The Great Forest Dungeon was bigger than a mountain. It was a giant monolith on the horizon, impossible to miss. Even from the moment Marijan entered Izylia, he could see the gigantic tree so terribly far away. The land between the country and the dungeon was untamed wilderness with nothing more threatening than a few hungry coyotes. Everything dangerous would be through the front door.

It had been a long adventure from Brukiya. So long that it was difficult to believe the Great Forest Dungeon was now so close.

Marijan looked up at the massive tree. The clouds obscured the top, making it look like a giant pillar of wood that stretched to the heavens. Just before him was a pitch black door big enough to fit an entire building through.

“One last check?” Branko asked. The soldier had already unsheathed his longsword to check over the blade, as if he hadn’t done so every night of their journey.

Marijan checked his belt for potions. Buff Intelligence, Shield, Invisibility, and two Heal potions all hung from his belt. They clinked when he walked. Branko had told him numerous times that they were giving up any amount of surprise with the noise he made, as if Branko didn’t clank with his chainmail.

The Great Forest was going to be Marijan’s first dungeon. It was most people’s first dungeon. Rumors said it was the easiest, at least as far as dungeons went.

“Ten years in the making,” Marijan said, grinning. He waved his hand, trailing a little faint light behind his finger. His index opened right before his eyes, which drew Branko’s attention.

Level: 8

Strength: 82

Constitution: 83

Dexterity: 102

Intelligence: 135

Wisdom: 105

Charisma: 103

“When did you level up?” Branko asked as he sheathed his sword.

“Last night when I lit the campfire. You didn’t notice?” Marijan grinned. “Jealous?”

Branko rolled his eyes. “I’ll level up fast enough protecting you from the goblins.”

Marijan had no doubt about that. He had heard so many stories about the first floor of the Great Forest. Most of the dungeons were complete mysteries. Even if Marijan found someone who had conquered the dungeon, they wouldn’t tell him anything about it. People liked to keep the mysteries of the dungeons to themselves. And for good reason. But the people of Izylia had many stories about the goblin caves on the first floor.

“Quick, sneaky,” Marijan said, repeating the warnings he had gotten.

“Rude,” Branko finished.

They both laughed.

Ever since Marijan had been assigned the class “Wizard” on his fifteenth birthday, he had been eager to adventure. Branko had trained hard to become a soldier, and he was a damn good one.

“Give me one more second,” Marijan said.

He flipped his index to his spells. Three Power 1 spells were ready to go at a thought.

Illuminate

Discharge

Fire Arrow

Examine

Those were good for quick mobs, but anything stronger would require one of his Power 2 spells, which he was still uncertain about, even if Branko thought Marijan had all the confidence in the world.

Lightning

Electrify

His intelligence was high enough to cast both, but the drain on his mana was deadly. The minimum intelligence for Lightning was 145. As soon as they found difficult enemies, he would need to use his Divine Intelligence Buff potion. It only lasted twenty four hours, so if it ran out, it would make the rest of the floors difficult. Unless they managed to find more potions.

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“Ready?” Branko asked.

Soldiers had so little to prepare before battle. Marijan was jealous.

“You’re leading, aren’t you?” the wizard asked.

Branko strapped his shield to his forearm and strode right into the black doorway. Marijan followed and shivered as the absolute darkness washed over him. His stomach turned as if he had just been dropped from a cliff, then he immediately found himself in a cave. The black doorway was right behind them, but they wouldn’t be able to pass through again, even if they tried. The only exits were at the end of each of the ten floors beside the stairs leading up to the next floor.

Entering Great Forest Dungeon

First Floor

Two bars appeared at the bottom left of Marijan’s vision, one red and one blue. Outside, he had to open his index to find his mana and health.

“Do you see your health and mana?” Marijan asked.

Branko nodded, scanning the wide hallway before them. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, dripping mineral-filled water on the uneven ground. Light from outside, despite the pitch-black door, illuminated the hall until it split into three hallways.

“It’s going to get dark in there,” Branko said.

Marijan pointed at the soldier’s sword and cast Illuminate, causing the blade to glow like a torch. His mana bar drained about a quarter of the way. It refilled on its own, but it was terribly slow. At 150 Intelligence, the recharge rate would double.

Branko pointed it toward the ground, keeping the light from his eyes. “Follow close. Quick, sneaky, rude.”

“I remember.” It had taken ten years to get ready for the first dungeon. There were stories of fifteen year olds going into a dungeon right as their class was assigned, but Marijan didn’t believe it. His intelligence was hardly high enough for Power 2 spells, and he had trained hard.

Branko’s footsteps echoed with the dripping water. He lingered at the fork. The middle entrance had some soft candlelight and some chatter. The right was silent and wound around a tight corner. The left was the widest path, but had the sound of stone scraping on stone.

Branko nodded to the middle, then shuffled forward. Marijan had nothing in his hands. Even as a trained wizard, it felt odd to not carry a weapon. He felt a little naked compared to Branko’s sword and shield combo.

Just inside the middle path was a broken wooden chair. Splinters covered the stone ground. Some mushrooms had started to grow out of the chair legs. Branko carefully stepped over the broken pieces, then grunted and held his shield up. An arrow pinged off the metal shield.

Marijan hopped over the chair legs and crouched to the side of Branko.

Two goblins stood amongst shattered furniture, throwing insults at them. The goblins were short green people with wild hair. One had bright orange hair like fire, and the other had sky blue hair that stuck up in tight curls. They wore ragged clothes and oddly wide faces with long, pointed ears.

“Disgusting,” Marijan said. He had never seen a goblin before. They were only present in two of the dungeons, and were most commonly known for the Great Forest.

One had a bow and was drawing another arrow, and the other had a wooden club that it had just lit on fire from a nearby candle.

“Some help,” Branko said, keeping his shield up.

Marijan pointed his finger and casted Fire Arrow. It formed alongside his finger, looking just like the arrow the goblin was about to shoot, except Marijan’s was made entirely of fire. It formed quicker than the goblin could draw his bow. As soon as it was formed, Marijan shot the arrow, letting the recoil push his arm back.

The fire arrow flew through the air, identical to a normal arrow, and lodged itself right in the center of the archer’s forehead. The goblin said something quietly, wobbled, and collapsed. Marijan saw the experience notification float quickly through his view. He needed a lot before level 9, but any small amount would help, even the 10 he got from the goblin.

Branko, with the threat of archery gone, charged through the broken furniture and shield bashed the other goblin. It flew back and crashed into a stalagmite.

The goblin jumped back to its feet and shouted, “I’ll piss on you,” right as Branko sliced its head off.

“Ten experience?” he asked. “Is that a joke?”

“It’s just the first floor. And the first room.” Marijan tried to keep it calm, but between illuminate and fire arrow, his mana was below half, and it was only crawling back up.

“What’s wrong?” Branko asked.

“I’m at half mana.”

“How much does that potion buff?” Branko sheathed his sword and looted the goblins, pulling a few gold pieces from each. He checked the nicked sword the one had held and tossed it to the side.

“Forty points. It would put me at Power 3 spell level.”

“How much faster is that recharge?” Branko unsheathed his sword and used it as a light as he rummaged through the rest of the room.

“More than twice. It should last at least twenty four hours.”

“Use it. The dungeon should be quicker than a full day from what we learned.” Branko walked past Marijan and waved him along.

“Are you sure? This was so expensive.”

“We’re going to run into more archers or even goblin wizards. We need your spells. Drink it.”

Branko looked left and right, then decided to take the wide path, which had been the left-most fork. He held the sword out, letting the light spill around the corners. “With how little experience the goblins are giving, we’ll be better off finding the stairs quickly and ascending to the second floor.”

Marijan pulled the white potion from his belt and swirled it in front of his face. It looked like snow inside the round bottle. He had never drank a buff potion before, and was worried he might vomit if it tasted horrible, which it most likely did. Would a buff still stick if he vomited? There was only one way to find out.

Branko passed between two narrow rocks and leaned to the side, then waved Marijan forward. “Looks like there are several goblins ahead.”

Marijan pulled the cork from the bottle and sniffed the potion. It smelled of an algae-filled pond. All he had to do was keep it down.

Marijan lifted it, finally ready to drink it, just as a goblin jumped from a shadow-covered rocky ledge beside him. Branko didn’t even notice as he kept his eyes on the goblins around the corner.

The purple-haired goblin with bright green eyes smirked as he drove a jagged knife right into Marijan’s stomach. The wizard gasped, unable to warn his comrade. The potion left his numb fingers and spilled across the face of the goblin. The white liquid vanished as soon as it splashed across his green skin.