"First time delving in capitals dungeon?" The guards voice was calm and collected, Rex could almost call it friendly.
"Yes." Rex replied, a similar calmness in his voice.
"Place your adventurers ID here" the guard gestured towards a vending machine like device next to him "It records the ID of thsoe delving inside. Once you are leaving, do scan the ID again. Royal family uses the records to track the number of people, as well as time they have spent inside, allowing us to calculate many different things, as well as assume the death of adventurers, if they stay down there for too long. There have been a few mistakes, announcing someone deceased, only for them to crawl out alive, if only barely, but that happends insanely infrequently. Many people would much rather deal with a temporary heartbreak than live their lives with false hope after all."
"I am guessing there is some sort of tax as well?" Rex asked, finding this system to have so much more potential.
"Yes, and no. The guard answered. The guild dues pay a small percentage of the value of any monster cores or drops the adventurers sell, though the same is true for any other legaly operating merchant in the city. Rules and all. AS for the adventurers themselves? You would not even recognize the tax if nobody told you about it. It does not interract with your kind."
"All right." Rex nodded in agreement, not caring one way or another. "So, just scan my adventurer ID at the scanner. Anything else or can I then go and have fun?"
"Thats all kid." one of the guards confirmed "Scan the ID and then you can go outside and go wild, if thats what you wish. Do be carefull though, the monsters can be quite nasty out there." Rex did as told, scanning his adventurer ID and walked forward, though stopped at the last moment, as if remembering something.
"By the way gentlemen, how long does one have to stay in the dungeon to be pronounced dead? I would like to avoid the possibility."
"Lets see." One of the guards spoke, walking over to the machine "You are D rank, so five days for you."
"It depends on the rank?" Rex asked, quite interested in this particular info.
"Of course." a guard replied "Would be foolish to asume and F ranker could last the same time as a D ranker, not to mention thsoe above. And do not forget, that some of the rich B rankers, and above, will ussually have a space storage ring, even if tiny, stuffed with emergency ratiosn or the like, even further extending the time they can spend down there while still being alive."
"Hmm, that makes sense." Rex nodded in agreement, quite pleased with such thinking. "Thank you for the information." Rex nodded in thanks towards the guards.
"Thank us by coming back alive kid!" Exclaimed one of the guards. The man looked rather old, close to his late fifties, no doubt almost ready to retire, if such a thing existed here. He waved his hand lightly towards Rex, watching him dissapear in the barely lit tunnel, leading further down to the depths of the dungeon.
"Kids these days. Sigh. What happened to the old saying 'better stay together, you will live longer?' Sigh." the older of teh guards sighed twice, at the start and end of the sentence, clearly worried about the young man.
"Emm, Gus? You do remember that he is already D rank, right?" the younger of the guards asked, clearly still rather suprised by that fact.
"Yes, yes, the kids a D rank what the big deal .everyone starts as a D ra...." A moment of silence took over the gate, two, rather increduluos guards staring at each other. Just moment later, Gus shuffled over to the device, pulling up the last record it had, checking it twice, no trice over.
"I'll be damn. I think we just saw a new monster. He he he." he chuckled, clearly a lot more happy now than before, much less woried about the safety of the youngster. "Still, should have looked for a party. With such potential, there few that would not at least consider him. Hmm, guess I will ask, if he comes back through here. yes, I should do that indeed. Peter! Remind me if he comes through!"
"Damn old man! Retire already!" the younger of the two cursed, only to be rebuked and silenced a moment later.
"Why dont I tell that to your mother, eh? No doubt my daugher in law would not mind disciplining her own child. Hmm, hmm, yes, I suppose I should. He he he he."
"OI! OI! OI! I said nothing gramps. Nothing!"
-------------------------
Rex heard a small bit of the guards banter, though he paid little attention, chuckling a bit at the forgetfullness of the old man, though he supposed that was to be expected. Old age was a bitch and a half to deal with, something he wished to never reach, either through eternal youth, godhood or simply going out with a giga bang. Regardless, he had plenty of time to solve that problem, not to mention that his main body was already there.
'I wonder, does this wonder, does this world have something similar to the heaven grade meat that rejuvenates ones body as long as its kept on oes regular menu?' he wondered as he moved deeper, slowly picking up his pace, the road ahead of him was quite empty, with not a monster in sight. Then again, there were two other parties just slightly ahead of him, and since he had yet to find an intersection, he supposed they were doing the clearing for him.
A minute later, he caught up to the aforementioned parties, who swapped between monster packs. clearly an arrangement of some sort. It did not take long, for the reserve party to notice Rex's approach, a slight caution flashing in their archers eyes. 'Solo delvers are apparently not that common. No wonder that.' Rex though to himself, slowing down his pace to maintain respectable distance. As the two groups switched after another pack, the one at the front was quickly informed of his presence as well, the same caution apparent in their eyes, untill eventually, one member, a healer judging from her attire, from the current backup party spoke facing him, clearly adressing him.
"You plan to stick there for long?"
"Hopefully no. Never been down here, so I hope there is some sort of cross section soon. Kinda itching for some action, truth be told. Mind letting me get in on the rotation?"
"Why ask only now?" a gruff looking man with chain armor asked, his voice low.
"No cross sections as of yet, and I am getting bored. Plus the creatures look kind of fun to take out." Rex replied, his gaze dirrected to the front of the small procession, where the third party was fighting right now. "E class creatures?" he added as he looked back at the resting group.
"Ducktrumps? Yea. Wait, you havent read the monster guide?" Suddenly exclaimed the previous healer.
"I dont plan of fighting anything above C class, so I doubt there is much to worry about." Rex shrugged a bit, his hand tapping the sword at his side, yet another annomaly for the backup party. The gruff looking warrior just shrugged though, commenting "Suit yourself. It is your funeral."
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"BECK! THE KID WILL TAKE THE NEXT GROUP!" he shouted towards the front group, as they were finishing the last of the monsters in this pack. As the front group was walking back after collecting their drops, he added in a quieter voice, only heard to the leader, and Rex, though the latter was obviously not an intended audience "The kid did not study the monster codex." Only recieving a sigh and shake of the other mans head.
"Go ahead. Your funeral." Beck spoke, his eyes on Rex, shaking his head in dissaproval. In the dungeon, everyone was an addult, so who was he to scold or teach others.
"Thank you gentlemen." Rex made a small bow with his head, moving past both groups and taking point. "How should I do this?" he wondered in a low voice as he moved forward, the next monster groups movements creating some sounds further ahead. A minute later, cutting around another corner, Rex came face to face with yet another group of the ducktrumps. Some two meter in height, with grey skin color and four arms a group of man like monsters stood, two, pipe like horns, rolled like that of rams protruding from their temples. Some odd liquid dripping from the tips. 'Suppose thats why duckt-rumps.' Rex thought to himself, his hand moving to his sword.
'Lest assume that its either corrosive, or poisonous.' Rex listed off in his mind, his eyes on the dripping liquid coming from the duct like horns. 'Though most likely the latter.' he added in his mind, not seeing any chemical reaction with the ground. As he was noticed, the group of five minsters charged his way, a few low roars escaping their maws. Rex would loved to see the faces of disbelied the two parties displayed when he danced through the charging monsters, his sword seperating their heads from the rest of their bodies with frightening speed, precision and efficiency, the monster bodies dissipating into mana dust just moments later. Rex was quick to colect his monster cores, since there were no other drops, and move back behind the two groups. "Your turn I suppose." He said, looking at the gruff warrior, only recieving a short grunt in return a few moments later.
As the three groups, one of which was a single man moved forward, still no separation of paths in sight, Rex noticed that whichever group was on the backup, would eye him much more than before, weary and on alert in case he might decide to play with them as well. He was quite intrigued, having a possible explanation in mind, though what better way to find out, than to actually ask. So, being the man that he was, Rex did exactly that, just moments later speaking up.
"Damn, eyeing me like I would be planning to go on peopel carnage or something. Are there some sort of solo human hunters out there, or am I missing something crucial?" His voice was playfull, combined with a raised brow, his hands nowhere near his sword that was resting in its sheathe. His question did tense up the backup group and the front line as well, who had been coming back to switch out with Rex.
"Oww? Now I must know." Rex smirked, pressing the question, the expressions on the faces of the two parties quite telling. But, seeing that the two parties were only getting more and more tense, he sighed, adding. "Whatever is popping in your mind, if its something stupid like suprise attack or something like that, dont bother. From what I have seen, even if both your parties had perfect synergy and ideal teamwork, there is not a thing you can do to take wound me heavily, let alone actually take out, so do us all a favour and dont do anything that would constitute as an attack against me, yea? I came down today to kill some monsters, dont ask me to add some humans to that list as well. And I would actually want to hear the answer to my question. I have been in the capital for about a week, exploring its layout and prepearing for my advancement test. I have little to zero interractions with other adventurers, or the stories and myths they share among each other. Think it over while I kill some monsters. I assume you dont mind me taking a few groups while you consider your next steps, yes?"
Rex moved to the front, both party members moving to the sides, giving Rex a wide berth. After witnesing what he could do, they were understandably reluctant to actually attempt anything, even if they suspected the solo to be one of the infamous 'Ghouls'. Another ten minutes passed by, with Rex being the only one to take on the monsters ahead, with every pack slain, reminding the parties just how outclassed they actually were. And yet, the solo showed absolutely no interest in starting his supposed rampage. All he did was slaughter the monsters, collect the drops and move ahead. Though none of the people behind him had even the slightest doubt he was perfectly aware of their distance and actions at any given time, making him all the more scary. The same heavy tension remained for yet another twenty minutes, Rex having stayed ahead, slaughtering everything in his path of monster origin, when they finally came upon a cross section. The tunnel seperated in two, with one continiueing with the same ambience and colours as before, while the other started to display all manner of crystal growths, making it way better illuminated than the current segment they were in. Similar crystals illuminated the path behind them as well. though unlike the yellow-orange tint of the new tunnel, this one was more aking to pale white, reminding of a night with clear sky.
"Finally!" Rex exclaimed, seeing the cross section. Then, he turned to the two parties and spoke "Now, I am taking one of the paths, you both can go either back, or share the other one. I will also assume that the change in lighting means a change in monsters and such, so, here the deal. First, I expect the damn answer to my earlier question and secondly, once that is done, you will pick the path you want to take, while explaining why that is so, and whats the difference with the one you would rather not travel down into. Win- win, yes?" He looked at the two parties, exchanging glances, untill one of the leaders shoulders slumped as he murmured "This is bad for my nerves. Fine, fuck it!"
"Will do sir." the gruff looking warrior spoke, taking a step forward. "For starters. The earlier question. There are rumours of solo adventurers, or maybee mercenaries, nobody actually knows, delving into the dungeons with a single purpose in mind to slaughter other adventurers. They are ussually very strong, thus you can understand our worries when we saw how easily you dispatched the monsters. Add to that the fact that no one has ever heard about you, for trust me, strong guys like you, soloing the dungeon? Yea, there would be number of rumors about you by now. The killers are called 'Ghouls' by the way."
"Emm, jea. I could see why the tension. I did say I just arrived in the city a week of or so ago though, but never mind that. So, your choice then regarding the path?" Rex asked then, prompting the adventurer party leaders to share another look and a nod, as if they had talked over their decision.
"We want to stay in the same biome." teh same rugged man replied.
"Sure. As to why?" Rex questioned.
"The same monsters will keep on appearing. The change in the coloring indicates a path to a deeper level. While we are comfortable here, going deeper would be too risky for us. Are we free to go?" the gruff warrior spoke, adding a rather meak question at the end.
"Emm, sure?" Rex replied, a questioning look on his face, quickly replied with a neutral expression as he repeated the same words, though with certainty. "Yes, go ahead. Have fun." he added and turned towards the yellow-orange biome.
"Why are you soloing thogh?" suddenly, a rather soft and insecure girly voice asked, followed by a few curses from the men among the parties as Rex returned his attention to them.
"Huh?" the though for a moment replying "Because the damn recruitment board is not organized and flooded with F, or if you are lucky, E rank party advertisements. Good fucking luck finding anything above that." Rex himself cursed as he rolled his eyes.
"You know that D ranked parties and above dont place their recruitments there, right?" the gruff warrior asked, a confused look on his face, clearly taken off guard by Rex's answer.
"You what now? Come again?"
"Emm, yes. D ranked parties and above either organize their own events, since most of them are under a subguild of sorts, where more than one party of said subguild recruit, or make requests dirrectly to the guild halls for the type of adventurer they are looking for, paying the apropriate fees and what not. Or so I have heard. Not there ourselves as of yet."
"Heh?" Rex was confused, capable of nothing else but cursing "Damn bastards." but quickly calming down. "Nothing one can do I suppose. Thanks for the info, by the way. Good luck." Rex made a simple salute towards the two parties as he turned toward the path deeper down, moving on, leaving the other parties on their own, lonesome.
"Seesh, Rita! Your curiosity will one day kill you!" Exclaimed the ranger of the other party. "I almost pissed my pants when he turned back to us. Sheesh!"
"S-sorry." the girls whispered.
"Nevermind that. Dman, I am getting too old for this." sighed the gruff looking warrior. "Same as before?" he asked, looking towards the leader of teh other party.
"Same as before." the other leader nodded, adding "Gotta spread the word. Damn solo monsters and their lack of common sense." he cursed and spat on the ground.
"You dont have to tell me. But still, damn, thats some skill with that blade of his. And did you notice his age? Brrrrrh. I would not want to be on his bad side." the gruff warrior trmbld, remembering teh heartless and precise moves he saw Rex perform on the ductrops.
"You and me both brother. You and me both."