Getting geared up burned through almost the entirety of their savings, even when only buying the basics: sturdy boots, backpacks, higher-quality daggers for the two melee fighters, and, lastly, a magical lantern, a small stone affixable to their clothing which emanated a bright white glow.

The lantern was the most interesting to Morgana, being her second encounter with System spell designs. The smooth circular stone—with a clip on the back—held a tiny engraved diagram detailing the stone's magical purpose. Unlike the clumsy-rated [Magic Missile], the design was simple, straightforward, and elegant. Not nearly as interesting as the System's combat spell, but nonetheless a display of mastery.

"How do they know how to do this?" Morgana asked, turning the stone over in her hands and inspecting it as they walked, headed for the dungeon entrance. "Whoever made it?"

"Hm?" Vesper asked. "The [Artificer], you mean?"

"They know how spell designs work?" Morgana had thought this world ignorant of that particular field. Or was the System somehow holding their hand when they engraved the rock with the light-emitting formula, much like the System did for mages and their combat spells?

Vesper blinked. "I'd figure they just know."

"Just know," Morgana repeated, shaking her head in incredulity. She hadn't expected any other answer, but still. That familiar outrage bubbled up, as it always would when learning about how thoroughly the System cheated for these people.

She was sure a real artificer from back home would be even more indignant. Their schooling was nearly as thorough as Morgana's own—as any field involved with the arcane.

"It's quite impressive, regardless," she murmured. "I realize it's just a simple light emission spell, but I don't think I could have done better myself."

Vesper blinked. "You could make something like that? You're an artificer too?"

"Hardly. I just meant the spell formula. There's much more that goes into artificing than that, though."

"Like what?"

"Material choice, physical design, mana interfacing, and stuff I wouldn't even know about, I'm sure," Morgana said. "It's not my area of expertise. Of course, something as simple as this," she waved the tiny light-emitting rock around, "I could manage. Just have to engrave the spell formula into the stone." Her brow furrowed. "Except…it apparently doesn't draw on mana. I don't see a battery array, either. How is that possible? What fuels it?"

Vesper shrugged. "It has a shelf life, so maybe they fill it up when they make it."

"Plausible," Morgana said. "But again, I don't understand how." Definitely, it had to do with the deeper workings of the System itself. Like how her own internal mana reserves worked. "I really am curious how all of this functions. Concretely. Scientifically."

Vesper spared her an amused look. "How about for the next eight hours, you be scientifically curious about killing monsters? Not our lantern."

Morgana sniffed. "If a real level one mage can handle the dungeon, then I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Don't be cocky," Flint grunted. "Even if you're probably right. Dungeons are dangerous. Pretending they aren't is how people end up dead." He gave a pointed look at Vesper, but Vesper just stuck her tongue out in response.

Morgana pursed her lips. She forced herself to acknowledge Flint's point. While she might be bringing in a lot more firepower than a normal level one would, that didn't mean they were taking a stroll through the park. She didn't really know what she was in for, so she shouldn't downplay the risks.

The town of Quarrygate had sprung up not far from the dungeon's entrance, less than a mile away. In a handful of minutes, she had already caught sight of the gaping hole in the ground that made up the original copper mine. Descending down the sloping ramp, Morgana's eyes sought out the dungeon entrance, gravitating naturally to where others were grouped. Two other parties of adventurers were standing there, either chatting or having just returned, along with what Morgana assumed to be guards—since civilians did need a permit to enter the dungeon, with 'regular folk' being denied access. No doubt to stop idiots from getting themselves killed. Though that happened in large numbers nonetheless. Flint's concerns didn't come from nowhere: the lethality rates in dungeons were quite high, even when only active members of guilds were allowed inside.

Getting closer, Morgana took in the dungeon entrance itself. It was rather nondescript: a simple mine tunnel, a hole cut into the rock supported by wooden beams. Morgana idly wondered how long it had sat there unnoticed before people realized it was a dungeon entrance, not a feature of the old copper mine. Or were there ways to locate dungeons?

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Okay," Vesper said. "We're sure we're ready? That we want to do this?"

"Bit too late to turn back now," Flint said dryly. "We just spent every coin we own on gear."

"Still."

"I'm ready," Morgana said.

Vesper looked at them one more time, then nodded.

After showing their guild badges to the guard at the entrance, the three of them entered the dungeon.

Though somewhat dismissive of the threat this place posed, Morgana nonetheless stayed alert. While her reasoning might be sound—that if a [Mage] with the terrible [Magic Missile] that had come originally with her class could survive, then she certainly would—that didn't mean she had nothing to worry about. She had a powerful spell, but she still needed to aim it, along with identify the enemy itself. She wasn't combat trained, either, so there would be at least some challenge posed. Hence, she needed to stay alert.

They ventured deeper into the mine shaft. The light from the entrance faded rapidly, the soft white glow from their lantern taking over, washing across the dirt and stone walls. Wooden beams supported the excavation every twenty feet or so, the clean wood looking freshly installed.

The layout of the dungeon shifted and morphed in strange ways, customizing to each adventuring party that entered. While it was possible to map their own progress through the dungeon, it would be meaningless on their next trip, or to any other group they passed the information off to. The current layout would be consistent for them and them alone.

"Remember to watch for traps," Flint grunted, eyes scanning the darkness in the same manner Vesper's and even Morgana's were. But perhaps with a bit more acuity.

"Obviously," Vesper said.

"Just saying."

"Watch out for monsters too," Vesper said sarcastically. "Am I helping?"

"You're obnoxious, you know that?"

"Stop bickering," Morgana said, equally amused and unamused at the siblings' antics. "Stay focused."

They made slow, careful progress through the tunnel. Morgana scoured the floor, walls, and ceiling for anything suspicious, but found only, well, mineshaft. They turned a corner, and the last dregs of light coming from the entrance disappeared. The next party in after them wouldn't be able to follow; they were on their own customized path, now.

The first monster didn't lunge out at them from the darkness. Rather, they were the ones to find it. But that didn't come as a great relief. A chill went down Morgana's spine, looking at the thing hanging from the ceiling.

***

Unseen Lurker

Level 1

***

A spider.

Not just a spider.

A pitch-black, two-foot-long arachnid with a tiny body and huge, jagged legs that splayed out in eight directions, clinging to the ceiling not more than two dozen feet ahead of them—the light from their lantern brushing against it. They had frozen as soon as its horrifying form had come into view.

Vesper turned a disgusted face toward Morgana, who, for her own part, was vaguely aware of her expression having contorted into one of horror.

A spider?

Really?

Morgana raised her hand, pointing an accusing finger at the bone-chilling creation hanging lazily on the ceiling. At least she had no qualms about killing something like that.

She called forth her modified [Magic Missile]. The white-blue lines of the spell engraved into the air. The spider twitched as if alerting to the danger, sensing the magic, but it couldn't react in time, not against a mage as proficient as Morgana. In less than a quarter of a second, the bolt of magical energy had already been invoked and activated, the energy bursting into existence and streaking forward.

The missile hit the spider square in the center of its body. In terms of offensive manifestation, spells of the arcane element behaved similarly to lightning, if much weaker, since both were types of pure energy. As such, the missile scorched an enormous blackened spot into the spider's carapace, showering spider gore in all directions. Even as far as the three of them were standing, Morgana flinched as droplets of liquid hit her face.

The spider's corpse fell to the ground with a thud. Just to be sure, Morgana pelted off another [Magic Missile]. She wasn't taking chances with a meter-long spider.

A few moments of silence passed, the group staring tensely at its corpse. Then, they relaxed.

"Oh, gods," Vesper gagged, wiping her face clear, having been hit by some of the gore as well. Probably more since she'd been a few steps closer. "Ew. Gross."

"That was easier than I'd expected," Flint said mildly, brushing off a piece of spider carapace off himself with far less disturbance than his two teammates. "If…messier."

"Maybe turn it down a bit?" Vesper asked Morgana. "It fucking popped. That's seriously a [Magic Missile]?"

Morgana was likewise hurriedly wiping away the stray droplets of…whatever…had hit her face. Going into the dungeon, she'd been prepared for danger, but, illogically, not viscera. Looking at the grotesque sight of the exploded spider, Morgana fought down her nausea.

"Oh, stop being babies, both of you," Flint said, rolling his eyes. "It's a good thing it was so easy. Definitely don't make your spells weaker. I'd rather be a bit dirty than risk injury." He glanced at Morgana, then blinked. "You aren't going to vomit, are you?"

Morgana finished steadying her stomach. She was probably a bit pale. "Of course not," she said, though she firmly kept her eyes away from the mess she'd made. "I'm a researcher, though. An academic. Not a warmage. Pardon me if I don't like seeing creatures explode."

Flint snorted. "You're the one that did it. And, for the record, I do like seeing them explode. That's silver in our pocket. Literally."

"He's right about that," Vesper said, having recovered from her disgust faster than Morgana. "Look. That light flowing off of it. That means it dropped loot."

Morgana risked a quick glance toward the spider corpse. Indeed, a wisp of bright white light streamed from the mangled remains, curling high into the air. From earlier conversations, Morgana knew that meant there was 'loot' inside the body. Though not 'inside' in any traditional sense. Rather, a menu accessed through inspecting their victory.

***

Lootable corpse of [Unseen Lurker, Level 1]

- [Lurker Leg] x 3

- [Copper Coin] x 4

***

"Three legs?" Morgana said, perplexed. "But there's clearly eight of them."