I walked a few strides over to the rest of my party.

“Does this seem right?”

“Aye,” Isamaar answered, already showing signs of perspiration due to the change in temperature. “The Scenario floors are typically towards the end of the Dungeon, but there have been instances of the first floor being accelerated, one I was even present for in my earlier days.”

“The first few floors of a Dungeon are usually some sort of habitat that correlates to the denizens that inhabit the lower levels,” Trennel added, sounding like he was reciting a passage from a research journal. “This is followed by the puzzle floors before ending in Scenario floors at the end.”

“Will this have any negative effect on our delve?” I asked Isamaar, the only one among us with Dungeon experience. “Starting at the end like this?”

The dwarf shook his head, making the armor around his neck to shift creating its wave-like pattern. “Not directly, no. We didn’t get tossed into the final floor to be faced with the boss right away. We are still on the first floor, but I would not expect us to see any of the other themes present. It will make this more complicated than simply killing anything we find, as the success of the floor is determined by other factors than just how many summons you kill.”

“Ask about the loot.” Mel urged me, appearing next to Isamaar, and pretending to lean against him.

“Does this change the loot or resources gained?” I asked, also curious.

“Aye, it can affect the loot spawns based on how well you do in the scenario, but this has a higher rate of failure as well while being just as dangerous. So there is a possibility you don’t meet the prerequisite in the task to receive loot at all.”

“So we could do a bunch of work and not get paid for it?” Fras asked, looking askance at the news.

“There will be some sort of way to gain Experience, but for material drops, we may see less than we like.”

“Resources should be prevalent in all three designations of floor themes. They differ in how they are propagated, but not in quality or quantity,” Trennel added. “This floor for example won’t have many herbs but may have a decent number of Mana crystals and ores.”

That made sense as there were not a lot of meadows to pick magical flowers in the middle of this desert. Seeing everyone come to the same conclusion, he pressed on with his short explanation.

“First-floor herbs and ores of a Novice dungeon will be mostly Beginner tier, with some at Novice. Over the next few floors, we should see an increase in the rarity, and at the halfway point we will see mostly Novice tier resources until we reach the final floor, which should have low rarity Journeyman materials.”

The Dwarf nodded in confirmation, as I stared at Trennel.

“Typically, first-year students in some of the combat courses are sent to different Dungeons at the end of the year. They spend the entire year preparing them to understand Dungeon mechanics for those who wish to delve after they graduate,” he explained.

“I thought the only one here with delving experience was the small fellow?” Fras asked.

“Rude!” Kira scolded.

“It’s fine lass,” Isamaar said calmly.

“Apologies,” Fras said with sincerity. “I did not mean to offend. I have trouble with matching names to faces. I think it has something to do with always looking at the tops of their heads.”

Isamaar cracked a grin before waving him off and turning to Trennel. “His question though, boy? Have you been inside a Dungeon before? With the Academy?”

“No,” Trennel shook his head. “Primrose has one of the greatest libraries in the world, all the course textbooks are available for anyone to use, and I have had a lot of free time on my hands.”

Mel noticeably had her interest piqued by that statement.

First stop, as soon as we get there. I promise.

“Alright,” I said. “So it won’t be harder just more complicated with higher risk? That’s fine. We will still tread carefully, and stay cautious. We should get a move on if we want to try for more than one floor today. How do we get started?”

“Whenever the leader of our group, announces they are ready to begin,” Isamaar asked turning to Trennel.

“What?” He asked warily.

“The Dungeon will recognize the highest-leveled individual as the leader by default.”

His groan was barely audible as he straightened his back, “I’m ready.”

A window popped up in my interface the moment the words escaped his lips.

Accepted!

Objective: Recover the Relics and place them on their corresponding Altar. This area has been corrupted by the creatures who have invaded this holy ground, upsetting the balance that the Temple of Apofratese had once brought to these lands. Enter the temple and locate the stolen Relics: Statue of Endless Grace, Bust of Peerless Resolution, Amulet of Forgotten Souls, Tablet of Boundless Fury, and Sculpture of Righteous Belief. Find their Altars and reunite them to restore power to the temple.

Reward: Variable

Failure: The Relics or Altars are destroyed before you successfully complete your task.

Relics placed:0/5

“Guys?” Kira asked, dropping to the ground with her staff flat on the sand. “Something is causing tremors, it’s hard to read through sand but it’s gotta be something big or a lot of little somethings, to cause this much vibration before we can see it, but it’s weird. It’s off somehow, like whatever is creating it, is distant yet also close.”

We all looked around in every direction towards the many hills that surrounded the illusionary Dungeon floor. We saw nothing but the golden sand and sparse browns of dried vegetation.

“The first thing we need to do is get a better layout of where we are currently, we can discuss our plan from there after we have our bearings,” I said, checking my map, finding that it still said we were in the Therinil Forest. I pointed to the tallest dune near us. “We’ll get height and have a look around. Nobody wanders off, we stay together in pairs at all times. Isamaar at the front, Trennel at the rear, and the rest of us will walk in an arrowhead formation with Fras at the center.”

“If you see anything, call out. I’d rather be scared of a pile of sand than caught unaware by some monster digging through the ground,” Isamaar said to the group, receiving a handful of nods. “Forward then.”

We walked to the closest spot that would give us the best vantage of the area. Climbing up the steep dune, a breeze blew from the east, displacing the grains of sand and creating small streams down the sides. The air was dry and heat waves appeared on every surface I spotted in the distance. The sand shifted under my feet, making it more difficult to climb as I exerted more force than normal with each step.

After a few more moments we had crested the peak, revealing a desert that stretched to the horizon in every direction save for the north. There, we saw a Pyramid, with a level top, several miles off in the distance, surrounded by an oasis of vivid greenery against the bleak backdrop.

“I’m assuming that is the direction we are meant to travel?” Fras asked, gesturing toward the only landmark in our line of sight.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Seems likely,” I said, giving a questioning glance at Isamaar, to which he nodded.

“These Scenario floors are not meant to break your brain, in Dungeons such as this. The most direct approach will often lead you true. I have only been on one delve such as this, but it was pretty straightforward until the final floor, which was more of a morality test, than any objective quest.”

“What was the final floor like?” Trennel asked.

“We were given the roles of visiting dignitaries, forced to resolve a war peacefully with a group of men who sought the destruction of the opposing side for a slight they had incurred generations before. We ended up convincing the Prince to support a coup attempt, placing him in power and meeting the terms of the objective.”

“You said you were given roles?” I asked.

“The Summons inside the Dungeon can manifest in any form and can even be some of the Enlightened species such as Dwarves and Humans. The sentient life you encounter on these floors will be set in their designated role. They know nothing of Dungeons, and you are unable to convince them they are not real, so do not try. They may become aggressive if you do so.” The Dwarf took out a canteen of water and took a swig before continuing. “In each scenario, we will be given roles. It will be what the denizens here, know us as. This could be anything from traders to fugitives. Just play your role and gain the information through the provided means. It is the most efficient way to clear the Dungeon.”

“Does that mean we will run into people in here?”

I hadn’t found any books that spoke about any of this. I would have to adjust that when I had access to a more extensive library of information.

“They won’t really be people,” Trennel jumped in. “They are ectoplasmic structures with a small understanding placed in their minds enough to function, but not enough for rational thought. They will be like Automatons with a programmed directive.”

“Exactly. They walk and talk, but they ain’t no people. Walking sacks of Mana is all they are.” Isamaar agreed. We began our descent towards the structure, picking the most direct route down rather than looking for a less steep path. Landing at the bottom of the large dune moments later he continued. “You all will get the hang of it, it’s not overly complicated. Hell, if Millie could-”

The mood instantly sank as Isamaar's rough face darkened, trailing off. Kira tried to save it by speaking up quickly. “We should try to split up into two groups and search for natural treasures and resources along the way”

“She’s right,” Isamaar said, regaining his previous disposition quickly. “We may not find much, given the environment, but once we clear the floor we will be unable to collect anything that isn’t in the immediate vicinity of the exit portal. I would suggest two teams split up a small distance apart and collect what we can without deviating too much.”

“Alright,” I acknowledged. “You and Trennel are together, as the two strongest you will be more capable with the handicap than any of the rest of us. We’ll take the left, with you following a similar pattern to the right until we meet at the pyramid. Take thirty minutes to loot, but stay in contact through the earrings. Keep a mile radius with us at all times for quick reinforcements.”

Nobody argued, so we set out in our different directions.

“Kira, you take the right position two hundred yards to the Southeast. Fras, you do the same to the North. Keep an eye out for any Mana signatures or movement and don’t be afraid to say something.” Kira nodded and Fras shot me a sarcastic two-fingered salute before taking his place.

“Aye, Aye, Captain.”

“Ooh! Promoted to Officer on your first Dungeon floor. Look at you.” Mel teased, walking next to me as we passed over a small embankment and skittered down the slope arriving in a more flat area that contained a few boulders of varying size. Hopping on the tops of these instead of the loose sand, I glided through the small rock field.

Toward the end, I spotted a cluster of brown Mana at the base of a boulder the size of a small carriage. Coming to a stop, I leaned down and dug several handfuls of sand up and off to the side, finding a brown Mana crystal with several growths on one side giving it an odd shape.

Refined Mana Crystal

(Beginner)

Affinity: Earth

Quantity: 1

Crafting Material

Sensing no other Mana signatures I moved on, curving north to angle our parallel paths to end at what appeared more of a large ziggurat than a defiled pyramid.

Honestly, if I hadn’t been the one to put this together, I would be looking to Isamaar or Trennel to make the calls.

“It wouldn’t make sense to put anyone other than yourself as the lead. Those two are both stronger than you, but Trennel has been sheltered from combat his whole life, spending most of his time in the castle and at school and Isamaar has his own stuff going on with his emotions and dealing with his loss still.”

I tossed her a glance.

“More so than you currently. You had time to deal with your stuff and come to terms with it, as well as my assistance. He has been released for a single day from a death sentence with no time to grieve, and no idea of what happened to his brother, or his team. He will probably need some time to get his mind right. As for the others…?” She paused, letting me infer the rest.

I know Fras doesn’t feel like the ‘Take-charge’ type, and Kira is competent but not overly skilled in strategy.

She had surprised me with her effectiveness during drills the day prior, but afterward, I had learned the ideas had been Isamaar’s and Kira had just followed the veteran Adventurer’s lead. She had done well, but still, she had only been in the Farmers Protection Guild for a few years only fighting summons as a member of a patrol team, and never as the leader.

I just don’t want to end up responsible if someone dies because of a decision I make.

“You and literally everyone else,” Mel mocked. “Nobody wants to be responsible for another's death. That doesn’t change the fact that someone still needs to make those decisions.”

She stopped in front of me, forcing me to come to a halt as well.

“With your mindset and how you were raised, from the lessons on ambush tactics to the months you spent studying dynamic compositions for atypical combat, you are the best fit to lead this team. Regardless of whether you are the youngest or most inexperienced with practical application. You were being groomed to take your father’s place in your Clan. You can’t honestly believe you aren’t the most qualified in this situation?”

Can't you just let me complain in peace?

"Not when I'm the one to whom you are complaining."

Continuing on, we stopped at another small deposit of Mana crystals, I added the three new additions to my ring before contacting the others.

"Anybody finds anything other than Mana crystals?"

"No, only Beginner tier crystal deposits," Trennel replied telepathically. "But we shouldn't expect much from this terrain. There may be ore deeper beneath the sand but it's not worth excavating. I don't see any fauna or flora other than the oasis anywhere in the area. We will check there for herbs and other natural resources."

"We're about five minutes out, from the rendezvous point," I said. "Keep your eyes out for anything else, otherwise we will see you shortly."

Seven more clusters of crystals later, we all arrived on the edge of the greenery that created a stark contrast with the barren land surrounding it. The trees were not the expected tropical variety, but rather similar to the tall firs of the Therinil Forest. It was as if someone lifted a section of the forest and transplanted it inside this desert with an enormous ziggurat at the center.

Stepping into the new biodome, the first thing I noticed was the damp soil as my footfalls shifted from loose sand to nearly sinking into the muck of the new biome. I stopped the group before continuing, kneeling down to get a better look at the earthy-brown and red clay of the mud.

Odd. The water should be evaporated from the ground in this heat.

"Underground spring?" Mel proposed. “Or a deliberate obstacle of the Dungeon?

Possibly. Keep an eye out either way. There isn’t any Mana coming from the ground that isn’t ambient, but it could just be too subtle for me to see.

“Why don’t you ask the team of higher-level individuals you have available to you?”

I looked at her for a moment, before she let out a heavy sigh.

“Because it never crossed your mind, did it?”

Sometimes-

“Yes. Sometimes it is easier to do it by yourself, but why would you not use all the tools at your disposal? Especially after bringing them with you.”

I-

“Yes, yes. Get on with it. If we take the time for you to apologize and thank me every time that I’m right, we will never accomplish anything productive.”

I smiled at my familiar. Her being able to read and respond to my thoughts had been mildly annoying at first, but now I had to admit, there were upsides to having a soundingboard who could read my mind and come to intelligent conclusions without the hindrance of my own personal feelings veiling all the options at hand.

“I know. I’m amazing.”

Speaking out loud I asked, “Is anybody picking up anything from the soil here? It’s still wet. Kira, can you get a better read now that we’re closer?”

“Give me a second.”

She sat on the ground with her legs crossed and her staff laid across her lap, closing her eyes as she began casting a spell.

My breath caught as I thought I saw one of the carved faces begin moving its mouth in a pattern that resembled speech. Light wisps of silver Sound affinity Mana escaped the face that I had seen move, falling to the ground like heavy smoke before seeping into the dirt.

Her eyes shot open abruptly, startling all of us, as we had been waiting silently watching her.

“It’s a lot of little somethings.”