Book 1: Chapter 45 - Dungeon Diving [Part 1]
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Once all struggles are grasped, miracles are possible.
- Chairman Mao Zedong.
Seraphina gently ran her fingers along the smooth scales of her pet snake, watching as Eloise painstakingly attempted to brew a simple healing potion for the third time that evening. The girl was muttering something about failing to anchor or infuse her Mana to the mixture—some arcane detail Seraphina only pretended to understand. In truth, she could have simply commissioned a trustworthy Alchemist for a batch of potions, but she suspected that would hurt Eloise’s pride, so she refrained.
With an absent-minded sigh, Seraphina brushed back the locks of blonde hair that had grown longer. She would need to get it cut again, she thought wryly. Her gaze then drifted to the window as lost herself to her own thoughts. Este Lize had advanced far faster than Seraphina had predicted. It could mean that she had been quietly grinding away at levels, displaying an unusually keen grasp of the game’s mechanics. Worrying, for that could mean that she perhaps was in a similar situation to Seraphina’s. That discovery, while unnerving, spurred the girl to focus on her own development with renewed urgency.
Suddenly, a triumphant shout shook her from her reverie.
“Finally!” Eloise cried, holding up a small flask. “I did it, Lady Seraphina! I made a Health potion!”
At last, some solid progress, Seraphina thought. Though her smile felt somewhat forced, she kept her tone bright. “That’s wonderful, Eloise! Now we can finally head to the Trials!”
“The Trials?” Eloise’s voice wavered. “But isn’t that a place reserved for ranked adventurers? Why would we—?”
Seraphina waved away her concerns. “Don’t trouble yourself over the small details, dear. Just remember to use the metal flasks; glass tends to shatter on impact.” She offered Eloise a sweet, reassuring smile.
Raising her voice, Seraphina called, “Miriam! Ibn!” Within moments, her maid, Miriam, hurried into the room, her apron fluttering at her sides. Ibn ambled in shortly thereafter, wearing his usual sullen expression.
“You two will help me into my armor,” Seraphina commanded, her tone brusque. For some reason, Ibn straightened, his dark eyes sparking with an unspoken enthusiasm.
*****
They traveled for a day and a half from the capital, leaving their coach and Haze on a side road under the watch of two Knights. Afterward, they cut across rolling moors and through scenic woodland for another day, until they finally reached the Barrows. There, a near-constant mist blanketed the land in a ghostly haze.
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Two armored Silver-ranked adventurers accompanied Seraphina, drawn to her side by the allure of gold and the force of her Charisma. Luc, a middle-aged man with a few strands of gray in his hair, was the first to complain.
“I must say, this is most irregular,” he remarked obtusely.
His companion, Etienne—bald and clad in heavier armor than Luc—chimed in a slightly high voice for a man. “On second thought, I’m of the same mind as my partner, Luc.”
Neither of them fit the typical adventurer stereotype. They looked more like armored librarians, weighed down by their gear. Luc wore a heavy chain hauberk and carried a warhammer, while Etienne wore a coat-of-plates, armed with a shield and warpick. Seraphina had heard that Etienne possessed minor healing abilities, which might be crucial for the place they were heading.
The Trials of the Goddess—this world’s elaborate name for a dungeon. Seraphina could not help but think the game’s scenario writers should have been more original.
“You know,” Eloise spoke up, breaking Seraphina’s thoughts, “I’ve always wondered—why do the adventurers call them Trials?”
Etienne cleared his throat. “They’re called Trials because they’re physical manifestations of the Goddess’s will. Grave souls of sinners, both past and present, are forced to suffer within them as penance. We enter these spaces, confront their sins and guilt, and free them from purgatory. That purifies the world. Sometimes it only takes one attempt; other times they need to be cleared many times to bring redemption. It’s as much a trial for us as it is for those poor souls. And we’re rewarded by the Goddess so we can continue spreading Her glory.”
Seraphina smirked, her tone turning cutting. “How noble. And yet you two are sinners yourselves, aren’t you? For your… particular tastes in each other. Now drop the long-winded sermon and explanations—I can tell you’re angling for more money.”
Etienne’s face reddened, though he quickly composed himself. “It isn’t about the money. Also, all our lives people have basically spat on us for our love, so a few more ignorant words from a little lady like you is nothing. This Trial you’ve chosen… None have survived it. No one has freed the soul within, and each failure only makes its Sin stronger.”
Eloise went pale. Seraphina, however, knew full well what awaited them in the Trial. Irritation edged into her voice.
They talked back… at her. It was time to remind them of their place.
“Frest,” she said coolly, “if they try to renege on this deal again, have the men kill these perverted undesirables.”
“Certainly, milady,” Frest replied, giving her a half-mocking salute as he drew his weapon “It will be a pleasure.” The Knights under his command followed suit.
Etienne started to draw his weapon, but Luc quickly raised both hands in surrender. “We were just warning you,” he said. “It could be the death of all of us in there.”
Seraphina raised one armored hand, and her men instantly relaxed. She smiled at the thoroughly cowed adventurers. “Now then, gentlemen. Show me the entrance to this Trial.”
With a resigned huff, the two adventurers led her to a pair of twisted stones. The air between them shimmered in a semi-translucent haze, a gaping rent in the fabric of the world as large as a barn door. No game, Seraphina thought, could have prepared anyone for the raw reality of a dungeon’s entrance—a visceral dread no two-dimensional screen could ever convey.
Eloise voiced her growing concern. “Perhaps we should rethink this… They did say this Trial was particularly dangerous.”
“You would do well to heed the girl’s warning,” Luc muttered ominously.
Seraphina silenced him with a sharp look and a finger to her lips. She was tempted to kill him then and there, now that they had found what they came for.