Verdantallis was a confusing world, especially when one stepped into a dungeon. The Ocean Dungeon was, perhaps, the oddest of them all. Ernworth Eckelson stood on sand at the bottom of the ocean and took a deep breath. Only two of the seven dungeons went down, which was an odd change. One had to get used to saying “descend” instead of “climb” when talking about the floors.

A massive shipwreck filled most of the third floor. Much of it was nothing more than framing. Some sections still had planks, but those were rotten and warped. It had never been a real ship. It was simply something that had been created for the dungeon to give the cetanthro homes to occupy on the third floor.

His partner stood beside him, calm and still despite the horde of enemies nearby. Katalin had her brows lowered, as she often did while she was thinking. Her long hair floated elegantly in the water. Ernie’s hair, as curly and compact as it was, seemed to only poof out more in a much less elegant way.

“This isn’t looking great, Ernie,” Katalin said.

Ernie fished a grenade from his bag, clutching it tightly just in case he needed it. Throwing explosives underwater was even more dangerous than on the surface, but alchemists rarely had other ways to fight. Katalin held her own creation, which was made from a metal pipe. Hers was far more dangerous than his on the surface, and he preferred not to find out what it would do beneath the water.

Most things needed for real alchemy were located in the dungeons. A special aquatic mushroom grew outside the caves of the fourth floor, and he desperately needed a bag full of mushrooms. In fact, he could lose his job if he didn’t manage to find them. Althowin was not an easygoing boss. One couldn’t create without risking a life. Ideally, one risked someone else’s life. Althowin sent her assistants, and her assistants hired heroes. Unfortunately for Ernie, the current hire wasn’t looking great.

Hero

Tibur Egyed

Soldier

Golden Bull Hero Company

Level: 29

Strength: 201

Constitution: 190

Dexterity: 105

Intelligence: 104

Wisdom: 73

Charisma: 110

Tibur was a young man. A prodigy, according to Andres, though from what Ernie was seeing, Tibur was not qualified for the job. It was simple, really. Ernie had hired a hero to escort him to the fourth floor and safely out the exit. Any talented hero would have managed the expedition just fine. In fact, Ernie had gone on the exact same trip a few months back, but at that time he had hired a Void Nexus hero.

Damned Golden Bulls charged more than half up front and failed to deliver. They had been decent in the past, though they charged more than most of the other hero companies. He had hoped they would prove their worth with another try. The only ones to charge more were the big three, but with those one knew they were getting quality and their prices varied on the mission.

For as much as the Golden Bulls charged, he could have hired multiple Nimble Hogs. A Void Nexus hero in the low 20s would have been roughly the same price for this “prodigy.” Even the Magna Regum Hero Company charged the same per hero as the Golden Bulls, and Magna Regum never failed to deliver.

Tibur fought a horde of monsters. Cetanthro, no matter the variety, loved to swarm. Itajara and phyraena brutes wailed on Tibur. To his credit, the soldier was standing his ground. For now. Sure, Ernie could attempt to help, but what would it do? The cetanthro would swarm him just as fast and an alchemist can’t take more than a hit or two before they’re truly in danger.

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Ernie never wanted to let heroes die, but they knew the risk when they took his money. They could have remained citizens like most of the world if they were scared of death. Instead, they took incredible amounts of money.

“Do you know how much we paid for him?” Ernie asked.

“Barely more than Althowin was going to give us.” Katalin sighed. Her voice sounded distant while underwater. The Ocean Dungeon really was an odd place.

Tibur had made quick work of the first two floors, but enemies bigger than him were apparently a weakness. The itajara were lumbering oafs of mobs that carried clubs made from what appeared to be the old sides of the ship. One carried a big piece of coral that looked as though it might crumble just from waving it around. The phyraena brutes were more vicious and found all of Tibur’s openings as he blocked the itajara attacks.

“We should leave,” Katalin said.

A cloud of blood already floated in the water around Tibur. The young man wouldn’t last much longer. Katalin was right. The grenades could kill the mobs, but they would rip Tibur apart too. A death by battling would be better than a death from alchemical grenades. There was little they could do for the hero as soon as he had decided to rush in against the cetanthro ambush. A smart soldier would have found a way out before he could be overwhelmed.

The exit was through the rest of the shipwreck on the far side of the floor. A cetanthro city was built into much of the wreck, though there were paths that avoided many of the mobs. It would be a long, arduous journey through the third floor, but Tibur had already pulled most of the mobs from the city. Ernie followed Katalin to the edge of the shipwreck. They could maneuver through the frame and get on top where only weak mobs still roamed.

A soft yellow glow flashed over Tibur as he sliced the head off another phyraena brute. Cetanthro mobs backed away as the soldier roared. Smarter mobs often responded to a hero leveling up. Ernie wasn’t sure why. It was one of the countless mysteries of the dungeons. Though it was odd that the itajara reacted since they hardly had a brain at all. Tibur pushed harder against the horde before him. Ernie grunted. The timing of that level up could have allowed Tibur time to flee. Instead, he was right back in the fight.

Katalin climbed over another beam and stopped, watching the fight. “The young ones are always morons,” she said.

Tibur was impressive. Ernie would give him that. Lesser heroes would have been torn apart against such an overwhelming force.

“I told him to play it safe. We just needed protection.” Ernie climbed onto the same beam as Katalin and leaned on it. Even if the fight ended soon, the cetanthros were far enough away to not notice either alchemist.

“Heroes always want to clear the floor. I don’t get it.”

She was right. Most heroes, even those with companies, always wanted to kill every last mob. It didn’t matter that they would respawn. They were a bloodthirsty lot that liked to think of themselves as unkillable.

“Althowin will murder us if we don’t grab those gilled mushrooms.”

Ernie nudged Katalin. “I know what we can do.”

“Hm?” She placed her pipe bomb back in her bag. Shaking one too much could cause it to explode. Horribly. Ernie relaxed a little seeing it stashed away.

“We can go back to Atrevaar. We can hire—”

“Artivan,” Katalin said, finishing Ernie’s thought. She grinned. “The old man knows how to avoid an unwinnable fight. He’d get us through at twice the pace Tibur did.”

They were quiet as they watched Tibur finally collapse. Blood and guts from Tibur and all the mobs floated in the water without a current to pull it away. He was certainly carrying some valuable loot, but it wasn’t worth grabbing. Althowin made sure they had everything they needed anyway. As long as they delivered their ingredients.

It was sad watching the young hero take his final breath. He was an ambitious one. All he talked about for the first two floors was his goal of collecting all seven shards. There was a reason most hero companies didn’t have Shard Carriers. The qualities for that impossible task were rare. Even a prodigy wouldn’t achieve such a feat. It required something different. Something Ernie certainly didn’t have, and obviously Tibur didn’t have either.

“Straight from here to the Nimble Hogs?” Katalin asked.

“Might as well. We have a couple weeks before Althowin expects us back. Atrevaar isn’t too far from Minolitana Prima.”

Katalin nodded and climbed up the last bit of ship wreckage. Ernie followed her up, putting his own grenade back in his bag. The open ocean was still bright above them. They weren’t too deep yet where the real disgusting mobs appeared. He hadn’t seen them, but Althowin spoke of some horrific creatures in the trench.

It would be a quick journey if they could simply swim up. Unfortunately, that wasn’t how the Ocean Dungeon worked. They would need to climb the exit stairs to find their way back to the beach. At least they had a plan. Ernie could always rely on Artivan and the Nimble Hogs.