Dungeon POV
The spider queen still gives them a little trouble but they are able to make it to the second floor fairly quickly after finding the space ring. It helps that they didn't have to carry a huge backpack while fighting. I mean they still had the backpacks but most of the stuff had been transferred to the space ring. I don't know for sure how much space all that stuff takes up but what I do know is that there should still be plenty of room in the space ring heading into the second floor. I doubt they'll beat the two tailed fox or even get near it but I am curious how much further they will go now that they are unburdened by the stuff they collected on the first floor.
The puddle slimes on the second floor still give them a hard time despite only being level to. Though this is largely due to them being all but immune to physical attacks. That said their destination is the same as it has been the last several times. They always head straight for the huckleberry bushes. Moving much faster this time around without the added weight. In a few levels that extra weight from the backpacks will feel like it's not even there, especially to those who put points into strength. Not that they'll still be using backpacks by then. Still they are making good time on this particular delve.
The bears use to give them trouble but they've since figured out how to deal with them. The wolves on the other hand while they are learning to fight still give them plenty of trouble. Especially when they appear in groups of six. Eric's group tries to stay right at the edge of the wolves territory. This has the added effect of putting them in line to accidentally stumble upon the Rabbit node I put in earlier. They'll still have to actually catch the critters, they are living things after all … sort of. They act like real rabbits anyway. Even if they can't just knowing that the rabbits are there might cause one of them to pick up a trapping or hunting skill.
Speaking of which I am rather curious about people who already had skills pre-system. Do their skills roll over by which I mean does the system take into account what they already know. Like is someone who went bow hunting a lot going to start out with the archery and/or hunting skill. Also their has to be ways to level up besides fighting. Unfortunately, I don't have anyone to actually ask. The people of this world probably know even less than I do, assuming I could ask them directly in the first place. For now I'll just have to see if I can get some clues through observing the delving groups and make inferences based on the limited data I collect doing that.
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And on that note Eric's group is less than 100 meters from the Rabbit nodes … area of influence I guess you'd call it. It's the invisible cage beyond which the rabbits do not roam. There are currently four rabbits though I suspect if I increased the node's level there would be more. However that would also likely cause the nodes area of influence to be spread over a slightly larger area as well. I'll probably be able to use that to establish realistic habitats later on actually. And I really need to stop getting side tracked before I completely miss them encountering the rabbit node. They're now fighting a group of wolves less than 20 meters away from the rabbit node. It's a larger group as well with six members.
Rachel ends up getting bit in the shoulder but unlike the first time something like that happened they don't immediately end the delve because of it. This will hardly be the last time one of them is bitten or clawed. If they stop the delve every time that happens they'll never make progress. At least that's what I was able to get from the conversation they had after the fight. To be fair it does look as if the robes mitigated some of the damage. A few healing potions and about ten minutes of constant healing from Damien and she looks like she's ready to continue. I hope they don't push themselves to hard and get careless.
Nevertheless they do eventually stumble upon the rabbits. It was actually quite humorous watching them immediately shift into a defensive posture. To be fair though this is the first creature they've seen in my dungeon that didn't immediately attack them. If what the delvers say is true it's probably also the first none hostile creature they've seen in a while, even outside the dungeon. Eric is the first to react and has Rachel try blasting one with a fire spell. I'm guessing he already decided they wouldn't be able to land a melee attack. Which they absolutely would not, at least not yet. Not that they're slow, quite the contrary in fact. While not super fast they now have speed and reflexes that are well above average. The problem is they've never fought something that wasn't actively attacking them.
Rachel's fire spell hit's the first rabbit and instantly ignites it's fur. This unfortunately causes the poor thing to squeal in pain and take off like it was shot from a gun. Also unfortunate is the fact that there is no water source nearby for it to jump into. I didn't think it would be necessary to place it near the one pond on this floor since the rabbits don't technically need to eat or drink. She tried to hit it a few more times but it was moving to fast. It does eventually stop and Amy steps forward to put it out of it's misery. The group is surprised when the rabbits don't immediately dissolve into the ground but they're soon overjoyed as Eric reads off the description. "Rabbit Carcass, a type of loot exclusive to the rabbit node. Can be consumed to replenish energy, or processed for additional benefits" After that they spend some time collecting the other three rabbits. It's not glamourous but they all understand the necessity of it.
