“So what can we expect from the Gemstone depths?” Nichalos asked as our group made the small trek—probably half a day by foot—from Southport to the dungeon. Sarah shot the man a look I couldn’t quite decipher, and he only shrugged, “What? I figured the newb would benefit from an explanation.”

With a smirk, I pulled up the System's information on the dungeon and began reciting the main bullet points, “The gemstone depths is a mid-lower tier dungeon, meaning it had less than twenty floors. Each of its seventeen floors is themed after a gemstone. The only exception is the first floor, where each of the ten rooms on the floor is themed after a gemstone. I assume that’s so delvers know what to expect on lower floors. Like most dungeons in the area, each floor has a three-level range best suited for it, with the boss for that floor being the highest rated level.”

Nicholas was openly gawking at this point, and I could see a slight smile playing on Sarah’s lips, with the rest showing varying levels of amusement as well.

“What? You thought I would go into a dungeon unprepared.” I said with a chuckle.

“You didn’t know that the Shipwreck’s Fifth-floor boss was a fire elemental,” Nichalas shot back.

“Ya so, Dougeon floor bosses change all the time. As my father always says, when delving into dungeons, look at the information the guild has but never fully rely on it and prepare for all the possibilities you can think of. To top it off, when dungeons change their floor bosses, it's usually to something with defenses or resistances to the previous bosses' weaknesses.”

“Well, as fun as this conversation is,” Sarah said before Nicholas could respond, “we’re almost to the entrance. And I’d like to review our formation again so everyone knows what to expect once we’re down there.” She paused for a few moments, and most of us nodded acknowledgment, “Okay, Dominque, you’ll scout ahead for any traps and monster ambushes. And when we engage groups, you’ll harry their flanks, but don’t engage them directly. Nicholas, you’ll be our main tank, while Melissa and I will be the vanguard. Jacob, you’ll stay behind us, ensure Nicholas is healed, and heal anyone else who needs it. Andrew, you’ll be protecting Jacob and watching our flanks. Does anyone have any questions? No, good, then let's get in there.”

The first floor hadn't really been a challenge, and unfortunately, I didn’t get any experience because all the monsters on the floor were twenty-five levels below me. I understood why the system had that penalty, but still, it sucked. The rest of the first four floors weren’t different; I started getting experience on the fifth floor since there were level fourteen and fifteen monsters. The interesting thing, and something I hadn't really expected, was that with the rest of the group being over level forty, all the experience after the penalties had been applied had gone to me as if I had soloed the level.

When we reached the safe area after the fifth level and stopped to take a break, I asked Gem about it and was a little embarrassed that I hadn't figured it out on my own since it was such a simple thing. When the system calculates the experience for a group, it adds all the experience from the monster's slane, divides that by the number of people eligible for experience in the group, and subtracts the individual penalties. And since I was the only one eligible for experience on the fifth floor, I got all the experience. I guess this would be one of those “bugs” that are actually a feature, I thought with a mental chuckle.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

After a short break, the group moved out of the safe zone. The walls were veined with a deep green crystal, shimmering faintly under the torchlight. “Emeralds, huh?” I muttered, “So that probably means earth-based attacks, and all of the monsters will probably have some form of resilience buff.” Sarah nodded in agreement.

Barely had we gone a few paces when Dominique signaled a halt, her hand up. I followed her gaze down the corridor, where low snarls echoed. Three wolves slinked into view, each with a gleaming emerald sheen coating their fur. They spread out, eyes sharp and focused on us, with the largest in the middle leading the charge.

“Three wolves. Spread out but coordinated,” Dominique whispered before disappearing from view, most likely trying to get behind the monsters to make sure no more were waiting in ambush.

“I’ll take the right,” I say in answer to Sarah's silent questioning look.

The lead wolf growled and pounced at Nicholas, who met it with his long sword, catching the full brunt of its attack. Sparks flew as claws raked against his armor, but he held steady, jaw clenched in focus. I slid to the right, aiming to intercept the second wolf as it circled, flanking with an agility that caught me off guard.

“Jacob, be ready!” I called, catching his nod as he watched Nicholas. With a low snarl, the wolf turned its attention to me, lunging with a speed that almost surprised me. I sidestepped, pivoting on my heel as I brought my blade down in a sweeping arc, striking its side. It twisted, snarling, but I kept the pressure, refusing to let it regain control.

Behind me, I caught glimpses of the others locked in their own rhythm of battle. Nicholas grunted as the lead wolf’s fangs snapped dangerously close to his arm, and Jacob immediately healed the cuts it left behind, his hand glowing faintly as he focused on his task.

“Time to finish this,” Sarah barked.

Hearing this, I went for a sharp, angled cut, catching the wolf’s neck. It staggered, giving me just enough time to drive my second blade home, and with a final, shuddering snarl, it collapsed. Beside me, Sarah struck her opponent, her sword cutting cleanly through. I whirled just in time to see Nicholas deliver a powerful blow with his sword.

Congratulations! For defeating Emerald Wolf, Level 16, 87 XP has been awarded. (x3)

Warning: As a member of a party 100% of the total gained Experience has been awarded.

Warning: for defeating a monster more than 20 levels below your current level, a 90% XP penalty has been applied.

“Well, that was fun,” I say, looting the fallen monsters. When the group learned I had a storage skill, it was decided that I’d be the one who looted the monsters.

Seeing the monsters disappear in a flash of light, Sarah shakes her head, adding, “I still can't believe you have a passive storage skill. I’ve never even heard of anything like that.” I just gave a surge; what else could I do? It’s not like I could tell them the truth. Giving a final shake of her head, “Well, let's see what else this floor has in store for us.” And we moved deeper into the dungeon.