The First Party

(Stephan)

As we descended into the dungeon, I felt a faint chill, as if the magic in the air were growing a bit stronger suddenly- normally I would've felt this when I first entered the dungeons territory instead of only knowing thanks to all the ambient mana. Really he was an incredibly wasteful dungeon, and... it was almost eery how worried that made me. Why would this dungeon act so differently from every other modern dungeon?

I looked at Val, and she raised an eyebrow at me. I was about to relay my concerns, when she spoke up. "No clue. It doesn't matter, since we can't do anything about it. If you need too, ask again later, when we aren't in a potentially deadly dungeon." She continued looking around, and I blushed, looking away. Alcor chuckled, shaking his head.

"Do not worry- this dungeon is young, and it is not as cruel as most." I looked at him, glancing around to see that the other two were doing the same- all of us looking at him in utter bewilderment.

He stayed quiet for a minute before he realized we were staring at him, and he sighed. "Think. The stones for the steps, they are too rough to be old, right? They have not been worn down. and the walls are too smooth- there are no stalagmites like most caves develop. Then, the forest is young, and very new. Then this water at our feet, it has almost no algae in it, yet there are no fish or insects eating it. How could this be unless the dungeon was very young?"

The others blinked, and I spent a full minute going over his points. "Well... dang. You're right... so, how'd you figure that out?" He shrugged, looking around again and frowning.

"Orcs have much wisdom, though we aren't the smartest. I notice things with my ranger class that you don't. So I can understand much, even if I don't know too many magical things." He paused for a minute. "Besides, there are no traps, this is not a normal, or developed dungeon."

Val was the first one to fully recover from her surprise. "Er... yeah. Okay... Then, how'd a magic orb get here? Especially one that has a quest on it? I mean, most dungeons can't and don't need to make quests for their dungeons this early on."

This time, Alcor stayed quiet, seemingly deep in thought. I sighed. "You think about it, and tell us if you puzzle it out. Come on guys... we need to keep going." We started moving again, and Auriel seemed to be fairly annoyed.

I continued to look around, humming to myself as I activated my blind-sight skill so I'd know if anything was hidden or invisible. I wasn't seeing anything, but I remained wary. Normally, the most deadly traps were almost impossible to find. My trap-finding skill was relatively high, almost three times my total level. It had taken me close to three years of almost constantly practicing in order to manage that. My dodging skills and lock-picking abilities were the second highest in my age group, and I could handle a knife better than most rangers.

This didn't make me feel any better about not seeing traps. We kept going, and took almost an hour to reach the first room. I tensed, steadying myself as I readied to fight our first monsters- it was probably just a few goblins, but with how weird this dungeon was, it could be anything. I took a deep breath, and nodded to Alcor. We entered first together, weapons ready as a battle-cry grew in our throats.

... It was empty.

Me and Alcor felt the war-cry die, and looked around. "Ghosts? No... Auriel would've warned us. Then... what the heck?" I was so confused that I didn't even search for traps. I just started running, looking everywhere to try and figure out where our first fight. The room was truly empty though- which made me begin to freak out.

"Alcor! You can't see anything either, right?" Alcor looked over everything warily and nervously, taking more time than I had. He was far more thorough too, searching for traps as well.

"No. It is truly empty, except for the brownie hive. You know we don't destroy those..." I groaned, muttering to myself. This dungeon was very, very wrong, and it set my instincts on edge. Brownies... they cared for a dungeon and maintained it, sometimes adding a whole new floor. That wasn't common, but it was the reason 'tamed' dungeons could exist.

If a dungeon core turned out to be overly hostile, or one of the celestial cores, a mage would bind it, permanently freezing its ability to think and tying it to them as their familiar. This let mages run the tamed dungeon instead, and use them as training grounds for adventurers so they could conquer 'wild' dungeons. Adventurers were often conscripted as military members as well, so we needed to be kept in perfect condition.

If this dungeon really was as insane as it seemed, there might be a mage that recently found and bound a core, which would explain a lot. Mages could only summon monsters a dungeon core had access too when they were bound, and brand new cores wouldn't have had much.

We nodded too each other, considering that. it would explain why the territory was so weak as well... We hurried back into the tunnel and explained the situation to Val and Auriel, waiting for the two smartest ones to figure out what we could do about this.

Val spoke first. "So we have a new job now. The mage will be the person who killed our scout. That means we need to get revenge and take him down. This dungeon has to stay bound now, but we need a mage who can actually be trusted. Come on, let's figure out which of the tunnels you mentioned he's down. Okay?" The rest agreed, except Auriel who stayed silent. We walked out and they looked at the images.

"A prayer, a fight, and... magic?" Val guessed at the meanings, and Auriel rolled her eyes. "It could also be literal. Crystals, swords, and faith. I have a lot of faith, so I'd prefer going down that path, but those two are better at fighting, so they might like the sword path." They looked at each other.

"Either way, magic or crystal, they aren't the most likely path for an adventuring party to travel down first. We'll try that, since he's probably down there. If he isn't, then we likely haven't lost much. Agreed?" Val looked at everyone and I sighed. Personally, I thought the crystal meant riches, and- against my better judgement, I really was feeling greedy. More because I wanted to see what treasure we'd find than a desire to actually have the treasure.

We started walking down that path- most likely because crystals were important to the magic classes, despite what Val said- and saw many, many broken statues and pillars that slowly fell entirely into non-existent disrepair. eventually, it was nothing but a cave, and that led into an enormous, faintly glowing cavern. We stopped, sensing powerful magic and growing wary. It hadn't escaped our notice that this corridor was dry, unlike the other one. I looked inside and saw what looked like an early, recently planted crystal garden... a crystal garden! Those were insanely rare, and it was so useful and intensely beautiful that it was hard to believe this dungeon had one.

A crystal garden was normally only found in old dungeons, and they had magical crystals. Who knew what crystals this place would have... I glanced at Val and Auriel and saw their minds went down the same path, their eyes almost as amazed as mine, and far more greedy. Alcor walked in before anyone could stop him, his eyes wide as he looked around.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" A woman's voice spoke, and we all- except Alcor- turned to face the newcomer with violent and defensive stances. It... it was an angel. An Angel. We panicked- this was an angelic celestial core... that meant a lot of bad things...

"Beauty is in all things, this is simply a miracle where it was not expected." We blinked, and I looked at Alcor like he was insane, though he didn't seem to think he was. And neither did the angel.

"An answer that most wouldn't give, though true. I'm happy to meet a man who can see such beauty. Your friends will need to answer the riddles, but you've earned one of our charges. What do you need?" She smiled, and Val gasped.

"You're a riddle guardian?" The angel nodded, and she sighed in relief. "If we answer wrong?" I was confused now, not quite understanding what was going on.

"You'll be turned away, and asked to leave. If you insist on stealing, we'll kill you or weaken you while warning our brothers that you are coming." She smiled apologetically. I'd only ever heard of one kind of peaceful angel. The water celestials. If these were those... this was a dual core. That made it even more terrifyingly dangerous.

"Understood, what riddle do you have for me?" Auriel demanded, stepping forward. I looked over at Alcor, and saw him speaking with another angel. I hurried over, and caught the end of their conversation.

"May he help you grow faster, and speak to those that travel with you more easily." She handed him a white and green gem, almost marbled in the color. It somehow remained easily transparent, and I was confused. She turned to me before I could ask, while Alcor took the gem and started turning it into a necklace.

I looked at her, and she considered me. "What is the final thing a man who has lost everything can take in life?" I blinked, confused.

"Um... may I ask what is going on?" Alcor spoke to answer my question.

"They are water celestials, and they are helping us. Answer the riddle, and you will be glad you did." I stared at him for a minute before it finally clicked and I wondered why I was an idiot. Riddles were in dangerous dungeons that gave enormous rewards. I'd been asked a riddle.

"Um..." I panicked, trying to think. Honestly, there were too many things that made too much sense. I didn't know... honestly, it wasn't like failing to answer was awful, though. I shrugged, not thinking too much about it. I was about to answer when she smiled, winking at me.

I paused, blushing as I tried to figure out why she'd have done that. If she were a normal woman, I'd assume she'd already told me the answer somehow, but she was neither normal, nor had she given me an... answer... It couldn't be that easy, could it?

"His... life?" She smiled, nodding. I stared in disbelief. These angels were friendly? And kind? What kind of reason would there be to make them act like this...?

"Correct. As a rogue, you must see what others can't, go where others fear, and be what no one else will. As such, you have earned this. I hope you find it useful." She held out a blood-red gem, and I took it. Immediately I got a prompt.

You have received 'Devil's blood gem' from Maria, the water celestial. Would you like to bind gem to your soul, or use it to enhance your equipment?

I stared in faint horror at the gem. Devil's blood? These kinds of titles were always bad... no wonder she'd offered me the gem. But... Alcor had taken his... maybe he hadn't gotten a demonic item. I was about to throw it away when I felt someone staring at me.

I turned and saw Val looking at me with a grin. "Stephan, don't get rid of it. They gave me a magic crystal. A pure magic crystal. It wasn't very large, but the fact that I got one... they are helping us. Whatever kind of crystal that is, it will help you." I stared at her, then sighed, trying to think.

If I attached it to my weapon, I'd have a demonic weapon. Armor, demonic armor. Some kind of bracelet or other accessory, and I'd get a bonus to my stats... if I absorbed it like mages absorbed magic crystals, I'd probably gain a demonic aspect. Since demons were considered evil, becoming even slightly demonic was a death sentence. I sighed.

"Well, since I can't absorb it, I-" A chime sounded, and the gem caught fire, brilliantly setting fire to my hand, and then my whole body. I shouted in fear and tried to throw it away, but it melted and covered my hand, three dots spreading to cover my eyes and other hand. I gripped my hair and crouched as pain suddenly exploded across me and I screamed.

When it was over, a few minutes later, I trembled, the fire flickering out across my body as I breathed and tried to calm myself. I'd... I'd just absorbed crystalized demonic essence on complete accident. I hadn't thought it would have an audible cue...

I felt a big, manly hand touch my shoulder, and heard Alcor speak. "Stephan? Are you okay?" I trembled, hesitantly opening my eyes and looking around. The water celestials smiled, seeming to glow with magic now, though Val and Auriel di as well- to a lesser degree. Auriel barley glowed at all...

Alcor wasn't glowing, though I had a faint glow. They looked at me, and didn't seem scared- so it wasn't an obvious change. I glanced at my hands, to see what had happened. They were covered in gloves so tight they were like a second skin, and they looked like demon hands. Scales and all... I received another prompt.

You have received 'demonic gloves' and ' demons eyes'. These are now part of your soul and can be summoned and dismissed at will- your descendants will have these gifts as well.

Demonic gloves: grant fire immunity, +3 to strength*, +10 to dexterity, and the spell unholy touch while worn*, also act as natural weapons*. (*These abilities are locked until the age of twenty.)

Demonic eyes: Grant the user the ability to see magic and traps with perfect ease, unless hidden by magic. Also allows one to access others status pages, if given permission even once. +10% chance to instantly learn a language that the user has never heard or read before to perfect fluency.

I blinked, stunned. This was insanely useful equipment, but... the most important part was that both could be summoned and dismissed at will. That meant I could hide this ability, and no one would know except my party... I grabbed the closest party member- Alcor- and hugged him, beginning to laugh in an almost manic fashion, causing the others to become extremely worried.

When I let go, I dismissed the two items, returning the world to normal. I summoned and dismissed them a few times before looking at Val. "I got some equipment, but here's the problem..." I proceeded to explain. They grew very worried until I fully explained what dismissing the items meant.

Val sighed. "Nothing affecting charisma, thankfully, and if they are dismissed, I can't tell there's anything demonic about you at all..." She turned to the angels, probably to thank them, but they were gone, leaving only a few fairies flitting around the room. The pond was glowing now, though, so I had a guess as to where they were.

I grinned. "Hey Val, let's go find this mage. I've got some items that he might find rather... debilitating."

She hesitated, then smiled, and looked around at them. " Sure, but first..." She gestured to her staff. "I got a magic crystal, but it was small enough that I used it as equipment instead of bonding it. My spells are ten percent more powerful now." She looked at Auriel.

"I received an 'Ifreet's ruby', so all of my fire-based spells are twice as powerful, and cost half as much mana to cast. I chose to bind it to my soul and my descendants. If it had been equipment, the effects would've been even more incredible." Finally, we all looked at Alcor.

"I was given the 'Eye of Ashera'. It lets me absorb twice as much experience when I kill monsters, and passively gain experience when I am around dead things. It also lets me speak to animals, granting them temporary sentience." He looked a bit uneasy. Auriel had quickly grown upset while he'd spoken, and now looked like she was considering murder, a snarl on her lips.

"Ashera is my goddess. Why would they give you her gem?" She was beginning to get angrier until Val and I interrupted her.

"Why does it matter? You got a gem too, didn't you?" I said, and Val spoke up right after me. "Besides, others can worship Ashera, not just elves. I don't think it's very important, and it might end up converting him. Wouldn't your goddess appreciate that?"

Auriel hesitated, the huffed, turning to leave. "Fine. but can we move on? The mage clearly isn't here, and I want to kill him and examine that forest again as soon as possible. I felt something... strange, there. Like a siren's call, or something similar. I want to know what is happening in that forest." She left, and I looked at Alcor as Val chased after Auriel, already asking questions about what exactly she'd felt.

I would've asked him what was wrong with women, but he was blushing again, more deeply this time. He also seemed frozen, like his brain was stuck. I sighed, grabbing his hand and beginning to lead him forward while his brain slowly began to function again.