[Welcome to floor two of the Gilded Dungeon- The Swamp of Misty Winds.

Description: The Swamp of Misty Winds requires you to navigate its challenging terrain whilst dealing with low visibility conditions as you head towards the exit door, that shall be visible from all directions and at all times. The only requirement to clear the Swamp of Misty Winds is reaching the exit and subsequently leaving.

To survive it, you must display your endurance in the face of the unexpected.

Clear Condition: Reach the exit.

Time Remaining: 30 D 00M 00 S

Difficulty Rank: E-

Estimated Difficulty: Very Hard

Reward: Proportional.]

“A proportional reward, eh,” Griffin mused under his breath as his gaze swept through his immediate surroundings. “I suppose that’s fair,” he muttered in agreement as his gaze turned towards the small, circular enchanted shield he had clenched in his left hand.

An Uncommon Ranked shield was quite the incredible haul for the first floor of the Gilded Dungeon, to the point where there were only a sparse few records of it being reported in the sect records in the last decade.

It was a pity that he had immediately fainted after clearing the first floor, otherwise he would have noticed that the system had deposited his reward directly into his inventory. If it wasn’t for Jun-Ra mentioning it, Griffin wouldn’t even have bothered to check if he was being honest.

The Shield of Force was, as the name suggested, an enchanted shield that was imbued with the Rune of Force. As long as he activated the Rune of Force on his shield, any foreign entity or object that made contact with it’s surface would be repelled backwards with a violent burst of force. Unlike the Rune of Heat that had been enchanted onto his sword though, his shield would not become useless when it ran out. Instead, every blow that it defended against while discharged would replenish the rune’s strength, allowing him to recharge it for as long as the shield’s durability lasted.

It was nifty, to say the least.

Though Griffin’s expression was anything but pleased as he took in the nature of the challenge the Gilded Dungeon had thrown at him.

The ground beneath his feet was soft and mushy, a little more solid than mud. There was no grass, only an uneven hummock of land elevated just above the dark-green, murky water surrounding him from all sides. That was only the beginning of his suffering, though, as there wasn’t much for him to visually scan. Thick, sickly gray fog that was perhaps better described as smog obfuscated his view, letting him only catch glimpses of another hummock ahead of him.

Besides that, there was one other thing that Griffin could make out rather clearly. A radiant gold glistening far in the distance, visible even through the heavy curtain of smog. The goal was quite direct, requiring Griffin to head in a roughly straight line but…

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It was far.

Very far.

Perhaps there was a reason why Shu-Lavan had accepted his wager. Maybe he was more than just a degenerate gambler. But it wasn’t a choice Griffin had to begin with. Jun-Ra had been of the opinion that given how unusual his experience with the first floor had been, it was too difficult to guess with certainty the number of monsters he would encounter. The average was generally ten to twenty per level with a named beast on the higher floors, but with Griffin it could be anything. Even one per floor.

That meant that he had to rush the Gilded Dungeon. The faster he covered it, the more he would know as the timer on his life ticked away.

Part of him had wanted to hesitate. To recuperate for a week, before considering his options.

But…

Griffin wasn’t sure if he could force himself to enter the pit of death that the Gilded Dungeon was after he lazed around for a week.

If he stopped to consider the risk he was going to go toe to toe with, the likelihood he’d end up dead way before even the calling quest ran out and the consideration that it could all be avoided if he surrendered to the Elders by telling them the truth then inertia would have him.

If he had to speedrun the dungeon, he might as well have someone foot his bill, right?

Griffin took a tentative step forward.

Then another.

Five minutes ticked by as sweat beaded Griffin’s forehead. To call his current situation unnerving was a grave understatement. The eerie lack of peripheral noise coupled with the low visibility conditions had him swiveling his head from left to right before refocusing his gaze towards the center.

What type of monsters lurked in the comfort of the roiling mists?

Would they attack in packs or in unison?

Griffin Thorne knew nothing and had his gaze not been focused dead forward, perhaps he would’ve died without knowing what killed him.

For the first attack came from above.

A glimmer of emerald green disturbed the sanctity of the endless gray, proving to be just enough of an anomaly for Griffin’s senses to catch onto.

His left hand moved quicker than he expected to and without even considering what the blur of green was or what it wanted from him, he screamed out a command,

“Rune of Force—Open!”

WHOOOM!

A light impact was all he felt on his shield, the own recoil of his shield’s pushback miraculously, or perhaps magically contained.

Whatever it was that had attacked him, it had to be quite small to land such a weak blow before succumbing instantly to his Rune of Force, but…

Griffin waited for over a minute, but no kill notification came.

“Endurance…,” He trailed off through pursed lips, his expression grim.

He understood what the trial wanted from him.

There was one strategy that came to mind, but he couldn’t— not yet. He had to know more, test the dungeon floor more before he committed to an all or nothing gamble.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be required but recalling the difficulty made him doubtful.

For now though, there was little else he could do but forge ahead.