Hizon had spent most of his challenge earnings before the final account finished calculating.
The seven day defense had paid his sub dungeon for every enemy his goblin, hobgoblin, and giant bullet ants killed in the Orc Highlands. His forces had killed invaders, destroyed supplies, occupied hostile attention, and returned each midnight to do it again. They had also died often enough to produce a record Hizon declined to display in the public part of the Undercity.
The expense mattered less now that the dead returned.
Rows of names filled the control chamber wall. Each belonged to a subordinate converted into an eternal soul. Hobgoblin commanders had been completed first. Merchants, engineers, healers, insect handlers, and the officers responsible for later defense waves followed. Regular goblins filled most of the list.
Only one name remained outside it.
The goblin waiting beside Hizon’s desk wore a warehouse runner’s leather vest and carried no weapon. He spent most weeks moving order tablets between the Undercity storehouses and the defense dungeon. Before the challenge, he had entered the battlefield only to deliver supplies during preparation. Hizon had converted soldiers before runners because soldiers died.
During the invasion, every available body had been used.
The runner carried arrows to the second line, messages beneath the arena road, and replacement straps to the bullet ant riders. He survived until the fifth day, returned at midnight, and went back to work.
Now his record occupied the final line of Hizon’s conversion menu.
[Registered subordinate type: Goblin Runner.]
[Current soul state: Ordinary.]
[Convert to Eternal Soul?]
Hizon selected yes.
The dungeon points vanished from his balance. Gold light passed over the goblin from his boots to the tips of his ears. Nothing about his clothing changed. He did not become taller, stronger, or more important to the warehouse because the dungeon could restore him after death.
He blinked at Hizon.
"Is there another delivery?" The runner asked.
"Not yet. Report to the training anchor and confirm your restoration point."
The goblin saluted and left.
The menu updated.
[Unconverted registered subordinates: 0.]
[All creatures assigned to the Defense Dungeon are renewable.]
[Instance conversion requirements satisfied.]
Hizon read the last line twice.
He had begun converting his people when the defense dungeon first opened. At the time, more than five thousand ordinary goblins stood between him and this notice. Weekly profits paid for commanders. Failed attempts paid for soldiers. Golden Axe’s first clear paid for another large group. The challenge supplied enough DP to finish the work at once.
He opened the Defense Dungeon record.
The scenario had not changed since Golden Axe completed it. Twenty-five adventurers entered a valley with six merchants. They received forty-eight hours, limited starting materials, and opportunities to purchase supplies during the attack. If any merchant died, the entire attempt failed.
Its access restriction appeared above every other setting.
[Current operation: One active attempt.]
[Reservation interval: Once per seven days.]
That rule had never been part of the challenge itself. It existed because an ordinary dead goblin could not be reset for another party. Hizon required time to replace losses, restore the field, and prepare the next force.
He no longer needed it.
The Instance Talisman waited in the available upgrade list. Max had shown him the item when they first built the defense dungeon, then refused to purchase it until Hizon possessed enough eternal souls to staff every part of the scenario. Buying it earlier would have created copies with missing attackers or forced Hizon to place ordinary creatures into renewable battles.
Hizon purchased the talisman with his own sub-dungeon balance.
A small stone disk appeared above the control table. The mark cut into its center resembled one doorway splitting into several. Hizon assigned it to the Defense Dungeon.
[Convert existing dungeon to renewable instance?]
[All active creatures, protected characters, merchants, and support staff are registered Eternal Souls.]
[Existing challenge rules will be preserved.]
[Persistent access records and completion ledger will be preserved.]
[Global reservation restriction may be removed.]
Hizon confirmed the conversion.
The valley model divided.
For a moment, two identical fields occupied the control table. Both contained the road, merchant wagons, surrounding grass, and the empty spaces where adventurers brought their own fortifications. The two became four. The fourth folded back into the original model, leaving a silver number beside it.
[Active instance copies: 0]
[Available copies: As required]
The public rules remained intact.
[Recommended group size: 25]
[Duration: 48 hours]
[Protected merchants: 6]
[Completion requirement: All protected merchants survive.]
[Loss condition: Death of any protected merchant.]
The once-a-week restriction disappeared from the entrance.
Hizon opened the command settings.
One instance required more judgment than the first four levels of Max’s dungeon. Fey Nights could change paths without waiting for Max to select each false trail. Orcs followed their roles after a party entered the Highlands. Hizon’s defense dungeon allowed him to choose later waves, change merchant inventory within approved limits, and respond to the positions adventurers built.
He could not personally operate every copy.
Three hobgoblin assistants waited in the adjoining room. All had managed sections of the challenge while Hizon commanded the Highlands. All were eternal souls. Hizon called them to the table and divided the authority available inside a copy.
The first assistant controlled wave selection after each required progression point. The second controlled merchant timing and stock. The third reviewed field safety, rule violations, and any situation requiring an emergency stop. Each copy could assign those roles to renewable versions of trained assistants while Hizon observed any record he selected.
"The early waves remain weak." Hizon said.
"Even for experienced guilds?" The first assistant asked.
"Especially for experienced guilds. If they waste their best attacks in the first six hours, that is not our mistake."
The second assistant examined the approved merchant ranges. "Can different copies sell different supplies?"
"Within the existing limits. Do not remove food because a group forgot to bring enough. Charge them for forgetting."
The assistant smiled and began building inventory sets.
Hizon removed the global reservation lock and changed the entrance notice.
[Defense Dungeon is now a renewable instance.]
[Multiple registered groups may enter simultaneously.]
The Undercity booking office received the update.
Hizon’s wall filled with messages before he finished closing the menu.
Golden Axe wanted to give the defense dungeon another try. Two other guilds requested entry. A group that had survived eleven hours months earlier asked whether the conversion meant its old record disappeared. Hizon directed an assistant to answer that every record remained and that priority did not mean a discount.
Within an hour, 4 different groups of 25 adventurers entered his defense dungeon.
Then he opened his earnings projection.
Four groups could occupy four valleys for forty-eight hours. Each would buy supplies from six merchants. Each would destroy creatures that returned for the next copy. Entry, time, purchases, damage, deaths, and successful completions could occur in parallel instead of waiting for one weekly reservation.
The numbers improved. He saved the larger scale estimates for staffing purposes and closed it before touching the merchant prices. The alchemical foam complaints had already taught him what happened when projected maximums became an excuse for charging whatever number looked best on the page.
The instance conversion solved the largest limitation on Hizon’s current dungeon. It did not solve the second.
Twenty-five people and forty-eight hours demanded a guild, planning, transport, supplies, and a free weekend large enough to contain two days of constant attacks. The scenario earned well when it ran. Most adventurers would never attempt it.
Max’s first four levels served five-person parties.
Hizon reviewed their public completion records. Fey Nights tested routes and awareness. The Orc Highlands tested individual ability and preparation. Level Three forced parties to move through a changing battle. Dread Fort allowed them to choose how to approach a defended position. Different places, enemies, and objectives still belonged to the same journey.
Hizon had no intention of copying any of them.
He wanted a five-person level capable of earning from the people who could not gather twenty-four companions to join them.
He created a new project.
[Recommended party size: 5]
[Environment: Unassigned]
[Primary objective: Unassigned]
[Progression structure: Unassigned]
[Boss: Unassigned]
[Reward framework: Unassigned]
The empty fields did not trouble him. Choosing a forest first would make every later idea a forest idea. Choosing a boss first would turn the rest of the level into a hallway leading to that boss. Hizon had watched enough adventurers build fortifications around inconvenient merchant wagons to know that objectives changed how every object in a level was used.
Before selecting the objective, he wanted more capabilities.
His existing roster favored numbers, formation fighting, direct pressure, and large insects. Goblin scouts could hide, but few could shape the path a small party took. Fire carriers created danger once they reached a target, but the defense dungeon used them as part of armies.
The expanded subordinate catalogue offered a Goblin Trapper.
This type possessed improved concealment, trap construction, field repair, and enough intelligence to alter simple mechanisms after observing how intruders defeated them. It could fight with a short spear, but combat was not the reason to purchase it.
Hizon selected one Eternal Soul.
He did not buy a population of ordinary trappers and promise to convert them later. The new project would be renewable from its first test.
For the second purchase, Hizon searched the insect catalogue.
Giant bullet ants provided speed and painful charges. The beetle colossus provided armor, mass, and a horn capable of moving a wagon. Neither offered controlled ranged pressure inside the smaller spaces a five-person level might use.
He selected a Giant Bombardier Beetle.
The insect was smaller than the colossus and larger than a horse. Separate internal sacs produced fluids that became a burning spray only when expelled together. Its record described limited bursts, a recovery period, and enough control to deny an area without covering an entire battlefield.
Hizon purchased one as an Eternal Soul.
Both new monsters appeared in an empty training chamber.
The Goblin Trapper examined the room before looking at Hizon. He tested the floor seams, inspected the door hinges, and asked where intruders were expected to enter. The beetle remained beside its anchor until an insect handler arrived. When directed toward three stone targets, it struck the center one with a short cone of steaming fluid and left the targets on either side untouched.
Useful did not mean assigned.
Hizon added both types to the project’s available roster. He did not place either in a room. He did not buy terrain, select an objective, or decide which one might become a boss.
One assistant opened the project menu beside him. "What do we build first?"
Hizon looked at the six unassigned fields.
"Nothing today. Collect five-person completion records from the first four levels and remove the names. I want decisions, failures, and how long each section occupied them."
"Should I create a project title?"
"Five-Person Project is enough."
The assistant saved it under that name and left to collect the records.
Hizon wanted to see what these two new monsters were truly capable of before he committed to purchasing more.
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