Calvin, Amy, and Freya entered the dungeon, ready for whatever awaited them inside. The entrance opened up into a large, cavernous room with high arched ceilings covered in elaborate carvings. Torches lined the walls, magically lighting themselves as the group walked by. The flickering firelight cast dancing shadows across the stone walls and floor.
Calvin looked around, taking in their surroundings. "Well, it definitely looks like we're in the underworld. This place is spooky already."
Amy nodded as she examined a carving depicting Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the underworld.
Freya gave a little growl at the carving. The group proceeded cautiously down a long hallway lined with flickering torches. The hallway opened up into a larger circular room with several doors branching off of it. In the center was a large statue of Hades himself, carved out of black marble and looming ominously over them.
"Really?" Calvin said, looking up at the ceiling. The system was screwing with them now.
Calvin looked at the three doors leading out of the room. Each had strange runic symbols carved around the frame. "Great. I guess we just pick one and hope it's the right way."
Amy considered the doors carefully. The first door had runes that resembled a scepter, the second had runes shaped like an Ankh, and the third was emblazoned with a large shield.
"I'm sure the symbols mean something. Any ideas?" Calvin asked.
Amy looked around the room for any clues and shook her head.
"Well, I guess we just pick a door at random."
Calvin pressed his hand against the scepter rune, seeing no other way to open the door. The rune illuminated and then sank into the door. With a strange chattering noise, the door dissolved into nanite dust, and the nanites flowed back into the dungeon.
Calvin peeked into the doorway looking into what lay beyond. The passage continued into a cave-like space.
Jagged stalactites hung from the ceiling while milky blue stones studded the walls, casting an eerie glow over the space. Up ahead, the path forked around a deep chasm that disappeared into darkness. Bones and rubble littered the edges of the pit. It was damp down here. Drops of water dripped from the stalactites into pools below. The smell of old, musty air assaulted their senses as they pushed deeper.
Calvin felt a strange energy in the air that raised the hairs on his arms. "That's ominous. Let's roll."
The trio cautiously made their way down the passage towards the fork, their footsteps echoing in the cavernous space. As they approached the chasm, they peered into its depths, their eyes scanning the darkness.
It wasn't long before movement caught their eyes. Groups of small, goat-like creatures were clustered together in the darkness below. They were armed with spears and javelins, their eyes glowing with a feral intensity.
Calvin analyzed the creatures. They were half-man, half-goat creatures. They easily leaped over rocks and debris as they patrolled the chasm. Their levels ranged from 12 to 15.
"Satyr Skirmishers," Calvin whispered to his companions.
Amy nodded, her hand resting on the hilt of her dagger. "I'm ready whenever you are."
Freya growled, eager to join the fray.
Peering over the edge, Calvin saw a group of Satyrs clustered around a large rock. They were chattering excitedly, their voices echoing through the cavern. Calvin counted five Satyrs in total, all of them armed with spears and javelins.
"Five Satyrs," Calvin whispered to Freya. "Let's take them out quietly."
Amy channeled Blight Bloom into a spike and hurled it directly through the eye of one of the creatures. They shrieked in alarm as their companion fell dead at their feet. Dozens upon dozens of Satyrs poked their heads out of small hollows and from behind rocks. They all looked for the source of the commotion.
At their feet, their dead companion lay motionless with a black flower growing from the wound left behind by the spike. The remaining Satyrs bent down to inspect the flower. A few sniffed at it, and one bravely poked it with its javelin. This caused the flower to burst in a cloud of pollen that sent the Satyrs scrambling back, sneezing, and coughing. It took mere seconds for them to begin collapsing. The Satyrs who had inhaled the spores were wracked in pain. They fell to their knees and clawed at their eyes which were burning in agony. They shrieked at their misfortune, not understanding the nature of what had just befallen them.
Calvin, Amy, and Freya stood on the edge of the chasm watching the scene unfold below. More blooms grew from the infected Satyrs, and those blooms burst into clouds of pollen of their own. Before long, every Satyr in the chasm had been infected with the Blight Bloom pollen.
Experience notifications were rolling in by the dozens. It was barely any experience at all considering the massive level discrepancy, but it was an indication that the creatures were dying in droves. With one single attack, Amy had committed genocide.
As they reached the floor of the chasm, they took stock of their surroundings.
The rocky floor of the chasm was littered with the decaying bodies of satyrs. Their twisted forms lay strewn about, many still clutching spears or javelins in their rigid hands. The stench of death hung heavy in the stale air.
Calvin nudged one of the bodies with his boot, flipping it over to reveal a satyr's goat-like face frozen in a final expression of agony. Its blank eyes stared up at nothing.
"Well, that was certainly effective," Calvin said, glancing over at Amy.
She nodded, a wicked smile spreading across her face.
They made sure to collect the Satyrs' equipment while they were here. While it wasn't useful to them, it would be useful for Olympus. Especially if they were going to be growing their ranks. Having a supply of equipment for new soldiers to train and fight with would be a huge help.
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Freya suddenly perked up, her ears swiveling as she sniffed the air. A low growl rumbled in her throat.
Calvin and Amy tensed, hands going to their weapons. "What is it, girl?" Calvin asked.
Freya stared intently down the only pathway leading out of the chasm, still growling. Calvin extended his senses in that direction. He detected movement and scuffling sounds echoing from the passage ahead. More satyrs likely awaited them.
"Let's keep moving," he said. "But stay alert."
The trio cautiously made their way toward the tunnel entrance, stepping over satyr corpses. The stone passage sloped steadily upward, winding deeper into the earth. They soon emerged into another large cavern, this one filled with towering stalagmites rising from the floor like stone daggers.
Calvin again detected motion ahead. He peered into the gloom, making out dozens of small shapes scurrying among the rock formations. More satyrs. And directly ahead, a much larger shape loomed in the shadows.
Calvin described what he sensed to Amy in hushed tones. She nodded, readying her dagger.
"I can take out a bunch at once again with Blight Bloom," she whispered.
"Let's see what we're up against first," Calvin replied. "Freya, scout ahead."
The husky bounded forward, weaving nimbly among the stalagmites. She soon returned, communicating through her link to Calvin.
The satyrs ahead were riled up over the deaths of the ones in the chasm. The large form in the back appeared to be a massive winged lion with a scorpion tail. It was a manticore.
"Not much of an ambush now," Calvin said with a grim smile. "Let's take them."
Calvin signaled to Amy and Freya as the satyrs milled about in the cavern ahead. "You handle the little guys, I'll take the manticore," he said.
Amy nodded and channeled her energy, summoning Blight Bloom. She then activated her Stinging Swarm, creating a chaotic array of orbiting blades around her which she immediately released into the crowd of Satyrs. Cries of shock and pain erupted as the satyrs realized they'd been infected. Amy paid them no mind, she used the opportunity to strike down the rest in close combat. She moved like smoke through the satyrs, slicing and dicing until there were only the dying left.
Calvin and Freya raced straight for the manticore crouched at the back of the cavern. The beast reared up with an ear-splitting roar as it spotted their approach. It lashed out with its scorpion tail, sending a volley of poisonous spikes their way.
Calvin deflected them easily with his obsidian bulwark as Freya bounded left and right, evading the attacks. As they closed in, the manticore spewed a jet of fire from its mouth. Calvin stepped in front of Freya and took the brunt of the flames on his shield. Though the fire washed over him, the damage from such a low-level beast was minimal.
With a thought, Calvin summoned six spectral spears around the creature. Just as the flames died down, he leaped forward and stabbed forward with his spear, each of the spectral copies mimicked the movement. The manticore attempted to dodge, but there was nowhere for it to dodge. All seven spears drove themselves deep into the manticore's flesh. The beast howled in pain and anger.
It lashed out with its tail, forcing Calvin to swipe it aside with his spear. From the manticore's flank, Freya pounced, her jaws closing around the beast's foreleg. The manticore roared and thrashed, but Freya's hold was vice-like.
Seeing his opening, Calvin jumped back and gripped his spear with both hands. He focused his strength and swung horizontally with all his might. The spear along with its six counterparts, generated powerful windblades that sheared cleanly through the manticore's neck, sending its lion's head toppling to the cavern floor.
Immediately, the manticore's body dissolved into a nanite mist, leaving behind only its stinger. A crystal pillar rose up from the platform where the manticore had previously stood.
CONGRATULATIONS. FLOOR ONE OF THE DUNGEON OF THE UNDERWORLD: COMPLETE.
"Good job. We defeated the level 15 dungeon floor." Calvin said with mock excitement.
Amy slapped him on the back and urged him toward the crystal. "Let's get on with it."
Calvin placed his hand on the crystal pillar and was presented with the option to either leave the dungeon or move on to floor 2.
A bright flash of light consumed the trio and a moment later they found themselves in a circular stone chamber with one exit. The only feature of this room was a crystal pillar much like the one they just activated. Calvin placed his hand on it to confirm his suspicions.
LEAVE THE DUNGEON?
Calvin denied the prompt.
"Alright, let's see what this floor is all about." he said.
They stepped through the doorway and found themselves on a ledge overlooking a massive labyrinth.
Calvin, Amy, and Freya stood on the ledge overlooking the sprawling maze below. The stone walls of the maze stretched as far as the eye could see, winding and twisting in an intricate pattern.
"Well, this looks promising," Calvin said drily as he peered down at the entrance to the labyrinth. "Let's hope there's a map somewhere in this thing."
The trio carefully made their way down the rocky path leading from the ledge to the labyrinth entrance. As they passed through the opening in the outer wall, the temperature immediately dropped several degrees. Goosebumps prickled Calvin's arms as they ventured into the gloom.
They soon came to the first fork in their path. Left or right? The passages looked identical. Calvin closed his eyes and extended his senses through Freya, probing each path for any clues. He detected no immediate threats, but the left passage seemed to slope downward ever so slightly.
"This way," he said, pointing left. Amy and Freya followed without question.
As they made their way through the winding corridors, Calvin marked their path by etching symbols into the stone walls with his spear. Without them, this maze would be nearly impossible to navigate.
After several minutes of traversing the monotonous stone passages, they came to an intersection with three possible paths. Calvin again extended his senses down each one, but detected nothing useful.
"I guess we'll just have to pick one and hope for the best," he muttered.
No sooner had they started down the middle passage when Freya issued a low growl. Trap she communicated. Calvin quickly pushed Amy and Freya back against the wall just as a row of heavy stone spikes shot out from recesses in the opposite wall. The spikes extended all the way across the passage before slowly retracting back into the wall.
"We'll have to time it just right to get past," Calvin said. He watched carefully as the spikes reappeared, memorizing their timing.
When he was ready, he said, "Okay, on my mark we run through. Three, two, one, go!"
They sprinted down the passage, the spikes shooting out just behind their heels as they ran. They burst through the other side of the trap, heaving for breath. Calvin easily could have used Stormwalk to get past this, however that would have left Amy behind.
"Let's not do that again." Amy said breathlessly.
They continued navigating the maze, soon coming to a larger square chamber. Strange symbols were etched into the floor in a circular pattern. In the center sat a stone pedestal with an onyx statue of a raven perched atop it.
Calvin examined the symbols carefully. "I think this is some kind of puzzle we need to solve to proceed."
Amy sighed. "I was afraid of that."
After studying the symbols and the pedestal for several minutes, Calvin said, "I think if we turn the statue and pedestal in the correct sequence, it will open the path forward. See the symbols match the directions we need to turn them."
"Do the honors." Amy said.
Calvin carefully turned the pedestal and raven statue based on the symbols. When he finished the sequence, the ground rumbled beneath their feet. On the far side of the chamber, a section of the wall slowly ground open revealing a passage beyond.
"I hate to see what happens if we get that wrong." Amy said.
As they moved to the new passageway, Calvin noticed something scratched into the wall by the opening. He held up his light and saw that there were small runes etched into a pattern on the passage. His intuition told him this was a clue.
"Looks like we're on the right track, keep an eye out for more of these." he said.
The runes weren't the only clue they were on the right track. An orchestra of shrieks echoed down the passage ahead of them, followed by an entire flock of harpies.