Chapter 428 – Portal
There was only one existing gateway in the Orlando Wall. It was up by the Summer Woods neighborhood, where the 417 met University Boulevard. The only reason it existed was because students from the University of Central Florida would use the area closest to the wall as combat training for their students, without the risk of actually going too far into the zone.
Basically, every week or so, a group of students would gather, the gates would open, and they would push through, past the wall. They never ventured further than the intersection of University and North Econlockhatchee Trail, roughly two-thirds of a mile into the zone. Far enough that they could draw in the undead, but not so far that there was a chance they’d get swarmed and cut off from their retreat. After all, they were well away from Broken Dungeon’s core, and the residential areas near the gate were low-density areas. Safe enough, especially with trucks running on ambient mana letting them easily outpace the zombies.
The fact that the Orlando Zombie Horde was all the stereotypical ‘slow zombies’ was another reason why the university decided letting their students get some combat practice was safe enough. Yes, you sometimes saw variants in the mix, but the Adventuring 1001 course taught students to recognize variant monsters and taught them to be cautious when dealing with the unknown. Plus, every group had high-level healers along, so anyone who wasn’t killed instantly would survive, and not have to worry about becoming a zombie.
Professor Gabriel Dixon, head of the Adventuring Studies department, was proud of the program’s safety record. Obviously, any kind of field work carried risks. However, once they had healers powerful enough to cleanse the zombie virus from those who were bitten, they’d recorded only thirteen deaths in three years. Of those, six had been from students who ignored guidance and ventured off on their own, before getting surrounded and overwhelmed. Four more had been from students with ‘berserker’ type abilities who tired themselves out too quickly, especially while wearing armor under the Florida sun, with exhaustion and heat stroke leading to their being taken down before they could retreat.
The last three were the ones Gabriel lamented most, though. They were students who had done everything right, but had met new variant zombies, ones the school hadn’t seen before. He made a point of naming them at the start of every semester, both as a memorial, and as a warning. Adventuring was inherently dangerous work, and while the program was designed to prepare students as best as possible, there were always new threats to be discovered. Learning to think and adapt was the best thing a young adventurer could do.
This kind of practical experience made the Adventuring Studies department somewhat unique at the university. Most people thought of it as halfway between an academic course and a trade school education, and they weren’t far off. Gabriel personally thought of it as similar to a chemistry or engineering courses having practical labs. The theory and academic knowledge was good, and essential for turning a young student into an adventurer, but practical experience helped drive the lessons home.
And the approach worked. They’d just graduated their first class of Adventuring Studies majors last year. All of them had been at least Level 20 by graduation, and had extensive experience not only in the Orlando Zone, but also in the Undead Kingdom dungeon. Of the two hundred graduates, ninety-five percent had gone on to join the American Adventurers Guild, and had quickly established themselves. The survival rate for students from his program in the guild was 78% higher than members of the Guild who didn’t have some kind of basic training before joining. Ten of his students had been recruited to other programs around the country, to help form their own Adventuring Studies courses.
Today, however, he was about to oversee a major change in the local adventurer ecosystem. Wards had already been set up, cutting off ambient mana from getting inside the Orlando Wall, and a System Interdiction Field was up and running. He’d already heard about the success of the military’s operation down in Boca Raton, but the military wouldn’t be heading up this operation.
There was a reason for that, of course. Zombies were a very different beast from goblins. You could use an artillery barrage to blast goblins, and they would die. Using bombs to destroy zombies was… suboptimal. They did not feel pain, and did not bleed out. Unless the blast did enough damage to destroy the zombie outright, you were left with a creature that would pick up its own dismembered arm and beat you with it, or who would ignore the fact that its legs were gone below the knee, and keep crawling to try and bite your ankles. And if you buried zombies in the collapsed remains of a skyscraper? They would not be destroyed, meaning that the Broken Dungeon would not die. The only way to ensure the Broken Dungeon was destroyed was to go building-by-building, room-by-room, and kill every zombie.
The military had run the numbers, same as everyone else. That kind of operation would have seen huge casualties on their side. Possibly even a complete mission failure. There were an estimated three hundred thousand zombies inside the Orlando Wall. Trying to take them on without a full infantry corps, or even a field army, would be suicide. Even then, zombies were perfect for battles of attrition. Taking on the Orlando Zombie Horde was not a battle the US Army was equipped for.
Thankfully, it wasn’t the military who would be taking on the zombies.
Gabriel nodded to the new arrivals as they walked into the Gatehouse. He was familiar with Cerys Wright and her daughter Brooke, who were two of the big names in the Celebration branch of the Miami Adventurers Guild. They’d done some guest lectures in his courses, and he’d brought students down to the Undead Kingdom dungeon for more advanced training, once they’d completed a few exercises beyond the Wall. He wouldn’t call them friends, but they were acquaintances on good terms, at the very least, and there was some mutual respect, which was enough for him.
Raquel Espina, the druid from Miami, was new to him. But he’d heard stories. He had actually been working with Doctor Sarah Valentine, down at the University of Miami, sharing his ‘field research’ with her, in return for the information she got from different sources. So, he was very familiar with how Ms. Espina was one of the adventurers who had helped Lord Kuronoth test the Water Temple floor of his dungeon.
“Good afternoon, ladies. I’m Professor Gabriel Dixon, head of the Adventuring Studies department here at UCF. I must say, I am excited to see this plan in action. After all, there have only been six recorded fights between different dungeons since the Activation, and, to my knowledge, only one of those had outside observers. In the Sol system, at least. I don’t know the numbers for the wider galaxy. This might be a fight between a Dungeon and a Broken Dungeon, but it is still a valuable chance to get data on something we have little to no practical knowledge on!”
“Ah, Professor Dixon,” Raquel smiled. “Doctor Valentine wished me to send you her regards. She says that she’ll be sending testing equipment up with the next supply run, so you can get readings from inside the Wall, once the System Interdiction Field is down.”
“Excellent,” Gabriel grinned. “But we can’t get to collecting data until the party is started, right? Your message said that using the existing Gateway was the best choice, right?”
“Yes, according to Lord Kuronoth, once the Core Spike is set, he’ll be able to open an ‘annex’ to his dungeon here. Then, you can open the Gate, and he’ll let the slimes out into the city. We don’t have any idea how long it will take the slimes to kill all the zombies, of course. But it is literally just a matter of time. The only creatures inside the Wall that can threaten the slimes are the variant zombies, and those are roughly one percent of the zombie population. Meanwhile, the slimes will level up from killing the ‘normal’ zombies.”
Gabriel nodded. “All right, then. I’ve had the guards on top of the wall check, and there are no zombies nearby. I’ll have them open the Gate, while you set the spike.”
They headed out from the Gatehouse, basically a small building by the side of the Gate, where guards could rest, and technicians could open the two massive doors. The initial barriers to stop the zombies had been concrete and sandbags, filling gaps between buildings. The ‘slow zombies’ had been fairly terrible at climbing, and too stupid to figure out how to use doors and windows. But no one trusted them not to find some way around it, even if they just ended up pushing a building with enough bodies that it fell over. So, the Wall had been built, using Earth Magic.
Thirty feet high, and ten feet wide, the Orlando Wall ran around the entire length of the zone. The only opening in the wall was here, at University Boulevard, and the Gate was inspired by ancient castles. One massive gate, with double doors of steel, each fifteen feet tall and ten wide, opening inward, towards the zone, hinges hidden in the wall, so that they cannot be easily attacked. That got you into the Kill Box, sixty feet on a side, with walls the same size and strength as the rest, and with a second gate, also opening into the zone.
It was a simple system, but effective. The zombies were not intelligent enough to find a way to attack the gate hinges. They aren’t intelligent enough to use tools to pry the gates open, and they aren’t strong enough to bash them down, against the direction they were designed to move. And anyone up on the walls can send bullets and spells down into the box. Simple, brutal, effective.
As the gates begin to open, Raquel moves into the center of the road, and places the Core Spike on the ground, tip down, and runs a touch of mana through it, to activate it. Gabriel keeps a close watch, observing every detail. Being able to witness a core spike activation is a rare thing, after all. There’s a pulse of magic, and then he can feel the difference.
You have now entered the Forbidden Chambers of Exotic Pleasures Dungeon (Annex).
Between the time the blue screen appeared, and when he’d blinked it away, things had changed. Next to the core spike stands a creature dressed all in black. Gabriel recognizes the figure from countless news shows. It is the Demon of the Dungeon, the God of Pleasure, Domination, and Dungeons, Lord Kuronoth. And, seeing him in person, he begins to understand why people would call this being a god, even before the System made it real.
“Ah, Señorita Espina. I was not told you’d be the one deploying the spike. It has been some time since you last came to the dungeon.”
Raquel grinned at the dark god who materialized next to her, and said, “Well, Lord Kuronoth, you’ve got that portal network going. Once my team unlocked the quick return to the Dark City in your dungeon, we decided to take a break, and run other dungeons before coming back to work on access to the raid. Get experience with different kinds of enemies, who use different tactics. Plus, they call me SunnyBunz on the forums, and the only part of your dungeon that is even remotely fit for sunning myself is the beach on the Water Temple floor. The desert floors either ramp up the heat too quickly, have a giant sandworm that might eat you, or has a horde of undead until you get into the pyramid.”
“Well, I did promise it would be a while before I did more water levels. But eventually, I will get around to making more floors. Still, I do commend you for deciding to experience more, and different, kinds of threats before trying to get into the raid. That will help you quite a bit.”
By this point, the opening of the inner and outer gates had caused enough noise that the zombies had taken notice, as they always did. There weren’t many near the door, but the moans were audible, even at this distance. Fortunately, the slow zombies were, in fact, slow, so it would still be a few minutes before they were even close to possibly being a threat.
Kuronoth looked their way and snapped his fingers, once. Just outside the outer gate, a portal formed, matching the dimensions of the gate perfectly. And then, slimes began moving through. Some bounced. Some slid. Some rolled. Some used pseudopods to simulate legs. All of the slimes, of many different types, advanced, in numbers that beggared belief, a relentless tide of the weak creatures.
Cerys, the Guild branch manager, sighed. “Just how many slimes are you sending into that city?”
“Ten thousand level 1 slimes, to start. They should be able to overwhelm and eat the zombies. And I’ll add more to the mix, if they start taking too long. But once they start leveling, I expect the slimes will quickly outpace the zombies.”