Vol.3 Ch.53- Into The Dungeon.

"So this is a dungeon?" I asked.

"Yup, that's a dungeon," Alce answered nonchalantly.

We were out in an empty field a day out from Nactus. The detour wasn't all that bad and was just as Sylvia said. This dungeon was a hole in the ground. Just a dark tunnel that suddenly appeared in the soil. You could have been walking aimlessly in this field and missed it completely if it wasn't for the small stake in the ground with a warning next to it from the guild saying that this was a dungeon. And that would only help if you could actually read…

"Enough standing around. Let's get in there," Dem said cheerfully as he patted me on the back.

With Dem's encouragement, we funneled into the dark hole. Leading the front was Ilme and Dem following closely behind was Silent then me. Anna, Alce, and Sylvia brought up the rear. If Sylvia's maps were accurate then this formation should see us through to the end of the dungeon.

This was my first time entering a dungeon and I had been told they were extremely dangerous. At least my mom always told me they were. Dungeons were at a threat level of 150 but not all the monsters inside were at that level. It was a general rule of thumb however to consider all the monsters to be at least seventy or higher. Although lower threat level monsters were still present.

As we were making our way through the dark tunnel illuminated only by our torches and a bit of Anna's light magic I began to wonder…

These dungeons made little sense in the context of this world. They defy all logic, especially those concerning mana. If mana was found in "all living things" then did that mean that dungeons were alive? Monsters were present and they had mana but what about the dungeon itself?

Also, dungeons produced items that were on an entirely different spectrum when compared to items people could make. Dungeon items could range from completely useless to national treasures. The Kingdom of Luminar was in possession of a dungeon item that was capable of erecting a barrier so strong that it could repel multiple Dragon Emperors. Or at least that's the story.

But people could infuse or enchant items with their magic, making them stronger or even giving them unique properties. Sometimes even strong mages could give items properties from their schools of magic. But doing so you needed to be highly skilled and have extremely valuable material.

Then there were runes as well… There is still so much I don't understand about this world.

Mom also made manaweave which is just essentially normal cloth that was infused with her mana. Said manaweave was also rumored to increase someone's mana pool over a long period of time if worn frequently. I wasn't sure how much mana I had compared to other people anymore but I was certain that it was higher than most. Whether that was because of the manaweave, my training, or the fact that I was an Elf was beyond me. Maybe it was even a combination of all of those things.

But more importantly, I remember the feeling that my mother's manaweave gave off fondly. The odd tingling sensation on my skin grew on me considerably. I miss it dearly. Then again, I miss a lot of things dearly.

I mentally slapped myself for getting distracted. I needed to focus. I should be taking this seriously. Fighting monsters down in the depths of some magical cave is far more dangerous than fighting a group of armed bandits. I would rather take on people compared to monsters any day.

The tunnel continued on for as far as the light stretched. The darkness had an odd smell to it that wasn't quite like a dark and dank cave but also very much like a dark and dank cave.

Eventually, the steep decline tapered out and the path became more manageable. It was difficult enough walking around on my injured leg but even more so when I was trying to go up or down. I'm sure I was holding everyone back but they didn't vocalize any complaints.

We reached the end of the tunnel and it opened out into a large cavern. Anna sent her small balls of light magic to illuminate the space and we were greeted by a normal-looking cave. But then again a cave like this shouldn't exist here. The cave was made up of dark gray rock that seemed oddly familiar. This rock looks like the type I saw under Sandervile's mansion in the royal escape tunnel. So it's magic proof, huh? Is that why people don't just blast through the floors of a dungeon?

The ceiling was lined with gray stalactites and protruding out of the ground were stalagmites of the same color. But in many places they combined, making it seem like a pillar of gray reaching up into the darkness. Water dripped in a rhythmic pattern as it splashed onto the ground in multiple places.

All was quiet in the cave besides our breathing and the plopping of water onto the stone. The first floor was inhabited by a monster that resembled the upper body of a boar and the lower body of a monkey. These Tuskpaws were about the size of a Human child but they boasted incredible speed and agility. They would try to use their superior agility and speed to impale unfortunate souls using their long boar tusks. Individually they sat around a threat level of only fifty but it was when you had multiples of them in an enclosed space that they became far more dangerous.

Not noticing any of these monsters, we continued on deeper into the cavern. Our steps echoed off the cave walls as the party continued onwards into the abyss. I was expecting some kind of odd feeling being in this dungeon but it didn't seem all that different. I was more conscious of being around Leviathans on that slave ship than I was down here.

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Some time passed as we moved deeper and deeper into the first floor of this dungeon. I began to notice that the cave looked oddly uniform. It felt like we were going in one large loop but we were definitely moving forward. I looked over at Alce and noticed the Wood Elf's ears twitching. She had her eyes closed as she stepped forward slowly and listened. Her eyes fluttered open and with a serious expression spoke,

"Here they come."

Sure enough within a few seconds, the sounds of an animal charging echoed off the cavern walls. Anna summoned another ball of light and sent it arcing towards the encroaching noise. The monster was sprinting on the floor of the cave but with a loud grunt, it exploded into the light ball with extreme speeds. The Tuskpaw was perched on the side of a stalactite glaring at us with pitch-black eyes. How it managed to balance itself on such a small perch baffled even me. It must have been just as strong as it was fast.

The monster was as described but far more hideous than I had imagined. The upper portion was that of a boar, head and hoofs included. Its muscular body was covered in a coat of thick brown fur and even from this distance, the monster gave off a pungent smell. From the waist down the creature had the lower half of a monkey with its feet and tail. However, the fur on the lower portion was a different shade from the top, making it look as if somebody had split the two animals apart and combined them into one.

The monster reared its head back and squealed. The squeal echoed through the cave and as if answering the beast's call a cacophony squeals sounded back. Alce tried to silence the monster's squeal but the Tuskpaw twisted itself out of the way at an impossible angle. Alce's arrow impacted the stone and bounced off harmlessly into the cave.

"Everyone get ready!" Dem yelled.

We all adopted battle stances and prepared for the wave of incoming Tuskpaws. The first Tuskpaw bounced off of hanging stalagmites and closed in on us. The monster landed and it braced itself like a coil that was about to explode. The muscles on the monkey half bulged with power as it launched itself towards us in a boar rush. The monster's white tusks gleamed in the darkness of the cave.

However, this time the monster was on a mid-air suicide charge. It was aiming for Silent who seemed to be the least imposing of all the front liners. But before the Tuskpaw reached Silent an arrow had already split its skull. The monster let out a death squeal and rolled across the ground. Silent made a face of absolute disgust as he enhanced his leg with mana and kicked the corpse, sending it flying into the darkness.

But our momentary success was short-lived. A horde of Tuskpaws began bouncing around with their monkey portions while a few charged like boars on the ground. It was a disgusting sight, seeing something with the hooves of a boar but the lower half of a monkey moving across the ground and jumping from rock to rock.

Alce and I began sending arrows and flare bolts into the horde. Arrows pierced flesh and flare bolts melted through groups of monsters. Any that managed to get to the front lines alive were ceremonially greeted by a Dragonkin in a set of full plate armor with a war hammer at the ready. The monsters were crushed with the weight of Ilme's strikes. A single swing saw the deaths of multiple of the little monsters as their corpses began littering the ground.

Any that found some semblance of luck to make it past the whirling death of hammer and Dragonkin were greeted by the more familiar sight of Humans wielding swords. Dem's bastard sword arched brilliantly, bisecting the monsters into their more traditional halves. Silent wasn't struggling much either as he expertly ended the lives of multiple Tuskpaws that made it to him. His twin Jian made short work of his foes.

After a few minutes of fighting the once forty-strong monster horde had been reduced to a mountain of putrid corpses. The smell of dried blood, filthy animals, burned corpses, and the darkness of the cave combined. It was truly a putrid smell. I wished my mask would have blocked the smell, even if only a little.

Dem heaved a sigh of relief as his chest raised and fell steadily, "Is that all of them?"

"I don't hear anymore coming," Alce said while putting an arrow back into her quiver.

"Good, let's keep moving. There should be anywhere between two and three more of these groups before we get to the second floor. Let's keep moving," Dem said while wiping the blood on the fur of a dead monster.

We side-stepped the carnage and continued deeper into the cave. Normally monsters had valuable parts that could be harvested and sold but these Tuskpaws didn't have anything useful. Their fur was damaged and matted, nobody in their right mind would wear the skin of such a disgusting monster. Even the tusks were of little value, hardly worth the effort of removing them.

Moving through the cave took a considerable amount of time. It seemed to go on forever and Sylvia's information was spot on. Sure enough, we ended up facing two more groups of these monsters before the end. They ended up just like the first group, in a pile.

"Let's rest here before we descend to the second floor. Monsters tend to avoid these parts of dungeons. For whatever reason," Dem suggested while sliding his back against the cavern wall and sitting down.

"Do monsters not gather at these points?" I asked out loud.

"No they don't, but it depends really. Trying to put rules onto dungeons is a recipe for disaster," Alce said while joining Dem on the floor.

I simply nodded my head. That's right, the only thing that makes sense about Dungeons is that they don't make any sense. Each dungeon seemed to follow its own rules and even then nothing was guaranteed. That's why mapping out floors was so important. It made the lives of future adventurers just a little bit easier.

But it seems that we were alone for the time being at least. Descending into the dungeon and clearing the first floor probably took us a little over three hours, if I had to guess. Sylvia's map and information suggested much the same. None of us seemed all that tired but we were about to do a whole lot more walking on the second floor.

Unlike the first floor, the second floor was a confusing mess of branching cave systems. Apparently, the first group that had gone down here spent three whole days just trying to map the floor out. What took them three days should only take us about four to five hours to clear. The monsters were also less frequent and more sporadic and they didn't have a numbers advantage like Tuskpaws. However, they posed an entirely different kind of threat.

The monsters that inhabited the second floor were large crustaceans called Cave Fiends. These shelled monsters moved slowly across the second floor, creeping around until they found prey. Once these Cave Fiends lock onto a target they will move to crush their opponents using their shells to pin and crush against the walls of the cave. The group that mapped this floor had lost a party member to three Cave Fiends cornering them. What made these monsters tricky was the hardness of their shell. It took a considerable amount of magic or force to kill one of these things.

But as long as we continued on a straight path we should be able to avoid a majority of the monsters. And if it comes down to it then our party has enough firepower to clear at least a single path.

After recuperating we started our descent into the second floor. There apparently could be stairs in a dungeon but it just depends on the dungeon's makeup. Most of the time a changing of the floors was any time there was a major drop in elevation. And this one was much the same as the tunnel that led from the surface to the first floor.

We reached the second floor and, just like the first, it expanded into a massive cave system. But unlike the first floor, there were no stalactites or stalagmites. While following the map and choosing the shortest distance to the third floor I walked over to the wall of the cave and ran my hand across the gray stone. The stone was smooth to the touch as if it had been weathered down. But at the top closer to the ceiling the stone was ragged and gouged out in certain places.

This must be a byproduct from the Cave Fiends. Their shells must smooth out the rock face.

Alce twisted her head around and peered down a long dark hallway. The caves were massive and at some points, not even the light from our torches could reach the ceiling. But that begs the question, just how big are these Cave Fiends?

"There is one on our left. It's still moving slowly so I don't think it's noticed us," Alce said.

Without a word we picked up the pace just a little and continued onwards. But shortly after, Anna stopped.

"There is one in front of us," she said with a tinge of fear creeping into her voice.

Alce quickly agreed and Dem made the call to split off down another path. All was well for now though. Keeping ahead of these things shouldn't be impossible and a small detour like this wouldn't put us too much behind.

Perhaps fearing these monsters, everyone had brought their pace up to a light jog. It made things difficult for me and I was struggling to keep up. My injured calf burned with a dull pain. I also couldn't hear these monsters as Alce and Anna could, my injured ears making my life much harder than it needed to be.

"Stop!" Alce shouted.

We skidded to a stop and I nearly fell over from Anna running into my back. She profusely began to apologize and started healing me despite the fact that I was uninjured. But I wasn't going to complain, I was always in pain so a little light magic always felt good. Dem grunted in annoyance and silenced Anna. The tension began to rise as Alce spoke once more,

"We are surrounded. We need to pick one and fight through it," Alce announced much to our despair.

Dem took his torch and brought it in front of his face so he could consult the map. His eyes narrowed into slits as he began deciphering the best possible outcome. That was until Alce groaned in frustration and spun Dem around so she could look at the map over his shoulder.

"Left. We need to go left," she said while pointing her slim finger against the map.

Dem shrugged his shoulders, "To the left then!"

Under Alce's direction and Dem's order, we bolted down the left side of the cave system. At least as fast as my injured leg could take me. These caves felt more like large ravines than simple caves. The space was large enough for about seven or eight people to move shoulder to shoulder through but it still seemed narrow. Perhaps it was just because of the sheer size.

We reached our destination as Ilme, Silent, and Dem moved forward to greet the incoming Cave Fiend. The sound of stone being scratched was enough to make your skin crawl. Even without directly seeing the monster you could tell it was massive as it scratched along the rocky surfaces of the cave.

An eye on the end of a pale red stalk peered around the corner. It seemed to register us and the behemoth of a hermit crab came into view. The Cave Fiend was absolutely gargantuan. The thing seemed to be squishing itself in between the walls of the cave and the top of its shell was just barely in the light. I had the fleeting thought of trying to climb over the thing but gave up on the proposal quickly. Not like I could jump over it… but maybe a bit of earth magic?

"Voker, I know I said to save your mana but I changed my mind again! Can you blow that thing up?" Dem shouted.

"I'll try," I answered back.

Relying on the three of them to try and break that massive shell would be a mistake. Even if they could dent the monster's shell killing it would be a challenge in and of itself.

I readied a fireball at full strength and prepared to launch it at the giant crab. The monster's white shell glistened in the torchlight. Its speed had changed from that of a slow crawl to a slightly faster crawl. I released my fireball and the orange flame flickered to life and sailed off towards the monster. With a loud boom, the spell impacted the creature.

Dust shook free from the cavern walls. A wave of pressure from the explosion sailed past us but the incessant sound of the shell against stone did not falter. As the smoke cleared, the Cave Fiend was unharmed and still inching towards us. That fireball held at least the strength of two fireballs combined. We had agreed to keep my mana pool as high as possible for when we got to the third floor but it seems I was going to have to ignore that recommendation.

I was going to need magic a lot stronger if I was going to crack that shell.

I hadn't shown off the fruits of my training to anyone yet. Nobody knew I was capable of using lightning magic nor did they know about my abilities to make fire all that much hotter. I wasn't sure if lightning would do the job but I was confident that a fire lance at nearly five times the heat and power would be plenty enough to incinerate this thing.

"Just need a few seconds," I said

Ilme grunted and Silent nodded as the two of them rushed towards the overgrown crab. The two of them bashed their weapons against the hard shell but it was an exercise in futility. The shell seemed to be as hard as metal as blades and hammer bounced off it with loud clangs.

The monster didn't seem to be slowed by their efforts either, but it was the thought that counted. While they were bashing away I was preparing my over-tuned flame lance. I was still unpracticed with changing my fire spells to this degree and I hadn't done so in actual combat yet so this would be the first time. But there was no time like the present.

"Move it!" I yelled.

The two didn't even spare a glance as they bolted away from the monster. As a group, we had been slowly moving back to gain some space but the sound of another Cave Fiend could be heard approaching from behind. Hopefully, this was going to work.

My spell core took a large chunk of my mana and a brilliantly orange flame sprang to life. The flame narrowed out into a long pole shape then began changing colors rapidly. After its metamorphosis, the once orange flame had turned a blinding white color. The heat radiating off of my spell was enough to make me choke on the hot air. Not wanting to be around this thing longer than I had to be I let it lose towards the encroaching monster.

The white flame lance hissed and sizzled as its flames dripped off the main body melting the stone underneath. With an ear-piercing crack, the lance sank into the monster. Lines formed across the entire shell but no explosion could be heard. The smell of burning flesh filled the air quickly and the monster let out a loud hiss. Within a few seconds, the monster seemed like it was about to burst out of its shell. At least it was trying to. Finally, the shell gave away from the pressure and an explosion from inside the monster occurred. A storm of burnt crab chunks and pieces of shell went flying towards us at alarming speeds. It was bad enough that Ilme decided to erect one of her Dragon Barriers to stop the incoming tide.

"Voker… what did you just do?" Anna asked from behind me.

"Just a normal fire lance."

"There was nothing normal about that," Sylvia interjected.

I shrugged but we didn't have time to talk about my magic, because the Cave Fiend that was behind us was drawing closer. We rushed forward into the gaping hole that had once been a massive Cave Fiend. The crustacean was split down the middle and we tried our best to high step our way through the corpse and chunks. I couldn't help but notice that Silent took a small piece of the crab meat and took a bite out of it.

His face contorted in disgust as he spat on the meat. Even while stepping through the corpse of a giant monster Silent was trying to scrape the residual taste off of his tongue. From what I had been told monster meat was edible. Some monsters tasted good. Others… not so much. And some monsters were outright dangerous to be consumed. Not sure why Silent decided to take the gamble but he is a gambling man. One of these days his luck is going to run out.

We made it past the Cave Fiend and stopped short of a four-way intersection. Dem brought the map out but he had long since dropped his torch. Anna gave him a bit of light using her magic but before Dem could give any kind of order Alce and Anna both looked forward.

"We are not alone…" Alce said while removing another arrow from her quiver.

The sound of something being dragged across the stone suddenly started up. But it wasn't from behind us, it was from the left and right of the intersection. Two sets of eyes attached to pale red stocks peeked around the corners of the intersection. Two giant Cave Fiends tried converging on us but the two massive beasts couldn't shimmy into the smaller corridor at the same time. Instead of letting one go before the other, the two monsters tried forcing their way into space. Sure one of them could have easily made it through but it looked like neither of them wanted to give up their potential dinner.

The shells on the two behemoths began colliding against each other. It was an affront to the ears as the sound assaulted our ears. My early complaint of my ears being damaged was all but forgotten as I was glad my ears weren't fully healed currently. Anna and Alce both looked as if they were about to cry from the pain as they pressed their ears down against their heads.

"Voker… you got another one of those white flame spear things? Maybe even two?" Dem whispered while looking over his shoulder.

I shrugged. I had enough mana for two but that would leave me with very little mana left afterward. If it came down to it there was no way I could kill a fourth. Retreat was an option but it wouldn't take long for the Cave Fiend that was behind us to corner us. And we knew that behind that Cave Fiend was even more of them…

I'm starting to feel that this was a bad idea.

I started forming my spell core for another altered fire lance but the second I started drawing mana into the spell core the eyes of the Cave Fiends turned to look at me. Can they sense mana as well? I wasn't sure if it was possible but it was too much of a coincidence. But what was unexpected was that the Cave Fiends began moving. Not forward but up. The giant shells seemed to get bigger and bigger as they raised into the darkness. I wondered why the caves were so tall and now I had my answer.

The Cave Fiends had left their shells and risen tall on their crab legs. With their shells shed the two monsters could now both approach us at the same time. Underneath that shell was an abomination of a crab. Its light red carapace was lined with jagged pink spines and a set of two large crab claws. They were the size of a bus and looked sharp enough to cut a bus in half. And just like the monsters in this world, they possess an unnatural ability… being able to move those giant bodies so damn fast.

The Cave Fiend shot out with a speed that shouldn't have been possible for such a large creature. It took both Ilme and Dem to stop the single incoming claw. Dem and Ilme buckled under the monster's weight and strength. The sound of metal on metal rang out as the two of them grunted from the exertion. Ilme's war hammer was the first to give in.

The shaft of her war hammer was made with wood and bound with metal but it was far from ordinary. It was wood from a tree monster and boasted more durability than anything that grew in the ground naturally. But it didn't matter to the Cave Fiend one bit. The pincer slipped past Dem's block and pinched the war hammer's shaft. Wood cracked and Ilme's weapon split in two and made a loud thud as the head impacted the floor.

Ilme growled in frustration and reared her first back in an attempt to… punch?… the crustacean. I wasn't sure what punching a creature that could block a fireball would do but I was quickly proven wrong once more. Ilme's gauntleted fist crashed into the side of the claw and set the monster skittering back as it screeched in pain. However, I don't think it damaged the Cave Fiend as much as it pissed it off. But that Cave Fiend stepping back allowed the second one to move forward and fill its place. The monster tried much the same as the first but unfortunately for it, I was ready.

My white fire lance lit the cave with a brilliant light as it crashed into the first Cave Fiend. Without its hardened outer shell, my fire lance seared cleanly through the first Cave Fiend. It passed straight through the first and in and out of the second. The white light continued into the darkness like a flare until it impacted with a wall off in the distance and exploded.

The two Cave Fiends toppled over as smoke wafted out from a large hole in their shells. The smell of burnt crab meat assaulted our nostrils once again. But with the monsters dead the path was clear once again. Wasting no time we made our way past the dead Cave Fiends and deeper into the second floor.