The pattern in the moss growing on the tower jutting from the back of my store turned out to be an entrance to a dungeon.

From straight on, it looked like a sheet of moss attached to the base of the tower, but if you got close and moved just so, a hidden opening was revealed. Beyond it was a winding path that led down into the earth.

“A tower and a dungeon!” Koren said as we wound our way down the oddly slick and soft tunnel. “This is most extraordinary.”

“I’d give anything for ordinary.” I considered this. “Well not anything, but I’d really prefer ordinary to this.”

“Don’t delude yourself,” he said, patting my shoulder. “You love this.”

“Love is quite strong.”

“Indeed it is.”

I frowned at the walls. There were several odd things about the tunnel.

The first was the light. I could see fine, but couldn’t tell where it was coming from, a lot like when I’d first arrived in the tower. My vision was better now at Copper, but for me to be able to see there had to be a source of light, and whatever that might be was not obvious.

Second was the bluish-red veins covering the walls. I’d say they were mineral veins, but the walls and floor themselves were not made of rock or dirt, but of something that looked closer to wet leather.

The air was tinged with the scent of something organic that I couldn’t quite place. It was vaguely sweet, but subtle, like the smell of clean skin.

As we moved deeper underground, small gusts of air competed with one another, one carrying that faint scent, another carrying something worse, like the scent of decay.

And finally, the ground was oddly hard to walk on. I was finding it a challenge to keep my balance, but I couldn’t tell if I was just getting dizzy from walking in a downward spiral.

“Is it just me,” I asked, “or is the ground moving?”

“It’s not just you.”

“And you’re not worried?”

“On the contrary, I’m intrigued. What mysteries does this place hold? Dungeons are much less demanding than towers.”

I froze. I really was more tired than I thought. “We’re in a dungeon. Like I just walked into it. I didn’t even hesitate.”

“Of course not, you have a friend in need.”

I was pretty sure it was due to lack of sleep rather than altruism, but didn’t correct him.

“How does this make any sense? The tower already goes down into the ground.”

“Your thinking is too anchored in reality.”

“Never thought I’d get that as an insult.”

I checked my map. Strangely, though many things in the town had labels—including Whitehall Tower—this did not. It was different however now in that I could see the winding pathway we were on, Vyrania’s dot directly below us.

I hoped she was okay. She hadn’t moved for quite some time.

“Is this a broadcast area?” I asked.

“Couldn’t say. You’re the one with abilities which work only inside of one.”

That was true. I checked to see if I had a new resurrection token, but I didn’t. Then I tried summoning Horde, but that didn’t work either.

“It didn’t work,” I said. “Are dungeons usually broadcast?”

“We might not be inside it yet. I think this is the entrance that leads to the actual entrance to the dungeon. You could try checking if you have any viewers.”

“Oh, right.”

You are currently not within a broadcast area.

Well that was an easy way to find out. Though I wasn’t sure I trusted it completely.

“It says I’m not in one.” I frowned, looking around as though I might spot magical cameras. “Just how trustworthy is it?” It hadn’t led me astray so far, that I was aware of, but that only served to make me more suspicious.

“Don’t see why it would lie.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not.”

We wound around a particularly sharp curve and nearly walked into a pulsing tumescent bulge protruding out of the side of the cavern wall.

Koren laughed. “Isn’t this fun!”

“You seem far too excited.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“What’s there not to be excited about? We get to rescue our friend and go into a dungeon!”

‌

∎ ∎ ∎

Vyrania, it turned out, did not need rescuing.

When we reached the end of the winding tunnel, we found her kneeling in front of a giant wooden door that looked made to admit a vorian.

She spun on us, summoning her blades and raising them to attack. “Oh.” She lowered them upon seeing who it was.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “What are you doing? You were supposed to meet me back at my shop.”

“Sorry,” she replied, dismissing her weapons. “I got distracted. I came back, then wanted to get a look at the tower. As I was doing that, I noticed what looked like an entrance in its wall, which, seeing as how you’re here, you noticed as well.”

“Yeah.” I motioned at the giant door. “Locked?”

She nodded. “I’ve been trying to get inside. It’s a dungeon.”

“You were planning on leaving us out?” Koren asked in a tone of hurt disappointment.

“Of course not.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Okay maybe I was going to find out what rating it had before deciding to involve you. But you can’t blame me, you almost got us killed last time.”

“Almost. Do I have to keep specifying this?”

“It’s almost until it’s not. And we don’t have any resurrection tokens to give us a second chance.”

“What’s a rating?” I asked.

“It’s like a class,” Vyrania answered, turning back to the door, “but different, since dungeons aren’t just underground towers.”

“Of course they’re not. This system loves complicated things.”

“Actually,” Koren said, “it’s more of an inherent property due to how the mana reacts with the environment.”

“So how are they different?”

“One of the main differences is that you’re not locked in. You can leave whenever you please. Though getting out is a trek.”

“Like with the Gerandenthal Barrier,” Vyrania said, studying the door.

“That was not my fault,” Koren countered.

“Mm-hm.”

“So,” I said, “we can leave whenever we want without having to get keys or whatever?”

“Yep,” she said, still focused on the door.

“That’s good to know at least. What are the ratings? Are they the same as classes?”

“No,” Koren answered. “Notable, remarkable, extraordinary, heroic, epic.”

“NR… EHE.” I sighed. “That’s not easy to remember at all. There’s five, so why not just call them Giant, Goliath, Colossus, Behemoth, and Titan?”

“Because a tower’s class is an indication of the monsters inside. Whereas with a dungeon…” He trailed off, grinning at me.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh jeez,” I said sarcastically, “the suspense is killing me.”

“You’re no fun.” He moved to the door, examining it along with Vyrania.

“Aren’t you going to tell me?”

“No. You don’t seem to care.”

I sighed. “Okay, I care. Just tell me. Now I am in suspense.”

Koren turned to look at me, grinning. “With a dungeon, the rating is not for the monsters inside, but for its treasures.”

“Doesn’t that indirectly indicate what class the monsters are though? Better loot, harder monsters?”

“Sometimes, but not always. There might be high-rating items in there that don’t come from monsters, which would increase the rating.”

“There’s also seven ratings, not five,” Vyrania put in.

“Those are just myths,” Koren said dismissively.

“Fabled and legendary. Not myths.”

“You know what rating this one is, Vy?” I asked.

She frowned at me. “It’s very odd for you to call me Vy.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. You have different customs. And no, I don’t know the rating. Not yet. Can’t tell until I get inside. And I can’t figure out how to do that.”

“Because of the lock?”

“No. Or, I don’t know. There’s something blocking it.” She looked at Koren. “What about you? Any wise insights?”

Before he could respond I opened my manasight to examine the door, but unlike with the entrance to get down here, didn’t see anything coming from it.

“Interesting,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“Look at it.”

“I did.”

“No, with your—”

“Yes, I did that. I don’t see anything.”

He studied me. “Perhaps the conflict is blinding you. There’s life and death in equal measure. They seem at war.” He looked around the tunnel. “It explains why the ground moves. And the smell.”

“I don’t get it,” I said.

“Yes,” Vyrania agreed, “nor do I.”

“The dungeon, my dears, is alive.” His grin spread so far I thought his jaw might unhinge. “And dead.”

“Please tell me it’s not a zombie dungeon,” I pleaded.

“It is not a zombie dungeon,” Koren responded.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“If by zombie dungeon you mean a dungeon filled with undead.”

I squinted at him, growing suspicious.

“If, on the other hand,” he continued, “you mean a dungeon that itself is both alive and dead—undead, if you will—then you would be correct.”

“I can’t tell if that’s better or worse than zombies.”

“Nor can I. But I like the sound of both.”

“Of course you do. And you can tell it’s alive and dead all from its mana?”

“Yes.” He paused. “That and the runes on the door.”

“What runes?”

Koren pointed.

“How did I not notice those?” Vyrania asked.

“You lack my beautiful eyes.”

“What language is it?” I asked. “The interpreter’s not interpreting it for me.”

“Arcturian.”

“Like from the event?”

He nodded, a little of the levity going out of him.

“Are you kidding?” Vyrania asked. “Revenants? Again?”

I shook my head. “I’m not going in there.”

“But Noah,” he implored, “think of the treasure.”

“I need sleep. Then I need to practice. I’m going to have to leave this safe zone soon and I want to be well-rested and well-trained when I do.”

“Going inside the dungeon will surely count as an Adventure.”

“Wait, is the interpreter interpreting right? The time outside the safe zone is called the Adventure?”

“Yes.” He smiled. “And this will most certainly be an adventure.”

“We can’t even get inside,” I pointed out.

“We’ll figure it out.”

“Well have at it. I’m going to head back to my store to clean up then hit the sack as soon as the sun sets. Maybe before.”

‌

∎ ∎ ∎

Koren and Vyrania joined me back in my shop—partly due to Vyrania’s insistence, but mostly because Koren couldn’t get the door open and found some rune that indicated the key to get in was hidden elsewhere, though where that was precisely he hadn’t been able to decipher.

“What happened here?” Vyrania asked, looking around the damaged store.

“Koren. And that Semermen guy. Alien. Whatever.”

“Oh yes,” Vyrania said with amusement. “Did you sell?”

“No.”

“Didn’t like what he had to offer?” Koren chuckled.

“You could say that. It—”

I was interrupted by a message.

Greetings to all in Corporate Civilization 111. It has come to The Corporation’s attention that a system-created contest in relation to the Hero Board has been initiated.

Of course, we do not wish to interfere with a system’s actions, however, as required by the Treaty of Due Diligence, we must put a temporary halt to the contest.

As such, all further prizes for the contest are on hold, and any actions taken in regard to the contest during the pause will not count toward any further prizes.

We at The Corporation apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and would like to personally thank all affected for your patience while we work on resolving the matter.