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Grom and Cog rushed through the lush green forest.

Cog could feel the scattered rays of the morning sun on his skin when they broke through the thick roof of leaves. If he wasn't covered in sweat and feeling the exhaustion of not sleeping for at least 24 hours it could have been quite enjoyable.

Grom began silently cursing his damn sect for the what felt like 100th time because it forced its outer disciples to go out into the world and 'temper' themselves and then taking half of whatever spoils the disciples managed to rake together. 

Not collecting resources wasn't an option either since they had to gather a certain amount of contribution points to stay in the sect. At least they had joined the and they would get more points out of hunting but it wasn't pleasant either way. 

And so they had set out hunting Monsters and Mana Animals in the woods controlled by their sect for the last two months. 

They were currently on the trail of an they had managed to surprise. Cog had wounded it with a spear throw to the thigh but unfortunately even Rank 1 Monsters were much tougher to kill or incapacitate then Mana Animals. He had originally planned to end it with the first throw but the rustling of the bushes leaves they had hid in when he took his throwing stance had alerted the stag and he had been lucky to hit it anyway.

Tracking the damn thing was another challenge and if it weren't for the occasional broken twig because the forest was so dense they would have lost it hours ago. Then they suddenly broke through the thicket into a clearing with a small pond just on the other side. The exhaustion had apparently also begun wearing at the stag as it stood with its back to them and greedily gorged itself on the cool water without noticing that its pursuers had caught up with it. 

Cog as the older and more experienced hunter, if only by one year, motioned Grom to flank from the left while he himself ran to the right. For once the forest floor covered in moss and this grass worked in their favor as it absorbed almost all sounds of their advance. When he felt he was in a throwing distance where he had a good possibility to hit while not alerting his prey he signaled Grom to stop. 

If all went well he would kill it with one hit but he learned not to put all his eggs into one basket the hard way. If he failed to kill it it would at least try to get away from him and that would lead it straight into Grom's arms as the pond was a natural obstacle it couldn't pass without trapping itself.

When he was just about to throw his spear an ear shattering bang rang through the forest, startling the wildlife and causing swathes of birds to rush into the sky. Among the startled wildlife was also the stag that in its panic rushed straight in Cog's direction. Readying his spear he intercepted the disoriented monster and tore straight through its throat with a well timed spear thrust. 

The stag ignored the wound and continued running, but just when he began fearing that he had underestimated it somehow the lack of oxygen and the blood loss forced its tribute and the stag lifelessly fell to the ground. After processing the carcass and cleaning their tools and gear at the pond they decided to investigate what had caused the bang as they roughly remembered where it came from.

After walking for roughly two hours they arrived at the foot of . It was the highest mountain in their country by a large margin and marked the beginning of the which separated from the rest of but also shielded them from the reach of the big sects that controlled large parts of the rest of the country. had always been low on higher ranked natural resources and hard to reach with caravans, resulting in no big sect really being interested in controlling it as they would most likely loose money in the process.

Apparently there was a cave in that was followed by a minor landslide. When they approached the rubble to explore what could have caused this sudden cave in they spotted an ark of stone leading down into a cave where once a cliff was. But the strange thing was, that there was no cliff anymore and the ark stood suspended 2 meters into the air without any rock behind it. 

An ominous feeling settled in their stomachs and they were unsure wether to approach the arch or to run as fast as they could. In the end their curiosity won over their rationality (and survival instinct some may say). They grabbed a few stones and stacked them until they could jump and grab the ledge of a platform before the ark and pulled themselves up and enter the cave.

When they entered the density of the Mana made their breathing harder, like when someone suddenly walks into an area where it is very hot and moist. After they recovered their bearings the two young hunters began to get used to the Mana density and took slow and careful steps deeper into the cave down the entrance tunnel. 

In the tunnel grew a few patches of Grade 1 . Grade 1 materials were just barely  considered as valuables for cultivators and especially such a low ranked material as would be ignored by almost anyone who had at least entered 60-80% Mist-Mana cultivation. But to youngsters who had just begun cultivating this was a treasure trove they had never imagined finding. As hunters they learned to maintain balance with nature and so unlike other, greedier people, would have done they only harvested a few of the patches of moss so it could regrow in a short period of time.

If the entrance had made them excited then the first room left them gobsmacked. The cave was littered with grade 1 plants and also a few grade 1 light stones. 

An ear piercing scream ripped them out of their stupor as 4 dived down on them from the ceiling. In that moment of crisis their honed hunter instincts took over and they threw themselves on the ground dodging the bats' charge by a hairs breadth. 

While the bats turned around to charge at them again Grom unsheathed his short sword and unstrapped his buckler from his back and Cog took out his dismantled spear out of his space bag. When the bats charged again Grom positioned himself in front of Cog to give him time to prepare his spear for combat. 

On the first charge Grom managed to clip a wing from an overeager bat that charged ahead of the other three and bash away another two with the buckler. The last bat on the other hand managed to dodge and bite down on his shoulder. 

Just as he began to panic a spear came from behind and accurately penetrated the bat's head and thew it off before it managed to separate itself from them. Now in a 2 versus 2 with the two of them having their weapons out the remaining bats decided that their prey didn't seem that tasty anymore and hurriedly left into a small shaft in the ceiling. Weather they would stay away or return with reinforcements the two of them could not determine. 

After the adrenaline wore off the Grom registered the pain in his shoulder and quickly treated it with a blood hemming salve he had bought on his last trip to Tarth, the only city between the mountains and their sect that was big enough to trade wares for cultivators. He could of course buy the same salve in his sect but the demand for such resources was very high there and the prices did their best to keep with that. In conclusion if you weren't rich or  desperate you were better off procuring the materials yourself and paying just for the production or you wait until you get to one of the cities surrounding the sect.

After calming down for a few moments Grom began harvesting the teeth of the bats and few of the plants and crystals while Cog was in deep contemplation.

"Thats it!"

The loud shout startled Grom and his hand nervously twitched to his sword.

"Hey man you can't scare me like that. Why do you have to be so loud?"

Cog ignored Grom's annoyed response and began to explain.

"I was just thinking that this scenery was very familiar but I couldn't place my finger on it. But then it hit me. We found a new dungeon Grom."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. Absolutely. The description matches 100%. Natural , high Mana density, many different Mana plants and small groups of monsters. Just think about it. normally live in groups of a few hundred in complete darkness since they are so weak. If they hadn't ambushed us we wouldn't have had any problems defeating them even when they had superior numbers."

"I really hope you are right about that. I really don't want them to bring back any friends."

"Can't guarantee that, so we should grab what we can and leave quickly. If this turns out to be true we are set for life. The sect will reward us each greatly. Maybe we'll even get a personal master."

"Well you won't get any of that if you are dead so hurry up."

The two quickly left the cave and only took a break to recover when they arrived back at the forest.

"Wow man I broke through!"

The loud exclamation startled Grom.

"Broke through what?"

"The 50% bottleneck. The Mana pressure inside the dungeon plus the pressure from the ambush must have helped me."

Wow thats great. We should definitely come back here when I need help in a breakthrough. I know you have been at 49% for two months now."

"Ok but lets mark the location and run back. The sect has to know this!"

They then marked the location on their maps and began the long journey back.

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1 month later

"Finally back."

"I really want to take a nice bath."

"Yeah, let's do that. We have to report to the division head and I don't want to make a bad first impression."

With that decided they took one last breath of fresh air before they entered through the massive stone gate that separated them from the noise and scent of thousands of young cultivators that roamed the sect headquarters' streets. It would be more more accurate to to call the headquarter a little city, complete with swathes of people busily roaming the narrow streets.

Originally the headquarter wasn't planned to be this packed but over time more and more people had flocked to and settled near it to make a living off all the rich cultivators living there. Rich was of course relative. To the core disciples the inner disciples had moderate income and outer disciples were as poor as people from the slums, slightly better then beggars.

To the average mortals who couldn't gather any of the precious grade 1 resources the outer disciples were well off and the inner disciples were filthy rich. The core disciples were as distant as royalty to them and they mostly couldn't even imagine their wealth.

The disciples of the sect on the other hand always had menial tasks that they couldn't be bothered to do so they hired mortals for cheap labour. Just like that the two sides depended on each other and that prevented the cultivators from going rampant and killing  mortals for fun or cutting them off from the mortal world completely.

There were of course also even cheaper slave workforces, but those had to be put to work constantly and also cared for with food and shelter. Oftentimes that was just too much of a hassle if you just needed help once a month so most cultivators didn't bother with that.

That only inconvenience and not morality ensured the freedom of the mortal population was all the indication needed for the status of mortals in the sect disciples eyes. The only reason they even payed their workers was that the mortals would flee otherwise and they would have to expend resources to collect them regularly and the workers would then have to be newly instructed every time.

Another consequence of the gradual growth of the city was patchwork skyline. Buildings were crammed into every possible space, resulting in many narrow and dark alleys, and when every free place was built-up the people started stacking houses on existing ones. 

If you had the money and wanted to have more living space you could just buy a few apartments and connect them with bridges over the streets if need be and build on them. Later on a second system of streets was built just for the upper city that had formed. Since you would dodge most of the foul smell and noise if you lived in the upper city those houses were very coveted and were priced accordingly.

Since people built an upper city there was of course also an under city, connected with the over world by regular official entrances and myriads of unofficial ones for those who didn't want to be seen entering. In the under city every vice you could imagine could imagine would be satisfied and a flourishing black market allowed everyone access to things that were normally out of reach

As official disciples Cog and Grom of course lived in the upper city and were very familiar with all the fun places in the under city. And so they weaved confidently through the city over the cobblestone roads, moving up and down through dark stairwells and over many bridges until they finally arrived at their quarters close to the inner city wall. Thanks to magic fresh water and heat for a bath were easily accessible if you had the money.

When the two were all cleaned up they went through the inner gate to arrive at the heart of the sect where only official disciples were allowed to go and inner disciples allowed to live.

The sect building was mirror of the city. It started out as a big building but generations of sect masters and elders had made their own additions to immortalize themselves at least in the sect building as they realized that true immortality was out of their reach. Since the founding master no one from the Blackwood Sect had ever ascended. To remember this one special man that was even worshipped by some obscure cults in the under city the sect named itself after him in the hope of getting some of his good karma or luck to help creating another genius disciple that would lead the sect back to glory.

In the end the sect building became a giant leviathan of wood and stone that only stood tall because the sect had expended many precious resources to stabilize it. Since the it was also built above a giant , the only one in the kingdom that was situated behind the , the constant exposure to the natural Mana had also strengthened and refined the building until it was neigh indestructible.

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Cog and Grom crossed the small cobblestone plaza in front of the sects main entrance with the living fountain in the middle and passed by the giant oaken gates with intricate designs made of into the entrance hall.

The living fountain was a gift by a now extinct clan from the capital for the sects founder and trapped a gargoyle that had a Grade 7 embedded in its mouth.

This fountain was also the only reason that the plaza still existed and hadn't fallen prey to the construction mania of the late sect elders.

When they first entered the sect they were completely in awe of the spacious and ornamented entrance hall, but after seeing it regularly the awe transformed into apathy as they didn't even turn their heads to look while walking straight to the corridor that would lead them to the hunters division. While walking on the stone tiles that had been smoothed out by generations of disciples they passed numerous smaller corridors and doors leading to scholar offices, cultivation rooms and smaller subdivisions of the big 9 divisions that made up the sect.

After wandering the building for almost an hour they finally arrived . The entrance of the hunters division was decorated with the antlers of an unnamed grade 5 that hung just above the gate that was depicting a scene of several men hunting a giant hairy beast with two tusks and an elongated nose. Cog had once asked Barth, their supervisor, if the depicted beast was real but he had just snorted and told him to shut up and continue cultivating and he had never brought up that topic again.

Their first stop before informing Barth about the dungeon was the collection office. There they had to trade in half the spoils from their hunting trip to the sect. After getting relieved of their spoils for contribution points they went to the internal market of the division where they sold everything except the materials they got from the dungeon for currency that had value outside of their sect. The dungeon materials would be used as proof that they had indeed found one and for the preliminary evaluation of how profitable it would be.

Soon they arrived at a corridor with only a single sturdy wooden door that had the name 'Barth' inscribed. They simultaneously took one last deep breath and as if on cue they both knocked on the door.

"Come in." A bored voice called out.

Cog took the lead and opened the door. They both shuffled in quickly and quietly and closed the door so that the warmth of the office wouldn't escape. It would of course be easy for Barth to just cast a heating spell, but he always got grumpy if he had to do unnecessary things and that would never be good if you had a request to make.

They lined up before an unnecessarily large desk  filled with papers that didn't need to be there. But since it was always better to look busy to avoid additional work. The office was also lined with filled bookshelves making the originally spacious office feel cramped and generating an oppressive atmosphere so that no one would stay longer just to chat with its occupant. That was at least what they had theorized on one particularly boring hunt.

"Juniors Cog and Grom reporting back to senior Barth."

Cog had once again taken the initiative since he knew that Grom would never open his mouth unless specifically asked to.

"Well thats fine. You are dismissed if nothing interesting happened. I don't have anything to do for you."

"Actually, Sir, we have something important to report."

"Really? Well thats new. Then don't waste my time and make a short, comprehensive report."

"Yes Sir. One month ago when we reached the outskirts of the near we were alerted by a very loud explosion. When we followed the direction of the sound we found an ark of stone standing on a platform suspended 1 approximately meter into the air above a hill of rubble."

At that part of the story Barth's bored look vanished, he straightened in his chair and looked at the two with renewed interest.

"When we tried to investigate the ark and climbed up on the platform we discovered that it lead to another space that had a cave like appearance. Inside we found various Grade 1 herbs and mosses as well as a few light stones growing all over the walls, ceiling and floor."

Garth leaned forwards stroking his beard absentmindedly with his gaze fixed on Cog.

"We then were ambushed by four that had hidden themselves on the ceiling. After defeating two the rest fled and we were forced to grab what we can and make our way out to not risk getting killed when the two returned with the rest of their swarm. In conclusion we theorized with all the evidence we have that we witnessed the birth of a new dungeon."

When he was done reporting he took off his bag and began lining the table with a selection of every kind of material they found.

"Good. Very good." Was the first response.

"I trust that you haven't told anyone else?"

"No Sir. We traded in our gains from the hunting trip so that no one would get suspicious and them came straight here to make our report."

"Well done. If you continue to keep your mouths shut I can guarantee you that you will be handsomely rewarded by the division head and be promoted to inner disciples."

While making that statement he stood up and motioned them to follow him.

"Lets make a trip to the head."

On their way through the division they couldn't help but look at each other and seeing the same bright smile on their face mirrored by the other. A few curious looks followed them but many just couldn't be bothered to care about two outer disciples running around with their supervisor.

When they reached the upper floors the scenery gradually changed from stone and wood to marble and . The corridors also got wider again like they were on the ground level and the doors got bigger and more ornamented until they had to be rather described as gates. Instead of flat walls there were now decorative arks, intricate carvings, extravagant paintings and delicate statues. The people that often clogged the narrow tunnels below began to vanish until the many halls and corridors they traversed seemed deserted and cold.

When they reached the highest tower of the hunters division they were barred entrance by two guard posted in front of a gate made of mithril with golden inlays. This tower doubled as residence and office of the of the , but since that was such a mouth full most just called him .

"We have made a very important discovery. Please notify the that we wish to speak with him as soon as possible." Barth's voice cut through the thick silence that had made the previous atmosphere so depressing.

"Wait here." Was the only response they got as one guard knocked and then entered the gate.

After a few agonizing minutes the guard finally emerged again and motioned them to enter. Inside they were welcomed by a man with a snake-like face, short black hair, clean shaven and a lean but muscular build. His clothes were held in dark green and brown tones seemingly ready to enter the forests at a moments notice, but that was no surprise as you didn't get to be as a desk jokey. 

He also exuded the pressure of a man that was in charge and used to being a figure of authority. In conjunction with his cultivation at the peak of the  realm he was so imposing that even the normally very brusk Barth appeared intimidated and meek. Cog and Grom on the other hand didn't even dare to breathe too loudly as to not stand out in any way. 

The head sat behind his desk that would have better been placed in a royal dining hall. On the desk there were even more papers then on Garths' with the distinction that these seemed to all be important and work in progress. The walls were lined with the heads , no doubt that all of them had been personally slain by the himself, only interrupted by the occasional carpet on the wall and the big windows that overlooked the sect and the city.

When they were positioned in a triangle before the desk with Barth taking the lead they all simultaneously bowed in a 90° angle before Garth started explaining the whole situation.

After a long while of contemplation he opened his mouth and started speaking.

"You have done well coming to me so quickly. We will have to share the dungeon with the other divisions but since it was our division that discovered it we can expect to get a large cut of the profit the sect makes from it. I planned to make a trip to the anyway and now it seems that I just have to go a bit sooner then anticipated. I will then decide your rewards."

After the three left the office he allowed his expressionless face to relax and a small smile crept up on his face. For people who didn't know him the whole scene would have appeared quite sinister, but his friends and close colleagues knew of the fierce loyalty he felt for the sect. 

He was genuinely  happy that the sect would gain such an asset as dungeons were incredibly rare, but he was also a man of ambition and knew that his chances of becoming the next just rose astronomically, as he was the youngest in the last few millennia with the greatest talent and subsequently the greatest chance to also reach the realm the current head was in.

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Later that evening in the office

"Thats great news Torian." The that looked like a kind, old man smiled gently while sitting in his favorite armchair in front of the blazing fireplace. He didn't need it to keep him or his office warm but looking into the flickering flames always had a strangely calming effect on him.

"Have you made plans on how to proceed?"

Torian knew that this was a test. The wanted to know wether he had the necessary foresight on how to best exploit the dungeon to bring the biggest benefits for the sect as a whole. He had no doubt that the other man now strongly considered him as his successor  and he now had to prove his character and management ability. He had already proved his martial strength and and basic management ability when he had been selected as the head of the hunters division 50 years ago.

The fact that each completed realm approximately added another 100 years to his age limit made such investigations very important as just one leader could either completely ruin a sect or take it to new heights.

"I have." Now was the moment of truth. He felt a feint sheen of sweat form on his palms. The last time that had happened right before he got his current position.

"I believe we should send two separate groups of hunters as the vanguard. The first would ben elite group of inner disciples lead by the two disciples who discovered the dungeon for reconnaissance. They would explore the dungeon 'till the end and map it out. 

The second group would consist of outer as well as inner disciples and would receive a map with the exact position of the dungeon and transport a few needed materials there. The reason for the split is that it is unlikely that the outer disciples could keep up with the inner disciples. By the time they arrive the basic layout of the dungeon should be known. Since every hunter has to be able to build a basic shelter out of wood and hunt they can build a temporary camp and not worry about food.

While these two groups move we could then organize a caravan consisting of people of the natural crafting, martial, scholar and construction division. Those could then organize a dungeon village while we gather mortal workers and disciples from the farming division to secure a permanent food source and flow of workforce and disciples from the formation division to raise our defenses as well as the living standard  with the necessary enchantments.

I do believe that the as well as the are situated nearby so we should deploy at least 1/4 of our elders for protection and later subjugation. I will personally go with the first scouting party to ensure that there will be no mistakes.

As soon as the village is established we will post an announcement in the entrance hall and the rest of the divisions will flock there naturally and since they can't do much in the beginning anyway it is better to not disrupt the normal workings of the sect if possible. The other division heads will of course be informed so that they can plan ahead accordingly and move as soon as the village is ready."

After he stopped speaking the room lapsed into silence. The looked into the flames lost into his thoughts. After a long while he answered.

"I think you covered almost all of my main concerns."

"Almost?" The question came immediately. He cursed himself for his impatience but he had spent hours on his plan and was now told it wasn't perfect. He wasn't used to imperfection. At least not from himself.

"Yes. But the last point can be attributed to your inexperience.You see, dungeons are living things. They have personalities and you can communicate with them as soon as they reach the second stage after they formed the first 10 floors. You should find someone who is loyal to the sect and who is willing to enslave himself or herself to the dungeon. We need to build a basis of trust and if the dungeon stays alone for too long it can grow up to become very twisted. We will proceed with your plan."

"I understand Sir."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. You planned as good as you could with the information at hand. But oftentimes that is not enough. I think you should visit the scholar division more often and broaden your horizon. Luckily you have very much time left to do that. You are still young."

"Thank you Sir. I think I will go and borrow a few books to study tonight before I set out tomorrow morning."

The just smiled at him and then proceeded to watch the flames. Torian took that as a cue and silently left.