The tunnels of stone ended as the group exited from the cave connecting them to the desolate badlands of the next layer. The appearance of a massive mud plain baked by a fake sun above seemed to shock most of the party. The wind filled with the scent of blood flowed past the cave entrance bringing the feeling of butchery at work somewhere.

“When you said Dungeons were minor worlds run by their Crystal Core I didn’t quite grasp that,” Meyun said looking at the new scenery. Iantha’s entire group of Bennie, Meyun, Mishka, Iantha, and Helsted were now dressed in the manner of their Class. Drops had been plentiful in the dungeon allowing everyone to now blend in seamlessly. Eve looked like she was shepherding a new Adventurer Guild group instead of a random assortment of starship personnel.

“Goblins and the problems that you’re going to encounter now that we’ve exited the dungeon’s first floor will need careful work. This is the real adventure about to begin.” Eve said looking out at the seemingly endless baked mud only broken by the far hint of a forest on the horizon.

“What do you mean the real adventure?” Mishka asked.

“She’s probably talking about how we are now in an actual fresh scenery completely free of tunnels and caverns,” Helsted said with a smirk as she eyed the surroundings for a threat that didn’t appear.

“Dungeons are created by the Crystal Core. They use the patterns and layouts from basic formats that are well known. These patterns are not necessarily only restricted to tunnels and caverns as we encountered previously.” Eve said as she turned to face the group behind her fully.

“The area that we're in now after exiting the tunnel is basically a new floor, right?” Iantha asked.

“Yes, the desolate wasteland that we see before us is in essence a moat that protects the central portion of the goblin nation I suspect,” Eve said with a flourish.

“Are we going to clear an entire nation?” Bennie asked.

“No. Think of killing goblins in the tunnels as like killing rats in a maze those are the lowest of the low.” Eve said with a grin. “However, now we are in the civilized territory. Most goblins on this floor will at minimum be hobgoblins or above and not all of them will be bloodthirsty monsters. Probably.”

“So, what you’re saying is now that we’ve reached civilization, the goblins we encounter now are going to be far more dangerous,” Mishka said with a disgusted face.

“Correct,” Eve said with a wide smile.

“At this point, we're going to need to use actual skills. Basically, instead of mindlessly spamming what the system allows us to, we have to work as a cohesive team.” Helsted said before kneeling down on one leg to run her fingers through the powdery baked mud beneath her feet. Eve watched her scent the mud before dropping it and dusting her hands off as she rose to stand once more.

“Yes.” Eve said before continuing, “I want you to understand that I’m only watching over you. I’m not going to interfere in your battles unless you encounter something that is completely beyond your abilities.”

“We’ve been developing very well so far, right?” Iantha said before continuing, “We definitely have the teamwork necessary to be successful. Halstead will be our scout and assassin. Mishka our healer. Meyun is our area of effect attacker with his swarm drones. I will be the elite elimination specialist for powerful champion types. Last, but not least Bennie is our backup able to call upon the great deity she worships to save our bacon in a pinch.”

“Great deity? More like a bloodthirsty totem goddess.” Bennie mumbled.

“You know this is almost like basic training for the Marines,” Mishka said with a smirk.

“No, if we had the Marines everything would already be dead,” Iantha said joining the joke.

“Travel to strange new worlds,” Meyun said without cracking a smile.

“Meet the locals,” Halstead said with a calm face.

“Annnd kill them.” the entire group chorused.

Everyone burst into giggles before finally settling down. “I’m constantly amazed by the structures that the dungeon can create,” Bennie said looking around, but paying particular attention to the fake sun overhead.

“As I mentioned before, every Crystal Core essentially has a series of templates according to Felix.” Eve said before continuing, “What they do isn’t unique. Instead, they create from the templates to make the floors, rooms, tunnels, and so forth. Then they simply pull monsters from within the world they are in, create them with manna, or buy them from the dungeon store. No one is really sure on that part, and Felix won’t tell me the same story twice. Once the dungeon is complete, they open for business. It is universally understood their business is killing sapient or sentient creatures. They do this by creating lures such as treasure exotic weapons and armor skill books spell books anything you can think of as treasure, they can make.”

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“Are they essentially giant living traps, then?” Iantha asked.

“Not exactly,” Eve said, as she started walking out into the desolate wasteland with the large forest in the far distance. She kept talking as her boots crunched on the baked mud cracked plane beneath her feet. “They are constructs created by the system in order to train people in preparation for the Deeps,” Eve said with solemn cadence.

Over the soft crunching noise of everyone’s footsteps, Bennie asked, “What exactly are the Deeps?”

“The Deeps are cracks in reality, fractures in the dimensional membrane that protects the universe from what I understand,” Eve said as the group moved forward towards the distant forest.

“Invaders from the Outside? Are we talking tentacle horrors? Nameless sun-eating monstrosities? Dimensional slave harvesting societies?” Iantha asked.

“No, we are talking things that can destroy System structures. Things like Reapers of Luck that can harvest the Luck Stat off a person. In essence, things that by their very nature bend and twist our reality. Those are the things the System defends against, from what I've been told.” Eve said.

“Where did they come from?” Halstead asked.

“I suspect they come from dimensions that do not have Systems. Or perhaps they come from someplace completely outside Reality as I know it. I don’t really care about the mystery right now.” Eve said before continuing, “In order to progress further in the Tiers and gain greater power after Tier Six you have to kill things from outside the System’s reach. My personal theory is that killing Outsiders allows us to ‘eat’ the mana from their dimension thus pushing us further up the ladder of our own universe. That’s all theory at the moment though. I’m sure you all noticed the Daedric Doorway I have a permanent Fire Trap attached to right? It is the current source of progress for me to reach deeper into Tier Six.”

“Why didn’t you try to keep something like that to yourself?” Mishka said curiously.

“It wasn’t worth the trouble that would be caused. If I hadn’t reported it for concessions when I was found out by the city lord he could have executed me without mercy. Even with all my current power, I would have been crushed like a bug.” Eve said morosely before she continued in a brighter tone. “It’s better to offer up a little bit of something and allow everyone to have a piece of the pie rather than try to keep it all to myself and be killed for it. Even if death isn’t currently permanent there is no reason to go through endless pain, especially when it’s not something I can completely devour alone.”

“Are you saying you couldn’t and keep the danger doorway to yourself without being overrun?” Iantha said.

“That’s correct,” Eve said before continuing with false cheer. “According to Felix, the calculation showed that I would be overrun without assistance from a Tier Seven. So, I sold the information to the city lord Ohm who then probably sold it to the noble houses for a good bit of concessions.”

“It didn’t seem like there was much hostility in the Dungeon. At least not what I would expect from a people-eater.” Bennie said as she cast a spell to clean the travel dust from everyone’s clothing.

“The dungeon, Red, understands that the power it gains from the city Lord and his cronies being in one place killing enemies from the Daedric Doorway is more than he would receive from attempting to kill them. Then there is the basic point that a Tier Seven, such as Ohm, could probably squeeze the Core Crystal to death with a pinch.” Eve said.

“Surrender for long-term profits rather than fight for short-term oblivion?” Meyun said as he wiped his brow with a cloth.

“Exactly,” Eve said as the first goblin encampment rose slowly from the dust-baked mud plain they were crossing.

As the patrolling guards noticed them, Eve stepped casually to the side before she said, “So, let’s talk about some important stuff as you try to stay alive.”

The starship team groaned as they readied themselves for combat.

Several hours later Eve had explained a great deal about Classes, Tiers, and Experience in general. In exchange, she got the current classes of each person locked down. Mishka with no surprise had chosen Shadow Healer. Bennie chose Silver High Priestess, which was no surprise. Iantha went for Prophet of a Year, while her boyfriend Meyun chose Metal Mechanic. Helsted took Air Assassin with a gleeful grin.

“Congratulations on reaching Tier Two,” Eve said directly to the group. It had been a long slog through the goblin tunnel section that Felix used as the introduction to the rest of his Dungeon. Some of the sights had been less than appreciated, but in the end, only scattered remnants of the goblin population survived. It would take years for them to once more muster the numbers they had previously held.

Even then, Eve had heard the whispers of the survivors before they arrived on the mud-plains. Titles had been given to the starship crew, even if they hadn’t heard them. Mishka the Plague. Bennie the Silver Shadow. Iantha the Untouchable. Meyun the Metal Demon. Helsted the Many-Pointed-One.

Helsted’s name still makes me giggle. Eve thought as she continued to say, “Tier Two is the first of the watershed Tiers. This is where you can change to follow a path of specialization towards whatever endgame goal you have. It is the first ‘step’ in my opinion where you remove mortality and begin the process of ascending to a higher lifeform. Many of the abilities you gain will be the keystones to success as you climb higher in the Tiers.” Eve was unwilling to weigh in further at this point because her own personal preferences might stunt the growth of future potential powerhouses. For all, she knew Meyun could turn a utility class into an Empire toppling masterpiece.

Best to only have a light touch. There’s no telling what true blue geniuses can pull off. Eve thought. While she was personally taking care of Iantha and her team, Eve hadn’t neglected the starship’s crew either. The non-command portion of the crew had been taken in by Janice as domestic servants for the brothel. It was a temporary measure until agreements with the Adventurer’s Guild could be put in place to level them. It wouldn’t do for people to grow suspicious about where all those Tier One people came from. That can only lead to problems.

“This floor will feed you to Tier Three,” Eve said as she eyed each of the groups.

“Feed?” Meyun questioned.

“Feed,” Eve said firmly. “Barring some sort of catastrophe, you will be able to purge the entire floor. Once that is done, I’ll check in with my possible future disciples who are currently working on the upper floors of Red’s dungeon.”

“Wait, we are a backup option!?” Bennie said with exaggerated shock.

Eve rolled her eyes and said, “No, you are my Varsity team. The other kids are my Varsity Junior picks.”

“Can’t even escape high school in another world,” Mishka said staring with a morbid expression.

Eve smirked and said, “At least there aren’t zombies.”