Chapter 5- The Dungeon Of Orario (Part 1)

Morning came almost too soon, bringing with it melodic bird song, the frantic flapping of wings and the lively chatter of guests below. However, none of this roused the four and they remained motionless in their rooms. Seemingly forgetting the plan to visit the dungeon first thing, no one awoke; the addictive comfort of sleeping in a proper bed again after all the travelling was too alluring. A few hours passed like this until a knock was heard at the door of Arina followed by a polite announcement, "Ten am call for last round of breakfast orders if anyone is interested." The worker proceeded to repeat this down the entire hall, making sure to notify each and every guest who had overslept. The call of food and the announcement of how late in the morning it was finally rallied the four; they raced to get up and eat before setting off. Panicking at the threat of going without breakfast, Logar threw on his boots and leapt out the door faster than the others had ever seen him move before. Nereus, Vargr and Arina trailed behind. They made their way downstairs; put in their breakfast orders and seated themselves at the same table as last night. Breakfast was bread, eggs, and some other ingredients the four had not seen before but enjoyed all the same. After paying the 400 valis for breakfast and giving their thanks, the group headed out now on their way to the guild to get permission to enter the dungeon. Backpacks loaded, gear already to go and heart beats racing accompanied by the bright blue sky nothing but high hopes for the day ahead could be seen on the faces of the four by all who passed them.

Taking the faster route this time, the guild was reached in no time. As per most mornings, it was fairly busy with the usual adventurers, workers and traders making their deals, negotiations and parties for the dungeon. Walking inside, it did not take long to spot the pink haired receptionist from yesterday who seemed not as busy as the others at the desk. Making their way over the group received a few curious looks from those around them before getting on with their days. Arriving at the desk the four were greeted with a warm smile as Misha welcomed them back again, "So how can I help you four today? We still haven't heard back from the Loki Familia if that is what you are here for?" Logar was the first to speak up, "No no, we are here to get permission to enter the dungeon. We assumed with four of us and a promise not to go in too deep that is something we can do." Taken aback by the statement, but quickly recovering, Misha replied, "Oh well that was unexpected... but yes we can give you a day pass of entry however, any trouble you cause will not be our responsibility and if you don't return within the day a group will be sent to find you. If it's discovered that you have just chosen to ignore the time, the cost will be deducted from yourselves." She peered under the desk in search of the required paperwork."Oh and the limit is floor 3 by the way, for non-Familia entry. Is that all good?" Misha then looked back up at the group, now filling out a form. "Yes that sounds fine to me", Logar replied. Looking at the others he received nods of agreement urging him to proceed."Yeah all sounds good and no complaints, thank you for the assistance again." Misha smiled warmly "No trouble at all, just come back alive okay." A nod from the four with their newly acquired slip of entry and they were off to their goal for the day: The Dungeon of Orario...

The Dungeon (which is located beneath the 50-floor tower of Babel) is found at the centre of the city. Unlike previous times the group spared no time for sightseeing or a casual stroll, if not for the group's lack of wanting to look strange they would have run straight to the entrance. Upon reaching the entranceway they found the path was blocked by queues of adventurers waiting to make their way into the dungeon. Walking up and presenting their slip to the guards at the end of the queue, they were finally allowed to join the crowd of adventurers beginning their descent. After what felt like an extremely long time, the four finally got to the start of the dungeon; inside they were met with a ten-meter-long hole leading straight down at the centre of the room. Stairs spiralled down along the sides leading into the dungeon and around them were multiple columns at equal intervals pointing up to an azure painting of the sky. The sounds of the surroundings seemed to fade to nothing and all fields of vision were limiting for the four as they slowly made their way towards the steps, taking their first real foot forward to their goal in this world.

After a few minutes of descending the winding steps the group got their first glance inside the dungeon.he first one to four floors were known as The Beginning Roads ,for its wide and long hallways, by the more experienced adventurers. With the walls of light blue stone being home to monsters of the goblin, kobold and dungeon lizard variety, it is a widely agreed good place for lower rank adventurers to stay and train in. It didn't take much time at all for the four to become even more excited while walking through the hall, looking around eagerly for their first encounter. It seemed that they would not have to wait long, as a crack slowly widened on the wall to their right to deliver a nice gift before abruptly shutting. Three green and plump humanoid monsters with large eyes known to all as 'Goblins' (arguably the weakest monster in the dungeon) shuffled towards the group. With an instant burst of speed from Logar and Vargr, they ran at the goblins. Suddenly, an arrow whistled passed Logar's ear and a dagger (following closely behind) narrowly missed Vargr's chest. The arrow flew into one goblin's skull shattering the bone, while the dagger sliced the throat of one just to the right. The two monsters fell down before them, exploding into clouds of dark smoke as their bodies hit the ground. Turning to see two huge grins from Nereus and Arina that clearly boasted "See ranged weapons always have their advantage", Logar and Vargr stopped in their tracks. A huge announcement from Nereus followed. "Oh yeah! First kill is all mine!" He gloated. With only one goblin now alive, Logar and Vargr shared a competitive glance with which they dashed off even faster towards their target. The first to arrive was Logar who -with his shield- swept the goblin off its feet with a bash, a look of satisfaction crossing his face. Confidently,he went to swing his sword to cleave the goblin but before he could a metal gauntlet whirled the goblin into the wall with a metallic thwack. It was smashed to dissipation by Vargr who, seeing the look of shock on Logars face, merely said "Almost had that one buddy but that's mine".

Before Logar could let out his audible complaint at the scene, he saw the purple glimmer of a monster core in which only one had survived. Due to sheer luck, Nereus had avoided breaking this core with his shot. Picking it up, a smile was brought back to Logars face at the first true proof of a successful hunt, hinting to the many that would surely follow, "We are going to feast tonight- with hunts like these at least." Proceeding to put the core in the bag, the group (now filled with even more excitement) continued to venture on encountering small, similar groups of goblins throughout the first floor. After a while, they also encountered a new monster called a 'Kobold.' A kobold is a dog headed monster similar in size and danger to goblins; also a native to the first few floors of the dungeon. The group quickly fell into a groove on their hunt, handling each small group quickly. At this point Nereus was down a few arrows, but no attacks had been landed on the group, only bolstering their confidence on this dungeon delve. After a few hours of slow walking to fully explore the floor, they finally found the passageway down to the second At this point, a few more monster cores had been picked up by the party and stored in Logars bag to be kept safe for the rest of the trip and be traded later; they were a sure sign that the group was handling their first time in the dungeon well.