The Dungeon Gate is an archway made of dark green stone and it opens up into a stone hallway. It's not a hallway made of stone bricks but of smooth, unbroken stone without any gaps or cracks save for the corners where the walls meet the floors. Without those or any roughness to the walls, it's almost as if they were poured into molds.
The hallway we're in is about twenty feet wide and roughly fifty feet high at the peak of the arch, around forty in height at start of the curve. Green ivy grows up the walls here and there with their leaves glowing faintly, providing a small bit of light. More light is provided by moss that grows in patches on the ground.
According to my research, we can harvest both to sell. Since it's so abundant, however, it won't sell for much.
"Everyone here?" I ask once the full Party has entered the Dungeon. "Good. Now, some of you have probably been here numerous times, some of you have probably researched the Dungeon beforehand, and some of you have probably not the slightest clue about the contents of this Dungeon."
I send a look at Adam and Caleb when I say that. Both of them at least have the dignity to look a little sheepish at being called out on not doing any research about a Dungeon before agreeing to enter it.
"So I want to make sure we're all on the same page," I say. "And that means covering what is known about the section we're running today. Please add anything that may be necessary about the first Zone of this Dungeon as needed."
This is something we should have done before coming into here but I didn't think about it until we were entering the Dungeon and it was too late to turn back by that point. I've made a mental note to remember this for future Dungeon runs when I head into a new Dungeon with unknown members.
"According to my research," I say. "This Dungeon has three Zones to it with the first being a stone maze. The primary monsters in here are goblins and stone statues. There's no one route to the end of this Zone, with multiple possible Boss Rooms. Also, the Dungeon itself can't be mapped out as its path changes for every run."
"Not quite true," Charles says. "Though most aren't aware of it because they just assume it's fully different every time and don't investigate further. There's a 'base' layout that's known and it's believed that the Dungeon's actual 'maze' is much simpler, but it adds in walls to create dead-ends or forced paths."
"I have a map of that here," a large scroll appears in Henry's hands. "Even if we don't know what the exact routes we can take are, it can be useful to know the main layout."
Henry unrolls the map and spreads it out on the ground, and we all gather around the ten-foot-wide square parchment. This is actually a map of the first two Zones, as the Dungeon's layout is the stone labyrinth surrounding a hedge labyrinth, at the heart of which is a tower.
If the Dungeon didn't create walls to change the routes, we'd have an easy time reaching the nearest Boss Room, only needing to take four turns and spend maybe twenty minutes walking at the most. Instead, it may be easier for us to reach the Boss Room on the opposite side of the tower from here, which could take us a day or more depending on how many paths the Dungeon cut off.
Which is why pinning down an amount of time for how long this Dungeon will take is pretty much impossible. Apparently, a Dungeon shifting routes for each run isn't even an uncommon occurrence and more than half of all Dungeons in the world do it.
"When it comes to the monsters," I say. "The stone statues are humanoid sculptures of stone; masculine, nude. Early on, they have around 25-30 Constitution but are resistant to piercing so force will be required. Adam and I will fight those here early into the Dungeon. Katie, Elise, and Chance will provide backup with their arrows as necessary. The arrows likely won't do any piercing work, but they should be able to blast some small craters into the statues from the impact."
The archers confirm they'll do their best.
"We each only have around 25 Magic, though," Katie informs me. "So unless we fight quite a lot of statues early on, we won't be able to provide much assistance with them further into the Dungeon."
"That's fine," I say. "Depending on how much Experience I gain, I'll have to stop soon after we leave the early stages of this Zone. Adam will continue fighting the stone statues after I'm no longer able to if he's still capable of it, and Caleb will start once they get more on his level. That way, Adam and I can get some more Experience and Caleb doesn't affect the amount we gain, then he gains some on his own.
"Regarding loot from them," I continue. "Based on my research, there's not much worth looting from the stone statues in Zone 1 unless their stone dick is erect instead of flaccid. The odds of us running into that are low, however.
"With goblins," I say. "The early ones have around 20 Constitution, allowing for the weaker Party members such as myself to fight them more easily. Adam and Caleb will keep a step back early on, allowing me to get some experience for [Swordsman] and the archers to work on getting a little Experience as well. Once we transition to the point where the monsters are more on their level, then Adam and Caleb will join in. The only thing worth looting from those is anything special they might be carrying on them, such as a ring or a necklace. Basic gear isn't worth keeping. Everyone clear on their rolls here?"
Everyone confirms that, so I point to a few spots on the map that Henry has spread out on the ground.
"Here, here, and here," I say. "Are chambers marked as safe zones. I'm assuming that means that monsters don't appear in there and won't enter it. Is that correct?"
"It is," Henry responds.
"Okay," I say. "Those seem like the most likely spots for us to end up in first, but if we're unlucky, it may be here or here. Regardless of which it is, we'll take small breaks as needed to rest up and recover, and a larger break once we reach one of those chambers. Does anyone have anything else to add?"
"One common thing for a Party taking this more seriously," Henry says. "Instead of just running it with basic information, is to make their own map of the Dungeon, marking the routes that exist. We can use this map to note down where the paths end. This will allow us to keep track of where we have already been as well, for if we come across an area again or need to turn back. I've brought some ink so that we mark them when we come to them."
"Alright," I say. "Then let's do that. Thank you for providing the map, ink, and marking tool, Henry. In the chaos of everyone joining me, I forgot to ask the clerk about buying some paper and something to write with so I could make my own map. You just saved us some money and trouble."
The archers thank Henry as well, and his expression tells me that he had planned on attempting to charge us for their use as if buying them from the guild. Fortunately, I beat him to the price and it looks like his assistants are amused by that.
"In addition," Charles says. "This Dungeon upgraded recently, which means there are some unknowns to it. We haven't had a chance to fully explore the new version yet as it means getting a Party strong enough and willing enough to scout it out. The layout for Zone 1 should largely be the same as before, but don't be surprised if the base path is actually a little different."
"The Dungeon upgraded?" I ask, which seems to be news to most.
"Yes," Charles answers. "On occasion, a Dungeon will upgrade when a Summoned is nearby. It's more likely to happen in the Summoned's first six months on Tielmar. The upgrades can include things like new features, new areas, changed routes, stronger monsters, and a puzzle only the Summoned can solve. Where that puzzle is located remains an unknown until someone reaches it. So we may not reach it with this run, as we're only doing the first Zone. However, if it is in the first Zone, then we'll encounter it as a guarantee – the puzzle is always on the route of the Summoned's first time in that Zone."
That has me a little curious.
"What's the purpose of the puzzle?" I ask. "Do you know? Is it to test to see our skills?"
"Hm…" Charles thinks. "What's known is that it usually provides some sort of reward to the Summoned, something that can help them out greatly during their journey in our world. A powerful weapon, a miracle cure, a pouch of infinite money, a spatial storage ring superior to any that mankind can make, and indestructible armor are just some of the possibilities. One Summoned I met back when I was not yet a teen received an egg from the puzzle. From that egg hatched a spirit beast stronger than any summoner could call."
"They usually only receive one or two powerful things from the upgraded Dungeons," Henry adds. "But can receive more normal stuff, such as food, clothes, or more basic gear. Once they've either completed the puzzle or left the area, the puzzle shifts to one that can be completed by others. Said shifted puzzles usually have more normal rewards for them."
"I see," I say.
"Also," Henry adds. "This upgrade is how stronger Dungeons come to be, so don't be put off by it and try to avoid towns for your first six months. It can also happen after that, just less commonly."
"How stronger Dungeons come to be?" I ask. "You mean that Dungeons don't appear already powerful?"
"Correct," Henry answers. "Dungeons start off ridiculously easy when they first appear. Only when they receive an upgrade from the presence of a Summoned do they grow more difficult. This Dungeon upgrading was how we knew that there was a Summoned in the area."
"I see," I say. "It won't cause problems, will it?" I ask.
"No," he answers. "The upgrades aren't usually too severe, so people who were running it regularly can still run it again, they just might need to be a little more cautious. If they were on the boundary of being able to handle the Zone they're running and needing to stick to the previous Zone, then they may need to do a few more runs of the previous Zone before they can handle where they used to."
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"Okay," I say, then address the group. "If there's nothing else to add, then we should get started with our run."
No one has anything else to add, so we begin walking down the tunnel. I assign Henry to making sure the map is up-to-date so that us fighters can focus more on combat instead. Only a couple of minutes pass before we come across our first enemy.
Just as I'd heard during my research, the stone statue is about 5'9" in height, lean and muscular, with male features and no weapons.
Adam and I charge forward with Adam choosing to fight the statue head-on while I slip past its attempt at punching me to get behind it and deliver a kick to its back. The grunts Adam lets out while blocking attacks lets me know that the statue's strikes are rather heavy, which I somewhat expected, anyway. Since the demihuman dragon has 8 Constitution more than me, it's better if I avoid being struck at all.
Which isn't as easy as it sounds as the statue tries to focus on attacking both of us. Me after I deliver a couple of attacks to its back, and Adam when he delivers a couple of strikes to it. The statue attempts to barrel past me so that it can face both of us together, only for a transparent arrow of shimmering blue force to strike it in the back of the right calf, bits of stone breaking off from the force.
Then the statue tries to rush past Adam to attack Katie and Adam kicks out a leg to trip it as I kick at the back of its right knee. Arrows of force, ice, and stone slam into the front of the statue, breaking off more pieces as it starts to drop to the ground.
Without hesitation, Adam delivers a roundhouse kick to the back of the statue's neck, slamming its head to the ground. As it tries to stand back up, I deliver a dropkick to its head to give Adam an opening to shift positions. He takes advantage of it to drop down onto the statue and wrestle the monster into a lock with its head facing the archers.
The archers send three arrows at it each, their attacks striking into the statue's face in a pretty tight cluster.
+3.62% [Martial Artist] Experience!
"That was fun," I say as Adam releases the statue.
"Those arrows were too close for comfort."
"They proved their aim is good," I say. "And you and I weren't going to kill it unless we managed to break off its head. The best we can do at the moment is keep it focused on us while the archers attack."
"I could break its neck," Caleb says. "Punch its head right off."
"Probably," I say. "But it's better if Adam and I fight the early ones so we can at least get some Experience in. I can barely do anything to them at the moment as I'm much too weak, but I can still at least do some damage. Let me get some Experience, yeah? And Adam is able to at least crack the statue a little with his strikes."
"How much Strength do yo have?" Charles asks.
"I only have 18 Strength," I admit. "So I'm a bit on the weak side here."
"You didn't even ask the archers for their own Statuses before coming in," Caleb says. "Did you know that it's standard for a Party's leader to ask to see that? What if they weren't strong enough to support us? And you're not even strong enough to damage the statues!"
"I don't need to be strong enough to damage them," I say. "Just quick enough to help trip it up. And my faith in the guidance of the gods is stronger than your level of intelligence. Let's get a move on."
Caleb tries to ask what I meant, but I ignore him in favor of continuing through the Dungeon. The statues are fought with the same strategy as we battled the first one, with Adam doing his best to keep their attention on him, me doing my best to trip it up and pull its attention off of Adam temporarily, and the archers doing the actual damage with their conjured arrows. They do need to fire them from bows and can only shoot one at a time, so there are some limitations there. We also sometimes need to rest so that they can recover their Mana as creating arrows using magic does require Mana.
Goblins are relatively easy to fight as well. They're about four feet in height with green skin, bulbous noses, rounded stomachs, and disproportionately skinny limbs. Their ears are bat-like, their eyes are brown, and their nails are black. Some wield clubs, others wield rusty short swords, and a few even have shields or wield bows or magic instead. The close-range goblins are fought by me and then me and Adam while the ranged ones are handled by the archers.
On occasion, we come across some mushrooms, an ore stone, a bush, a cluster of flowers, or some such thing in here. All of it goes into one of the dimensional storage spaces held by the support members of the Party. We also stop in two safe rooms, eating lunch the first time and dinner the second time.
"I'm so glad we didn't have to spend another day running this maze," Caleb complains as we examine the Boss Chamber we've come across. "The air in here just isn't fresh enough. I hate cave-slash-tunnel-slash-hallway Dungeons. They're so stuffy."
Judging by the looks of everyone else, they all agree. I guess my human senses aren't enough to get frustrated by the air in here. It seems perfectly fine to me.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I tell Caleb. "I found today's run quite pleasant and wouldn't have minded another day fighting monsters. With luck, I'd have managed to gain another Level or two before reaching a Boss Chamber if it took another day."
"You know what?" Caleb asks. "Shut up, Mr. I-Gained-Seven-Levels."
"I never said I gained any Levels," I say. "And didn't you gain some, too?"
"Well, yeah," Caleb says. "But only because my physical combat abilities were low enough that I could contribute without using my magic! Using my magic martial arts just made everything in here too easy! And it was obvious when you gained Levels because you were suddenly just a little bit stronger in the fights! You do know that every point of increase to an Attribute is a bigger gain than the one from the last point, right?"
I did know that. Going from 10 Strength to 11 Strength is a smaller increase than going from 11 Strength to 12 Strength, but a bigger increase when going from 9 Strength to 10 Strength. It's one of the reasons why each Level takes a bit more to earn and why we gain less Experience the easier a fight is – to prevent us from just rapidly growing stronger.
Not that it's too much of an issue for me, as someone with [Unlimited Potential]. If I'm fighting monsters with the intent to get stronger and they're already fairly strong compared to me so I need to grow stronger, the Experience gains I receive are boosted twice.
"What's the plan for the Boss Room?" Katie asks.
I look into the Boss Room again. It's a large chamber with a fifty-foot-tall ceiling, but only a single, seven-foot-tall and three-foot-wide archway allows access to it. The room is around two hundred feet in width. Glowing ivy on the walls and glowing moss on the floor provide the light for the chamber, just as they have for the halls. Some hedges grow against the back wall, with flowers and ivy glowing on them. A dark green stone archway on the hedges will no doubt provide access to the next Zone after the monsters here are slain.
Standing in the center of the chamber are five stone statues, with thirty sword-wielding goblins, five goblin archers, and five goblin mages milling about as well. Each goblin swordsmen carries a shield in addition to their weapon
"Only adding this because I know you're new to this world, Jamie," Henry says. "And that you archers may not be aware of it, but you don't gain Experience in a Boss Room within a Dungeon until all of the monsters of the fight are defeated. The gains for it are based on the difficulty of the entire fight rather than the difficulty of that specific kill."
"So there's no chance of us gaining a Level mid-fight to help us out a little," I say, and he nods. "Alright. Adam, Caleb, you two focus on the statues. I'll focus on fighting goblins, but you two should fight any that you need to. Katie, Elise, and Chance, you three focus on taking down the ranged goblins first. As needed, shoot at any goblins that may get in an attack on us."
"I can provide assistance here," Claw steps forward. "I only have 40 Strength."
This is only the second time I've heard him speak, the first time being when he introduced himself. Him talking actually startled me for a moment.
"Really?" I ask. "Thought you were stronger than that."
"No," Claw answers. "I have a decent Level, but only 40 Strength. My Magic is even higher, though, so had I attempted to assist before now, I would have simply been able to overwhelm the targets much like Caleb utilizing magic martial arts. The statues should be beyond your ability to handle while the goblins are within your might. I can provide assistance to Adam and Caleb in taking on the statues. Five-on-three will be a better fight than five-on-two."
"Alright," I say. "Then you'll help Adam and Caleb. And everyone, please remember that since we won't get an Experience notification until the battle itself is over, make sure that the monster is dead before turning away from it. Everyone ready?"
"Ready!" The other fighters call out.
"Then let's go!"
I draw my sword and charge into the chamber, Adam, Caleb, and Claw doing the same while the archers step inside and begin to spread out so that they can shoot from different directions.
Since those going after the statues are rushing straight for them, I head off to the left and meet one of the goblins there, our swords clashing when we reach each other. It tries to bash me with its shield, but I step back and wait for the movement to finish. As with the other shield-bearing goblins we've fought so far, it moves its shield arm to the side for a moment while its sword arm remains held to the other side.
There's always a small opening with these goblins after the shield bash attack, and I take advantage of that to run my sword through its chest. The goblin grunts in surprise and pain, then I pull out my sword. Even though the beast drops to the ground, I make sure to cut off its head before turning and blocking the sword strike from another goblin.
Our swords clang against each other and bounce back, then I perform a kick to the beast's chest before ramming my sword into it. This time, I make sure to slash its throat it even as it falls to maximize my time reacting to another goblin. The new goblin manages to block two of my attacks with its sword and my attempt at stabbing it through the chest with its shield. I respond by shoulder-slamming its shield as I draw my knife with my left hand, then I ram my knife into the goblin's face.
The battle continues on, with an occasional goblin near me getting taken out by an arrow when I'm facing down too many for me to handle at once. For the most part, however, I face the goblins without any assistance. After the last of the goblins are killed, I wait the extra minute for Adam, Caleb, and Claw to take out the final statue, the archers providing some light assistance in the meantime. Me joining in wouldn't make the outcome of that fight any different since the statues are a tad too durable for my attacks to affect.
+78.94% [Swordsman] Experience! +58.93% [Martial Artist] Experience! +62.18% [Knifeman] Experience!
You are now a Level 6 [Swordsman]. Attributes have been increased. You are now a Level 5 [Martial Artist]. Attributes have been increase. You are now a Level 6 [Knifeman]. Attributes have been increased.
You have cleared the Zone! You may now exit the Dungeon or advance to the next Zone.
"Whew!" I plop myself onto the ground. "That was… a fight."
"A pretty good one," Adam confirms as he and the other combatants for this run approach, each of them taking a seat to rest as well. "It's been awhile since I had a fight that tough."
"Same here!" Caleb's tail moves about happily. "Though I think we could all use some more salve for our fists, mine are scraped to hell and back."
"It was a good battle," Claw nods.
"Though a few spots got a bit sketchy," Katie says. "We almost didn't get some of those goblins in time, Jamie."
"Yeah," I nod. "Thanks for taking them out. You three are good shots. Your former Party mates were idiots to lose you."
"Things are as they are," she says, and Elise and Chance agree with her.
"Give us a minute to rest," I tell the support members. "We need a breather before looting. What looting might be possible, anyway."
"We'll check over the monsters," Fang says. "You kids rest."