CH 7: Dungeon Divers

In a bustling city square where many different races of people were traversing their different paths, Rylen stood in the center silently observing them.

'It seems Earth isn't the only place connected to Exousia. I need more information before I proceed.'

With that, Rylen's eyes locked onto a group of 4. Leading them, a large man resembling a wolfkin with dark gray fur and ears was talking with an attractive human woman with dark purple robes and fair white skin with long silky black hair.

Behind them followed a typical group of fantasy adventurers. There was an assassin with his hood pulled over his head, making Rylen unable to determine his race. Next to him was an elf girl with white robes, blonde hair, and an innocent vibe which Rylen assumed was a healer or non-combatant of some sort.

After observing them as they traveled down the street, Rylen began to follow them from a distance while concealing his presence with the abyssal shroud.

…

"Don't worry too much, Vetra. This one shouldn't be that hard, it's just a tier 4 dungeon," said a large wolfkin with dark gray fur as their group walked into a busy building where many similar groups were conversing. "I've been to a couple of tier 4 dungeons before, so I'll make sure nothing happens to us."

The wolfkin was speaking to an elf woman with blonde hair. She had a worried expression. "I'm just getting a bad feeling about this, Derrick. This is a newly formed dungeon so not much is known about it yet. I would prefer if we waited a few months, taking less intensive missions before we come back and gather more information about it."

Vetra, the elf in question, was well known as a very timid healer. Her previous party had disbanded after half of the members were killed while taking on a tier 4 dungeon a few years ago.

"What do you think, Venessa?" Derrick asked the beautiful human woman with purple robes.

"You don't need to worry so much Vetra," Venessa said with a kind expression. "I've also been to a few tier 4 dungeons before. I know you're still shaken by what happened with your previous party, but we are stronger than them." Venessa turned to the hooded man who had yet to speak. "Alaric, tell Vetra it will be fine."

The man in question, Alaric, lowered his hood revealing short black hair and very pale skin. Under his sharp brown eyes, black runic tattoos ran down his cheek until they continued down his neck and out of view due to his thick black robe.

"I have confidence in our team's ability to advance quite a ways into a tier 4 dungeon," Alaric said in a soft but confident voice.

After Alaric's words, Vetra seemed to relax a little. "Fine. But we won't go farther than the 25th floor."

Derrick smiled after Vetra agreed with the dungeon expedition. "You won't regret it, Vetra!"

The group of four walked up to a desk with a receptionist behind it. The receptionist was an elven man with heavy wrinkles and long silver hair.

Derrick placed a small card on the desk and pushed it toward the man. "Me and my party would like to request dungeon passes to the new tier 4 out by Flourant."

The man took the card without a change in expression and put it under a cubicle device. The device scanned the card and stamped something in the lower right corner. "Your party card has been given one pass for the tier 4 dungeon outside of Flourant. You have one week to use this pass." The elven receptionist handed back the card to Derrick.

"Thanks," Derrick said to the man. The group then walked out of the building and out of the city.

Once out of the city limits, the group took off at a speed that was faster than most cars back on Earth.

…

A few kilometers outside of Flourant, a group of four stopped running in the middle of a dense forest. In front of them, many similar groups stood in a line to enter a large cave mouth that was being guarded by soldiers in white full-body armor.

"I guess word has gotten out about the new dungeon," said Derrick while viewing the number of groups waiting to enter the cave.

Venessa chuckled in response. "People really underestimate a tier 4 dungeon. I see a few Mortal stage groups."

Vetra frowned, also seeing the groups that Venessa pointed out. "Should we warn them?"

Derrick shook his head and sighed. "People never learn. If we try to tell them the dangers they won't listen."

The group walked to the back of the line and patiently waited their turn.

As they reached the front of the line, the soldier to the left of the cave entrance reached out his hand. "Dungeon pass."

Derrick handed the man his party card and the soldier scanned it with a small device that confirmed the validity of the pass. After examining the stamp, the man handed back the card and the group walked into the cave.

Once they passed through the entrance, they all felt the space around them shift and the atmosphere changed into one filled with the smell of blood and feces.

Venessa raised her hand to her nose and scowled in response to the unpleasant odor. "Why do dungeons have to smell so bad? I'll never get used to this."

Derrick smiled as a broadsword and a large metal shield appeared in his hands. "This smell means we're about to make money."

Venessa sighed and a dark scepter inlaid with a bright sapphire at the tip appeared in her hands.

Alaric also summoned his weapons; a pair of daggers that had twisted blades. The runes on his cheeks began to glow a dim blue and his presence slowly began to blend in with the surroundings, making it hard for anyone to focus on him for longer than a few seconds.

Derrick turned to his group with a broad smile, his sword on his shoulders. "Alright, the first 10 floors shouldn't be that difficult for us. Just maintain our usual battle formation and we should be able to reach the 11th floor in a few hours. Let's go!"

As he exclaimed his final words, the group took off further into the first floor of the tier 4 dungeon.

…

As Rylen followed the party of dungeon divers, he took note of his surroundings. The terrain reminded him of a haunted forest: dark, trees with no leaves, dense fog. It reminded him of a story with two children who stumbled upon a house made out of crackers.

*CLANG*

Rylen's attention shifted to the group, where the wolfkin named Derrick attacked a group of kobolds with dark skin and glowing red eyes.

Their party seemed to follow the typical battle tactics from video games Rylen had played when he was younger. Derrick was a tank as well as a heavy-damage dealer. Alaric was an elusive assassin that let Derrick take the aggro from the beasts while he dealt crippling attacks as well as afflicted the enemy with poison and mobility-limiting spells. Venessa was your typical mage who cast long-range spells, mainly consisting of water and fire attacks. Vetra was a non-combatant who healed and strengthened her party, allowing them to fight longer without reservations.

Rylen observed their strength as they mowed down group after group of kobolds.

'They're around the same level as a normal Awakened. Derrick is the only one who seems to be as strong as Vincent.'

Rylen couldn't help but think more about the population of Exousia. To his previous understanding, he assumed that only Ascendants and above were allowed to come here but he was wrong. He had seen countless Mortals and Awakened here which surprised him initially. Only people who had been born elsewhere, outside of Exousia, had to be at the Ascendant stage. If you were born in Exousia, there was no requirement for what stage you had to be.

In the few hours Rylen had been here, he had seen evidence that points to the population being significantly larger than anything he could imagine. The city he had entered was named Regaldia and was referred to as only a minor city, the same as Flourant, the city near the dungeon he was in.

The scale of Exousia annoyed him. This would mean accomplishing his goals would become a lot harder. He needed more information on Guidance's influence in Exousia but if they had any sort of major hold on this realm, that would mean they are immensely powerful.

As Rylen was busy thinking about the future, the group he was following finally managed to clear the 10th floor of the dungeon. The previous floors got more difficult as they descended, but the group led by the wolfkin didn't seem to be bothered. Besides a couple of scratches and bruises, they each seemed to be ready to take on more of the dungeon ahead.

"You guys ready?" Derrick asked. "The boss shouldn't be that hard, but prepare for anything."

The rest of the group nodded and they passed through a gate that led to the next floor.

As Rylen passed through the gate behind them, he looked around.

The room they entered wasn't very large, only about 25 meters long and wide. They seemed to have entered a throne room in a dark castle from the medieval period.

Sitting atop a throne on the opposite side of the room was a knight with shiny black armor that covered it from head to toe. An air of authority surrounded the knight as it silently watched the party slowly advance toward him.

As they crossed the center of the room, the knight suddenly disappeared from his throne and appeared behind Vetra, the healer.

*CLANG*

Prepared for a sudden attack, Derrick quickly cut off the knight from the elven woman and blocked its attack.

The knight carried a greatsword made from the same material as his armor. Both Derrick and the knight engaged in a battle of strength to push the other back, but both seemed to be equal in power.

However, the battle between the two sword-wielders was cut short as a giant ball of flames was sent from behind Derrick.

*FWOOSH*

Expecting this, Derrick dodged to the side and let the fireball pass by him toward the knight.

*BOOM*

The knight, who was unable to dodge in time, blocked the flames with the broad side of his sword and retreated backward from the group.

As it lowered its sword and prepared to attack again, the knight noticed that the group had a member missing.

*SLICE*

Alaric, who had moved silently behind the knight after it retreated cut into its back through the chinks in its armor. The runes on the man's face glowed a bright blue, causing the daggers to also glow.

A blue aura began to surround the knight as the daggers were still implanted into its back.

Before the knight could get the chance to react, Derrick lunged toward its front side.

*CLANG*

*CRRK*

The greatsword plunged into the knight's armored chest with close to no resistance.

Soon, the knight's sword fell from its hands and it dropped to its knees. The two men of the dungeon party pulled out their weapons and the body of the boss fell to the floor, lifeless.

Derrick smiled. "Good job, Alaric. Thanks for weakening its armor. I'm sure it would have been tough to get through if I fought alone."

Alaric nodded and sheathed his blades under his cloak.

Venessa walked next to the two and looked down at the dead knight. "I didn't expect an undead knight to be the first boss of the dungeon. It's around the strength of a peak Awakened. Without Alaric, it would have been difficult to break past its defenses."

Derrick waved his hand over the corpse, causing the armor and sword of the knight to be pulled into a ring on his finger. "Yeah, we should stop before the next boss, it will be twice as strong."

The rest of the group agreed. This dungeon seemed stronger than they had assumed but they were still confident they could defeat everything before the next boss after the 20th floor.

A white gate opened in front of the throne the knight had been on when they entered and the group walked toward it.

But, before they could cross through, a haunting pressure caused them to freeze in their tracks.

A cold sweat formed on each of their faces. None had the courage to turn and face the source of this dreary presence.

*Step*

*Step*

Hollow steps rang out in the dark castle's throne room. Metallic clanking from armor accompanied each footfall.

Derrick finally managed to overcome the fear in his mind and slowly turned around to face whatever was behind them. But what he saw made his eyes widen and his jaw to go slack.

In the middle of the throne room, a knight covered in wispy black armor stood with piercing purple eyes. It carried a greatsword the length of its body, dragging it on the floor behind it.

"G-Guys," Derrick called out to his still frozen teammates. "The knight seems to have revived."

At the gray wolkin's words, the rest of the group turned around and each was surprised at the knight's sudden revival.

"B-But we killed it," Vetra said, her lips trembling. "And we took its armor and sword. H-How can it revive with its gear?"

The knight stood there, seemingly waiting for them to attack. But the dungeon divers just stood there frozen, unable to even think of attacking it. This was for only one reason.

"It's an Ascendant stage!"