On our way through the city to get to the dungeon, I found out pretty quickly that Jerry was… Well… Free spirited.

I suspect that he might be a case of some noble heir that felt too restricted with all the noble etiquette and duties that he goes dungeon diving to relieve his stress. Because of his hobby, he got assigned these three guards as his escorts to keep him alive.

They must have also given him the condition that they needed at least five members before they would let him explore a dungeon, thus why Jerry seemed to really want me to join them.

The fact that his guards were looking at me warily must also mean that someone probably used this to their advantage to get close to their ward before, either for benefits or to assassinate him. Thus, they suspect that I might be someone who intends to harm Jerry.

Well, at least this kind of assures me that he didn't have ulterior motives aside from wanting me to bolster their numbers.

But this is all just my speculation though, the real reason might still be something else. Fact remains that Jerry seemed quite desperate in wanting another member and getting me obviously put him at ease.

Varry was still wary of me though and he made sure to keep me in his sight at all times even while Jerry was conversing with me.

I did catch the young man glancing at my chest a few times but at least he had the decency to try and hide it so I said nothing…

Soon enough, we were outside the city and in front of what can only be described as a mound of earth jutting out of the ground at the edge of the forest.

[Forest Dungeon - Large]

Yep, this is the place.

Unlike the other dungeons I've been to, there's quite a number of people hanging out around here, most likely also here to dive into this dungeon.

Most of them were doing the final checks on their gear and inventory by the side while others were already queuing up to enter the dungeon.

We joined the queue that proceeded at a steady pace until we were one party away from entering the dungeon.

I noticed a few people seated by the side of the entrance and the leader of the party in front of us called out to them.

"We're looking to skip ahead to the tenth floor for one small bronze coin. Anyone able to send us there?"

One of them immediately stood up, "I can do it."

I watched as he took the coin from the leader before placing his hand on the side of the entrance, most likely selecting the requested level.

He then walked past the doorway and the rest of the party followed suit, their figures disappearing into the darkness of the dungeon.

"How does the dungeon know who is in the same party?" I asked, using my excuse of being a new Dungeoneer to ask these questions.

Jerry seemed more than happy to answer, "Oh, that's easy. As long as there's an agreement shared between the members, they will be recognised as a party by the dungeon."

Huh? How does that even work?

"Doesn't that mean that if that guy who took the money earlier decides to think that he isn't part of the party while stepping into the dungeon, he could just run away from them?"

"Ahaha, I remember thinking that the first time I started too! No, the Gods themselves watch over these party formations, so when you agree to join a party, you will remain a member while in the presence of a dungeon until everyone decides to disband."

Ok… I guess this is just one of those god things that everyone accepts that it works and moves on…

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Jerry then approached the entrance and stepped inside, the rest of us following right behind him.

We emerged and found ourselves in the maze type of layout within the dungeon. Taking that chance, I discreetly placed my hand on the wall to check which floor we were on.

"We're on the first floor," He announced, confirming what I had found out with my [Screen] as well. "We'll fight a few monsters, get a few for each other's strengths and see if we can go further."

I nodded, "I'm ok with that. What about your party members?"

Varry also mimicked my head movement, "We don't mind either."

Jerry grinned, "Perfect! Let's get hunting then! Don't worry, Miss Aster, we've fought here before, it's quite safe!"

I gave him an assuring smile to show that I understood and he quickly led the way forward to look for monsters.

Since Katsuki isn't here to help us smell out the monsters we were relying on just luck to encounter anything as we were walking. If the tracking skill our ranger had was of any use, he most certainly did not say anything that would make me think so.

Eventually, we came across our first monster.

[Name: Dungeon Treant

Stats:

25 Strength

10 Dexterity

20 Endurance

10 Magic

Magic Skills:

Geomancy (Tier 1)]

It's basically a large walking tree about one and a half times of Jerry's height. It actually reminds me of Japanese Maple trees by its shape too, if you were to ignore the two pairs of trunks that split at the body to form the legs and arms.

Varry immediately took up position beside Jerry, the two of them forming a shield wall while Vick moved directly behind them. Meanwhile, Vom took a small step back and nocked an arrow onto his bow.

The fact they transitioned so smoothly was quite impressive to say the least.

"Miss Aster! Could you weaken it with a spell?!" Jerry asked, his shield raised defensively.

Umm… He must want me to paralyse it, now what was the chant for this spell again…

"With this spark, may my enemies' movements be hindered. [Static Bolt]!"

A ball of electricity formed in front of my hand before shooting forward, hitting the treant in the chest. At least… I think it's the chest? It's still a tree after all so it's hard to tell…

I belatedly realised that if I had been trying to aim at any of the other party members, Vom would have shot at me with his bow from behind. I guess they are still wary of me right now.

"Nice shot, Miss Aster!" Jerry praised, dashing forward as the paralysis took effect.

Together with Varry and Vick, the three of them quickly attacked the monster with three simultaneous strikes, defeating it instantly.

I guess such a result should be expected considering their stats.

Vom didn't even fire off his arrow, either because that arrow was never meant for the monster from the start or because there really wasn't a need to.

Jerry sheathed his sword while Vick got to work getting the Mana Crystal out from the Treant, seems like the roles in this party were already set.

"Having an electromancer sure is helpful," Jerry grinned at me. "Otherwise, either Varry or myself would have to tank a few hits."

"You guys certainly didn't look like you were having trouble though?" I pointed out.

"Haha, for now at least. Let's try out a few more before we move to the next floor, how does that sound?"

It's nice that he is at least taking my status as a newbie into consideration.

I nodded, "I'm fine with that."

The others of course also agreed since it's their ward's decision after all.

We came across a few more Dungeon Treants but since they were all alone, the fights pretty much went the same way and we breezed through all of them without even an injury. Those monsters didn't even get to use their magic either.

Eventually, we reached the stairs going to the second floor.

"I think we can take on the boss this time. Shall we?" Jerry suggested.

All of us agreed and we descended the stairs in the same formation.

"Is the next floor a boss room?" I asked.

"Oh, you were doing so well that I actually forgot you're still a newbie Dungeoneer. For this dungeon, the next floor is indeed a boss floor and the boss is a stronger version of the Treants we have been fighting so far. We've fought it before so there shouldn't be anything to worry about. Its main weakness is that it's quite slow and a really big target."

I nodded in understanding.

We reached the next floor and surprisingly, there was already a party ahead of us and a layer of fog covering the entrance.

Seems like someone else is fighting the boss right now and we're second in line to face it.

The other party consisted of three male Mahuns and judging by their equipment, all of them were melee fighters.

Jerry nodded to them in greeting and the one I presumed to be their leader also nodded back, though no words were exchanged.

We then settled down behind them to wait our turn, which seemed to be the normal thing to do when faced with something like this.

Not even a minute passed and the fog wall lifted, allowing the party ahead of us to step inside.

A new fog wall appeared behind them and we moved closer to the wall to wait our turn.

"Will those three be alright?" I asked.

Jerry grinned, "They'll be fine. The boss for this floor is still quite easy and it's slow. When we go in, Miss Aster can just focus on paralysing it and leave the damage dealing to us. You can just focus on that for our fights from here on. Oh, but if you see a chance to damage it too, don't hesitate, we can adapt!"

We waited for a few more minutes and the wall eventually disappeared, allowing us to go through to take our turn.

Let's see how this party handles a boss fight!