 1 fight. However the dragon was by no means weak. Its physical attack would be decent against things in its tier, and its defense was not fully based on its speed like the blink dragon.

  The B tiers would be able to do pretty well and they were made to kill incorporeal beings, like his new Guardian spirit that he had literally just gotten, or the earth spirit he had a few years back. Peter could not forget how many elite A tiers the earth spirit had assassinated during his fight with Temperance the Salamander core, so perhaps it was the answer to a need he had not known he needed. Peter was pretty sure that if the spirit catcher came against some SS tier incorporeal being the spirit catcher would come out on top. Not bad since a couple B tiers should be able to do the same against an A tier.

  Peter excitedly moved on. The first maelstrom for the Spirit Catcher Dragon was 7.2 million. He would likely wait to pay for it in essence. Both these S tiers were below the half way point. Peter smiled. Given time he probably would make a maelstrom, at least for the spirit catcher, but now he was left with a choice of what to do with his two ‘user choice cards’ and the rare tier up increase. It would still be worth it to make another armageddon dragon maelstrom, or even another for the holy armor dragon, but Peter really wanted to try his hand at a random S tier type card. He only thought about it for another minute.

  Peter converted one to an epic random S tier type card. He had a 20% chance of getting a restricted type card. He would determine what to combine it with as soon as he saw what he actually got. Luckily the random type card would allow that much, although once he converted it, he would have to use it in 10 minutes. Peter had a bunch of combination options so he was not worried about not having anything complementary.

  S tier Fairy type card (10:00)

  The type was determined and the 10 minute counter started. He had failed to get a restricted type, but it was a sentient race. A type that was pretty difficult to get his hands on due to their core’s short lifespans. Fairy was not exactly his first choice. Honestly he was trying not to let his mind wander into disappointment territory. Instead he focused on the type specifics

  Peter was able to see some information on the type, and was by no means surprised that it was not currently in use. The fairy type cards had a higher chance of tiering down than even his design cards, which his design cards had been one of the lowest from the 100 type options that he had been able to choose from. Perhaps it was not the best type card to make a true elite, not good since this was a S tier card.

  Still the type had its benefits. Using the type card had a 80% chance guarantee of producing a miniature unit which was extremely uncommon, so uncommon that Peter had to reference the dungeon core manual. He somewhat remembered it being mentioned there. The status had more ramifications than he had thought.

  [Miniature unit status: Miniature units physical defense is normally two tiers lower than its tier, but the unit is untargetable and will have an effective defense of 0 to 2 tiers higher against all but area attacks where it will revert to its physical defense.]

  The defense up to 2 tiers above sounded really good. A S tier unit would be difficult to hit from S or even double SS. That being said most attacks might be considered area attacks to something so small. There were also plenty of physical attacks that could be considered area attacks to some extent. A unit would likely never be able to hit a miniature unit with a narrow sword edge, but something like a mallet would increase its chances dramatically. A giant dragon paw swipe would likely be an area attack to a fairy sized unit.

  The untargetable was a good status for something that was physically weak. Spells that would always hit targets, if they were not behind cover, would not lock on to a miniature unit. Although it depended on the spell and how it worked. The giant white spider’s curses may or may not have been able to specifically target a miniature unit, although the area curse would most likely work. Peter could not be sure. Regardless, it was what he got, and the timer was ticking down.

  Peter needed a magic caster, and magic seemed like something that would go well with a fairy. It did not take Peter long to decide. Obviously, he would use one of his design cards, and since he wanted a magic caster, the magic type was an obvious choice. He still had a couple originals from his short lived group member.

  Ritual Summoner A: ATT: A (-), DEF: C-S, SPE: S (-)

  Storm Mage S (-): ATT: S (-), DEF: C-S, SPE: S

  Water Sage S (-): ATT: S (-), DEF: C-SS, SPE: S(-)

  “Seems to have a water theme,” Delilah remarked casually.

  Of the 3 options storm mage was the strongest, but still the unit would be a weaker S tier. The fairy and design tier downs had affected the choices quite heavily. The water mancer salamanders had proven that water could be an effective attack although it was better at defense, so the SS tier potential for the water mage made sense. Still Peter’s eyes were drawn to the A tier among them that was not only of a lower tier but was 2 ranks below.

  “Is it bad that I’m actually considering the A tier?” Peter voiced his thoughts.

  “Well it would be an auxiliary role that could be kept out of harm's way. Potentially it could send summon after summon into the battle. For a long battle it might be even more effective than a weaker S tier. A maelstrom would be cheap, and it would add a new capability to our dungeon.” Then she added playfully. “Plus I guess you could use that second ‘user choose’ card to try again.”

  It had been along the lines of what he had been thinking. A new area of study started early in year 6 might be better than a weak S tier caster. can’t believe I’m doing this Peter said before choosing the A tier. He used a common increase card to specifically increase the summoner's manna reserves. The thought was that maybe it would allow it to summon units more often. The special attribute rank stayed at S (-).