James sat on his rock, quietly stringing his bow, as he always did around this time of day. Today, though, he took a bit longer than usual, his eyes fixed on the entrance to the dungeon below and the city walls towering above it.
The adventurers had already set up for the day and those leaving to catalog their goods taken from the dungeon were marching back to the city. But the adventurers he was looking for were nowhere to be seen. Though the proper term for them would be rookies or novices.
Fresh from six to nine months of training, James would take these novices like he had done for hundreds of novices before and complete at least part of the dungeon with them. After their initial training period of six months, had started to parade around the major cities every other week where they would train at the most popular low-level dungeons.
James loved this dungeon, as did many others. In his almost twenty-year career as an adventurer and dungeon delver, he had spent more time here than anywhere else. For over ten years, he had watched over new adventurers, just like he had been once. The dungeon's steadily increasing difficulty over the first 25 levels was a particular draw for him. The best young adventurers could complete the 25th level after a year of delving, with most taking one to two years to do so.
James felt his perception in the corner of one eye twitch and he turned to see his group of four rookies following the dungeon road down to the encampment below.
His perception twitched, and James turned to see his group of four rookies following the road down to the encampment below. "Only twenty-five minutes late," he thought to himself.
He slung his bag and bow over his shoulder and walked to meet them. James sized up the rookies as he approached, noting their posture, weapons, and gear. The mage was noble-born, judging by his posture and the quality of his robes. He was the only one on a mount, while the others walked. The swordsman followed behind like a puppy, dragging his greatsword. The archer was a small girl with a vest of knives. Finally, bringing up the rear was a boy carrying a well-worn tower shield. It was clear that this was his first time using it.
"I've seen better teams," James thought to himself.
Once the recruits got the guild administrators, the mage leading the group got off and unsummoned his mount before turning to the others. Only the archer had kept up while the other two trailed behind. The mage started talking to other adventurers as he waited. James finally approached the team of recruits and was in the middle of speaking to one of the guild administrators.
“Hello, recruits. I’m James. I hope you are ready for today’s events. How much do you know about this dungeon?”
There was a mix of no’s and a little that came from the teen’s mouth.
“Then why don’t we cover some of that as we head to the entrance? Our time slot is waning, and another team is up to enter in an hour and a half.”
“I don’t care. I’m just here at my father’s request. I didn’t even get to pick most of my teammates,” said the mage rookie.
“You can’t always expect to know your teammates very well, but it definitely helps to have friends as teammates, but it can also be a challenge.”
“Whatever,” said the mage brushing off James’s comment.
James sighed as he remembered the kid’s name from the file he had on hand. Ian was the son of Duke Gallagher mage lord of the southern lands protecting the kingdom’s borders.
“Anyone else want to share about themselves?” he asked looking to the other kids for comment.
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“I’m Naomi. Archer like you but going for the hunter specialization most likely though it is hard to decide.”
“That is good to hear. I didn’t get my trapping specialization until I was about to graduate from school, so you have plenty of time to decide.”
“Derek,” said Derek finally resting his sword on his shoulder, “Fighter with berserker specialization. I’ve already started the path and should soon be able to wield this thing like any other wooden sword.”
“And I’m Ian. The leader of this de facto group. Fire mage and soon to be the best mage of my year,” said Ian confidently. “And that kid is Wes. Doesn’t talk much but does his job.”
“Yeah, I’m Wesley,” he whispered. “I’m not great at a lot but I can stand still and get hit well regardless of the shield or not.”
“I see. And how many dungeons have you all run? It would be best for me to know what to expect for running assistance.”
“Five, Five, three, and one,” said Ian as he pointed to himself, Derek, Naomi, and Wesley in order.
“I would have hoped that they would have paired you all with similarly experienced novices, but we will have to make do. Is there anything you want me to go over quickly before we enter or are you ready?”
“Let’s just go,” said Ian, “We are already late, and the others have slowed us down getting here. Derek forgot to grab his pack on the way out for crying out loud. I don’t want to be out in this heat any longer.”
Ian pushed past James and started walking toward the dungeon. James just waved for the other to follow Ian. He tried not to involve himself in disputes and any pre-established team dynamics that appeared. Things often got messy if items were fought over in the dungeon. He relaxed when Wesley got in front of him. James prepared his next teaching moment. Over the years at this dungeon, he had learned various factoids about each floor and the space around the dungeon in general.
“Now briefly I’ll go over why this dungeon is important and why we need to get over there now,” James emphasized. “Despite your dislike of the topic of history, it is important because of your future as a lord of this kingdom. Does anyone want to answer why this dungeon is important?”
“It’s age and central location,” answered Derek surprising James with the answer.
“Yes. This city and dungeon are located in the geographical center of the kingdom despite not being the capital. And while the dungeon’s age could not be directly known but the scholars estimate it to be over a thousand years old and at least a century older than the founding of the kingdom itself. This has allowed it to grow into one of the most important dungeons for novices and young adventurers in general. Now one last thing. How are you feeling about how far you want to go through the dungeon? The better teams I’ve seen hit the twentieth floor, but rarely do they go past the drake.”
“We will finish the twenty-fifth drake floor,” answered Ian confidently.
“What. That is insane I don’t want to go that far. Not with the team, we have now,” said Naomi.
“I don’t like drake,” mumbled Wes.
“We are getting to the drake floor. My father has requested it and you will get us there,” he said turning to James. “We will get there.”
“Listen, I don’t want to get in the middle of your disagreement, and I don’t want to push the rules of the adventurer’s guild. We will go until our supplies are fully depleted. I’ve got two full days’ worth of food for us all but that doesn’t include potions. If you want to get that far you will be using more potions that I will carry with me. Once my stock and your stock of potions and specifically healing items are gone, then we will leave through the nearest exit. I will not be carrying you through the dungeon like babies. Nor will I be your babysitter either. Am I clear?”
After a moment, the four novices were nodding their heads. Ian then promptly ran back to the guild’s merchant to finagle a few more mana and health potions for himself. Once that was done, James led the way to the entrance.
Trees grew around the entrance along with some bushes. James pushed them out of his way while Ian burned wood as he walked. Shortly after they passed the burnt tree, it started growing back to its original shape. Wesley, still hanging near the back, had a look of awe as he watched it regrow and James noticed Wes’s pace slowing.
“It just does that. We are so close to the dungeon that the tree, twenty feet from it, is technically part of the dungeon. They think it is because the tree’s roots connect to the dungeon, but no one can dig more than a few inches in this area, let alone right here. Everyone grab my bag. I’m opening the dungeon.”
James put his hand on the dungeon entrance. He felt the familiar film barrier made by the dungeon’s magic. He looked back to confirm and saw that all four had a handhold.
“3… 2… 1…”
James pushed on the barrier and then fed it a little of his magic, just as his guild trainer had shown him, and then he had repeated hundreds of times over. The others felt the unfamiliar pull as they were pulled into the dungeon instance while James braced for the change better than the others. A second later, they were on the first floor of the dungeon.