A few healthy screams later, Wil felt composed enough to respond to this latest development.
"Belle, why didn't you tell me it could talk?" He whispered towards her. The Treant turned its tiny head toward him when he spoke though.
That thing has some strong hearing, for a tree anyway. I wonder if my other trees can hear me... I'll try talking to one later.
Belle, for her part, just smiled and said, "Most if not all plants won't, by some miracle you managed to get one of the very few with any meaningful intelligence. Mom never told me much about the Treant Monster race because the odds of a Dungeon getting one are really low. The fact you got it at all, let alone on the first floor, is just not normal."
Great, I feel much better now. He thought sarcastically.
Wil knew he was flying blind here, so he decided to ask the source. He turned his full attention towards the tiny Treant and asked, "Can you understand me?"
It didn't seem to be much for talking, as it just nodded. All the leaves on the top of its head and back shimmered with the movement.
"Not one for talking... huh?" He felt a little absurd talking to a tree now.
Another head shake for the affirmative.
Belle swooped down from the top of his Core and went right into the Treants face. "Do you know what you are? Why you're here?"
The little tree didn't do much for a solid minute as it contemplated the most likely detailed answer it would give.
"Yes."
Belle let out a loud harrumph and tried again, "You are a Bound Monster, which means when the time comes you can leave the Dungeon. If you do though, me and Wil can't take care of you. The outside is dangerous for something like you..." She trailed off as small tears formed in her eyes. She seemed a little over emotional towards the new guest and Wil wasn't sure why.
The Treant just took a long look at her, then around the rest of the Core room. After what was most likely some intense deliberation, it spread the fingers on its tiny hands outwards.
"Home."
After its declaration, the fingers of its hands extended out towards Belle. The leaf tipped nail brushed against the side of the Guides cheek, and wiped away the small tear that had formed.
"Safe."
Wil felt his nonexistant heart melt at the small voice. It wasn't as high pitched as Belle's, but it was distinctly more childish.
Belle clearly wasn't prepared either, as she just rubbed the hand of the small Treant affectionately. Apparently some of her fears were assuaged with the answers the Bound Monster had given. Maybe she was able to gleam more meaning out of them than he could.
He cleared his throat to try to get the attention of the two and turned his focus back to the Treant, "Do you have a name? Can we name it, Belle, or is that not allowed?"
She had a small smile. "Usually, no. You can't name Monsters without turning them into a Boss. Bound Monsters are different though, a name will just be a name. It will be permanent though, so make sure you pick a good one."
Wil wasn't ready to make the choice immediately, he first needed to know more about the new addition to his Dungeon.
"Well Treant... Do you feel like a boy, or more like a girl?" He figured he ought to know the gender before he tried to give it a name.
Belle just burst out giggling, and sighed at his Core. "Wil. It's a tree."
He felt his Core turn a few shades brighter. Now embarrassed, he tried to salvage his pride. "Well how would I know! You made me pick, and I'm just a piece of mana. Why don't we just see what they have to say!" His voice had gone up a few octaves, but he felt he got his point across.
She just smiled again, then turned towards the Treant. "Well? I don't know much about your race, but I do know the Dryads are all female. If all the Treants creators are female, wouldn't that mean the personality would be the same?" She didn't seem very convinced, but Wil thought it was sound enough logic. Maybe?
"Their creator was both of us, though, so it could choose either. Or both, or none." He added. She shot him a glare, then looked to the Treant for its decision.
The newly born Treant was starting to look overwhelmed. They both watched the roots on its feet spread out, and afterwards a sense of calm seemed to come over the small tree. It stayed like that, rooted to the ground, for over ten minutes before it gave an answer.
"Sol." The Treant seemed extremely pleased with the answer it had given, Belle and Wil just stared at it in slight shock.
"Is that your name?" Wil asked.
Sol nodded.
"Well it is now, I love it! Welcome, Sol." Belle yelled out, muffled by the leaves in her face. She was busy hugging Sol.
"Well damn. I don't know if that's a boy, or a girls name. Do you, Belle?"
"Sol is a tree, you dork." She chided.
"Boy." Sol said, with more confidence than Wil thought possible from a plant.
"Others girl. Sol boy."
Belle didn't seem to understand, but Wil got the gist. "All the other Treants were made by women, so you want to be different?" Wil guessed. It made the most sense.
Sol just shrugged.
They were about to get into Sol and his reasoning, when another shiver wracked the Dungeon. "Ugh, why can't we get some alone time. I want to show Sol everything!" He yelled out towards the entrance.
"Brian said sunrise to sunset, this must be the last group. It's nearly dark outside." Belle sighed.
"Just wait right here Sol, once these mutants are out of our Dungeon me and Belle will show you your new home!" He was excited, this was an outcome he had not expected. He was glad to have Sol in the Dungeon though, that Treant was too cute for his own good.
"Mutants."
Belle giggled at that, and Wil felt his Core brighten in pride.
----------------------------------------
The last group of Adventurers enters the Dungeon for the first day.
"You're all good. Good luck cuties!" Holly said as she finished checking their Life Crystals.
"Keep a few seats warm at the bar for us, it won't take too long." Wren, a D rank Adventurer, called out towards the large woman. He turned towards his newly formed Adventuring group, and smiled.
Being one of the few Dwarves who traveled all the way to join the caravan had unnerved him, but when he was accepted with open arms by the two before him many of his worries had washed away.
He was of short stature, barely coming up to the waist of the Gigant. Sandy brown hair with streaks of gold covered the top of his head, and a well maintained beard the same color covered the majority of his face. His piercing green eyes saw everything as he walked towards the members of his team. Since he was the groups Mage, it was his job to look out for potential problems and put a stop to them before they became one.
"Thanks Holly, I'll bring back something cute for you!" Lana called out as she walked into the Dungeons entrance. She was the groups Fighter. It was up to her to protect the other members from harm on the front lines.
She was a heavy set woman with legs thick around as some trees. Short cropped brown hair framed rosy cheeks and fair skin. She wasn't as tall or muscular as Holly, though. That woman was a Gigant, and she was just a Human with a little extra meat on her bones.
"See you soon." Micah, the groups Cleric, calls out. A small human with an even smaller voice. He had dusky skin and short black hair in a messy cluster of tangles on the top of his head. As the other F rank Adventurer in the group, with Lana, he was feeling very nervous about his current situation. This will be the first time he had dived in a Dungeon, and he felt he should have had longer to prepare.
That boy is always so quiet, hopefully we can pull his nose out of those books and get him drunk tonight. Wren thought to himself.
He had only known the two a little over a month, but in that time they had had time to get to know one another. Lana was a strong front line Fighter, and could go head-to-head with the toughest Monster. Micah, while quiet, was an excellent support. It was rare to find a Cleric, and even rarer to get one into your group.
He sent a silent prayer to his Goddess for his good fortune. Then he took up the space behind Lana, but in front of Micah, and set out into the Dungeon.
Lana was practically vibrating with excitement, while Micah was vibrating in what Wren only guessed was anxiety.
"Focus up you two, this will be your first Dungeon dive. We don't need any unnecessary mistakes." He said for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm ready! So stop worrying about us and about this Dungeon. This is only your second Dungeon isn't it?" Lana asked without turning her head. She knew the answer, but Wren figured it helped to soothe her to talk while nervous.
"Yes. I had a dive over a year ago, but our team disbanded after a few runs in so I never got to experience much. Still know more than you though, shield for brains." Wren joked.
Micah let out a small laugh, and Lana turned around with a glare. Wren saw the poor man visibly wither under the gaze.
"The other teams all reported a hidden Serpent in the first room, so be on your guard. Apparently its extraordinarily crafty for a first floor Monster." He called out.
They reached the entrance, and Wren nearly laughed in surprise. Lana and Micah most likely didn't see it, but he saw it clear as day.
"Stop." He whispered.
Both didn't move, but just listened for what he would say.
These two are smarter than I give them credit for, at least they didn't freak out the moment something happened.
"It's above you Lana, hidden in the vines. When you see your chance, take it." He hoped she would understand. He wanted to give more detailed commands, but time was running out.
He focused the Mana in his body, and channeled it into an orb of water over five inches in diameter into the palm of his hand. Once formed, he froze it into the shape of a small spike and sent it hurtling towards where he spotted the Serpent.
The frozen icicle impacted somewhere above Lana, and she dove away as soon as he had released the spell.
She's fast.
As soon as the spell connected, she had already rolled far enough away to prepare herself for a finishing blow.
A gruesome hiss sounded out, and the Serpent fell away from the ceiling, a large hole missing from its body. Lana wasted no time and immediately went over to decapitate the Monster.
Once beheaded, the Monster returned into the original mana of the Dungeon and dispersed into a small amount of experience for the party. A few copper coins and some scales dropped as loot.
Micah calmly walked over and deposited the loot into his pouch. They had agreed beforehand he should carry the dropped items and focus on a more support oriented role. He didn't have much in the way of offensive power, so he was the de facto choice.
"Good work. Let's move on. Up next is a trapped hallway, at least according to the other groups."
The tunnel turned out to be a mess of Fake Floor and Falling Boulder traps, and took well over ten minutes before Wren felt confident enough to lead them through. His affinity wasn't suited to trap detection, but he had experience in the other Dungeon to give him an idea of what to expect. He walked ahead of the others and if any trap was set off Lana would immediately pull him back to safety. Micah waited in the back and healed any scrapes or bruises they received from the gauntlet of traps.
Once through, Wren steeled himself. The next room was where all other groups had failed.
"Eyes focused, stay sharp you two." He called out from the center of their formation.
He heard a small gasp from behind him once they entered the room, but he couldn't blame the Cleric. It was gorgeous. A stunning field of flowers purple and white coated the majority of the ground. Birds chirped in the air and towering bushes were spread all across the sunlit room.
Sunlight? I've never seen a Dungeon as bright as this one. Most that I know of were all dark, wet caves. Well, I guess it still is a cave.
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In the center of the room was a tree over 30ft in height, and Wren could see silver swirls running all over the bark. The leaves were yellow-green and covered the top in a whirlwind of color.
"I see two Monsters headed our way, they seem armored." Lana called out.
"Not armor. Spines." Micah said from behind them, just a slight hint of fear in his voice.
The leading Spineback picked up pace in its headlong charge, and crashed into Lana. She had her shield ready though, and took the rodent head on. While she was preoccupied the other tried to sneak past her guard and into the softer targets of Wren and Micah.
He didn't even hesitate, he grabbed the dagger at his side and slashed downwards into the charging Monster. Just because he cast spells didn't mean he would leave himself defenseless if the Fighter let one slip by.
As he stabbed into the beast, Micah came from behind him and smashed the Spineback across the face with his staff. Really it was just a stick of hardened wood reinforced with a bit of metal, but it did the trick.
As the two finished off the Spineback, they saw Lana neatly sever the head of the one in front of her. Her short-sword was now thoroughly coated in blood, and a few spines were sticking out of her wooden shield. Otherwise, she was unharmed.
Micah seemed to jolt, then yelled out. "Birds! Cover your ears!"
They all knew what that meant, they had heard the screams while outside the Dungeon and the last group to go in had given them a painful reminder on what caused it. Not a second after getting their fingers firmly lodged into their ears, an echo of a scream sounded out of the Dungeon.
Skraa!
It still hurt like hell, but it was tolerable. Once the sound ended Wren cast another Ice Shard spell towards the two Howlers and sent them to the grave.
"Nice shot, short-stack." Lana called out from in front of him. She was doing nicknames now. Fun.
"Only natural, shield for brains." He retorted with a small smile.
Micah ignored the two trying to make a nickname for him while he dug through the loot dropped by the four Monsters. A few feathers and some spines. They would sell decently in town, and the copper coins never hurt either.
He was so engrossed in counting the coins he didn't notice the two Serpents slinking towards him from beneath the grass and flowers. Both struck out simultaneously, latching on to a leg each. He didn't even have time to shout before Lana was at his side trying to hack the things off. Wren was forming another ice spell when he fell to the ground as well.
A third snake, waiting in ambush.
"Deal with those two, I'll be fine!" He called out while furiously stabbing into the spine of the Serpent. He knew if he panicked the venom would only coarse through his veins faster, so he made methodical and precise cuts into the Monster. Soon it dispersed into a cloud of mana and experience, and he rushed to help his Cleric.
"Gods that hurts! We might have to amputate the leg." Micah called out with a pale expression, he had already went through the stages of grief and landed on acceptance.
Both of the Serpents were on the ground, slashed and smashed to pieces. Wren just walked over and smacked him on the top of his head. "You're fine Princess, the worst that could happen is you pass out. You're a Cleric aren't you?! Heal yourself!"
Micah flushed a bright shade of red, which was impressive on the shade of his skin. "R-Right."
He focused for a brief moment, then called onto the Light affinity all Clerics possess. After a few seconds his face seemed to visibly relax, and he breathed a sigh. "All better." He meekly said.
He rolled his eyes and Lana just gave him a really hard pat on the back, causing Micah to wince.
"I promised the Herbalist I would get him some samples of the plants in here, please guard me." Micah said hesitantly.
"We already know, you drama queen, go pick your flowers. Me and Wren will keep you safe." Lana said with a wink.
Micah just turned around with a huff and got to his task, though Wren could swear he saw a slight tinge to the boys cheeks.
Once done, they returned to their standard formation and continued forward. They reached a large door that seemed to be made of the same wood as the tree in the center of the room. It was a lot sturdier than they thought, and took a good amount of muscle just to push open.
Once inside they saw a tunnel similar to that of the trapped hallway, but Wren did not detect nor see any.
"I can see some vines up ahead, they look like they're covering a large pit." Lana called out.
"Yep, those are spikes at the bottom. That would be one nasty fall." She said with a low whistle.
It was a sea of vines coming down from the ceiling, and Wren felt most of them would snap under his body weight. There was a large central vine that seemed much thicker around than the others, and he chortled at the Dungeons attempts to trick them.
At least make the other vines the same size if you want to make some people fall in. He thought smugly.
Just to be sure, he grabbed a few of the small vines and yanked downwards, hard. They snapped like he expected, and he reached towards the central vine. His arms were too short.
Lana just giggled and reached forward.
Curse all people over 5ft tall.
She gave the vine a good tug and it held firm. "See you on the other side, boys." She yelled out as she swung across the gap towards the other side.
"Incoming!" She called out, and the vine was sent swinging back towards the two men.
Micah grabbed it and handed the vine to Wren, with a small smile on his face after the Dwarf grumbled a thanks. Once across, he sent it back to Micah. Shortly after, all three were ready to advance further into the Dungeon.
"This is new territory, so be on your guard. We don't know what to expect from the rest of this." He warned the other two.
Both of them took on serious expressions, and nodded. Then, as one, they moved towards the door to the next room. It was just as heavy as the other.
It felt like it was made of some sort of metal, but looked more like wood. Once through, he immediately scanned for enemies.
The room was a circular shape with pillars ringing the outside, and vines swinging all across the ceiling. There were overhangs to the side that were too tall for him to see over. The other two could though, and said no Monsters were hiding there.
Wren scanned the ground and saw a mixture of dirt and grass, while insects buzzed around an occasional flower. There was a large pit of sand in the center, and he decided to just avoid whatever mess that would cause.
"Above us!" Micah yelled out.
Both Lana and Wrens heads whipped upwards at the same time. For a brief moment they saw the face of what looked like a Monkey staring at them, but it disappeared just as fast.
"Get in between those two pillars! Lana put up your shield over our heads. I will draw them out. Micah, be ready to poke them out of the air." He yelled out these orders over just a few seconds, and all three moved to do their job.
Lana ran in between two pillars, shoving Micah behind her as she went to keep him away from the beasts. The Cleric raised his staff above his head to keep any aerial foes away from them, and Wren prepared a spell.
Soon they were in position, and waiting for the other side to make the first move. A small flash of golden-brown went across his vision, and he launched the spell he had prepared. No response, a miss.
Dammit.
One of the Monkeys revealed themselves once his spell wasn't a threat, and landed on the ground on the opposite side of the room from them. It hooted once, and three Monkeys fell from above, in their blind spot.
"Micah!" Lana yelled out.
"I know!" He grunted out while he swung his staff in a wide arc, smashing two of the Monsters out of the air. The third managed to get past the hasty attack and landed directly onto Lana's shield. Before the other two Monsters could get back to their feet, Wren reached for his dagger and yelled out, "Lana! Toss it!"
She huffed in response, and heaved the Monkey from the top of her shield and sent it sailing into the dirt by their feet. He wasted no time, and plunged his blade directly into the Monsters eye.
It twitched once and let out a small howl, then dispersed into experience and mana. The other three Monkeys screeched at this turn of events and all ran towards them at once.
"Step back, boys." Lana called out, both men didn't question her. There was no time for second guessing.
Wren saw her channel the mana in her body, and watched in interest as she pushed it out into a wave in front of her. All three monkeys stumbled as the ground beneath their feet rolled and pushed them away.
He knew she had an Earth affinity, but he didn't expect it to be this strong. It was supposed to be very taxing to use spells on a large scale like she just did.
All the Monsters tumbled into one another from their mad dash, and Micah and Wren wasted no time rushing forward to finish the creatures off.
Lana, however, was using her shield as a crutch.
She must not be able to handle something as powerful as that spell very often, this might be bad without our shield.
The smallest of the Monkeys seemed to realize this as well, as it got up quicker than its brethren and charged at him. Wren was still trying to form his Ice Shard spell when it reached him. Claws much larger than what should have been normal streaked just past his eye, narrowly missing him. He felt relieved, until he saw the other clawed hand come into view, and scrape directly across his face. Forehead to jaw, he felt searing agony from the cut.
Micah was preoccupied with the other two, smashing legs and taking the occasional bite to the leg. He would have to deal with this by himself. Steeling himself, Wren let out a loud shout. The Monkey responded with its own, and dove towards his legs.
"Oh no you don't! Those are short enough as they are without any more being taken off, get back you bastard!" He yelled out as he finished his spell. Instead of firing it off, he grabbed the spell firmly in the palm of his hand and shoved it as deep into the skull of the Monkey as he could.
The blow killed the beast on the spot. It still crashed into his legs, though, knocking him over. At least it would have, but Lana was there to catch him before his head crashed into the ground.
He looked up at her and gave her a smile, blood pouring into his mouth from the wound on his head.
She laughed at him, and he joined in. Then Micah let out another shout, and they turned as one to see him picking a fang out of his calf.
"Good god Wren, how are you alive?!" He yelled out after seeing the state of the Dwarfs face.
"I won't be if you don't do something about it, get over here drama queen." He chided. He knew he wouldn't die from the cut, still hurt like a bitch though.
After some much needed healing, and a few extra curses from Wren while Micah healed him, they were ready to move on.
"I don't think I can heal another injury like that, I'm starting to get worn out. Not to mention Lana nearly fainted trying to play Hero in there." Micah grumbled out.
"It was that, or we feed you to the Monkeys to buy us time to escape." She called out nonchalantly. Micah paled, and he laughed at the poor boys expense.
"Speaking of, what did we get from them?" He asked, they had better gotten their moneys worth for the hassle they just went through.
"A few fangs and ruined pelts. We did get one Uncommon drop though, a large claw from that beast that tore you into shredded meat." the Cleric said.
He ignored the jab, "Good, at least we can afford a round of drinks tonight."
"That is all that matters." Lana added with a laugh.
Once they were ready, they moved through the room and into a hallway of nightmares.
"What the fuck is that?" He yelled out more from impulse than rational thought.
The room was dotted with terrifying statues that all seemed to stare into their very souls. Monsters depicted with more eyes than teeth, and spikes where none should ever be. Antlers and fur seemed to be a common feature, but that was where any semblance of reality ended.
"I swear to the gods if we have to fight whatever that is, I will never Dungeon dive again." Micah said, with more firmness in his voice than Wren had ever heard before.
Lana just rolled her eyes and Wren had to yank her back before she killed herself. "Watch your step, girl. Theres a trap there."
She looked down at her feet. Sure enough, a large Pitfall trap was just sitting there, right at the entrance.
"Thanks..." She said, now far more cautious.
"I see another trap in the center of the room. Other than that, not much else." He whispered to the two.
They moved past the two traps and noticed a large dried blood stain right at the center of where the second trap was. They then came face to face with a set of glowing, golden eyes.
"Are those jewels?" Micah asked in a small voice.
"Yes, but they look to be stuck into the wood. I don't see a way to remove them without breaking apart the Dungeon, and we will NOT be doing that." It was common knowledge that if you tried to damage a Dungeon or its Core, the entirety of the Dungeon would be sent to remove the people causing the harm.
Both just nodded, they knew well enough when to let some treasure be. "I think this is going to be the Boss." He said to the both of them.
"We have no idea what the Monster is, nor are we in any fighting shape for anything stronger than what we already faced." He said.
"We should at least see what it is though!" Lana whined beside him.
"I didn't say we wouldn't. We will NOT fight though, unless no other option is available. I want both of you to be ready to turn around and run like hell if something happens." They all agreed, and positioned themselves to take a peek into the first floor Boss room.
The door proved to be one of the heaviest the Dwarf had ever encountered. It took all of his muscle just to begin to inch the thing open, and Lana had to step up with a chuckle and help him.
Her laughter died out when she started sweating trying to open the thing too. Micah stood in the back, ready to pull them away, should anything happen.
Sunlight began to seep through the crack they had opened, and once the door was open wide they all gasped.
It was a sea of yellow-green grass, with rolling hills dotting the landscapes with rocks and an occasional flower. Trees ringed the entirety of the room, and the light coming from the ceiling seemed brighter than the rest of the Dungeon.
"Amazing..." Lana whispered.
"It's like I'm back in the Ferst Plains!" Micah exclaimed.
"Where is the boss, though?" He said, continuously scanning the room.
As if on cue, an earsplitting roar sounded out somewhere away from their field of view.
That was all the motivation they needed to turn around and begin high-tailing it away from the door. The last thing they needed was to have that door close on them while they were stuck admiring the room.
"Run you tall bastards! We can let some other fool Party fight it first." He yelled out from behind them.
He and the two Humans were running towards the room with the Monkeys when he took one last look behind him.
He caught a glimpse of something that would give him night terrors for over a month.
A slobbering beast twice the size of any bear he had ever seen was barreling towards them. He saw fangs as long as his forearm and just as thick dripping with saliva. Golden eyes that screamed of unnatural intelligence were fixated directly on him, and he could swear they looked amused.
Fuck. That.
"RUN FASTER!" He screamed towards his companions.
Micah moved to turn around, but Lana just shoved him forward before he could get a good look at what Wren had. They ran until they came to the vine pit, and all leapt over one after the other without a second glance behind them. He couldn't hear the beast behind them anymore, but he wouldn't take that chance.
Once back to the Flower room, he gave the signal to slow and catch their breath. All three collapsed and took heaving breaths.
"What did you see, Wren?!" Lana asked between gasps for air.
"When we get out of this cursed place, I'll tell you, along with the Guild Officer." He replied.
Lana and Micah both nodded, and set off to exit the Dungeon at a more cautious pace. Just because they had killed the Monsters earlier didn't mean one wasn't waiting for them after they were on their way out. Many Adventurers had lost their lives that way, and Wren had instilled caution into them the month prior to their dive.
All three were just outside of the entrance when they heard an excessively loud female voice call out, "They're back!" Followed by a towering woman coming forward and embracing them, checking for injuries.
"Stop worrying, you over sized Mama Hen, our Cleric here already took care of us just fine." Lana said between forearms the size of her legs.
Micah just rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed.
"How far did you three get?" Joy, the Beast-woman, asked them.
"To the Boss room, but we didn't go inside. I saw it though. I saw the Beast." He said that last part in a hushed tone, and the two Veterans got the message.
"Go see Brian, and report your findings." Joy ordered.
All three nodded once, and set out towards the Adventuring Guilds main building in the fledgling town.
It was a three story structure made mainly out of the local wood and stone, but it would do for now. Inside were sparse furnishings and uncomfortable waiting chairs. A small child ushered them into the Guild Officers room, and then left out a back door.
Brian was sitting waiting for them. A mountain of a man, he was well known by the younger Adventurers for being one of the strongest in the Expert rank. He looked over all three of them, then nodded for the report.
Not one for talking, just like everyone said.
"Sir, we've explored the Dungeon up to and including the Boss room. We received minor injuries consistent with what the other groups reported, and encountered a new type of Monster. They seemed similar to the local Monkeys in the forest, but with sharper fangs and claws." He took a deep breath, then steeled himself for the next unpleasant memory.
"The Boss room is located right after the Monkeys, after a trapped hallway filled with statues similar to those by the entrance." All three shuddered at the thought of those horrific visages.
"We opened the Boss door, and inside was a grassland, fit with trees and small hills. As well as an artificial sunlight brighter than the rest of the Dungeon. We left shortly after, but I got a good look at the Boss before we did."
The Officer just motioned with his hand, clearly impatient.
"It appeared to be a Bear, twice the size of one that I've ever seen. With fangs longer and thicker than my arm. The eyes... The eyes were gold, and seemed to understand more than the beast would let on. I believe it is a semi-intelligent boss capable of strategy and tactics. After, we encountered no more Monsters until we exited the Dungeon." By the end he was rambling, and his Party members were just as shocked as he was about the Boss information.
"I see. Good job coming back without risking yourselves." At this his vision flickered to Lana for the briefest moment, then returned to Wren.
"Rest for tonight, you three aren't scheduled to dive again for a few more days. Dismissed." He turned his gaze away from the three Adventurers and focused on a mound of paperwork on his desk. He sighed once he looked back to it, and the three took this as their cue to leave.
They all nodded once and exited the building, then immediately turned towards the tavern. It was time to forget and enjoy themselves.