The darkness faded to reveal that we had been teleported back to the original entrance to the mine. The party interface was gone since we were no longer in an active dungeon. Relief flooded through me as I looked around to see that everyone had been teleported together. Arthur and Rocks were still on the ground, I quickly inspected both to see that they were at full health.
Camile cried out as Arthur took a ragged breath and stirred. There were a few more of the Thorks Miners down, never to rise again. Van had full health but looked to be napping while Marci flew around the room nuzzling all of her favorite people. The room was silent as everyone processed what had happened.
Congratulations! You have survived Old Mining Camp Dungeon Level 2! Level 3 unlocked! Rewards based upon contribution! Level 2 is now available as part of Old Mining Camp infrastructure.
Congratulations! You have reached level 35!
Congratulations! You have reached level 36!
Congratulations! You have reached level 37!
Congratulations! You have reached level 38!
Congratulations! You have reached level 39!
Congratulations! You have reached level 40!
Congratulations! You have new classes available!
Congratulations! You have new skills available!
..........
So many notifications! It was overwhelming as they continued to flow in. I willed them away to deal with later and looked around. The room was roughly the same with the large hole on the far side that led down deeper. The entrance behind us led to the hallway and first room we had entered in the dungeon.
Camile was crying and hugging Arthur who had managed to sit up and lean against the wall. He looked in terrible shape despite having full health. Rocks had stirred and sat up to lean against the wall as well. He was staring off into space reviewing his notifications. This was probably the most he had ever received at once.
The Thorks Miners were both celebrating and grieving their losses. The jump in levels for them would provide security in this new world, their losses leaving the group small and vulnerable otherwise. Gerald made eye contact and walked over to stand with us.
“Sylar, Arthur, Rocks, Camile,” he made eye contact with each of us and nodded. To my surprise he even walked up to Van and pounded his chest “Van, Marci. Without you we would have been stuck in that damned mine. Even if you were the ones to trigger the survival event, we would not have survived for much longer without help. I want to thank you all for defending our weaker members, even putting your lives at peril.” He finished.
“You are welcome Gerald. If only we had fully worked together sooner. That's a mistake on my part that I will not be making again. I formally invite every one of you to join the Old Mining Camp. It is a fledgling town deep in a forest that runs through the country we are all from. The choice is yours, we can coexist peacefully if you choose not to join.” Arthur stated from his seat on the ground.
“We will discuss it Arthur. I can not speak for everyone but I can’t think of a better place to be for myself right now.” Gerald replied and walked back over to speak with his people.
“We have so much to go over regarding the town, there are so many notifications waiting to be acknowledged.” Arthur said with a sigh.
“Arthur. I leave the town point upgrades and room selections up to you. You will need plenty of rest the next few days, that will give you time to process it all.” I replied.
“I am going to head back up and check on the camp. We need to prepare for a response from the King.” I said and looked at each of my friends.
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“We should all head back up. The others will be worried for us, we have been down here for three days.” Camile said.
“Three days?” I asked with surprise. “I didn’t realize we had been down here for so long.”
As I said it my stomach rumbled and reminded me I hadn’t had a proper meal in days. We let the Thorks Miners know about the mess hall and began to walk back up to the first level. First was the large room we had first encountered the ghouls in, it was now well lit. It was a circular common room that branched off to more dormitories and storage rooms.
There was a town interface in the middle of the room that could be used to control the town functions. Traveling down the hallway had us pass several more rooms that looked like the training rooms from the first level and a few private bedrooms. There would be enough room to house the residents of the town now with this level unlocked.
The threshold between the first and second levels was now a ramp like the threshold between the ground floor and level one. We decided to continue up to the ground level before any exploring to check on the town. I wanted to get outside and breathe some fresh air before digging in and going through my notifications.
There was a small commotion as we walked through to the common room of the ground level. There was a round of whooping and celebration as the residents realized we had been victorious. Arthur announced a town meeting for later that night and we all went to the mess hall for a meal. Many of the residents joined us to hear any news from the dungeon. Surprisingly, it was Rocks who did the most talking. His pride was obvious as he retold the story.
The mystery meat and vegetables were the best I had ever tasted. We ate in silence, all still absorbed in the events of the dungeon. Marci was standing on the table dipping her beak in her own bowl while Van looked confused at the food. To my surprise the ape didn’t want the meat and only ate the vegetables.
“I thought I was going to die down there. When that elemental caught me on the chest. I was conscious for just a minute after. The pain was unbelievable, I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Until Leslie arrived and used her healing on me.” Arthur said to me in a soft voice. “If they choose to join, she will be invaluable. We need to push one of our own to take a healing class if anyone is offered one. I have a class change waiting for me but I will remain combat focused for now.”
“I think we all have class changes waiting for us. I reached level 30 there at the end.” Camile agreed from her spot beside her father. Her two sisters had joined us in the mess hall and were playing on the ground behind the table, bored with the adults already.
“Same for me. Level 34 there at the end. I will stay combat focused as well.” Rocks said after Camile. He had finished telling the story of the dungeon to the people nearby.
“I haven’t checked yet but I will stay similar to what I am now. My bond with Marci and Van are too important and strong to change to anything else. I reached level 40 after the end of the dungeon.”
“Wow. Just when I thought we were catching up!” Rocks said with a chuckle.
We went our separate ways after eating. I wanted to get outside and get some fresh air, a sentiment shared by Van and Marci. The common room and entryway had been cleaned up since the battle with the first army. It was back to scattered piles of belongings and sleeping mats. I was thankful for the new rooms we had opened on level 2, I would let Arthur share the news later.
Marci flew up off my shoulder as soon as we passed the door to the clearing. Van sent me a mental image of the trees and his friends on guard duty before taking off to go see them. The sun was shining through the canopy revealing it to be around midday. It felt like eternal night down in the dungeon. It was refreshing to be outside and back in the forest that had become my home.
The clearing had undergone some serious work as well. All the signs of the fighting were gone and the damage repaired. More trees had been cleared to increase the size of the clearing leading to the mine. There was the base frame of several structures laid out and ready to be built when there was enough lumber and manpower. The loggers formerly of Burch certainly were quick when they had time and peace to work.
I climbed up a tree and sat on a branch overlooking the area. My mind was still a bit scrambled from the dungeon. Being outside and back in the forest was helping me settle. We had come close to losing everything down there. Marci was circling lazily, I could feel her satisfaction being able to fly in the open air again.
Van was off in a tree half a mile away with the other forest apes that had stayed. I could feel satisfaction and pride pouring off him over the bond. I used See What I See to see him sitting on a branch near two other apes. I wasn’t sure if the forest apes had a way to measure each other's strength but Van was clearly bragging in his own way. He had grown in strength significantly down in the dungeon, reaching level 31.
I closed my eyes and leaned back against the tree trunk. I felt grateful to be alive, the dungeon had been a gamble. We needed more room and resources if we were going to thrive apart from Eter. We had achieved what we wanted and even gained potential allies in the form of the Thorks Miners. Most importantly though, we were still alive, we had survived.