9-04: Retrieval I

It was finally time to get whatever Aviris' brothers needed. However, where they were lead was a place they never thought they would go to.

The Desert's Dungeon. Unlike the one in the Capital, this one was much more secured, and looked a lot more fancy.

"This dungeon is how we have stayed alive in the desert for so long. Nothing our here grows. But inside the dungeon, we were able to hunt, farm and even gather water." Sharan explained.

Rajasthan was nowhere to be seen. Probably believes he's too good to be here.

"To settle the matter of this, we decided to task you with retrieving King Marais' Scepter."

Aviris' jaw dropped when she heard it all. "Wait, wait, wait. You want us to retrieve a scepter that belongs to a story book character? And it just so happens to be in this dungeon, which we only use the first five floors of."

"Indeed. Through recent studies, we have found that the legend of King Marais was never a legend. Just forgotten. It claims that his scepter should be around the fifteenth floor."

"Ugh... But we don't know if it really is there. So what happens if we don't find it?"

"Then, we will have no choice than a duel to the death. And I would prefer not dying. Rajasthan is much better at combat than I am."

Aviris looked towards the other girls, who nodded, agreeing to go with her.

"Fine. We'll do it."

"Thank you, sister and her friends. I wish you luck in your search, and please, be safe." Sharan said his goodbyes as the girls ventured in.

Immediately, the dungeon was much different. It was more peaceful. In fact, there were workers in the dungeon. Farmers tending to their farms on the first floor, animal husbandry on the second. Third to fifth were for hunters and gatherers. Everything past that, while not entirely uncharted, was not explored nearly as thoroughly.

The first couple of floors the girls went through weren't too difficult when compared to the one they were used to. The creatures on the sixth floor were just as weak as floor three creatures in the Capital's dungeon.

Though, Veronica wondered about something. Which one of Lilith's daughters made this dungeon? And she wondered if the daughter was still alive.

Seventh floor came up clean. Granted, they were told to search the deeper floors. So, they trudged their way down, looking out for anything that could be a scepter.

"So, what does this scepter look like?" Eleanora asked.

"According to the legend, it was made entirely of gold, was roughly the length of an arm, and brightly decorated wuth all manner a jewels, with an eye shaped emerald right on the top of it."

"Well, at least we have something to go off." Cassidy muttered, picking through the dirt and rocks.

"I doubt we'll find it on the fifteenth either. No one's made it down that far. At least, it's never been recorded."

"Does it get that tough?" Veronica asked, keeping to Aviris' side.

"Not necessarily. We already have everything we need on the first five, which are relatively safe. The lower floors, while generally weak, there are a few creatures that have bested some of our strongest fighters. Though, it was odd that it was only the men. The female warriors were left untouched."

"That's good news for us, right? Right?" Cassidy worried, receiving no answer as they all continued further down into the dungeon.