"You received a notification about a quest?" Iser asked.

"Yeah, I'm guessing by your expressions that's not normal." I replied.

"No… not at all, that is as rare if not rarer than a Riftwalker." Iser then said.

Then continued "Quests only come from the world. Legends say that they are methods of altering the world as a whole."

"What is the quest?" Root asked.

"It is to 'Pruning the Evil' You have heard of the location of a corrupted dungeon. Explore it, find any signs of great Evil. Eradicate them!" I replied.

"I got it almost as soon as we found the dungeon down here. So umm I guess I should do it then." I finished.

"Yes… yes you should, if this was the reason why you were selected as a Riftwalker then this might mean the very survival of this world." Root said, everyone else was nodding in agreement to that statement.

"But I only just got this…." I started to say then tailed off.

"Noooo….." I said in wide eyed astonishment.

"What?" Lluvia asked in a bit of a panic.

"When I got the original prompt and was brought here the prompt said something about a great evil… and it thanked me for my sacrifice…" I said then started hyperventilating. I looked at the people In front of me in a panic.

"I… I think I'm stuck here, I don't think I can go back home…" then I kind of slid down the wall just staring at the ground sightlessly… I think I was going into an emotional shock.

It was distant but I felt one body then another press in on both sides of me. Turnip and Lluvia both sat pressed up against me Lluvia gently rubbing my back, Turnip holding my hand. Root sat down in front of me flanked by Orlo and Iser.

We sat like that for several minutes while I processed what I had remembered.

"Thanks… everyone. I'll be ok in just a few minutes." I said in a very monotone voice, it didn't even feel like I was talking but watching someone else talk.

"Take your time, we can wait. I'm sorry… you just discovered you have lost everyone you just loved… Come on, let's go back and give you some time to process all this." Root said with as much care as a grandfather.

I just sat there for a few minutes.

"I… just give me a few minutes." I said.

This was going to suck but I needed to push through this. I closed my eyes and focused on the thought of losing everyone, to never see any of my friends or family… to never even have a chance to say goodbye or I love you. I forced myself to relive the faces, voice, smells, sounds, and feelings of everyone I loved. It hurt more and more with each face. I kept reliving the idea over and over and over again. I was trying to make my mind numb to this concept.

We must have sat here for at least 20 minutes, I could feel my cheeks wet from tears. I still hurt and would always hurt but I had numbed it for now as well. I then pulled out my scavenged water skin and took a very long pull.

I then looked up at Root and said "I can have an emotional breakdown tonight, let's just take care of this dungeon first."

"We don't…." Then Root paused for a moment, "are you sure about this?"

"I have lost loved ones before, I would be surprised if someone here had not. It's not pleasant but you keep on going and living your life." I said.

"Also they are not dead, there’s a small chance I might still see them again one day." I said with a sad smile.

"Alright, who wants to explain to me how dungeons work?" I asked, it was a distraction and maybe not the healthiest thing but I could lose my shit later.

The next 30 minutes was spent going over basic dungeon concepts. The idea that each dungeon was broken into a sort of floor like system. The different themes each dungeon was built around. The kinds of enemies you could fight. The kinds of traps you might encounter. The end result was each dungeon was unique from theme to specifics to what kinds of rewards can be found.

During the explanation I constructed two mana grenades out of stones. I now had a much better feel for how much a rock could store. I filled both up so they would only need a small amount of extra mana to arm, I just hoped they didn't get hit while they were in my pocket.

The problem we were facing was one of the most dangerous types. The kind where you are going in completely blind. The group had done it before but it always carried a massive risk. However there was very good money to be made for finding a new dungeon.

We would be exploring in a very very methodical pattern. Each area had to be explored for traps, mazes, enemy types, and even psychological fuckery.

What we did have going for us, it was not a very old dungeon which meant it should be relatively small still. It apparently took a long time and a lot of adventurers to cause a dungeon to grow and evolve. We also know the level range of what to expect, if it was too high then we would back out.

A dungeon could still be deadly even to a very high level party. Just because you were tough did not make you invincible or immune to traps, or poisons or the random case of bad luck.

Lluvia was the one going first, followed by Turnip, then Root, then Orlo, then myself, and lastly Iser. We could also leave at any time… assuming we could make it back to the entrance.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Ok a bit of good news 8-10 for the expected level range." Lluvia said.

I was told it was possible to see both higher and lower levels but that mainly occurred with dungeon bosses and floor bosses.

The last thing I was also warned about was the layout of the dungeon could be physically impossible.

"Oh cool non-Euclidean space that's always interesting." I said.

"You have a term for that? Some just call it dungeon space or weird space." Turnip said.

"Yeah, it's a concept in some of my entertainment I have experienced before. Basically the area you are in does not need to obey the laws of physics." I said.

“The first part… you said it’s a form of entertainment? In what way?” Orlo asked.

"Yeah… umm I'll tell you more about that kind of stuff after we are done. It's actually a very interesting subject and has some interesting parallels…" I kind of trailed off of the thought and hoped no one noticed. I didn't want them to know this entire place seemed like a video game.

"You didn't finish what you were saying." I heard Iser say.

"I promise I'll finish that statement up later but some of it might be… distracting..." I said hesitantly.

We entered the dungeon proper, I could not really tell where the world ended and the dungeon began. They sort of flowed together in a sort of gradient.

"Alright… be ready for anything and keep an eye on your partners." Root said.

We continued to talk down a corridor of natural rock that slowly turned to stone bricks. We were eventually greeted by a wooded iron bound door a bit larger than normal.

"Hey should I purchase the skill that allows me to identify stuff? I think I can use mana to search out some hidden stuff." I said.

Orlo responded "Yes please, I'm the only one in the group so far who can do it as well. Mine is more a social version anyway. What's yours called?"

I then upgraded it and sent a pulse out.

"Mines called i-dentify, where the letter I is replaced with the word 'eye'." I said.

"Hehe ouch that's one bad pun but yeah I suspect it's better then mine for this kind of task." Orlo replied

I could identify the door, the stones in the ceiling, walls, and floor.

"Sorry, one second getting used to this. It's going a much further range and I kind of get a mental sense of what's around me. I can then focus on specifics. Also ouch that used like 25 mana." I said.

"If it can find traps more easily then I won't care if it used all your mana." Root said.

"The door looks clear for me" I said.

"Agreed" replied Orlo.

"Open it then you and I peek in the threshold?" I asked.

"As long as I don't stick my head in there first, sure." Orlo replied.

The door was opened and we were greeted with a stone room completely black but only partly due to lack of light.

I sent out a wave of mana infused perception, it was kind of like how I thought RADAR might work. I figured Orlo did something similar as well.

"Nothing unusual so far." Said Orlo.

I was still processing and said "Hold on, I'm not done checking the entire room… also this is going to take some getting used to."

It took me maybe a minute more to be comfortable with the results, mostly just sorting out in my head the mental image I was experiencing.

"The room feels almost clear but I am picking up a sort of 'darker' essence around the room as well, not strong though." I said after a moment.

"O yeah… you're definitely beats mine… if I can go back to just being our quartermaster and organizer I have no problems with that." Orlo said.

We tossed in two light gems then after a few seconds Lluvia went in. Turnip and Root by the door leaving a clear space open in the center.

"It's safe, we likely have a Dungeon entrance room here." Lluvia said.

Everyone let out a small sign of relief. These were considered safe spaces in a Dungeon and could be used to rest and recuperate. We all entered the room carefully, in the room we were greeted by a second door just opposite the first. The room itself was about 15 feet by 15 feet in size and was just bare cut stone.

"Marks I leave down should stick around at least while we are active here in the dungeon correct?" I asked.

"Yes, please mark this room if you have a code please let us know." Root said.

I pulled out some chalk that I could infuse with a small bit of mana to glow and was slightly resistant to water and being rubbed away.

I added a little house symbol to represent a safe place. I then marked next to the door we just came through with an arrow and a 'sphere' to represent the world.

Next to the door we planned on taking I put an arrow and a little cartoon drawing of a castle with a dungeon below it then I circled the dungeon.

"How does that work for everyone?" I asked, the entire process was done quicker than I would have expected and the drawing didn't look like my normal crappy ones either.

"That actually works very well at a glance even." Iser said and Orlo was nodding next to them.

"Hmm I wonder" I said then wrote 'world' above the world side and 'dungeon' below the dungeon side. I focused on both words to be in English as I wrote.

"That's your script right?" Lluvia asked.

"Yeah at least one of them… this is called English.” I replied.

"With the drawing I feel like I can almost understand it now. That's a really weird feeling." She continued.

"Next Room?" Root asked.

"Yep first floor, Orlo and Nicole you're up." Lluvia said after quickly opening the door and waiting a second before looking in herself.

I let out a pulse and let my Wondering pather expand my perception of the next space. It was still dark to me but dark in the way a bedroom can be dark. A messy bedroom where you know you were you threw your pants but trip over them anyway in the dark anyway.

We tossed out a light gem leaving just one in the entryway. That one would stay here until we left.

"Open space with no real roof or ceiling. Flagstone ground but not sensing anything really off about them. A bit uneven but that seems to be most of them. Built kind of like a court yard if I had to guess. Nothing about the air I can tell and not detecting any enemies besides that slight darkness I was feeling in this room." I said.

Thinking back I had not done an examination of this room for that.

"One sec I want to check this room for that dark feeling energy" I said then looked around.

Nothing jumped out at me, I just saw stone and some small roots or fines poking through. I could sense it but I could not really pinpoint it.

"Ok I'll try to keep a lookout for anything odd but nothing is jumping out at me right now." I said.

"Understood." Root said.

Same pattern as before Lluvia stepping in with Root and Turnip just behind and to the sides ready to help pull her back in.

"Looks good." Lluvia said and we all moved into the first proper room.