After dropping off Nessyra and fetching Viv, who had sensed Alistair's return and intercepted him with his mother hot on her heels, they boarded the Artemis for the short trip to the golden forest, as they called it. Viv contentedly sat on Alistair's lap, purring on his lap as the forest came into view on their screens.
"That's really close to Rathos; if this truly is a realm of sorts, we lucked out," Riseth commented as she prepared to disembark, powering down the Artemis.
"Well, that depends on what's inside. The golden fall trees are promising, but the one monster on our scanner is already firmly in Grade 8, so we might have a serious fight on our hands if it is a dungeon core that seeks to expand," Alistair cautioned.
"A strong dungeon would still be good, even if it has an expansionist core. All we need to do is contain it and make sure we stay or become stronger than it," Riseth said with a chipper voice. She picked up Viv from Alistair's lap, petting the cat as she walked toward the exit hatch. Alistair followed as they jumped out of the hatch, and Riseth stored the Artemis while Alistair took out King to survey the surrounding area before entering the golden forest.
"Viv, stay close, try not to stray too far, and keep your aura subdued," Alistair cautioned as both he and Riseth toned down their auras.
They stopped some distance from the golden forest, hoping to sneak in unnoticed and catch the elusive beast their sensors had detected off guard. Quietly, they descended into the regular forest that bordered the autumn patch of golden trees. As they passed through a cluster of poplar trees with strange star-shaped leaves and twisted branches, Riseth let Viv leap from her arms. The small cat instantly melted into the shadows cast by the thick canopy, her golden eyes gleaming as she moved with silent grace. Alistair felt a surge of confidence, knowing Viv’s stealth was likely superior to both his and Riseth’s. He felt comfortable letting her roam ahead as they crept deeper into the woods.
As they traveled through the forest, Alistair kept scanning the surroundings with his Conceptual Awareness skill, spotting multiple plants, mushrooms, and herbs that could be of interest to their alchemists. He made sure to collect some samples. Meanwhile, Riseth's augmented nose occasionally detected hidden treasures Alistair had missed, such as buried tubers.
They were close to the golden forest when he heard a familiar meow he used to dread, indicating that Viv had successfully hunted something. Sure enough, the roaming cat returned dragging a Zerster almost as big as herself in her mouth. Unlike in the past, he praised Viv as he retrieved the body and stored it in his storage. Although the cat's advanced age, she had always been a good hunter, frequently bringing him birds, snakes, mice, and all sorts of other critters. At least now, this quirk of hers was beneficial. Happy at being praised, Viv jumped back into the shadows and started roaming again.
"How cute. Do cats usually try to make gifts for their owners?" Riseth inquired.
"Yes, but I used to be much less stoked when she brought me live or dead critters," Alistair replied with a chuckle. "One time, she brought me a live snake, and I had to toss that wriggling mass out of my house by its tail. It was hissing and snapping in panic, trying to wriggle free," Alistair recounted, shaking his head at the memory.
He grew quiet as they approached the border between the two forests, exchanging a look with Riseth before they both lowered themselves and started communicating over their Akashic Link. A small creek marked the divide between the two distinct forest types. Alistair could see saplings of the thicker, oak-like trees growing on the other side of the creek, displacing the weaker saplings and trees. As they snuck closer, they noticed that the stronger trees seemed to have uprooted the others, their fallen trunks nurturing the environment. The thick wooden trunks were sturdy and clearly magical in nature, with leaves that shimmered in gold, dark red, and orange hues.
"If nothing else, these trees look beautiful," Riseth commented over their link as she harvested some of the saplings.
"They are quite magical in nature based on my stored knowledge. They have nature, gold, and fall affinities, from what I can tell," Alistair replied.
"Fall affinity? What's that good for?" Riseth asked curiously.
"No idea, it doesn't seem that useful, but there might be things we're not aware of," Alistair mused.
They continued sneaking into the forest, noticing occasional clearings mostly centered around small ponds that brimmed with magic, turning the soil around them rich in mana or 'spirit soil' as some manuals they had read called it. Mana visibly streaked through the ground, promoting the growth of a wide assortment of plants, flowers, and trees in the vicinity. They suddenly froze as they approached the center of the golden forest, sensing a powerful presence entering a nearby clearing.
They turned invisible and quickly hid behind a large rock face overlooking the clearing. What greeted them was a Unicorn with pristine white fur and a long white wavy mane streaked with occasional golden strains reaching almost the floor. On its forehead, it had a slightly curved, long golden horn that radiated a golden aura that contained traces of luck, nature, Purity, light, and healing concepts. Every step it took seemed to promote plant growth under its hoofs.
Alistair gaped, not believing their luck. They had struck gold if that was a beast capable of respawning from the dungeon.
"Is that an honest-to-good unicorn?" He questioned, and a quick use of his Identify skill confirmed it, [Aurelian Unicorn - lvl 120]
"I presume it's a beast you know of? It's beautiful. It kind of looks like the horses you brought from Earth," Riseth commented as she browsed her knowledge base.
Alistair then explained what he knew, cross-referencing it with what he had found in the different libraries of the Trial. When Riseth made to approach the beast, he grasped her by the shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Alistair questioned.
"Unicorns are apparently friendly to maidens, so I wanted to see how it would react," Riseth replied.
"Pure maidens Trouble," Alistair corrected, "You're a succubus, If it sees you, it just might go into anaphylactic shock,"
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This earned him a slap on his shoulder and a snicker almost giving away their position as the Unicorn looked in their direction.
"We both cultivate purity aspects at our core. It might just work, and we kind of spooked it now," Riseth said, still indignantly pouting at his earlier comment.
With a sigh, Alistair relented, and they revealed themselves, slowly approaching the beast. It eyed them suspiciously before attacking in a flash of light originating from its horn, slicing the rock they had been hiding behind in half as both evaded the attack. Alistair tried to restrain the unicorn with his telekinesis, but it somehow slipped free and dashed away, fleeing deeper into the forest as they pursued.
The chase didn't last long; the unicorn jumped into a rift in space and vanished. Alistair and Riseth stopped in front of the rift, inspecting it closely, their Dungeon Sense ringing as they did. Alistair called back King, who reported not seeing any beasts out of the ordinary. The wyvern arrived shortly after, and Alistair stored him.
"Pretty sure this is a Dungeon Realm of sorts. Now we only need to figure out if it is instanced or not," Alistair commented after circling around the rift once.
There were different types of dungeons: those that spread in real space and those that created their own pocket realms or rifts. It wasn't uncommon for dungeons to form their own realms, as they rarely enjoyed their surroundings enough to expand in real space. Among these realms, the most important distinction was whether or not they had multiple instances of themselves. Instanced dungeons were preferable because they endlessly cycled, allowing people to enter without worrying about others missing out, as there were endless instances to farm. These instances existed as long as any dungeoneer stayed within them. Non-instanced dungeons meant everyone entered the same space; those were usually much larger, with more powerful beasts and an increased respawn rate of monsters. However, they could never keep up with the farming efficiency and perks of an instanced dungeon.
"Considering the unicorn left and returned to the dungeon, it's unlikely to be instanced since they usually can't return to their original instance," Riseth observed.
"One can hope," Alistair replied. "An instanced dungeon containing unicorns with even a sliver of luck affinity is something larger multiverse factions would wage war over."
Riseth frowned at the realization. "That's not a good thing!"
Alistair smiled at her. "It just means we need to get strong enough before the bridge properly establishes."
Riseth let out a soft groan. "Fine. You go in first; I'll wait ten minutes before following. That way, we know for sure whether or not it is instanced."
Viv melded out of a shadow nearby and jumped onto Alistair's shoulder as he walked toward the dungeon rift.
"I think we should enter together. There might be a title associated with entering and discovering a natural dungeon nobody else has. We can check if it is instanced at any time," Alistair said, stopping a few meters short and stretching his hand out toward Riseth.
Riseth took his hand. "Good call," she said as she stepped up next to him.
He was sure this wouldn't be the last dungeon they discovered, and they would have plenty of opportunities to get that title if there were any. Still, there was no reason to miss out right now, either. Stepping through the rift together, Alistair sensed the familiar darkness take over before he found himself in an environment quite similar to the one they had just left, but he couldn't appreciate the sight as he felt intense bloodlust directed at them before the unicorn they had chased back into the dungeon assaulted them.
Alistair and Riseth teleported apart to evade the attack while Viv jumped into a nearby shadow as the unicorn spun its head, sending a sickle of golden light flying at Riseth; the unicorn in hot pursuit, incredibly enraged by Riseth's presence. Alistair reached out with his telekinesis to restrain the beast, managing to absorb its momentum and slightly empower his telekinesis. Despite both of them having a purity foundation, to a unicorn, a succubus must be the vilest thing imaginable. The unicorn reared and struggled against Alistair's telekinesis, which strained to hold it in place.
Riseth spun around, her bone blades plunging into the beast's neck. Milky silvery blood flowed from its wounds as Riseth twisted the blades, ripping open the unicorn's neck. Despite Alistair's best efforts to fix the beast in place, it continued to slash at Riseth with its horn. He suspected its luck and purity concepts were working against his powers, shrugging off his attempts. Alistair was sure his own luck, and affinity were the only reasons he could restrain the beast at all, as it felt remarkably similar to fighting against the freedom of movement enchantment. While he struggled, Viv pounced out of a nearby shadow, her claws extending to a set of four large void blades as she tore a chunk out of the Unicorn's flesh before diving back into a shadow.
To Alistair's shock, Riseth's bone blades transformed into circular bone saws, rapidly spinning and starting to sever the beast's head. The unicorn began to thrash wildly, forcing Alistair to exert his full focus, strength, and skill to restrain and press down on it, occasionally almost slipping as he still lacked proficiency while Viv kept her distance. Riseth finished her gruesome work, and the unicorn collapsed, followed by a series of chimes. Alistair looked at Riseth's weapons in shock, and she just shrugged.
"It's the weapon spirit I imbued into the paired blades," Riseth explained, also looking mildly surprised. "It's its way of trying to be useful."
The weapon then transformed back into simple short bone blades, abandoning its previously complex form. Alistair, who had previously thought the weapon spirit slightly overpriced for what it did, reevaluated his opinion as he turned to read the notifications.
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NOTIFICATIONS:
You have discovered a Natural Dungeon for the first time. Special conditions met: You are the first to enter this dungeon, and a suitable title for upgrade has been found.
The Title [Tomb Raider] has been Upgraded to [Veteran Tomb Raider]
[Level 116 reached. Stat points allocated, free stat points available.]
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TITLES:
Tier: [Rare]
Name: Veteran Tomb Raider
Effect:
Provides the [Dungeon Sense] Skill.
Origin: Originally obtained for being the first to conquer a high-difficulty artificial dungeon of a lost civilization. Upgraded through continued exploration of never-seen-before dungeons.
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SKILLS:
Tier: [Rare]
Name: Dungeon Sense
Description: Allows the user to determine the presence or absence of a Dungeon and its rough location at a much larger range. The user benefits from increased awareness of traps and treasures within dungeons. Improved sense of direction within dungeons. All mentioned benefits scale moderately with the [Sense] stat.
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Alistair read over his notifications as Riseth stored the body of the slain unicorn. The fact that the unicorn didn't warrant a notification suggested it wasn't one of the guardians. He also noted that the Dungeon Sense skill he had miserably failed to upgrade now promised a much larger range of detection. He was curious about how significant this increase would be, as before, the skill only alerted him to the presence of dungeons on a planet or in the vicinity of space and when he was almost directly in front of one. The increased scaling to moderate might also help a lot. There were other things to consider, but for now, he carefully scanned his surroundings as he didn't want to get ambushed again.