Olivander left his friends in the viewing room. The Guild Master had been nice enough to supply some of the mana for the viewing ritual, so he was in top shape for the trial.
A magic lift transported him up the metallic looking tower, and he was able to look out on the sprawling beautiful city. The entire elevator shaft was transparent from the inside — a property of the magic metal that made up the towers. He idly wondered what it would look like once he entered the dungeon. Would the waterfalls really stop? It was a shame he couldn't see for himself.
When a bell sounded, he turned and entered the dungeon's waiting room. This was where adventurers made final preparations leading up to their slotted time. The room was long and wide, with high arching ceilings and colorful art depicting scenes from the basin, though no outside views. It was also filled with unhappy looking people. A man in gleaming armor was at the desk at the far end of the room, complaining loud enough that Olivander could hear him from the lift.
"First I had to wait in line for hours at the guild hall, then I had to wait days for my scheduled time, and now, after waiting in this room for another hour, you're telling me that my slot has been temporarily suspended!? Why? This is outrageous! Do you know who I am?"
The guild clerk on this level was a young woman who looked like she wished she was anywhere but here.
"I'm sorry sir, but the dungeon needed to be empty for reconfiguration, and now it is running at the highest power threshold."
"What is that?"
"The dungeon can easily accommodate most adventurers through Gold rank, with a varying number of people allowed inside at once, but when someone more powerful wants to challenge it, the dungeon needs to be reconfigured. The power level increases, and it would be pointless to send anyone else in. They would fail their runs immediately."
"Ha! I assure you. I am no weakling! Let me challenge it, and I will show you. I've never failed this dungeon!"
Olivander approached as the exasperated clerk tried to convince a lord who thought he was the top of the pile that he couldn't do something. Olivander, on the other hand, thought it was a great idea. Humbling cocky young lords was something of a passtime for him.
"Excuse me!" he said, interrupting the nobleman.
"What is it?" the man barked.
"I might be able to assist you, my lord. My name is Olivander, and I happen to be the humble man who has caused this unfortunate delay. I am truly sorry."
The lord relaxed, placated by the false respect that Olivander spoon fed him.
"As you should be. How are you going to resolve this?"
"As your lordship is no doubt aware, each challenger to the dungeon is given three opportunities to complete it. I would be honored to give you my first attempt as recompense for the delay I caused."
"I'm not sure we're supposed to do that, Olivander sir," the guild clerk said.
"Nonsense. It's well within the dungeon rules, and I insist."
The clerk gave Olivander a look that suggested she knew what he was doing, and that it was going to be her who ended up with a headache because of it.
"Very well, Olivander was it? After I clear the dungeon, allow me to introduce you to my father. A word from me would be very beneficial for a man like yourself."
"That sounds wonderful, I can hardly wait." Then to the clerk he asked, "Is the dungeon ready?"
She sighed. "Yes. Lord Barwith, you may enter the dungeon for a single attempt from Olivander Casumus' three registered attempts. If you happen to fail, you may not reenter until your actual scheduled slot comes up. I will take you both back."
The clerk led the lord and Olivander into the next room. It was much smaller than the waiting room and only had two things of note: a doorway with a waterfall just inside of it, and a permanent ritual circle on a raised platform.
"You may enter, Lord Barwith."
The man drew his sword, and walked confidently through the waterfall portal.
Olivander smiled at the clerk. "I'm sorry for causing trouble. He seemed like he could use some humbling though, and I didn't want you to get in more trouble by doing it myself."
"It's fine. Lord Barwith is a regular. He always complains that he has to wait for this and that. I don't think this will actually humble him…how long do you think he'll last?"
"Based on my rough scan of him, he'll probably die as soon as he starts."
"That fast?"
"Oh yes, the dungeon won't quite be scaled for me, but I would be surprised if anyone below Platinum rank could clear it. Lord Barwith is a Silver rank adventurer and stands no chance."
To punctuate his words, the rune circle flashed, and Lord Barwith appeared. He immediately fell forward onto his face, completely unconscious.
Olivander bent over to casually check the man.
"He's breathing. I daresay he might miss his scheduled slots though! Such a shame."
"I've never seen anyone come out like that…"
"The dungeon restores its challengers to perfect health, but the healing is commensurate to the damage that ended their run. I would assume most of the challengers don't die in the first few seconds. Now, I had best get this dungeon back into regular working order!"
Without waiting for the clerk to respond, Olivander passed through the waterfall.
* * *
As the image cleared, everyone in the room could see a view from an elevated perspective. A path led straight forward from a simple wooden platform, and the view panned over dense jungle on either side. The path ended at a wide lake filled with huge green floating leaves. Unknown creatures swam in the depths, and blasts of water shot out at regular intervals.
The Guild Master explained the course.
"First, he'll have to make his way down the path, no doubt avoiding trouble from the jungle. Then, he'll have to traverse the lake. It looks like the intended route is from leaf to leaf. I've seen a similar configuration, and if he touches the water, it will probably damage him and return him to the start."
"Can't he just teleport across it?" Gregory asked.
"Teleport and portal powers are restricted in the dungeon. He will probably be able to move around twenty or thirty feet with one, but he can't skip too much."
The course continued after that, but the view returned to the wooden platform at the beginning.
"Oh! It looks like we're about to begin!"
Gregory leaned forward in his seat.
A glowing figure manifested on the platform, and as the light faded away, they saw a man holding a sword and wearing shiny plate armor.
"Who's that?"
The man didn't leave the platform, he was reading something they couldn't see.
"Oh dear," the Guild Master said. "That's Lord Remmin Barwith. I don't know why he's in there, but he's only silver rank."
Burtrum barked a laugh, then she scooped up his granddaughter and turned her away from the screen. Helena just covered Rebecca's eyes.
The man stepped off the platform and managed one step before a monster jumped out of the trees at him.
The monster looked like a huge blue gorilla. Instead of striking the man, as Gregory had expected, it opened its mouth and a solid blue bar of water lanced out. It speared the man straight through the head.
Gregory had to turn away as the brutal attack landed. What remained of the adventurer began to glow white, and it faded away.
"He's fine!" the Guild Master said. "All participants are restored perfectly, at least bodily. I don't imagine his head will be feeling great. He might not even be conscious, but he should be alive and well."
"How can Olivander possibly survive that?" Gregory asked.
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"Don't worry Greg, isn't he a Platinum member or something?" Timothy said, punching Gregory's arm.
"I guess so. But it seems impossible."
"Actually, the dungeon should grow stronger when he enters. Our automatic high setting defaults to low Platinum, around standardized level two hundred and twenty or so," the Guild Master said. "We need to turn it up to another level when we get a truly strong person challenging it. It will naturally scale back down after he attempts it."
The image on the screen didn't fade away, and a few moments later, Olivander manifested on the starting platform.
"There he is!"
The conversations hushed as Olivander appeared. Burtrum let Annebell watch, and Rebecca had slipped away from Helena a moment after last run's carnage. She was now sitting on the ground next to Cooper, hugging him. The dog didn't seem to mind; he was watching the screen with great interest.
Olivander turned and looked right at them, waving like he could see them watching.
"Can he see us?" Burtrum asked.
"No, he can probably just sense the connection."
Olivander studied what Gregory assumed to be a notice about the dungeon. He said some things they couldn't hear, and then activated Sous and spoke with him for a moment.
"Does the timer start right away?" Gregory asked.
"It starts after two minutes, or as soon as he steps off the platform."
Olivander opened a portal and tossed Sous through.
When it unexpectedly spit him back out, Olivander shrugged.
Then he stepped off the platform.
* * *
When Olivander materialized inside the dungeon, he ignored the notice that demanded his attention. He spread out his senses, and could easily detect where the magical connection that flowed out of the dungeon was located.
He looked up into the sky where the magic was centered, and gave the people he knew were on the other side a smile and a wave.
He probed the connection for any issues. He wasn't sure if it would require tuning on this side. It seemed the Dungeon Spirit of this dungeon knew her business, so he turned his attention back to the task at hand.
----------------------------------------
You have entered Dungeon: Waters of Du'la'melio
* Dungeon Type: Run
* Clear conditions: Reach the end of the run.
* Bonus conditions: None
* Recommended Level: Any (reconfigurable)
* Recommended Classes: None
----------------------------------------
Dungeon configuration has changed the dungeon default values
* Bonus conditions: Finish in under 7 minutes.
* Bonus conditions: Reach the end of the run without getting wet.
* Recommended Level: 225+ (Standardized)
* Recommended Classes: None
----------------------------------------
"Without getting wet? In here? That's not going to be easy. Portals seem to be limited. Maybe if I hand an anchor…"
He pushed some power into the device at his waist, and Sous appeared, floating in the air and looking around.
"Are we in a dungeon?"
"We are! The dungeon of Du'la'melio. It's a run type dungeon. Are you familiar with the concept?"
"I am! How can I help?"
"How amenable are you to cheating?"
"I've never thought about it before. Hmm…I don't like it."
"Close enough."
He opened a portal to as far away as he could manage and tossed Sous through. He hadn't started his run yet, and hoped that the golem would be able to get farther ahead. Olivander could then use him as an anchor for portaling, hopefully bypassing the restriction.
The portal spit Sous back out.
"That did not feel good."
"Ah, well. It was worth a try. Watch out for the creatures in the forest. They don't feel too strong. You might be able to drain them, but we're going to move fast."
"I'm ready!"
Olivander took a step off the starting platform and he felt the dungeon come to life.
A massive blue gorilla jumped onto the path in front of him, and opened its mouth to attack.
"Feast on Mana!" Sous shouted before the beast even landed.
Instead of a solid blue stream of water spearing through Olivander, a hazy stream of magic floated from the creature into Sous. The golem began to glow more brightly.
Olivander conjured a staff into his hand. This was a magical weapon tied to his Magus class, and not one of his normal conjurations. He forged a glowing ball of light onto the end of the staff, and a moment later, it launched at the gorilla. The gorilla burst into a spray of water.
In a panic, Olivander manipulated the mana in the air to catch all the droplets and force them aside. The effort actually strained him. He had to bring his mind and concentration to razor focus to catch all of the water.
"Are these apes made from acid?" Sous asked him.
"No, the dungeon has a bonus condition. I can't get wet."
"You can't get wet? In the water dungeon? This is a water dungeon, right?" Sous asked.
"It is a water dungeon. Oh, we also have to finish in the next six minutes, give or take."
They began to run. Olivander ran, at least. Sous just floated next to him.
"Why didn't you use your repelling ward?"
"It might not have activated soon enough, and I didn't want to take the chance. I have it up now though. "
Another gorilla jumped out at them, and this time Olivander simply ran straight past it while Sous launched what appeared to be tiny spoons at it, distracting the creature.
Olivander cast a portal and Sous came out just in front of him, leaving the gorilla behind.
"Nice work! Were those spoons?"
"Yep, when I was playing with Cooper I discovered that I can conjure cooking and feast adjacent items for a fraction of the cost of other things."
"Very nice. We're about to get pincered; we should clear these two. Can you handle the one on the right?"
"Leave it to me!"
Two more gorillas broke out of the jungle on either side of the path, blocking them more effectively. Olivander skidded to a stop and spun his staff. He used it to draw out a very simple ritual. Then he swung the staff at the ritual like he was trying to smash it. The ritual flashed and condensed into a brown glowing spear a split second before shooting into the elemental ape.
The gorilla he hit contracted and its whole body turned to mud before falling apart.
Olivander looked at the other gorilla just in time to see a brightly glowing ham blast through its chest.
He cocked an eyebrow at Sous.
"Sorry, I don't have much combat experience yet. I'm trying new things."
"Come on, we're almost out of the jungle."
Olivander opened a portal and they came out forty feet closer to the lake. Then he opened another. They came out thirty feet closer to the lake.
Olivander didn't open another, and hoped that the diminishing returns weren't permanent. He wasn't sure how he was going to get across a lake without getting wet if he couldn't use longer range portals.
"Can you cover me while I get a spell set up? Once we get to the lake."
"I certainly can!"
A few moments later, they came to the water's edge.
Olivander's grimoire flipped to a particular spell, and he began to draw.
Sous started blasting sharpened knives into creatures that swam through the lake towards them.
"Okay, maybe not certainly. How long do you need?"
"Just a few more seconds."
Sous gathered up the rest of the mana he had absorbed from the gorilla, and Olivander felt a slight tug as the golem drew a little power from him.
"Feast Magic: Fruit Punch!"
Olivander had to pause his drawing so he didn't ruin his ritual, because the absurd spell completely broke his concentration.
The water all around the creatures turned a bright red, and then concussive force blasted into them, blasting sweet smelling red water into the air.
"What part of 'I can't get wet' don't you understand!?"
Sous used his own mana manipulation skill to try to hold back the spray. Olivander's ward should block it, but it might not be considered dangerous by whatever qualifiers the spell used.
"Sorry! That's my fault."
Luckily, most of the spray was simply directed up or away from them. Olivander completed his spell.
"Frozen fields of the Frost Giants!"
The spell drained his mana and the power went out in a wave across the lake.
As he hoped, the lake froze over as the spell passed.
He then conjured a bicycle.
Jumping on, he rode out onto the lake.
* * *
"Whoa! He annihilated that gorilla!"
"See?" Timothy said.
"Wait, what was that? Mana manipulation?"
"I believe so," the guild master said. "He must not want to get wet."
They watched as Olivander deftly avoided another encounter, and then he and Sous decimated another pair.
"You owe me twenty silver dad," Timothy said.
"No way. That was the familiar!" Burtrum said.
"What's going on?" Gregory asked.
"I bet dad twenty silver that he'd kill something with a piece of food. That was clearly a magical ham. The golem counts!"
"You made the bet, dear," Helena gently chided her husband.
Burtrum grumbled but pulled out a small stack of silver.
As they watched, Sous did something that turned the water nearby a bright red.
"Ohh, that is gruesome. What did that golem do to those things?" Timothy asked.
"I have no idea, he has some of his own spells, but he can also use most of Olivander's skill based spells. I've never seen that one," Gregory said.
"Oh, look at that!"
A ring of frozen energy expanded away from Olivander, freezing the water before him.
"I stand corrected," the Guild Master said. "He will not be using the giant lily pads. He's…wait. Is that a bicycle?"
They could just make out a serious expression on Olivander's face as he began pedaling across the frozen lake.