2-08: First Delve I
The team got ready with their weapons and met up with Tisha.
"Girls, we're going to a dungeon. Do what I say, when I say. For starters, we're staying on the first level. Don't go down anything without my knowledge. Understood?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" The four said in unison.
They walked and walked. Way outside from the campus grounds. For three of the girls, this was their first good look at the capital.
Clean, busy streets left and right. Families going to stores and restaurants. Even the alleys were clean and free from thugs and crime.
"It's like a utopia..." Aviris gawked.
"Ma- Ahem, Mother put in a lot of work ever since she took the throne. And by Amaranth, has she been drilling how to be a good ruler into both elder sister's head and my own." Eleanora chimed in, with a slight smugness.
"Hey, Cass. Do you think we should take a look around when we have time off? It's so different than the countryside." Veronica asked, studying every little detail about everything in the nearby area.
"Consider it a date!" Cassidy exclaimed, trying to hide the hearts in her eyes.
A little further and they found themselves at one of the dungeons' entrance. It was a cave in the middle of flat ground, surrounded by walls and guards. With a quick look, one could see that the guards turned away many people who aren't authorized to go in.
"Name, business and authorization." A guard ordered Tisha.
"Mercury Tisha, field exercise for students of Hardin's Academy for Mercenaries." She stated calmly, giving the guard a sheet of paper.
Whatever it had on it made the guard step off to the side, allowing the group to continue forwards. The closer they got to the entrance, the larger it became.
It wasn't just a simple cave entrance. To put it into words, it looked like the entrance to a large Dragon's lair.
"Before we go in, I'm going to refresh you on these dungeons. This dungeon is specifically the Varsala Dungeon. It, like the rest of the dungeons, have too many levels to count. The furthest level anyone has reached in the Varsala Dungeon is level twenty three. Ten high ranking adventurers went in, two came out, one was already dead. Dungeons are not a game. Not only do they quickly get more and more difficult for each level, but the layout changes every four hours. Hard to go further in, easy to get out."
"Are you saying the dungeons have a mind of their own?" Aviris asked.
"From what we have found out, they seem to be living in some way. This dungeon itself isn't particularly trying to kill people. Something interesting about them all is that they are all easier to get out of than they are to continue going forward. Any questions before we go in?"
"We're staying on the first level, so how difficult is it?" Cassidy asked, raising her hand.
"Easy enough for a small group of relatively skilled five year olds can handle it."
"So, why exactly are we here?" Veronica asked in turn.
"So you girls can experience a level up. We aren't leaving until everyone has leveled up at least once."
The girls got rather excited, even just the one level up was going to be grand. Except, Veronica was silently worried. She only has one semi-normal skill, and she doubted it would get any better with subsequent levels.
"If everyone is ready, let's go. If we have to spend a week in here, we will."
And so, the group took their first steps into the gapping maw of the dungeon, letting it swallow them whole, and quietly hoping that it will spit them out safely.