(Dungeon first floor, Zhenya POV)

Reaching the bottom, I feel a breeze hit me in the face.

Another entrance this deep down in a cave?

My question is answered almost immediately as that man, Sabastian throws open what seemed to be the last door in this place revealing an open area filled with tall narrow trees, lush shrubs, and greenery.

The place we entered was a woodland that expanded out far and wide.

I wait for the “ohhhhhhs” and “ahhhhhhhhs” to ring out from everyone, but contrary to my expectations there was only the sounds of metal rubbing against leather, metal scraping on metal and taut string being pulled.

Everyone had readied their weapons and were fully focused as not to miss even the slightest noise or shadow creeping out the corner of their eye.

Even I pulled out my sword and got ready for a fight half due to the intensity everyone was projecting, and the other half was…… while I hate to admit it I was also on edge, even though I’ve gone hunting with dad and the others countless times before, this shouldn’t be any different.

But this was a dungeon, a wondrous place where people come for a chance at riches, glory and knowledge, a deadly place where people die on daily basis.

There’s no telling what may be lurking behind the bushes waiting for its chance to strike.

“ahahahhahahaha!”

The sound of laughter suddenly throws all of us off the proverbial edge we were on, as we turned with a snap towards the sound, weapons drawn and ready to attack.

………

……….

It was Virgil laughing.

“Alright, alright settle down everyone.”

He tried to lighten the mood a bit but looking around it seemed that most people where unamused, to say the least, at Virgil seemingly laughing at their efforts.

“look, everyone it’s great that you're properly on guard and surveying your surroundings, but look at your selves, all strung up and jumpy there’s no way you guys will even last half a day in this state without getting mentally exhausted.”

He punctuates the fact that we wouldn’t last a day and then points at us in a grand manner like a stoic grand elder giving a lesson to his pupils.

“Take into consideration that dungeon diving can some time take weeks or evens months, so don’t overexert yourselves, but that’s not to say to not always be guard but…… just do it in a more relaxed way.”

With that being said Virgil picks a small rock off the ground with a grin and chucks it at a nearby bush, instead of the *thwack* sound that was expected from a rock hitting the leaves of a bush, there was a slight whimpering sound that faded away like it was getting farther away.

“being relaxed doesn’t mean you need to stop paying attention to your surroundings, just find a good balance between the two”

With Virgil’s spiel done everyone calmed down to a certain degree, well to the point where they could notice the subtler details of our surroundings instead of focusing on whatever baddie could be lurking in the shadows.

We continued with Virgil’s lesson in mind.

As we made traveled deeper into the woods Virgil switched places with Sabastian and was now the one leading the group.

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I don’t really know where our destination was, similarly I don’t think Virgil really has a destination in mind, he was just flittering on ahead without a care in the world, attracted to whatever caught his interest.

“Hey Kid, hurry up you're going to get left behind!”

Sabastian shouted at a boy who was a good distance behind the group, happily examining anything he could get his hands on and I mean anything grass, bark, leaves, dirt and storing even more things into jars for what I expect to be used for later experiments.

“Wow! Look at the trees and the grass, they’re so pristine, it’s like their place is stuck in time!”

The boy with a bag full of jars, was really going on about the different plant life of this place, I can agree with him on this point, this place is like something out of a tale that a bard would recite about, the gentle caress of the wind and sun on your skin, trees that without any real deformations and pristine grass that seems to never flatten no matter how many times you stomp on it.

“Enough with that you’re holding back the group, come on now.”

Sabastian annoyed, had to drag the boy by the bag, as he was in a fantasy world of his own muttering about something.

Hours seem to pass since we first entered the dungeon, everyone had settled down and we were now marching in utter silence, but it wasn’t too bad the serene sounds of nature that was obstructed could be heard, from the seemingly distant melodious singing of a choir of birds complimented by the short rhythmic chittering of the squirrels soothing our nerves

But my instincts were screaming at me that there was danger abound, the dungeon was calm and so far we hadn’t seen hide nor hair of hostile creatures that should be prevalent in dungeons, it was strange that everything was going perfectly.

The only sign of hostility was the creature that Virgil hit with a rock when we first entered the dungeon, even then it was only sizing us up, it must’ve learned from its encounter with Virgil that we’re not prey that can easily be hunted, though I can’t shake the feeling that it hasn’t given up and even know we’re being watched.

But contrary to my senses telling me something was off we arrived at our destination, a clearing in near the center of the woods, without any fights breaking out.

When Virgil announced this would be the place we would be practicing setting up camp, most of the others just kind of…. How do you put it?

Piled up?

No.

Dropped dead?

No there’s still some energy left.

Hmmmmmm I think the best way to put it is they just sorta fell over.

Well, I can’t blame them It felt like the trek here felt like it took hours but looking at the sky it looks like it should still be noon.

“well, then why don’t we take a break then, by the looks of it.”

I started to unpack my things from my sack but was quickly reminded that I ran out of provisions getting to town, I was going to find an easy job posting at the adventure’s association to make some money but alas that bastard Virgil hooked me into this right when I woke up.

So sadly, I could only stare in envy as everybody else was drinking and eating.

(Curator POV)

“Hey Alice, do you think the wolves are acting weird today?”

“must have been that item that was bestowed upon her.”

Ohhhhh yeah, wonder what that item does since it was supposed to be a reward for returning the book, to put it differently, the book came from the boss so the item was a reward for beating the floor boss, so I don’t think that hood as just a normal piece of cloth.

“Curator if you want I can pull up a report about the said item since it has been recorded and cataloged for future use.”

Right. I remember one of the messages being about materials being recorded in lore material creation.

So, I pull up the menu for lore material creation (fairytale), and where there was once an empty menu there was now several options I could pick from.

I was internally laughing like a giddy kid that had new toys to play with, as I scroll through the options that were unlocked, but first is to look up what the hood does.

Name: Red Hood

Item Type: clothing

Effects: size manipulation, acid resistance (medium), pierce resistance (medium), wolves prey (MAX)

Description: a large piece of red cloth reminiscent of the hood that little red riding hood wears. Very soft and comfortable.

wolves prey: the user projects an aura that makes them Irresistibly delicious to wolves.

(Note: the aura cannot be turned off.)

………..

………

……

“Alice, they’re going to be okay right?”

I ask while trying futilely issue mental commands to wolves, it looked like most wolves on this floor was aggroed on to the group, the only ones that were spared were some wolves who reside in the corners of the floor.

For the time being, I order the wolves who aren’t affected by the hood to not wander anywhere near to the clearing in the center of the woods.

“….they should be okay as long as they stick next to their guides.”

Welp if Alice says they’ll be fine then they’ll probably be fine, and maybe one of them will even rise up to the occasion and protect the others like a hero or go on to fight a hoard of wolves on their own and live to tell the tale.

“Hey Alice, want some tea?”

“what’s tea?”

“delicious is what it is”

Well, let’s see if I can make some tea for Alice, while this tale plays out.