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Ava walked along the forest floor carefully following behind her party's front line made up of her childhood friend and personal maid Lia and her commoner friend Hal. As the support she was placed in the center of the formation with their party’s Mage Jay to her right and their party’s Rogue Z to her left. The formation was meant to be flexible as Z often needed to scout ahead or sneak forward to flank an enemy. Right now Z was doing a whole lot of nothing, just flipping his daggers up and down out of boredom. Frankly, she didn’t blame him, they had taken a quest to clear out a small troop of Inferno Apes which were only a lesser rank creature and if they were living in this region their levels wouldn’t be higher than 15 at the most.
Not really a threat for a Copper ranked party whose lowest level was her own at level 14. Lia and Z were both level 16, Hal was level 18, and Jay was level 20. Although Jay’s high level was only because he planned on raising his skills before his next rank up. It was important to try and rank up your class while low leveled since anytime you did your level would be reset as the experience you had was compressed into the power of a higher ranked class. It was standard for every Adventurer to try and get at least a Greater Class or else they wouldn’t be effective enough to even reach 1 star.
In their party the only ones who didn’t have their Greater Class yet were Jay and Hal. Jay because he refused to start his rank up without first upgrading his affinity from Ice to Blizzard. Hal however was born a commoner to a guard and a baker, he just hasn’t had many chances to raise either his level or skill until he joined the adventurers guild and our party. It took us months of adventuring to get Hal his Lesser Class upgrade which he needed just to be on the same level as the rest of us. But it was worth it, his personality makes him the perfect tank and everyone is looking forward to what his Greater Class upgrade will bring.
As we continued our walk through the Ferlin Forest Z stopped us, his daggers falling to his hands and not being thrown back up, “Stop, I can see a trail, looks like Jay’s Target.” Z said aloud causing everyone to stop.
“You know we agreed on this quest as a party right? Even if we only did it so Jay can try to raise his skills in a 1v5 against a bunch of flaming monkeys” Lia said in a light way that conveyed she was (mostly) joking. Everyone in the party gave a smile or slight chuckle to her comment, Lia was much less reserved when it was just us around and it put all of us at ease.
“Jokes aside, the flaming monkeys are this way.” Z said moving to the front of the formation so he could scout while following the trail.
“I know you guys are making fun of me, but you do know that their Inferno Apes right? Monkeys are a different classification entirely.” Jay said, he didn’t mind us joking around but when it came to a job he always preferred being clear on the details. He’s also a bookworm who’s read everything the mage and adventurers guild let him.
“Yes Jay, we know” I say, placing my hand on his shoulder and giving him a smile. “Now, we need to be serious. Our quarry is close and we still need to act like this is a real mission with possible threats.” I finish using my stern leader voice so that everyone knows to take this seriously from now on, no point in letting bad habits form.
The Party all nod their agreement to me and we continue forwards, Hal stepping next to Z so that he's ready to jump in front whenever needed. As we continue following the trail we reach a charred clearing that’s still slightly smoking.
“Well, I think I found our target, at least what’s left of them” Z says as the rest of us enter the clearing. The smoldering remains of several incinerated trees and plants fill the clearing with a haze of smoke that clings unnaturally to the ground. The remains of 4 Inferno Apes are scattered about the clearing, they’ve suffered large puncture wounds and have huge pieces bitten out of them along with horrible claw marks that look like the work of a razor sharp sword. Blood and organs are scattered about the stench only being blocked by the smoke.
“Looks like you won’t be getting that skill up Jay” Lia says as she looks around the clearing with a grimace.
“Guys, look, drag marks. Whatever did this took at least one back to its lair.” Z points out an indentation in the ground that leads towards the Farza Mountains.
Everyone turns to look towards me. Great, well I did agree to be the party leader. Ok let’s think about this. Whatever was able to tear apart a pack of level 10-15 Inferno apes should either be a higher leveled creature in its high 20’s or a higher rank creature of a similar or lower level. Using that logic it's easy to remove a high level creature from the equation, something more than 10 levels above wouldn’t bother with such weak prey. That means we’re looking at something that's in the tens to teens in level and is a greater or better ranked creature. The mana levels of the Ferlin Forest aren’t high enough to sustain greater creatures, so it either is something hunting from the mountains or . . . a new dungeon.
“We Investigate, odds are this is either a fresh youngling from the mountains looking for easy experience or it's a dungeon hunting for new creatures. If the drag marks lead us above the halfway point on the mountains we agree it's a monster and report back to the guild, if it's a new level 10 dungeon” I trailed off, everyone knew that a new dungeon would be a great find, especially if it matched any of our affinities. Discovering a low level dungeon so close to home would give our party a chance to do more rank ups meaning we might be able to raise our Classes up to Superior or even Legendary quality, as the ones to discover the dungeon we’ll get priority delves on it. A rule put in place to stop people from concealing dungeons as secret training grounds.
With our course decided we place Hal and Lia in front and follow the drag marks. They become faint at some points but Z is always able to correct our course as we steadily approach the base of Farza Mountains. The Farza Mountain Chain makes up the entire eastern border of our kingdom and is known as the Impassable Wall due to the fact that the mountains rise quickly and sharply from the earth and are one of the widest mountain ranges in the world. Legend says they were made by a Mythical Ranked Earth beast when it rampaged through the lands. Others say the mountains are the domain of a Spirit or God of the earth. Either way these mountains have made the eastern side of the kingdom safe from enemy armies since its founding.
As we reach minute 40 of our walk we finally reach the sudden imposing wall of stone that is the Farza mountains. It really does resemble a wall more than a mountain, but its slight slope and winding cliffs still make it a habitable place for many a beast. As we continue to approach the foot of the mountains we can already see several caves in the cliff face that lead into deeper burrows, but the one that immediately stands out to all of our mana senses is also the one that the drag marks lead to.
“Well I think we have our answer” Hal says thoughtlessly, speaking up for the first time in over an hour.
The hole in the cliffside not only has an immense amount of mana pouring out of it, but there is also clearly light coming out from the inside of the cave. This is definitely a dungeon and if we’re the first to report back then that means we’re the ones to discover it.
“Ok, it's a dungeon, now group vote. Do we do the first dive now or report back to the guild first?” I say making sure to get my party’s input since this decision could affect all of our futures.
The Party all agree to delve it now without a hint of hesitation. An expected result since the more information we’re able to provide, the better the benefits will be for us.
“Ok, Main formation, Z no scouting till we know what we're dealing with, we don’t want to risk that this dungeon has leveled from monsters and we already know it has at least one high class creature.” I speak the orders quickly, deciding to go with maximum caution here. A fresh dungeon is a huge unknown and it's impossible to know the level of danger until you're already in it.
As our party moves forward into the dungeon we all immediately stop after coming through the entrance, entranced by the sight in front of us. It looks like the edges of the primal forest in the south, like an untouched woodland teeming with life. However, cutting through that illusion is the pristine stone tiled path that leads straight from the entrance to a massive tree in the center of the floor. The path wouldn’t look out of place in a city, which makes it really stand out in an overgrown forest. Even more impressive is the illusion that we’re still outside, it's perfect. From the feeling of the sun on my face to the gentle breeze that rustles the leaves of the trees. Even the sky looks just like outside with a blue color and white clouds.
“Are we sure we didn’t enter a portal to another world?” Lia says looking over to myself and Jay for confirmation.
“We just walked through a cave, there was no portal magic, although I’m not the expert on it.” Jay says before looking over at me.
I give an exasperated sigh before responding “I didn’t sense any Space Mana or even Aether Mana being used on us we’re definitely in a cave, but the simulation of being outdoors is impressive. On the note of mana I have some more great news.” I say with a smile as the others all turn to me expectantly “This is a Wyld Affinity Dungeon, I could feel both the mana in the air and the experience modifier being placed on me” I say and the rest of the party gives a small cheer. Wyld dungeons are some of the most profitable ones due to the herbs found within them and they're also popular as training ground for new healers like myself.
“Alright, time to get serious. We’re in a new dungeon that has a Wyld Affinity. That likely means either beast type or plant type monsters. Do we take the incredibly obvious stone path or one of the dirt trails?” I ask the rest of the party to check for their input. As the party leader I’m supposed to just take charge, but I only like doing that when we’re in actual danger. Since this is the entrance of the dungeon this is likely the last time I’ll be able to ask their opinions until we’re finished with the dungeon.
“I think the stone path is a safe zone of some kind” Jay says while crouched down and examining the tiled stone of the path before us. “It has some kind of dungeon rule embedded into it, it gives the impression of safety but it doesn’t feel like a normal safe zone does.”
“What do you mean?” Lia says from her position ahead of us
“Normal safezones all have the same feel to them that let you know through mana that it's a safe space within the dungeon where the monsters can’t enter or attack you. This one has all that but it also has more to the dungeon rule.” Jay explains while moving forward to examine another stone tile
“Is it a false safezone?” Lia says in a worried tone. A false safezone uses enchantment or mind magic to lure you into thinking it’s safe when it isn’t. The reason that implication is so concerning is because the lowest level dungeon a false safe zone has been found in was a level 140 dungeon.
“It's not a false safezone. We would be able to tell unless the dungeon is already level 40. False safezones only work on those not expecting it or people significantly lower leveled than the dungeon.” Jay says dispersing our worries
“Ok then, so it's a Safezone with an extra clause? Or something like that?” I ask Jay trying to figure out what to make of this
“Maybe this dungeon fixed the safezone loophole” Z says jokingly only to stop laughing when he sees the face that Jay makes “Don’t tell me I’m right”
“You actually might be right. How couldn’t I see this before!” Jay says excitedly while leaning even closer to the path and scrutinizing the stone tiles. “The mana that makes up the dungeon rule has an exemption that allows monsters to enter the safezone to attack anyone who violates the spirit of the safezone rule!” Jay is practically yelling as he tells us his discovery. “This dungeon is going to be the bane of the trappers guild” Jay chuckles an evil laugh, he really dislikes the trappers guild. But to be fair they do cheat their way through dungeons.
“Well good to know, everyone, no attacking from inside a safezone. Don’t want this dungeon to think we’re rude guests after all” I say to conclude Jay's rant before it starts and get us back on track. “So If that’s the case I think we should try one of the dirt paths so that we can get a look at what the monsters are before facing the boss. We can take the safe path back to make sure it's what we think it is.” I say my piece and give the rest of the group time to chime in.
“Sounds good to me, let's do it” Hal answers for the rest of the group hefting up his tower shield from where he had it rested on the ground and positioning himself into his ready stance.
We move onto the left dirt path and start to walk down it as we reach the point where we can no longer see the entrance Z whips around and throws a dagger behind us. The sound of flesh and bone being pierced fills my ears followed the death throes of a beast. Everyone turns to see what we’re up against.
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A Large tawny brown cat, common to the lower reaches of the mountains, a Prowler. I can’t check its level because it's dead but Z informs us that it was a Prowler (Mundane) Level 2.
“A Level 2 mundane class creature?” I say looking at Z for confirmation, after he nods the affirmative I turn to the rest of the party. “This is potentially the most valuable dungeon in the kingdom, perhaps even on the whole continent.” I say with a serious tone. As the party all nods in understanding and we continue forwards.
Dungeons always have a level cap, as far as we can tell that level is equivalent to the number of floors they have times 10. Some people theorize that this means that dungeons have a leveling system 10X more concentrated than our own, but it's just insane to think that a level 1 could control a level 10, much less a level 14 control something level 140. Most dungeons always respawn their creatures at the highest level they can across all their floors, this means that a level 40 dungeon will have 4 floors of level 40 creatures making it a great place to level from 30 to 40, but the problem is that it's useless for anyone outside its level range. Then there are what are known as training dungeons. These dungeons keep the max level of each of their floors equal to what they started as, meaning a level 40 training dungeon would have 4 floors each filled with monsters of the floors level x10. Training dungeons are so valuable because they can be used to raise someone's level from 1 all the way to whatever the dungeon's level is all without them ever needing to go to another place.
However this is the first ever dungeon to intentionally keep monsters below its floor's level cap, not even training dungeons do that. If this pattern holds for the rest of the floor then the Adventurers guild in Brahmstone will become a whole lot busier as recruits from all across the kingdom begin to move here for this dungeon. This dungeon might be our blessing from the gods for all the things we’ve had to deal with up until now. The only member of our party that has a family that still loves them is Hal, and he's also the only member of the party from a peasant family. I honestly envy him sometimes, his mother makes the best pies and gives the best hugs.
As we continue along the path the trend holds up we’re attacked by 3 more solo prowlers who all range from levels 1-3 before encountering pairs who are leveled 3-6 before finally fighting groups of 3 whose levels are between 7 and 10. The other thing we notice about the groups is that there is never more than a single level 10 in them.
“This dungeon is going to be insanely popular” Z states the obvious with a wide grin on his face. I can tell he’s already thinking about how much we’ll get from being the ones to discover what is likely the greatest dungeon find since the 3 star metal dungeon.
“Definitely, unfortunately, if we want to keep it I’ll have to inform my father” I say suppressing a grimace. My father was the viscount of the region and the ruler of Brahmstone, but he’s also a terrible dad who tossed me away the minute he learned that I didn’t have the family affinity for space magic. My mother was only his 2nd wife and I got my affinity from her father’s side. Unfortunately I needed to inform him of the dungeon ahead of time so that he could make the proper moves to keep the rest of the nobility from stealing it away.
“Look on the bright side Ava, he’ll be forced to interact amicably with you if he wants any major benefits from the dungeon” Lia said with a sinister smile, she shared my hatred of father, but only in private since she was still technically employed by him.
“Nah, I bet 2 silvers that the old bastard pushes it onto his sons, since at least Ava likes her brothers” Z says, he’s always enthusiastic about a winning bet.
“At least I’ll get to actually spend time with Merlin and Axestrom if he pushes the responsibility onto them.” I say trying to stop the rest of the group from talking about my relationship with my father.
Lia catches on and steers the conversation towards my brothers who I actually get along with. We continue to chat, letting Jay and Hal practice their skills on the low level prowlers we encounter. I make sure to always keep an eye out just in case and I can tell Z is as well from the way his hand stays close to his throwing knives.
Fortunately the pattern of groups of 3 continues until we reach the end of the path. An absolutely massive tree stands before us. It's even larger than the Ancient Oak’s that I saw when Merlin took me to the Primal Forest. I attempt to view the tree’s tag only to get a Tag:Blocked back from the system. Dungeons had the ability to obscure the tags of special objects which implies that this tree is important somehow.
I continue to look around the area we’re in. It has the appearance of a plaza with the tree in the center as opposed to a fountain. A stream runs along both edges of the plaza with many fruiting trees of various kinds circling in the area and creating a relaxing atmosphere. There are several wooden and stone benches around the plaza as well as a large stone plaque that is placed on the tree facing the stone tiled path that leads back to the entrance.
As Jay said earlier I can feel the familiar feeling of a safezone from this place and I can tell that it's a different rule from a normal safezone. Since I already know what the difference is I don’t feel any discomfort instead only feeling the sense of security that comes from being inside a safezone.
With wordless agreement we break our formation into a more relaxed grouping and all walk towards the stone plaque. Up close the tree feels even bigger than it did from a distance, looming over us as we begin to read the plaque. The writing is written in Dungeon Script, a special type of writing unique to dungeons which causes anyone who reads it to do so in their native language.
Welcome to the Eternal Dungeon where life springs endlessly from the branches and roots of the World Tree Wyla. All who enter this place shall face challenges, struggles, and trials as well as adventure. Overcoming adversity shall be rewarded and failure shall be mourned. However all who carry the token of Wyla shall live to fail again and again so long as the rules of this realm are followed.
Reach out and place your hands upon the World Tree’s Trunk in order to receive the first of Wyla’s Blessings. May your sense of wonder and adventure be Eternal.
“Wow, that’s some plaque right there. Did the dungeon name itself or do you think it's a legacy dungeon?” Hal says, I can practically see his eyes brimming with excitement at what the plaque promised. Although some of it seemed strange, not sure what `live to fail again` is supposed to mean, maybe the dungeon won’t kill us if we have this token?
“We should accept the token” I begin to say. “This is a safezone so the dungeon can’t do anything to harm us without breaking its own rule. It also seems like whatever these tokens are will be tied to the rest of the dungeon somehow, like a key item.”
Key items were usually dropped from special events and bosses and were required for activating other events, bosses, or sometimes they were needed to progress floors. It was common for dungeons to implement key items as a way to stop certain builds from skipping past challenges.
I place my hands on the tree, on Wyla, and begin to see a green glow that traces the edges of my hands. After a short moment of build up a wooden charm appears before me floating in front of my face. I take my hands off of Wyla and pick up the charm checking its tag as I do so.
Eternal Token of Wyla (Soulbound Dungeon Item)
This is a soulbound token that will bond with the user's system and unlock functions pertaining to the Eternal Dungeon.
Unlocks the Eternal Coin Purse
Unlocks the Progression Tracker
(More Features currently Locked)
“Everyone get a token! It's a soulbound dungeon item!” I exclaim excitedly. Everyone else is quick to join my excitement and they all crowd around the tree to claim their tokens. A Soulbound Dungeon Item is the highest quality item a dungeon can give, while they have limited use outside of the dungeon they’re from, they often lead to great rewards. The 3 star metal dungeon has a Soulbound Dungeon Item that it drops on floor 5 and if you then make it all the way to floor 30 and beat all the bosses, it turns into Soulbound Class Item.
With the whole party now having their tokens we take a quick 10 minute rest in the safezone before moving on. Z and Hal decide to try and sample all the fruits that grow around the plaza and turn it into a game where they see who can get the highest fruit on a tree. They eventually goad the rest of us into joining their game which was a fun way to relax and enjoy our break.
“Ok, I think everyone is well rested, and well fed” I say looking at the fruit stains that cover the front of Hal’s shirt. “It's time to keep moving, we don’t know what’s next so be prepared for anything.” With my piece said we all move into formation and take the left path that leads further into the dungeon.
We walk for quite awhile, about 10 minutes, without encountering anything. Everyone is starting to go on edge, in the previous zones attacks happened rather frequently so not having any so far has been worrying. Just as I’m second guessing my choice of path I see Z snap his attention behind us, the look in his eyes is terrified and he’s looking directly behind me. I make a snap judgment and roll to the left while beginning to cast Armor of Thorns on the whole party.
I made the right call as a huge object goes flying over my head only to be intercepted by Hal’s shield as he spins around to stop our new foe. A Prowler that’s larger than I am, maybe 50% larger than the mundane ones from earlier in the dungeon. I check its tag Prowler (Lesser) Level 5 wait level 5, the pattern! “SECOND ONE IN FRONT!” I call out without looking up using my knowledge of the previous prowlers to try and predict their tactics.
I hear the clang of fang on steel and stand up to see Hal and Z engaged with the prowler that tried to ambush me from behind, while Lia and Jay hold off another prowler from the front. Looks like my call out was the right move as I can see from Lia’s position that she had to move to guard Hal’s back. I finish my cast of Armor of Thorns giving the whole party a defensive buff that reflects melee damage. I start a cast of rejuvenate and use my only Superior Skill Dual Cast to place a rejuve on both Hal and Lia giving them a heal over time so that they can take more damage.
With his new buffs Hal uses Shield Bash to knock the prowler back and give him enough room to use Heavy Strike on the prowler's head. His blow causes the beast to stagger giving Z enough of an opening to use Shadow Pierce his best attack skill. Z’s dagger is wreathed in an aura of shadows as he drives it down behind the prowler's skull and into its spine. With the sound of cracking bone the prowler goes limp, its head half decapitated by Z’s powerful skill.
I turn to Lia and Jay to see their prowler is also finished. Jay used Frost Grip to root the prowler’s legs in place which allowed Lia to use her only Superior skill Combo Strike to combine her Heavy Strike and Blade of Light into Heavy Blade of Light slicing the monster in half lengthways.
“Heal Check” I say aloud while looking over everyone for any injuries.
“I got enough from the rejuve” Hal says
“Same here” Lia responds
“I’m all clear, your call out was enough” Jay informs me
“I took a scratch from a side swipe, nothing major” Z tells me in his laid back manner.
“Well then let me heal you idiot” I say beginning a cast of Lesser Heal that should be enough to patch up his wounds.
“I’d normally tell you to save mana, but I guess being inside a Wyld dungeon negates that argument” Z says with a grin and he tilts his wounded side towards me so that my heal can target it. He’s right, being in a matching affinity dungeon gives an experience boost, but it also makes it easier to recover mana since it's already matched closer to your natural alignment. That’s why I felt no need to hold back in that fight and used my strongest defensive spell and my only superior skill. Although I am worried about Lia using hers since her mana pool isn’t as large as mine due to her classes' split caster/fighter nature.
“Lia, how's your mana?” I ask, looking at her.
“It’s fine” She responds by dodging my question. I give her my best mom/leader stare until her will withers away beneath my stern gaze. “Fine, I’m at 32% roughly, enough for 1 more use of Combo Strike and maybe 2 healing lights if I stretch it” Lia says with an ashamed tone, she knew that she went overboard with that move. Their monster was already immobilized; she could’ve killed it with just her passive sword skills.
I sigh, “It’s fine. We’ll keep moving, no more skills from you unless it's life or death. If you're not back to 100% by the time we reach the boss we’re not fighting it.” I say definitively, ending any arguments she might try to make. “Ok, let’s keep moving, heads on a swivel everyone, Diamond formation.” I give my orders and we continue moving through the dungeon.
The next few encounters are a lot easier with Lia in the back and Hal in the front; it's easy to intercept any ambushes that happen. We all make sure to take it seriously and work together so that we don’t get overwhelmed. Everyone but me is saving as much of their mana as they can in preparation for the boss, which means we’re mostly using passive skills and the damage reflection from my Armor of Thorns to kill the lesser prowlers.
After fighting off several more pairs and groups of prowlers we finally reach the end of the path. The path terminates at a clearing that opens up into a rocky feature resembling the mountains outside but the stone is in shades of brown instead of gray. As we enter this clearing we can immediately see the large waterfall that cascades down the brown rocks and feeds several streams that wind further into the floor. There is also a large cave on a platform raised about 12 feet up on the rocky feature.
As our party reaches the halfway point from the forest to the rocks a loud roar fills the clearing as a new prowler variant strides out of the cave onto the platform followed by 3 more lesser prowlers. This new variant is twice as large as the mundane prowlers and has a flowing tawny mane of shaggy hair around his neck that frames his head and powerful jaws. He glares down at our party with a challenging stare as I check their tags.
Maned Prowler (Lesser) Level 10
Prowler (Lesser) Level 10
Prowler (Lesser) Level 10
Prowler (Lesser) Level 10
Yeah this is definitely the boss.