To Delve or Not to Delve

The black-haired young man stood up and announced in a soft voice. "The name's Devin, Rank 1, I'm good at sneaking and fighting with daggers." He plopped back down.

The twins were up next, the boy stood first, while the girl tried to hide behind him. "My name is Lloyd, and this is my sister, Rita. We're both Rank 1. I can use a spear pretty well, and my sister is a good shot with her bow." He looked around nervously for a second before sitting back down.

The elf girl was the next to stand. She spoke in a quiet, almost emotionless voice. "Call me Tal. Rank 2." She gestured to the armored figure. "This is Mejimanethial, an earth spirit."

"A pact mage?" Philomena broke in. "Take note class. Mages of any kind are a valuable commodity in the guild, and pact mage's are second only to true summoner and healers in terms of demand." She turned to look at Tal, "I suspect that you will have a large number of party invitations once your abilities are known."

Tal simply nodded in return, seemingly unconcerned, before sitting down again.

Philomena continued, "Much like Summoners, Pact Mages are able to control spirits and otherworldly entities to fight for them. The only major difference is that pact mage's tend to have fewer and less powerful servants, but are also able to use magic independent of their minions. If you get a chance to work with one in the future, consider yourself lucky."

There was a brief moment of silence as she motioned to the next student.

"I guess that means I'm up," the dog beastman said while jumping to his feet. "I'm Brenden, and although I'm only a Rank 1, I'm really close to getting Rank 2. You can leave the front line to me, because I'm sturdy and good with a sword." He announced proudly, a goofy grin plastered across his face.

"Yes, thank you for that." The instructor commented dryly before looking over at Mike.

Sighing, he stood and delivered the short speech he'd been mentally rehearsing. "My name is Michael, but you all can call me Mike. I'm Rank 3. In terms of combat skills, I usually use a combination of swordsmanship and elemental magic. I'm best at fire magic, but I can use water and healing as well."

There was a brief silence in which all the other students simply stared at him. Even the elf started looking at him with interest, although Mike could have been imagining it.

"So you are capable of using elemental healing?" Philomena pressed.

"Yes..." Mike answered hesitantly. He wasn't complete sure of the origins of his skill, but judging from the explanation on magic he had received from Morris, it likely fell under Elemental Magic.

She frowned in consideration for a moment before considering, "As an Iron Ranked Adventurer, this course should be optional to you. Are you still interested in attending? While I won't force you to, I can waive the tuition fee if you agree to provide healing services to the students free of charge for the duration of the session."

Mike had planned on attending anyway, and hadn't even known there was a tuition fee, so he readily agreed. "I'm new here, and I feel that the class could be beneficial, so I'd like to participate."

"Very well. Class you should all consider yourselves lucky. Not only will you have a chance to watch a pact mage in action, but you can rely on an elemental healer for support."

She started pacing around the room, in a full on lecture mode.

"For those of you who are unaware, elemental healing is the rarest type of healing. While practitioners of the skill tend to lack the versatility of their Arcane, Divine, or Pact counterparts, no other mage can achieve the same feats of healing. Highly skilled elemental healers have been known to heal fatal wounds in seconds, cure deadly diseases and poisons, and even regenerate lost limbs."

The majority of the group was now looking at Mike with something close to awe.

"That's so cool! Can you teach me?" Brenden asked enthusiastically.

Philomena cut in sharply. "Not only is that likely impossible, since elemental healing is uncommon skill associated with only a few rare classes, but it would take far too much time even if you did have the talent to learn it."

She looked at the now subdued beastman for a moment before continuing. "Now, if you will all follow me, we'll start heading down to the dungeon. In the mean time I will explain a little bit about how the dungeon works."

She opened another door on the opposite side of the one the all entered by and led the group down a long staircase, speaking all the while.

"The Wyrport Dungeon was discovered underneath the city centuries ago. Many believe that the death of the Great Wyrm Tempestus in the area we now refer to as Wyrmrest Lake led to the creation of the dungeon as the Wyrm's power suffused the region. Whether this is true or not, the dungeon nevertheless features a large number of draconically influenced monsters."

As the group reached the bottom of the stairs, she led them through another hallway. "These same monsters are a large part of what drives the local economy, and dungeon delving adventurers play a major role in that. Now, how many of you are familiar with how dungeons work?"

Tal was the only one to raise her hand. Philomena nodded before continuing.

"Dungeons are essentially multilayered pocket dimensions that form in areas of concentrated mana. While each one is unique, they all follow a few basic rules."

She held up three fingers and started counting them off.

"First and foremost, each party or solo adventurer that enters through the dungeon portal will encounter a fresh, unexplored dungeon the first time they delve. Secondly, the progress you make exploring the dungeon is somehow tracked by the dungeon itself. Every time you clear a floor another portal appears, allowing delvers to jump right back into their exploration after leaving and returning. Thirdly, the creatures found in the dungeon are all magically created, lack basic intelligence, and leave concentrated mana cores behind. These mana cores are a valuable commodity used in the creation of magic items, so the guild is willing to purchase them for a reasonable price."

The group arrived a large, locked door. Philomena opened it with an ornate-looking key without pausing her lecture.

"There are a few other things to keep in mind. Monsters get stronger the deeper you go. Treasure chests with valuable items and materials appear seemingly at random. Every floor has some type of elite monster that delvers are required to defeat before they can advance to the next. In the event a delver is successful in clearing all floors of the dungeon, they are awarded a special item or unique skill. This probably all sounds a little too good to be true."

She stopped and looked seriously at the group.

"Well, it is. Some will tell you that dungeons are a blessing of the system, designed to help delvers become stronger."

She paused, letting her gaze linger for a moment on Mike. "I'm here to tell you that dungeons are not your ally, and if you let your guard down while delving, it could mean the death of you or your party members."

She made sure to look each student in the eye before continuing, directing them into a large chamber. A shimmering doorway of energy could be seen along one wall. Dozens of adventurers were entering and exiting this doorway seeming to travel to and from a large tunnel, which Mike figured was the main entrance.

"Before we enter the dungeon, we will need to register as a party to avoid being split up. Thankfully dungeons recognize parties formed through the guild, so this is a relatively easy process. Simply form a circle and place your guild marked hands in the center."

Mike rested his hand on top of Philomena's and the rest of the group followed suit.

The instructor announced, "Register party: Philomena's Students." The guild marks on each of their hands flashed.

"Now we are all considered part of the same party, so we will all arrive at the first floor of the dungeon together. As a veteran delver, I would ordinarily be starting much deeper, but, since the majority of the party is new to this dungeon, we will start at the beginning. When you are ready, follow me."

She walked up to the glowing doorway and stepped through. Mike noticed that the rest of the group was feeling hesitant, so he decided to make the first move and followed the instructor. Passing though the portal felt like being enveloped in cold, silken sheets for a brief moment before he was on the other side.

He found himself in a stone cavern. For some reason the walls themselves seemed to be emitting a faint light. It wasn't quite enough light for him to be comfortable with it, but it was more than enough to see by. While he walked over to Philomena to wait for the rest of the group, he couldn't help but marvel at a world in which such a convenient thing as dungeons occurred naturally.

After a few minutes the rest of the group joined them. Mike noticed that the humans all looked nervous, while Tal remained aloof, and Brenden looked excited.

"Welcome to the first layer of the Wyrport Dungeon. The goal of today's exercise is to give you all some practical experience in fighting dungeon monsters, identify some common mistakes made by new delvers, and defeat the first floor boss. Are there any questions?"

A panicked looking Lloyd raised his hand, "Are we really fighting the boss? Aren't they a lot stronger than the rest of the monsters on the floor?"

"That's true, but don't be concerned. I have defeated the first floor boss on numerous occasions, and I have every confidence that today will be no different."

She motioned for the group to follow her. "The most common monsters on the first layer are kobolds. They look like a cross between a dog and a humanoid lizard, and are a little shorter than me. Most are skinny, and relatively weak. Typically, on this floor, they appear as single individuals, or at most, a pair. So, I want to see each of you take down a kobold before we move on to the boss. Devin, you're up first."

The dark haired boy nodded, and as Mike watched, he seemed to blur into the shadows becoming almost unnoticeable. Devin slid into the corridor ahead of them, and as soon as Philomena gave the go ahead the group followed.