Clyde POV
It's been a few months since the healer told us Lily was pregnant. Lily has been determined to not let her pregnancy affect her daily life. How can it not though? I mean she is literally growing another person inside her. Perhaps she's right and I shouldn't worry so much. We'd certainly have made it a lot further in the dungeon if I could fully concentrate on delving. All it takes is one stray arrow or random spell though. Still, it's not like we haven't made any progress. Chandra reached level 12 over a month ago and me and Cole both reached level 13 during this most recent delve. We even made it far enough to realize the paths we were taking are a bunch of side paths that just lead to chests. Not that we've been able to kill the mobs in those rooms and claim the chests.
We've gotten pretty good at clearing most of the floor though. It's just those rooms with the level 15 mobs we can't clear. To say nothing of the third-floor mini boss that most likely showed up randomly along with the mini bosses on the first two floors. It's not like I can't see Lily's point either. Even if nobody says it out loud, we all know that after the baby is born there will be no more delving for at least half a year. Not until the child is old enough to be left with his or her aunty Luna. Each delve is already starting to take most of an entire day. Admittedly a significant amount of that time is still being spent collecting all of the chests on the first floor. I'd probably skip the first floor entirely if it wasn't for the revenue the town gets every time the merchant sells a piece of wood rank gear to academy graduates or the occasional group of friends who decide to give delving a try because "how hard could it be".
Dungeon POV
I feel like if anything my progress might actually be slower than when I was first starting out. If you ignore the fact that my rooms are sixteen times larger than they were back then anyway. In the past two months I've only been able to create four new rooms. The first two are on either side of the very first room, not counting the entryway of course. Those two are identical to that first room with a few minor terrain changes to keep it from being too similar. Not that I think anyone would notice if it was. I did however raise the wood golems level to 21 in these rooms. The other two were placed on either side of the second room and were mostly identical to that room. I did alter the terrain slightly and change where the buildings ruins were located. Naturally I also increased the level of the griffons from 21 to 22 in those rooms. I even chose to allow travel between the rooms without needing to return to the main path.
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I will probably spend a little extra time on the fifth floor making way more rooms than is necessary. Not that I plan to go overboard like I did with the first floor. It's just that I've noticed that each increase in rank represents a more exaggerated difference than the last rank increase. There is way more of a difference between level 19 and level 20 than there is between level 9 and level 10. So, it only stands to reason that the first tin rank boss would represent a significant difference in strength from even the mini boss on the fifth floor. Which is why I plan to give the delvers a few more rooms full of level 25 enemies so that they aren't stuck fighting lower-level enemies.
Speaking of fighting lower-level enemies I'm surprised my third floor has only seen a relatively small number of different parties so far. And of those only a few came back for a second turn. Two of those of course being Clyde's group and the ladies. Most of my regulars are getting close to fighting the second-floor boss though. It's just that those attracted by my increased rank don't tend to stick around long after becoming stone rank. Even those that manage to fight the second-floor boss don't usually bother continuing to the third floor. There are a few who eventually become regulars though. Bringing the average strength of my delvers to around level 8. It would be higher if not for the level 1 parties that show up from time to time.
It won't be long before the third floor becomes more popular. I suspect that by this time next year my third floor will be at least as popular as the second floor is now. To be honest there hasn't been as many delvers attracted by my rank as I thought there would be. Not that I thought they'd come pouring in, but I did think I'd get more than one or two a month. Some months I don't even get any delvers attracted by my rank. Still the instancing has allowed the delvers to start leveling up faster. There have even been a few times when four instances of the first floor were in use at once. Although those times are still rare, at least for now.
Just as I'm pondering the future of my dungeon, I notice Clyde's party enter my dungeon again. I wonder if today will be the day that they finally snag one of the third-floor chests. So far, they've managed to clear every room except the treasure rooms, which is apparently what the delvers are calling them, and the room just before the boss room. A few of them are close to leveling up again after repeatedly facing higher level enemies so we'll see.
Lily POV
I'd like to make obsidian rank before the baby is born but I don't think that will be possible. I've heard rumors that the higher level you are the higher the chance the baby will be born healthy. I also understand everyone else's concern. I mean in order for a baby to be born healthy it first has to be born. Aside from that though there is the well-known fact that the higher your level the higher your pain tolerance and the quicker you recover. Meaning I won't need to spend as long in bed after the baby is born. Though I'm more excited about the increased pain tolerance. Having recently become all too aware of the size difference between me and Clyde. Not that I was unaware of the fact that I'm smaller than some dwarves. It's just never been an issue before.
