Jonathan paused on the top of an ash drift and pulled out the map, comparing the landmarks to those around him. They were getting close to the dungeon. The ship that had carried Jonathan off to the city had done so far faster than he had thought, and they had been quite far indeed from the dungeon. Having to wait for Edgar’s slower pace had meant that he had sacrificed speed, but seeing as the whole point of coming to the dungeon was for Edgar’s sake, it was fine.
An hour later, both men were standing about five miles away from the dungeon, having had to sneak around the thousands of soldiers in the area, whose numbers had only seemed to rise since Jonathan’s last visit here. He could never have tried this if not for the fact that nobody could follow someone into the dungeon once it was started, which meant that they would be mostly safe. Even better, if they were quick enough about it, which was possible given Jonathan’s newfound power since last having been here, they would be able to get in and out without being noticed.
He was back at full strength by now, having gotten over the long lasting effects of his damaged body, the result of having supercharged his Smite ability. He could use it again now without fear of death, but it was still a last resort option. In any case, he was hardly going to need it here.
“Ready?” Jonathan asked Edgar as the two men surveyed the dungeon and the surrounding land.
“That I am, Jonathan. That I am.”
Jonathan had started to become more used to the vaguely archaic manner of speaking that his friend had, and he simply nodded in response.
They started down the ash heap a moment later, heading towards the dungeon entrance. The circling patrols were nowhere near them at the moment, and they quickly made their way down to the familiar front of the dungeon. The actual dungeon itself appeared to be abandoned, and there were no soldiers near them. The lip of rock that protected the back of the dungeon was still there, and Jonathan headed for it, wary of lurking guards. However, nobody sprang out to meet them. Even before, the security had been quite lax, but this was something else. Jonathan had a bad feeling about this, but he quelled it for now. The benefits that this would bring were too great.
He had gained so much in his own run of the dungeon, and he was confident that Edgar could get a lot out of it as well. Seeing as the dungeon scaled to the levels of its challengers, it would incorporate his level and power, meaning that he would be able to power level both himself and Edgar. As they neared the small hill of rock that made up the entrance to the dungeon, Edgar frowned.
“This seems quite small to contain all of the wonders that you spoke of earlier. Are you sure this is the right place?”
“Have you never seen a dungeon before?” Jonathan asked in bemusement, unsure as to why the man who had lived in Telvaria all of his life had not seen anything of the sort before.
“No, I have not. Dungeons are quite rare indeed, and their use is reserved for the strongest of beings, at least back on Telvaria. Someone like me would never have gotten a slot in one of them. The waitlists alone could extend for years. But, I trust your judgment. You were here before, after all.”
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Jonathan nodded and kept walking, leading Edgar towards the back of the dungeon towards the entrance. Soon they were standing in front of the lip of rock that protected the back side of the dungeon, and Edgar stared up at it.
Jonathan began to climb immediately, and Edgar started to levitate up towards the top, alighting on the upper part of the rock as Jonathan arrived. The two men leaped over the edge and landed in front of the dungeon itself, heading over to the pitch black entrance hole. Jonathan nodded at Edgar, and then took a step in. Edgar followed a moment later. They were not sure of the window of opportunity for a party to cross into the dungeon together, so they had decided to do it pretty much in unison.
A moment later, Jonathan was standing in the middle of a tunnel of rock that was quite familiar. It looked similar to the tunnel that had contained the Terran wolves before. But it had a different air to it, and it felt more dangerous. A moment later, Edgar popped into existence next to Jonathan, stumbling slightly as he landed on the unfamiliar floor of the dungeon. A few seconds later, a notification popped up in front of the two men, visible to both of them at the same time, which was strange.
Your party has entered the Desolation Caves, a dungeon of the Infinite Hells.
This dungeon is an adaptive dungeon, meaning that it will change its difficulty to match the average level of challengers. As you are in a party, this dungeon will be matched to your average level.
Error. This challenger party is significantly stronger than their level suggests. Calculating new difficulty level.
The average level of this dungeon has been set to level 80.
Jonathan raised an eyebrow at the message, interested in how this would play out. The difficulty level had risen since last time by almost twenty levels, which was certainly too much for Edgar alone to take on. With Jonathan however, this would be doable. He had not gained anything near twenty levels since he was here the last time, but he had easily gained the power of those levels regardless. A moment later another notification popped up, one that was mainly for Edgar’s benefit, as Jonathan had already been here.
This dungeon manifests as a large cave system, with a great expanse of tunnels all leading towards the final boss fight, which is in the center. Monsters within this dungeon will adjust to the average level, rather than simply being at the level indicated. As a result, they can range from level 70 to all the way to level 90. The boss itself will be even stronger. Good luck.
Jonathan gave Edgar a nod, and the two men started down the tunnel in silence. As they walked, Jonathan kept an eye out for the Terran wolves, but when the first monster attacked, it was of a completely different species. A massive spider dropped down from the ceiling, its bulbous body and hairy legs causing Jonathan to withdraw in disgust. The creature hissed at him, prompting Jonathan to surge forwards, driving his fist into its open jaw, which was lined with hundreds of sharp fangs. The monster was clearly not an average spider, as its mouth structure was completely different, added to the fact that it was far too large.
The monster was propelled backwards, falling into the twisting wall of the cave, where it lay, twitching slightly. The monster was still not dead however, and Jonathan nodded at Edgar, prompting the man to go forwards and finish it off. They could both gain essence from fights if they participated in them together, and Edgar quickly finished the beast off with a blade of wind, bisecting the monster’s head, taking advantage of the wound that Jonathan had left.
Essence entered the two men in waves, more than they had been able to gain recently. Jonathan smiled, and kept walking, catching up with Edgar. Neither man spoke, afraid that their voices would alert the monsters to their presence. In any case, they hardly had anything to speak about,as much of their available lines of idle conversation were depleted from their trek through the ash heaps outside. Besides, it wasn't exactly the time or place for such things anyway.