Just finished book 2 while doing a reread of the series. (well, re-listen anyway) Near the end of the book as Richter and crew are leaving the dungeon immediately after having found his 2nd magic core he noticed a staircase going down. When he arrived at the other side, he saw a second staircase leading down that hadn’t been visible from the central room. Kong, Aleron. The Land: Forging: A LitRPG Saga (Chaos Seeds Book 2) (p. 470). Kindle Edition. and this statement was made shortly before. He simply placed his hand on the column and willed its interface to come up. Now that they had defeated the dungeon, at least this level, he should be able to give it commands. Kong, Aleron. The Land: Forging: A LitRPG Saga (Chaos Seeds Book 2) (p. 469). Kindle Edition. Did Richter ever return to explore further levels of this Dungeon? Also, there was this quest update: Congratulations! You have unlocked the Quest: Unlock your Power III. Your village will increase your power, but you must care for it in turn. Currently, there is a local dungeon that needs to be cleared out. Reward: Unlock one of the Powers. Yes or No? Kong, Aleron. The Land: Forging: A LitRPG Saga (Chaos Seeds Book 2) (p. 467). Kindle Edition. This quest updates in book 7 when he opens the portal to defeat the Lich, but it seemed to be an optional way to fulfill the quest, as Singh's mausoleum was not exactly a local dungeon. So Richter apparently still has at least one more level of the 2nd dungeon, as well as the mysterious undiscovered local dungeon that need to be cleared. Now that he as added so many levels and ascended to a higher tier, will he be able to face roll these? But more importantly, following the trend so far, I would expect this to yield 2 more magic cores. If every master of a place of power has to unlock their powers, and every time this is done results in receiving a magic core, the land should be swarming with core buildings. How exactly are they considered so rare?
I think Richter is only getting a core each time because the MV is on top of what used to he the center of a great power. The capital would naturally be a center of great wealth and where they would build most core buildings. I also think the dungeon will still be a challenge for him because the increase in mana density will upgrade the monsters. I am not sure what you mean by two cores being the trend, but I think he will only get one core when he awakens (levels up) his next ley line.
The cores are not directly part of the reward, but the powers are directing him towards challenges/ problems within the domain, that would allow him to prove himself and serve their "desires". Building up the settlement is part of that, and cores help build up settlements. As for the dungeon, no Richter never explored the second level. Its likely there will be more cores within the dungeon and in forgotten corners of Richter's domain. The mist empire was powerful enough to gather a lot of cores, but the easily accessible ones would have long since been found by whoever destroyed it, passersbys, or kindir.
Much of the challenge of the first levels were not monsters, that was only a small group of undead. Traps and magical defences would still be nearly as dangerous for a tier 2. It also seems like a lot of the obstructions on the first level were designed to be a challenge a new lord could pass through willpower and ingenuity, so possibly a testing/ training ground.
Thanks. This actually makes a lot of sense, and helps suspend my feelings of disbelief. I suppose it also means that the supply of magic cores in local dungeons might be more finite than it would otherwise seem. It also just occurred to me that the Land itself might slowly spawn magic cores near places of power that have had their Heart Crystal destroyed and lands forgotten to time.
That is possible...maybe in addition some of the ambient mana sometimes goes into making a core? So when all of the powers are leveled up and the dungeon is dumping out craploads it may produce a fourth magic core.
I think that the number of Cores has to do with the Mist Empires once might, and with Richters Aura effecting things and possibly by having been Seeded there by the Entity that seems to have looked out for him?
I don't think cores are produced by ambient mana or over time etc. I think it is lost technology. So until a civilization researchers back up to that point there are a finite amount.
