4 Chapter 4: You are a king, some monsters kneel before you

Though it looked scenic to Arthur at first glance, there were quite some steps to climb before he had reached the top. Leneus being the dragon he was had hardly any trouble climbing, Arthur being the slightly weaker than normal boy at present had some more trouble but it was a nice climb. As they climbed higher up the stairs Arthur looked back at the shrubbery that had covered this place and its height only seemed to increase, perhaps an optical illusion theorized Arthur. They clambered up and reached the top and Arthur finally saw the full extend of the tower but before it was something more befuddling. The tower he had seen from the ground, it had an entrance that was skin to a cave's entrance with wooden double doors reinforced with iron closed on it. The cave led down in a tunnel like formation leading to the tower which slowly rose up behind leading to an open top at the very extremes of the height. The cave itself was very big as Arthur sighted it and the tower was gargantuan as he saw it up close. Behind the tower, quite far away behind all the trees was a formation of rocks set up to form an tall embankment which extended left and right and from what he could see, it went on forever. In front of the cave was a tattered old board planted on the ground which said 'Blue Lands' in a weird script.

"Shall we enter it?" asked Leneus as he interrupted Arthur taking in the sight.

"Hmm, sure."

Leneus led the way and Arthur entered through massive entrance to the cave and the torches on the brackets attached to the caves lit up and the inside of the cave lit up in a blue sheen.

"You needn't worry at all master Halo, there are no monsters in here that would attack us," said Leneus reassuringly.

If he thought the entrance to the cave was massive then he was thoroughly shocked as he entered, the inside was positively huge. It didn't look this big when he looked at it from outside but the ceiling of the roof was high, extremely high and as the torches on the wall lit up, up on the ceiling of the cave others lights lit up, all white in color but they appeared to have no power source and they hung from particularly decorative stalactites, there were not many of those in the cave but those that existed looked particularly sharp and neat and at their point was a white light. This white light served to enhance the strange blue color the interior of this cave had.

"Not many monsters," said Leneus frowning.

"Are there supposed to be more?" asked Arthur as he too noted the absence of any monster as of yet in the dungeon.

"Definitely," said Leneus nodding. "We might be a poor dungeon but we are still a dungeon."

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know," said Leneus. "But we're going to find out."

They walked further into the dungeon through the blue hall and finally appeared to have reached an exit and as soon as they entered the huge chandelier on the top lit up covering the dungeon room in an incandescent light. The walls themselves were more glorious but they still had the blue tinge to them and other than that they were spotless. The room itself was circular, perfectly so. He looked down to see a royal red carpet and an altar at the center. Upon a chair situated upon the decorated altar something sat, a humanoid figure wearing navy blue robes and it turned to look at them with the head of a white goat with a black patch on the forehead in between the twisting horns and it wore a monocle.

"Tenevus?" asked Leneus and as soon as it heard Leneus it shut the book it was reading and turned to face them.

"Leneus," said Tenevus in a deep thumping voice, it left more of an impression on Arthur than the the strange figure it had.

Somehow the figure nor the voice surprised Arthur as much, he had in this short time learned to expect the somewhat impossible.

"Master Halo, this is Tenevus the king of the crossroads," said Leneus. "He's the first boss class monster in Blue Lands Dungeon."

Tenevus cracked a smile as Arthur looked at him and Arthur himself managed a smile.

"You must be the dungeon master Halo," said Tenevus coming forward with furry hand, to Arthur's surprise, it wasn't a hoof.

Arthur shook Tenevus' hand. "Arthur Halo."

Tenevus stepped back letting out a small smile and turned Leneus who looked at Tenevus with concern.

"What happened Tenevus?" asked Leneus. "Where are all your minions?"

Tenevus cleared his throat and for a moment his face stretched into a pained look, if the situation didn't looks so serious Arthur would probably have laughed at the face Tenevus had made.

"I only have a couple of Starry Fethairs now, my last batch of Satyrs were killed three days ago when that same one returned with explosion magic and entered the origin instance," said Tenevus and Leneus' face turned ugly.

"Did he pass?" asked Leneus.

Tenevus shook his head. "Ariel and De-Armes came down to help and we barely managed to hold him off but all of us are fairly dry on minions now and De-Armes is very upset, he was forced to come down to this lower level to fend of a commoner."

"Oh dear, this is the worst," said Leneus putting a hand to his creased forehead.

"We are all trying to prepare," said Tenevus. "The commoner might come back again and he will definitely be more prepared."

"Maybe now that the dungeon master is here we finally have some hope," said Leneus looking with hope at Arthur who stared back blankly.

Tenevus' face split into a smile. "Yes indeed, perhaps we can get rid of this nuisance now."

Arthur let out a short smile, he could hardly say to their faces that they might be expecting too much of him. He had not even begun to understand the details of how dungeons worked though he had experience playing through some MMORPGs in his original world but he had not even reached the level-cap in any single MMORPG he had played.

"We should move on," said Leneus. "The dungeon master must learn the finer details of the dungeon before the commoner comes once more."

Tenevus nodded and he turned back to his book. Meanwhile Arthur was looking at Leneus wondering whether the man knew how to read minds. He had answered the question which Arthur had though off moments before.

"Come now master Halo," said Leneus pointing to a silver door at the end ornate with engravings depicting various matters of Arthur assumed, the dungeon.

Leneus walked up and gently pushed open the huge single door and came steps that led in a circular manner with similar torches situated upon brackets. The color blue was much more lighter in this part despite the darkness than when they came in. They climbed up the stairs and reached another hallway, this time it was one that looked more like a dance studio from his previous world than an actual hallway at any rate but he did see the end. On either side was glass and beneath them were a marbled path. Up above lights shone down, there were no torches on wall brackets here nor any stalactites. This room appeared clean and empty and Arthur guessed there should be monsters here. As he walked closer to the doorway that led to whatever was on the other side he saw grooves on the ground, not the grooves of the marble but something else and Arthur knelt down frowning to examine these strange grooves that were nearly everywhere.

"That's where mirrors come out from," said Leneus coming up and standing next to Arthur who nodded unconsciously.

"Traps?" asked Arthur and Leneus nodded.

"Precisely master Halo, or they could help you depending," said Leneus. "But even the place we walked past from the entrance of the cave to Tenevus' room had traps as well."

Arthur displayed shock, he should have noticed something like that but it all seemed plain to him.

Leneus chuckled at Arthur's shocked look. "We are quite good at concealing our traps, misdirection is one of our primary tools and the darkness always helps, the blue walls or also good."

Arthur stood up and took a deep breath in. It appeared that simply playing with monsters was not all a dungeon was a about, it had its own intricacies. Arthur moved up and entered the room, a bright dome reflecting light and everything else, it was purely made of glass and very disconcerting on the eyes. The dome was quite packed with a desk and chair at the center and several shelves full of books behind it. Next to it with a duster stood a flawless woman, she was beautiful, extremely so but slightly disconcerting to Arthur, for it appeared supernaturality exuded from her, she was too perfect but nevertheless for several moments he too was enticed but he closed his eyes and took in a slow breath trying to make it soundless and he looked again. Leneus looked at him with a patient smile and Arthur frowned, this dragon, he was a little to insightful he thought. After Arthur had regained control Leneus moved up and tapped on the desk.

"Ariel," called out Leneus and she turned, her platinum blonde hair creating waves and to top it off she wore a dress that perfectly complimented her unnaturally beautiful face.

"Leneus!" she exclaimed but then she calmed or so Arthur thought but when she spoke next, the uptight voice was still heard. "Have you brought the dungeon master!?"

"Indeed I have," said Leneus and turned to Arthur who narrowed his eyes, she was a dangerous woman, especially so for him but he paid attention to Leneus. "Master Halo, this is Ariel the Winged Sorceress and Ariel, Master Arthur Halo, the new dungeon master of Blue Lands Dungeon."

She walked up to him and he held his nerves taut trying not to show a hint of weakness and as she came closer a sweet smell washed over him and he immediately stopped his breathing. Suddenly she knelt down and Arthur took half a step back in shock thinking she was going to attack and he let his breath loose at the same time.

"I'm Ariel, a servant under you my lord," she said and Arthur's mouth fell open.

Leneus appeared next to him and whispered into his ear. "She's a little strict on dungeon rules and regulations, don't mind it, she's usually this tense."

Arthur nodded, a classic uptight persona, one that follows rules above all else and strictly sticks to what is already established.

"It's been a pleasure meeting with you," said Arthur as he too adopted a formal tone of voice, something that momentarily surprised Leneus.

She rose up with a bright smile. "Dungeon master, I've just been cleaning everything."

"And you're doing an excellent job," said Arthur with a raised eyebrow as he examined the spotless surfaces.

"Thank you for your compliments," she replied and Arthur nodded.

Leneus came out of his reverie with a smile and looked around and then at Ariel. "Tenevus told me about that commoner."

Immediately Ariel's smile faded and she grit her teeth. "He will come back."

"And we will be prepared," retorted Leneus and he casually pointed at Arthur. "We now after all have a dungeon master."

The bright smile reappeared on Ariel's face. "Indeed we do, I look forward to working with you dungeon master."

"As do I," said Arthur and then once again followed Leneus who walked up the edge of the dome and a small part of it dropped down like liquid and both Arthur and Leneus exited the dome.

"The crystal dome," said Leneus explaining, "is home to the winged sorceress, her spells are powerful but she can ensnare you with her beauty as well."

"No doubt," replied Arthur with a small sigh.

"It was nevertheless impressive how you handled yourself master Halo." said Leneus as he walked on. "People who meet her for the first time are more dazzled."

'Dazzled', thought Arthur, an apt word for the how you feel when you gaze upon Ariel's visage. He put that to the back of his mind as he now explored where they were travelling through. The area they currently traveled through had windows to the left and therefore there was hardly any need for torches and so naturally they did not exist. Arthur looked out the window and realized they were fairly high up in the tower and finally the hallway stopped and they entered a bland stony room with a sword impaled into a rock.

"Is this where the final boss class monster is?" asked Arthur looking around.

"No master Halo, elites, usually three elite class monsters take up this place but as we've been so poor lately this place was a monster horde with maybe one elite monster and once you've defeated the elite monsters you can remove the sword from stone."

"A nifty idea," nodded Arthur and Leneus walked up and casually pulled the sword out.

"Where are the monsters here though?" asked Arthur curiously.

"Dead, most likely," said Leneus with a sigh. "Perhaps De-Armes came down with reinforcement of these monsters to face the commoner, either way, I can infer that they are dead."

Arthur nodded and walked with Leneus as he slid the sword into a crack and twisted it and the rocks fell away. He replaced the sword in stone and walked the crackway and rocks flew up afterward to repair it magically the crackway was gone.

"We are going to top," said Leneus. "We meet the final boss class monster Sky Demon De-Armes there."

Arthur nodded and followed up the roundabout steps once again and there were no light here either, though plenty streamed in from the top to give it a quality feel and finally the reached the top of the stairs. A fair few feet away there was a door, a gigantic double-door colored in gold with the demonic face coming out of it. Arthur gulped as he took a step back but Leneus held him tight.

"It's a small intimidation spell," said Leneus. "At its strongest, it could stop your heart but this dungeon is hardly strong anymore."

Arthur nodded and they both walked up. Leneus pushed the door and he helped somewhat in opening the door and they were led into the open area of the tower he saw from the ground. It was a vast expanse and he looked down to see a white cloud like floor but nevertheless it was sturdy. Laying down on a cloud that floated in the air was suited man with clawed and scaled black legs and four horns upon his head curling back like waves.

"De-Armes!" called out Leneus from where they stood and the man slowly rose from his slumber and his eyes opened to reveal snake-like pupils.

He stood up on his cloud and his entire being twitched for a second before huge leathery black bat like wings shot out of his back, fully extended and he stood there and then he lifted himself up with a wave of the wings and up again as his wings flapped with clapping sounds and finally dropped down in front of them. Arthur slid back as he entire being was fully revealed. He stood around three, maybe four heads taller than the giant that Leneus was and his eyes gave off a feeling of scanning. The horns covered his head so his hair was nonexistent and there he stood in a pin-striped black suit, an extremely bulky person. He leered as he saw Leneus and his teeth was revaled, rows of them that led back like a shark's and they seemed to be filed to a point.

"Who's the skeleton?" asked De-Armes in a gravelly voice.

"This is master Halo," said Leneus with a smile. "Our new dungeon master."

De-Armes snorted as Arthur looked unnerved. He had just been called a skeleton, was he that thin and then proceeded to examine his exceptionally bony arms.

"You couldn't find one that wouldn't blow away with a breeze?" asked De-Armes.

Leneus eyes turned into slits as his smile became one that never quite reached his eyes. He grabbed Arthur's arm and showed De-Armes the runic mark of the cloud with a tail.

"He's the dungeon master De-Armes," said Leneus. "Accept it until her ladyship says otherwise."

"Fine," snorted De-Armes and his arms stretched out towards Arthur's throat and he quickly backed out of the way.

Arthur saw his black scaly arms with long claws, if that grazes him, he didn't even want to imagine it. As he delved in these thoughts he suddenly a clear bell, quite melodious as well and he noticed Leneus and De-Armes had suddenly gone into alert mode.

"Is it the commoner?" asked De-Armes baring his claws and fangs.

"What is it?" asked Arthur. "What's happening?"

"Someone's coming to challenge our dungeon," said Leneus and he rushed to the edge and Arthur followed reaching the edge a full five seconds after the extremely quick Leneus and they looked down. He couldn't see much but he did saw someone with a large bag, a very large bag and next to him he saw Leneus gritting his teeth. Behind him De-Armes let out a loud angry roar.

"Commoner, I'll shove that bag up his ass!!"

"What about the explosion spell?" asked Leneus.

"It's all in that bag," said De-Armes gritting his teeth. "He throws out some kind of bottle and it explodes."

"Runes on a bottle maybe," said Leneus thoughtfully. "Or perhaps the bottle is diversion."

Arthur instead let out a chuckle, throwing bottles and them exploding.

"Can commoners use magic?" asked Arthur trying to clarify something.

"No they can't," said De-Armes rolling his eyes. "It's why they're called commoners."

"I'm wondering how this commoner can make things explode," said Leneus. "Maybe it's as we first thought, he has a master of runic magic behind him, or perhaps he purchased spell scrolls."

"He poor sad meat sack," said De-Armes leering.

Arthur's thinking was on another line, De-Armes was an idiot and should he revise his assessment about Leneus, he thought the dragon was quite insightful but perhaps not. The bottle that this commoner that couldn't use magic was throwing, it sounded a lot similar to Molotov cocktails, something he'd seen in effect a lot on earth. This man...Arthur wanted to meet him.