by Drew Jager
"Safe."
Will felt his nonexistant heart melt at the small voice. It wasn't as high pitched as Bel's, but it was distinctly more childish.
Bel clearly wasn't prepared either, as she just rubbed the hand of the small Treant affectionately. Apparently some of her fears were assuaged with the answers the Bound Monster had given. Maybe she was able to gleam more meaning out of them than he could.
He cleared his throat to try to get the attention of the two and turned his focus back to the Treant, "Do you have a name? Can we name it, Bel, or is that not allowed?"
She had a small smile. "Usually, no. You can't name Monsters without turning them into a Boss. Bound Monsters are different though, a name will just be a name. It will be permanent though, so make sure you pick a good one."
Will wasn't ready to make the choice immediately, he first needed to know more about the new addition to his Dungeon.
"Well Treant... Do you feel like a boy, or more like a girl?" He figured he ought to know the gender before he tried to give it a name.
Bel just burst out giggling, and sighed at his Crawl. "Will. It's a tree."
He felt his Crawl turn a few shades brighter. Now embarrassed, he tried to salvage his pride. "Well how would I know! You made me pick, and I'm just a piece of mana. Why don't we just see what they have to say!" His voice had gone up a few octaves, but he felt he got his point across.
She just smiled again, then turned towards the Treant. "Well? I don't know much about your race, but I do know the Dryads are all female. If all the Treants creators are female, wouldn't that mean the personality would be the same?" She didn't seem very convinced, but Will thought it was sound enough logic. Maybe?
"Their creator was both of us, though, so it could choose either. Or both, or none." He added. She shot him a glare, then looked to the Treant for its decision.
The newly born Treant was starting to look overwhelmed. They both watched the roots on its feet spread out, and afterwards a sense of calm seemed to come over the small tree. It stayed like that, rooted to the ground, for over ten minutes before it gave an answer.
"Sol." The Treant seemed extremely pleased with the answer it had given, Bel and Will just stared at it in slight shock.
"Is that your name?" Will asked.
Sol nodded.
"Well it is now, I love it! Welcome, Sol." Bel yelled out, muffled by the leaves in her face. She was busy hugging Sol.
"Well damn. I don't know if that's a boy, or a girls name. Do you, Bel?"
"Sol is a tree, you dork." She chided.
"Boy." Sol said, with more confidence than Will thought possible from a plant.
"Others girl. Sol boy."
Bel didn't seem to understand, but Will got the gist. "All the other Treants were made by women, so you want to be different?" Will guessed. It made the most sense.
Sol just shrugged.
They were about to get into Sol and his reasoning, when another shiver wracked the Dungeon. "Ugh, why can't we get some alone time. I want to show Sol everything!" He yelled out towards the entrance.
"Brian said sunrise to sunset, this must be the last group. It's nearly dark outside." Bel sighed.
"Just wait right here Sol, once these mutants are out of our Dungeon me and Bel will show you your new home!" He was excited, this was an outcome he had not expected. He was glad to have Sol in the Dungeon though, that Treant was too cute for his own good.
"Mutants."
Bel giggled at that, and Will felt his Crawl brighten in pride.
* * *
The last group of Adventurers enters the Dungeon for the first day.
"You're all good. Good luck cuties!" Holly said as she finished checking their Life Crystals.
"Keep a few seats warm at the bar for us, it won't take too long." Wren, a D rank Adventurer, called out towards the large woman. He turned towards his newly formed Adventuring group, and smiled.
Being one of the few Dwarves who traveled all the way to join the caravan had unnerved him, but when he was accepted with open arms by the two before him many of his worries had washed away.
He was of short stature, barely coming up to the waist of the Gigant. Sandy brown hair with streaks of gold covered the top of his head, and a well maintained beard the same color covered the majority of his face. His piercing green eyes saw everything as he walked towards the members of his team. Since he was the groups Mage, it was his job to look out for potential problems and put a stop to them before they became one.
"Thanks Holly, I'll bring back something cute for you!" Lana called out as she walked into the Dungeons entrance. She was the groups Fighter. It was up to her to protect the other members from harm on the front lines.
She was a heavy set woman with legs thick around as some trees. Short cropped brown hair framed rosy cheeks and fair skin. She wasn't as tall or muscular as Holly, though. That woman was a Gigant, and she was just a Human with a little extra meat on her bones.
"See you soon." Michael, the groups Cleric, calls out. A small human with an even smaller voice. He had dusky skin and short black hair in a messy cluster of tangles on the top of his head. As the other F rank Adventurer in the group, with Lana, he was feeling very nervous about his current situation. This will be the first time he had dived in a Dungeon, and he felt he should have had longer to prepare.
That boy is always so quiet, hopefully we can pull his nose out of those books and get him drunk tonight. Wren thought to himself.
He had only known the two a little over a month, but in that time they had had time to get to know one another. Lana was a strong front line Fighter, and could go head-to-head with the toughest Monster. Michael, while quiet, was an excellent support. It was rare to find a Cleric, and even rarer to get one into your group.
He sent a silent prayer to his Goddess for his good fortune. Then he took up the space behind Lana, but in front of Michael, and set out into the Dungeon.
Lana was practically vibrating with excitement, while Michael was vibrating in what Wren only guessed was anxiety.
"Focus up you two, this will be your first Dungeon dive. We don't need any unnecessary mistakes." He said for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm ready! So stop worrying about us and about this Dungeon. This is only your second Dungeon isn't it?" Lana asked without turning her head. She knew the answer, but Wren figured it helped to soothe her to talk while nervous.
"Yes. I had a dive over a year ago, but our team disbanded after a few runs in so I never got to experience much. Still know more than you though, shield for brains." Wren joked.
Michael let out a small laugh, and Lana turned around with a glare. Wren saw the poor man visibly wither under the gaze.
"The other teams all reported a hidden Serpent in the first room, so be on your guard. Apparently its extraordinarily crafty for a first floor Monster." He called out.
They reached the entrance, and Wren nearly laughed in surprise. Lana and Michael most likely didn't see it, but he saw it clear as day.
"Stop." He whispered.
Both didn't move, but just listened for what he would say.
These two are smarter than I give them credit for, at least they didn't freak out the moment something happened.
"It's above you Lana, hidden in the vines. When you see your chance, take it." He hoped she would understand. He wanted to give more detailed commands, but time was running out.
He focused the Mana in his body, and channeled it into an orb of water over five inches in diameter into the palm of his hand. Once formed, he froze it into the shape of a small spike and sent it hurtling towards where he spotted the Serpent.
The frozen icicle impacted somewhere above Lana, and she dove away as soon as he had released the spell.
She's fast.
As soon as the spell connected, she had already rolled far enough away to prepare herself for a finishing blow.
A gruesome hiss sounded out, and the Serpent fell away from the cei
ling, a large hole missing from its body. Lana wasted no time and immediately went over to decapitate the Monster.
Once beheaded, the Monster returned into the original mana of the Dungeon and dispersed into a small amount of experience for the party. A few copper coins and some scales dropped as loot.
Michael calmly walked over and deposited the loot into his pouch. They had agreed beforehand he should carry the dropped items and focus on a more support oriented role. He didn't have much in the way of offensive power, so he was the de facto choice.
"Good work. Let's move on. Up next is a trapped hallway, at least according to the other groups."
The tunnel turned out to be a mess of Fake Floor and Falling Boulder traps, and took well over ten minutes before Wren felt confident enough to lead them through. His affinity wasn't suited to trap detection, but he had experience in the other Dungeon to give him an idea of what to expect. He walked ahead of the others and if any trap was set off Lana would immediately pull him back to safety. Michael waited in the back and healed any scrapes or bruises they received from the gauntlet of traps.
Once through, Wren steeled himself. The next room was where all other groups had failed.
"Eyes focused, stay sharp you two." He called out from the center of their formation.
He heard a small gasp from behind him once they entered the room, but he couldn't blame the Cleric. It was gorgeous. A stunning field of flowers purple and white coated the majority of the ground. Birds chirped in the air and towering bushes were spread all across the sunlit room.
Sunlight? I've never seen a Dungeon as bright as this one. Most that I know of were all dark, wet caves. Well, I guess it still is a cave.
In the center of the room was a tree over 30ft in height, and Wren could see silver swirls running all over the bark. The leaves were yellow-green and covered the top in a whirlwind of color.
"I see two Monsters headed our way, they seem armored." Lana called out.
"Not armor. Spines." Michael said from behind them, just a slight hint of fear in his voice.
The leading Spineback picked up pace in its headlong charge, and crashed into Lana. She had her shield ready though, and took the rodent head on. While she was preoccupied the other tried to sneak past her guard and into the softer targets of Wren and Michael.
He didn't even hesitate, he grabbed the dagger at his side and slashed downwards into the charging Monster. Just because he cast spells didn't mean he would leave himself defenseless if the Fighter let one slip by.
As he stabbed into the beast, Michael came from behind him and smashed the Spineback across the face with his staff. Really it was just a stick of hardened wood reinforced with a bit of metal, but it did the trick.
As the two finished off the Spineback, they saw Lana neatly sever the head of the one in front of her. Her short-sword was now thoroughly coated in blood, and a few spines were sticking out of her wooden shield. Otherwise, she was unharmed.
Michael seemed to jolt, then yelled out. "Birds! Cover your ears!"
They all knew what that meant, they had heard the screams while outside the Dungeon and the last group to go in had given them a painful reminder on what caused it. Not a second after getting their fingers firmly lodged into their ears, an echo of a scream sounded out of the Dungeon.
Skraa!
It still hurt like hell, but it was tolerable. Once the sound ended Wren cast another Ice Shard spell towards the two Howlers and sent them to the grave.
"Nice shot, short-stack." Lana called out from in front of him. She was doing nicknames now. Fun.
"Only natural, shield for brains." He retorted with a small smile.
Michael ignored the two trying to make a nickname for him while he dug through the loot dropped by the four Monsters. A few feathers and some spines. They would sell decently in town, and the copper coins never hurt either.
He was so engrossed in counting the coins he didn't notice the two Serpents slinking towards him from beneath the grass and flowers. Both struck out simultaneously, latching on to a leg each. He didn't even have time to shout before Lana was at his side trying to hack the things off. Wren was forming another ice spell when he fell to the ground as well.
A third snake, waiting in ambush.
"Deal with those two, I'll be fine!" He called out while furiously stabbing into the spine of the Serpent. He knew if he panicked the venom would only coarse through his veins faster, so he made methodical and precise cuts into the Monster. Soon it dispersed into a cloud of mana and experience, and he rushed to help his Cleric.
"Gods that hurts! We might have to amputate the leg." Michael called out with a pale expression, he had already went through the stages of grief and landed on acceptance.
Both of the Serpents were on the ground, slashed and smashed to pieces. Wren just walked over and smacked him on the top of his head. "You're fine Princess, the worst that could happen is you pass out. You're a Cleric aren't you?! Heal yourself!"
Michael flushed a bright shade of red, which was impressive on the shade of his skin. "R-Right."
He focused for a brief moment, then called onto the Light affinity all Clerics possess. After a few seconds his face seemed to visibly relax, and he breathed a sigh. "All better." He meekly said.
He rolled his eyes and Lana just gave him a really hard pat on the back, causing Michael to wince.
"I promised the Herbalist I would get him some samples of the plants in here, please guard me." Michael said hesitantly.
"We already know, you drama queen, go pick your flowers. Me and Wren will keep you safe." Lana said with a wink.
Michael just turned around with a huff and got to his task, though Wren could swear he saw a slight tinge to the boys cheeks.
Once done, they returned to their standard formation and continued forward. They reached a large door that seemed to be made of the same wood as the tree in the center of the room. It was a lot sturdier than they thought, and took a good amount of muscle just to push open.
Once inside they saw a tunnel similar to that of the trapped hallway, but Wren did not detect nor see any.
"I can see some vines up ahead, they look like they're covering a large pit." Lana called out.
"Yep, those are spikes at the bottom. That would be one nasty fall." She said with a low whistle.
It was a sea of vines coming down from the ceiling, and Wren felt most of them would snap under his body weight. There was a large central vine that seemed much thicker around than the others, and he chortled at the Dungeons attempts to trick them.
At least make the other vines the same size if you want to make some people fall in. He thought smugly.
Just to be sure, he grabbed a few of the small vines and yanked downwards, hard. They snapped like he expected, and he reached towards the central vine. His arms were too short.
Lana just giggled and reached forward.
Curse all people over 5ft tall.
She gave the vine a good tug and it held firm. "See you on the other side, boys." She yelled out as she swung across the gap towards the other side.
"Incoming!" She called out, and the vine was sent swinging back towards the two men.
Michael grabbed it and handed the vine to Wren, with a small smile on his face after the Dwarf grumbled a thanks. Once across, he sent it back to Michael. Shortly after, all three were ready to advance further into the Dungeon.
"This is new territory, so be on your guard. We don't know what to expect from the rest of this." He warned the other two.
Both of them took on serious expressions, and nodded. Then, as one, they moved towards the door to the next room. It was just as heavy as the other.
It felt like it was made of some sort of metal, but looked more like wood. Once through, he immediately scanned for enemies.
The room was a circular shape with pillars ringing the outside, and vines swinging all across the ceiling. There were overhangs to the side that were too tall for him to see over. The other two could th
ough, and said no Monsters were hiding there.
Wren scanned the ground and saw a mixture of dirt and grass, while insects buzzed around an occasional flower. There was a large pit of sand in the center, and he decided to just avoid whatever mess that would cause.
"Above us!" Michael yelled out.
Both Lana and Wrens heads whipped upwards at the same time. For a brief moment they saw the face of what looked like a Monkey staring at them, but it disappeared just as fast.
"Get in between those two pillars! Lana put up your shield over our heads. I will draw them out. Michael, be ready to poke them out of the air." He yelled out these orders over just a few seconds, and all three moved to do their job.
