There was a haze of heat and like a shimmering veil it faded in and out, obscuring the landscape in the distance beyond. The faraway land was a desert dyed in red by an unmoved sunset. The glow from its heat trickled down like bloody tears, covering the plan of sand in anguish and sadness. It gazed back but was unreachable to those on the other side.
Rana frowned as she stared into the veil in the distance, tapping her foot on the white-hot sand. There was something that nagged at the back of her mind, but she could not quite put her finger on it. She was not usually one to give in to feelings or rely on something so flippant. There was a time and place for instincts, but more often than not it was someone making decisions based on emotion. However, she decided that this time, she would find out why she felt there was something wrong about the Sunset Spears.
What troubled her was not that no matter how far she walked, the distance between her and the veil and the land beyond it would not shorten. She knew that spatial anomalies were not strange occurrences in Dungeons. Their design and structure within the System took precedence over physical limitations.
The entrance to Sunset Spears was a large cave, but the tunnels were clearly not big enough to house cities worth of land. The System had to give the Dungeon its own layer of reality, and the resulting spatial distortion happened at the entrance. It was odd that there was another so soon after entering the Dungeon. However, even though her experience and knowledge with Dungeons paled in comparison to scholars and marked ones dedicated to their study of the topic, she was learned enough to know that what was happening was not outside the confines of what was possible.
What troubled Rana was Sunset Spears itself. She knew that Dungeons were alive and creations of regret and hatred. It was a manifestation of the final moments of ancient evils. The ones created by Mara were different and used individuals of people, but the premise remained the same. If Rana was to feel that a Dungeon was alive, that would not bother her as it was true. They had a life of their own, even if they were the product of death, just like Rana.
However, what bothered the zombie was not that a Dungeon and her shared similar existences, or that there were multiple spatial and temporal anomalies going on. What bothered her was that the Dungeon itself did not feel hostile nor was there any animosity in the air. Somehow, Rana could tell that Sunset Spears did not wish for her death, or anything at all, and that made it very dangerous.
“Hey, how long are you going to stare? My legs are getting sore from all the standing and walking,” said Jin. The girl sure liked to complain. Jin was a high-level marked one, there was no way that simply wandering around was enough to tire her out. “Have you found a way to progress further?”
Rana suppressed a sarcastic chuckle. There was no doubt that Jin already knew how to proceed and was simply testing her. It was most likely under the order of the duke, and if Rana were to guess, Jin was also ordered to eliminate her if she was not able to figure it out. Frankly, Rana felt a bit insulted. To think Randal believed the test was actually a challenge, or that Jin could actually defeat her.
“Why the rush? There is still plenty of time,” Rana said. When Jin complained, it was not because she was taking too long to solve the test. Jin was simply not a patient person. The duke’s agent was most likely instructed to wait for the others before killing Rana. It was more guaranteed that way and it acted like a time limit for their scheme. However, there was also something else. There was no point in a test if the right answer was actually incorrect. “Besides, our destination is not the desert we see before us. I am rather impressed by the way in which this Dungeon protects its entrance.”
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“What do you mean?” Jin asked. She tried to hide her disbelief, but her instant retort was enough to confirm that she already knew of the Dungeon. “It is clear that the Dungeon is a field-variant and is blocking us from entering it with some weird spatial displacement magic.”
“We are already in the Dungeon, no?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean anything!” Jin said as she groaned out loud. “Just because we entered the Dungeon that does not mean there are no more obstacles preventing us from entering the main body of it. Are you acting clueless or do you actually have no idea what is going on?”
The last question had a hint of hostility, but Rana decided to ignore it.
“That is correct,” Rana said. The act of entering the entrance of a Dungeon was not a guarantee that they arrived at the main body and its connected rooms. “However, by being a territory within the Dungeon it also meant that certain rules needed to be enforced, and most importantly, certain elements could be manipulated. The reach of the influence of a Dungeon could be expanded, but its physical constructs could only be built upon. Look at the floor beneath you and walk with me.”
“Great, more walking,” Jin said while rolling her eyes. “Yes, I know about the distance between us and the desert not closing. That is why we need to solve the mystery and get into it.”
“Do you believe it is possible?”
“Yes,” Jin said after a moment of hesitation. “What else could there be?”
“The Dungeon can never manipulate its own size freely. It has to be built upon as they corrupt the land and extend their influence. There is a reason why Dungeons conquest was even possible,” Rana said. It was basic knowledge, but it was one Jin and her allies no doubt ignored because they thought it was irrelevant. That was not the case. An equation only made sense if the answer and question matched. “This means that we are no doubt still within the spatial anomaly created by the core, and what we see is an illusion. Rather, it is a mirage.”
“How do you know? The sand we stand on might not be part of the Dungeon, but we don’t know for sure that the desert of red sand is not real.”
“Of course we do. The desert you see is nothing but a mirage, a trap to ensure invaders get lost in an ever-expanding nothing that they believe to be the Dungeon,” Rana said. Jin was shocked at the revelation, but Rana could not tell her the real reason and it seemed like she was not convinced. “Trust me. Is this not why I was hired?”
“Why would the core do this though?”
“It is rather easily explained,” Rana said. She was glad Jin did not probe. She successfully dodged the topic. She had no intention of letting Jin know of her knowledge, that there something in common with the Dungeons created by Mara. “It is to guard its core and it is quite a devious plan at it.”
“But,” Jin said but footsteps interrupted her objection.
“Looks like our raid group finally arrived,” Rana said and motioned Jin to follow her as the two walked towards the duke’s marked ones. She did not forget to stress the most important part. She did not want an open brawl at this moment. “Please make sure to tell your allies that I found a method in, they just need to follow my instructions.”
Jin nodded and went to her allies. She clearly believed that the mirage was the main body of the Dungeon. This also meant that Jin was not the one that the duke entrusted to eliminate Rana. There was one more enemy she needed to discover and she had no doubt is who the duke tasked with the actual conquest of the Dungeon.