Elijah and Avery crested a large hill along with a strange assortment of other temporary Goldwing members that had already been on the road over. Before them was what looked like a rocky sinkhole with an array of golden tents set up around it. The hole was made up of blocky dark gray stone covered with dense vegetation. A thick, tropical forest surrounded the encampment and dungeon, and armed guildsmen wearing golden colors milled around the camp.
A tall man with a curled red mustache and dark green chainmail walked up next to Elijah and clapped him on the shoulder. “Whaddaya think, Joe?” the man asked. “Are we gonna get rich?”
Elijah suppressed a sigh. He thought he enjoyed talking, but their temporary traveling companion had put him to shame. At some point during the two hour trek, the man - David - had revealed his hobbies, love life, family matters, and eating habits. Somehow, he was completely oblivious to the fact that everyone had tuned him out after the first thirty minutes.
Despite his annoying demeanor, David had shared some valuable information on the inner workings of guilds. He’d been with another small guild called The Biggest Fish for quite some time before they had met their, in his words, untimely demise.
According to David, Guilds rarely recruited enmasse and generally did more case-to-case basis based on the abilities of the applicants. It was rare to find one that was looking for new members, especially ones at low levels.
That only served to make Elijah even more suspicious of the Goldwings, and the look in Avery’s eyes showed that she shared his sentiments. However, David seemed largely unbothered by their new guild’s strange behavior.
David had also shared an even more interesting piece of information - it was possible to remove information from your status screen before showing it to anyone. That piece of information had been promptly applied in preparation for their arrival.
“Who can say?” Elijah asked with a shrug. “Look at how many people there are walking over and already in the camp. A dungeon can’t be that big can it? There’s only so much stuff to go around.”
“Bah. They wouldn’t be bringing us in if the whole thing was mapped out,” David said. “That means there’s still a chance. All that matters is if we’re lucky or not. And, I don’t know about you, but I’m one lucky bastard. Did I tell you about the time I fell out of a tree and landed perfectly on my head? The healer said it was so thick that I didn’t even get a bruise.”
“Yes,” Elijah said wearily. “You did. Twice.”
“I’d love to hear it again, though,” Avery said, sending Elijah a smug grin before suddenly falling behind several paces, distancing herself from the two just enough to be slightly out of earshot.
“It all started wh-” David began.
“Oh look,” Elijah said, glaring back at Avery. “We’ve arrived. Better go get ourselves introduced so we can get in that dungeon and start earning money as fast as we possibly can.”
“You can say that again,” David said cheerfully, not perturbed in the slightest about being cut off.
Avery rejoined them as they stepped into the camp. While David chattered, Elijah scanned their surroundings as inconspicuously as he could. Most of the people in the area looked to be similarly outfitted to him and Avery, while only a few dozen wore anything better - probably the higher level Goldwing members.
“Status screen, please,” a man in plate mail said, stopping them before they could get any closer to the entrance of the dungeon. He carried a large, shimmering halberd over one shoulder and had several ribbons hanging from his breast.
Elijah shrugged and pulled his screen out, sending it out so the Goldwing guard could see the modified information.
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Joe Smith
Guild: Goldwing (temporary)
Human [Level 5]
Class: Spellblade
Strength: 13
Agility: 15
Endurance: 12
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 17
Charisma: 19
Luck:3
“That’s it?” the guard asked.
“Do I need more?”
“Well, no. That’s enough. It’ll be a little harder to match you into a group if you don’t share any information about what you can do.”
“That’s quite all right. I’ll be partnering with my friend here,” Elijah said, nodding back to Avery. “We can fend for ourselves as long as you point us in the right direction.”
“We send people in with groups of four,” the Goldwing member said. “But we can still match you, even if this is what you’ve got to work with. Nothing to worry about.”
“Don’t worry! We can group together,” David said, putting a hand on Elijah’s shoulder.
Elijah barely stopped himself from going for his dagger and instead settled for a slightly delayed grin.
“That’s three of us, then,” Elijah said. “We just need one more.”
“Let me see your stats, then,” the guard told David.
“No problem. Behold!” David exclaimed, casting the window out before him.
David Ferroush
Human [Level 5]
Class: Squire
Strength: 16
Agility: 9
Endurance: 14
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 6
Charisma: 16
Luck: 2
ABILITIES
Dimensional Slash
World Sunder
Obsidian Fortress
“What the fuck are those abilities?” Elijah asked, staring at David’s status screen. “World Sunder? Are you really level five?”
The guard snorted with laughter. “He just named his abilities. Anyone can do that, greenie. Alright girl, show me yours.”
Avery flicked her screen up beside David’s.
Jane Jenkins
Human [Level 5]
Class: Witch
Strength: 9
Agility: 18
Endurance: 11
Intelligence: 20
Wisdom: 15
Charisma: 12
Luck: 1
ABILITIES
Rock Fling
Punch
The guard glanced over it, smirking slightly at her abilities, then gave them a curt nod. Elijah noted that she’d already figured out how to modify her abilities' names, as he was pretty sure ‘punch’ was something anyone with hands could do.
“You’re all pretty close in stats, so this should work out quite nicely. I’ll pair you up with someone a little higher level so your trip through the dungeon is easier.”
“Awesome!” David exclaimed. “I knew the Goldwings were the right choice to make. Can we wander around the camp?”
“Feel free. You’ll be Group Sixty Three. Just keep an ear out for when someone calls the name, and make sure you don’t actually enter the dungeon. The higher level we’ll pair you up with will have instructions on where to go in the dungeon and what to look for so that you can all remain safe.”
David nodded, only half listening, and shot off toward one of the tents. Elijah watched him go, then made his way over to a less populated area of the encampment with Avery.