Journal Entry 3 - 29th of Ehrub's Grace, 127ALD

We thought it will take a day to clear out the dungeon. Instead it took three. And it was all because of that nightmare of a third floor. Whoever designed that is a sadist. A genius sadist, but a sadist nonetheless.

Also very powerful, or knows some way to bend rules of dungeon creation and design. or What other people may believe those rules are. Because the next two floors were something that I have never encountered in my adventuring or information that I got for other adventurers.

The first floor was a very typical layout for a cavern-type dungeon floor. Though the garden and mining rooms were unusual, they are also found in most dungeons. Mostly to supplement a dungeon's material supply.

We expected the same layout for the rest of the dungeons. In my experience, almost all dungeons has a 'theme', a style that is somewhat consistent all throughout the dungeon itself.

We were wrong. And whoever designed the dungeon is a genius or a sadistic madman. Or both. Definitely both.

Let's start with the second floor.

The entrance opened up to a grassy overlooking a vast, grassy plain. Around a hundred square kilometers or so. From experience, we know that an area of this size only exists in high-level dungeons. Either this dungeon is a high-level one, or has a trick on expanding a dungeon floor. Or many things that we know about dungeons are wrong.

Dungeon floors, especially for dungeons that lasted a very long time, expand gradually. Only very old dungeons can have a floor this large. Henry, the 'caretaker', says that it took a week of pumping mana into this floor to create such a vast area. He said it was a good thing that Nether is so readily available. When I asked about the corruption generated, he was quite surprised that we knew about Nether and Corruption. I told him about what the scholars believed the link between mana and Nether. His answer was confirmed that what the scholars believed is true. He then told me of his monster-killing spree in the dungeon to compensate for the vast amount of corruption generated when the dungeon purified Nether into mana.

The floor is a vast, grassy plain dotted with several thick woods, small fields of herbs and flowers, springs and rocky outcrops. The herbs and ores are still low-leveled compared to our group, but still vastly better in quality, rarity and yield compared to the first floor. The thick woods have lots of forest creatures. Good eating too, especially the drops from the Black-Tusked Boars and Deep-Forest Stags. Even the springs, streams, the river and the lake, teem with life.

The scouts even tamed a monster each as their pet. Brillena has tamed a Blue Slime. Willhelm a Horned Bunny. Even Lurgo got a Baby Boar. Ah Lurgo, may the... may the world bless you, my child. His parents should be ashamed of themselves, gives their child the name Lurgo.

When I explained to Henry to meaning of the name, he laughed really hard. He answered back it's like giving your son the name Dick, which is a word that means penis.

Yes, that how bad it is.

I'm rambling again. Right, where was I?

Even Grumman got in on the fun. We'll, he didn't get a pet. He wrestled a Granite-Skinned Alligator, choking it to death. And he was very lucky, the monster dropping a full hide. With a good armorer and enchanter, you can get a full set of LVL15 Enchanted Rock-Hide Armor, Pants, Boots, Gloves and Helm.

We also challenged two of the small forts in the floor. One held by goblins, the other held by kobolds. The scouts were the ones that did most of the fighting while we taught techniques in fighting numerous enemies, infiltrating and invading fortified areas, and teamwork.

The mini-boss of the floor was a LVL14 Kobold Dragonblooded. A very rare monster, especially at such a low level. Kobold Dragonblooded are regularly found in LVL25-30 areas. I've even once encountered a LVL37 Kobold Dragonblooded. Henry even told us that the boss monster even gained a level, after fighting off a goblin force trying to take the fort.

I asked why dungeon monsters would attack other dungeon monster. He said that this plains was a 'simulation', a replica of conditions found in the old world. It means that all monsters here do what their surface, non-dungeon counterparts did more than a hundred years ago. Only the command of the Dungeon will change that.

As for the rewards, we got 1 LVL13 Magic Buckler that boosted Strength, Constitution, Defense and HP, and a LVL10 Enchanted Gloves that boost Dexterity, Lockpick Skill and can use Shocking Grasp. A very good haul, especially the gloves.

And now we get to the third floor.

How should I describe the third floor? This is the first time I've encountered something in my life. And I've explored a lot of dungeons. The first and second floors are common enough dungeon floor designs, but the third is 'something' all on it's own.

It can't be called a floor anyone. It was nothing but a convoluted mess of a maze. The floor has multiple layers, with pasageways leading to unpredictable locations. Left becomes right, up becomes down. Tunnels, trapdoors, secret passages, jumping out of windows. And traps, lots and lots of traps.

Shock traps, stun traps, exploding traps, gas traps, poison gas traps, poisoned needle traps, traps that shoots out needles, arrows, even a giant ballista bolt. We even got a trap that shoots out a sticky slime that melts clothes. Good thing Brillena didn't get hit with it. Bad thing that Grumman got splashed.

Right in the crotch.

Damn you to the Blazing Hells, Grumman. Even the monsters ran away when they saw it.

There are even teleport traps, traps that shrink anyone to the size of a palm. Traps that make you float or even completely reverse gravity. And traps that will drive even the most patient person frothing mad in rage.

And the monsters were weird and very disturbing. Hybrids of different monsters. Chimeras. Blobs of flesh crawling around leaving slime in their wake. Ghost and undead monsters haunting the hallways. Mimics of all shapes and sizes. Eldritch abominations lurking the dark recesses of the dungeon.

Items, furniture, even entire rooms, shaking, moving about, or just plain disappearing and appearing anywhere.

Good thing the dungeon provided what is called a hearthstone. Allowing any using it to teleport back to the third floor entrance from anywhere in the third floor.

We were almost forced to use hearthstone. Fortunately, Lurgo found something in a hidden chest in an alcove. A 'Challenge Token'. With it, we were able to bypass the floor itself and head directly to the Boss Room. Bless you my boy. Bless you.

No homo.

And the teleport deposited us inside a dark room. If not for my Mage Light, we would have some difficulty fighting the boss and its summons. And there is no gravity. I had to cast Flight to all of us. Lurgo almost floated right next to the boss when he entered the room.

An Ashug'orok's Get. Even at LVL18, it's still a frightening monster. Normally it's a LVL50 and above monster. And it's attacks are a combination of a Beholder, Shadow Lasher and Mind-Eater. Eye-beam attacks that causes a multitude of debuffs. Tentacles whipping around hitting anything in range. Grumman even got caught briefly in a net of 20 tentacles. And the mental attacks and Psychic Blasts thrown around the whole room. And the summoned minions are just weaker version of the boss monster itself.

But it was quite enjoyable. I was getting back to my old self, casting shields, wards and traps while Grumman was mowing down the minions as fast as they were being summoned. They scouts were also there, taking down their fair share of monsters.

It was glorious.

And the loot did not disappoint. A LVL15 Enchanted Cloak that boost Intelligence, Spirit, Defense and Maximum MP. A LVL16 Magic Mask that boosts Intelligence, Charisma and allows the wearer to detect low-level mundane and magical traps. A LVL18 Enchanted Sword that boosts Strength, Agility, Dexterity and has a skill called Wave Cutter. Henry said if we increase our proficiency with the sword, we can learn the skill. We wont' even need the sword anymore. I never encountered something like that in my entire life. Not even rumors of such items exist. And this sword can do it.

Not to mention the staff, Ashug'orok's Gaze (lesser). Henry was even miffed with us, saying he had to slay the boss 5 times solo to get this staff. And it is a very good staff, too. Not as good as my current staff, Chromatic Shard, but it's top tier for it's level. You won't need to replace you staff at least until LVL25.

But tomorrow, we must head back to Trevellen. Unless we want to stay for another week. Henry promised us a more expansive dungeon, even a fourth floor. That will be something to look forward to.

Until then.