Dungeon

Ansel looked at Eira, his droopy eyes and tired face searching for answers. But both Kaito and Eira shook their heads. Instead they pointed at him, past him, their eyes glancing at him as if also searching for answers.

“Hiii, over here!” A jolly voice said.

His broad back shifted slightly upright, his slouch still evident, as he turned around. His gaze still low, he saw a pair of arms grabbing a bag. The fingers held it delicately, as if they were carrying a newborn baby. His eyes rose and noticed a brown dress with scuffmarks on the ends, the lady was smiling at him compassionately. Her freckled face seemed to be looking right at him, the gleam in her brown eyes shooting lasers right at him. Ansel assumed it was just a fellow human, her brown braided hair showing sticking out like a sore thumb in the crowd of silver and white. However, as he continued to look he found her ears to be shaped strangely, not quite a human's, but also abnormally short for an elf's.

“So?”

“Hm?”

“Are you alright?” She said, her head tilting slightly whilst her shoulder lowered.

“Ah…yeah, yes I’m alright” The sudden question stunned him. Glancing back at Kaito and Eira, their faces said “Do you know her?” in capital letters. He in fact did not know her, his slouch now raising into a proper posture.

“I’m sorry miss, have we met before?”

“No we haven’t! I’d remember a face like yours.”

“Oh I see.”

“Here!”

Reaching into her back, she pulled out a loaf of bread, her youthful smile intoxicatingly brilliant. Stretching out her arm she nearly pressed it against his chest, ensuring that Ansel took it.

“Thank…you.”

“Ah don’t worry about it! My name's Meki, nice to meetcha.”

Turning to face Kaito and Eira she saluted with two fingers, giving a playful wink.

“That was my personal snack so you better enjoy it,” she said. “I need to finish these deliveries so maybe I’ll see y'all- or actually, here.”

Reaching in her pocket, she pulled out a small wooden card. Her bright eyes looked at Ansel, handing him the card. It had been burnt, a symbol branded on it. An oval with a rose seemingly inside it, the illustration unnaturally detailed for a simple bakery.

“My family owns a bakery, so you guys should stop by sometimes.” Her beaming smile flashing in all directions.

“Ah…yeah we’ll check it out.”

“Awesome, well take care big guy… I don’t know what you're going through but as long as the clouds move, you can too.” She giggled, seemingly to herself. “Well that's what my dad says anyway.”

Returning her hand to cradling the bag, she started a jog past them, turning her head back to say “Gotta run!” before disappearing into the crowd.

The three stood there, looking at the crowd, the cheerful girl now gone and the parties of adventurers beginning to disperse.

“Hey…you okay?” Eira asked the question for both of them, placing her arm on his shoulder. “Where here for you man” Kaito continued, joining Eira on Ansel’s other arm.

“Yeah…I’m fine, just a little light headed.”

“You sure dude? You looked really out of it.”

“I’m fine Kaito, really.”

“We’re just worried about you.” Eira chimed in, her eyes reflecting his.

“I’m fine guys don’t worry, anyways…that girl was really something huh.”

Began to walk back the way Kaito and Eira had come, his shoulders unchanging from Kaito and Eira’s hands.

“Yea, she was weirdly nice… and a half elf at that. You don’t see them much.”

“Half elf?”

“Oh sorry, I forget.” Eira looked at him, her eyebrows pinching together as a sheepish smile grew on her face.

“It’s fine, I can kind of guess by the name.”

Her smile softened as her breath visibly released from her nose. The three walked back to the guild’s stairs, the doors swinging open as another party of elves left.

“Okay team, we still have money to earn.” Ansel said as he placed his arms on his hips. “Let’s get to it.”

Walking in the guild hall the chatter of magic and quests filled their ears. Despite Kamar being the capital city for the elven kingdom, inside the guild there were still a multitude of other races all congregating together. The three walked over to the quest board to the right of the entrance, a small crowd forming at one edge of the board. The Spinful party paid them no mind and decided to choose from the quests they were able to see, the three ultimately settling on a gathering quest out in Kamar’s only dungeon. It was ranked D, a rare ranking for gathering quests, meaning that something made it harder to get.

On their way to the city’s outer wall, Ansel explained what they were searching for, a type of rock that was considerably dangerous, exploding spontaneously on random occasions hence the ranking.

“We’ll be alright, right?” Kaito looked at him with worry.

“They’re supposedly hidden somewhere on the third floor. The client wants to just have it moved to a house he owns over there.” He pointed to the wall, the two knowing he meant past it.

“Sounds pretty damn sketchy.” Eira retorted.

“Apparently they told em he wouldn’t be able to enter with them, so the that’s why.”

“I meant the quest itself. Why would-”

Her gaze caught a glimpse of a symbol.

“...Eira?”

Turning to look, she saw a man clad in white. He’d walked past them so quietly that the other two hadn’t noticed. The white cape swayed in the wind, making it impossible for her to know for sure, as the man walked up the inclined road.

“Eira c’mon” Kaito said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder and making her snap her out of it.

“Ah sorry.” She said averting her gaze and walking over to Ansel, who was now with the guards at the gate.

Slashes and groans filled the dimly lit hallways. Ants the size of large dogs crawled about the ground and walls.

“Chain Mail!”

“Ice Bullet!”

“RAHH!”

The three fought in the cramped space, Ansel tanking most of the raggants in the front. His body letting them crawl all over before smashing into a wall. A rain of icicle-like bullets flew around, cover fire created by Eira as she began to rush forward with Ansel. The screams and yells mainly came from Kaito, slashing and stabbing all the ants that came his way, slowly but surely creeping toward Ansel.

Despite his inaptitude for the sword, among other things, the two years he’d spent with the party had led him to gain more knowledge about the world he was in. He’d learned of the basic monsters he was bound to encounter, the raggants they were currently fighting being one of them. He was now able to be left unprotected, and had the ability to slay F rank monsters with little to no fight.

“They just don’t end!”

Ansel’s frustrated tone voiced the other two's thoughts. They’d been at it for nearly an hour and the halfway just wouldn’t end. Eira had thought about using her only Area of Effect (AoE) spell, but it drained almost all of her mana which would leave only Ansel and Kaito the deal with whatever came after.

“Man!” Kaito gasped, “There must be a queen up ahead!” Gasping again he continued, “I’m dying here man! Maybe today just isn’t our day-”

“ARE YOU GUYS ALRIGHT??”

A voice resounded throughout the hallway.

Turning to look, the three saw another party, roughly four people out in the distance. The wave of ants now leaking past Ansel as his focus shifted.

“Oh crap!”

Eira refocused and made sure to increase her extermination. They tried their best to keep going, but the abundance of ants began to over power them. They heard the clattering of armor followed by a sudden announcement, this time a different more feminine voice.

“CLOSE YOUR EYES!” she yelled, slamming her staff onto the ground, “PURIFY!”

The three closed their eyes the moment her voice reached their ears as a beam of light lit up the corridor. The raggants shrieked as they burned away, leaving nothing but burnt ash shadows on the ground and walls once the beam disappeared.

“You guys alright?”

“Yea, thanks for the save.” Kaito replied, his eyes meeting hers. She was dressed in a white dress and black jacket. Her blonde hair shined as she smiled, a stark contrast to the dark setting.

A taller boy next to her walked up, his face with clear annoyance plastered all over.

“We didn’t do it out of charity, this just happened to be the closest route.”

“Ha you say that, but it's only cause Emily wanted to help em that you yelled out without a second thought huh?” A smaller girl with a hammer on her back joked, her face smirking with a mature grin.

“No I DIDN’T!” turning to the girl named Emily, “I really didn’t.”

“Regardless, we’re grateful for your help. We were clearly having trouble with them.”

Ansel walked up and stretched out his hand. The boy shook Ansel’s hand firmly in return.

“Name’s Seto, and this is my party, the Dungeon Party.”

Kaito’s hand smacked his mouth, his face to the floor as he tried to keep it in.

There’s actually another garbage name out there!

“It’s actually a Dungeon Party Party, cuz this dingus wrote it twice in a rush.”

“That’s because Mari’s was closing!”

It gets worse!

The short girl smacked his back, almost spitefully.

“Ow that actually hurt.”

“Deal with it.”

Kaito’s body was shaking, giggling internally.

“Where are you guys headed?” Seto said, reaching back to rub his sore spot.

“Third floor. What about you guys?”

“Trying to get to the 7th this time.”

“Wow you guys must be strong then.”

Seto smirked, clearly happy with his recognition.

“Would you guys like to cross the gate with us?”

“Hey! I’m the leader here.”

“I’m with Emily.”

Kaito jumped. His awareness of the elven archer had disappeared until he spoke up; unnaturally invisible to him.

“Ah, don’t mind him,” the short girl said as she saw Kaito’s reaction. “It’s just his passive, he means no harm. Ain’t that right Goba.”

“Ah… yea, sorry…” He looked grim, like he didn’t want to be there.

“Yea, don’t mind him, “ the sighing Seto said before turning to Emily. ”Anyways you can’t just make decisions like that, the whole party has to agree.”

“I agree, so does Goba. Pasha?”

“Yeah, what’s the harm?”

“Haaaa, fine,” Seto murmured.

“What was that?” Pasha snickered with an evil grin.

“We’ll help you!” He yelled.

The three looked at each other, nodding in agreement.

“But only to get through the gate, after that we go our separate ways.”

“Yea sounds fine to us.” Ansel replied, letting Seto and his Dungeon Party Party lead them to the Floor 2 gate.

The boss was a greater wolf, one of many the size of a school bus on the third floor. It served as a gatekeeper and level check. The levels of the world were not logical and universal, but rather arbitrary and subjective. The levels acted as checkpoints at most, the deepest floors reached within a party being what demonstrates their strength over another party. The Dungeon Party Party was now attempting to clear the seventh floor, which would make them stronger than the Spineful party, their deepest floor cleared being the fifth. Kaito reasoned the reason for their lack of enemies now being caused by the [Purify] spell, which cleared the entire hallway in one go.

They arrived at the wide double door, the seven adventurers readying themselves for the battle up ahead.

“Oh we won’t need the help” Seto stated.

“You guys can just watch from a distance, this one's a piece of cake.”

Emily smiled, her words attempting to ease the rude tone Seto had just used.

Entering the third floor gate, the adventurers were met with a grand roar. Their exit disappearing behind them as the greater wolf began its charge. Seto took point, running fast toward the beast, unsheathing his blade and chanting words out loud. Goba shot an arrow, red light emanating from it as it flew.

“[Great Leap]!” Seto yelled, his feet suddenly lifting him from under—leaping over the wolf before plunging his sword into it. The arrow that had been shot blew up on impact, making the best howl in pain. Pasha grabbed her hammer and swung it onto the wolf’s jaw, throwing him across the arena like room.

“[PIERCE!] [PEIRCE!] [PEIRCE!]”

Chunks of the wolf’s neck disappeared as the sword was thrust into it. Seto yelled the melee type spell with anger, his disdain showing brutally in the frown on his face.

“See I told you we’d be fine”

Emily stood beside Kaito and Ansel, Eira standing against a wall behind them. The four were rendered useless as the other adventurers tore the beast to shreds.

Moments later, double doors similar to the ones they’d entered began to morph within the wall. The wolf was now dead, and its corpse lying still on the ground. Without Emily’s purification, the body would rot away and eventually disintegrate rapidly over time.

Walking together for a few moments, the parties split, the trio of adventurers continuing on with their quest.

—--

“Hi, welcome to Kamar's Adventurers Guild, my names Rachel. How can I assist you?”

“Good Evening, I’m in search of a young lad. He’s part of an adventuring party, I believe they go by the name of the Spineful Party.”

“I’m sorry sir, the members of parties are considered confidential information, so I’m afraid-”

The man’s hand slammed against the counter. The sudden action making the guild receptionist flinch. He snarked a response, quickly giving up on non-forceful methods.

“Afraid?” He leaned closer, his eyes spiraling in anger, “I’ll give you something to be afraid about if you don’t give me what I want.”