Core of Knowledge

[Taunting Shout].

The two remaining tentacles converge on Pos after he activated his Skill, and the dwarf swung his axe in a defensive stance to fend them off. Talata and Bazel were quickly on either side of him, with Bazel putting away his bow in favor of his saber. No words were spoken, and none was needed. Although they were a team put together just for this quest, the trio of adventurers were experienced and knew they have to keep the squid busy to give Fabiana time to cast her spell.

It did not take long.

“Sun shines brightly in the sky,

Filling the land with light,

In fire, do our enemies in,

Come forth; [Solar Beam]!”

A ball of light, bright as the sun, appeared above the adventurers. Everyone stops as the ball hovers in the air for a moment. Then, the ball turned into a beam of light and shot down towards the head of the squid. A wordless scream echoed through the cavern and even the distance did not stop the smoky smell from reaching Pos.

The reaction from the squid was immediate. The tentacles withdrew, and the head of the squid dive back into the waters of the lake. The cavern fell silent except for the sound of the bubbles on the surface of the water. Pos waited for the squid to come back up.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Pos blinked. He glanced back at his team, who were all as puzzled as he was. The squid did not come back up.

“That’s it?” Pos asked in surprise.

The rest of the team were just as shocked as he was. No one thought the monster would retreat, because dungeon monsters never do. Sometimes, they retreat to lure delvers into complacency, but they never withdraw. Minions of a dungeon always fight to the death, there was no reason not to because the core could reform them later. This dungeon core is so weird!

Before they could discuss the matter, a rumbling sound came from behind. Pos turned and it took a moment for him to process what was happening. The boulder wedged in the wall was moving sideways and a narrow passage was revealed behind it.

A small, dark passage.

When the boulder stops moving, the members of the team looked at each other again before Talata turned to look out to the lake. Pos followed her gaze and saw Father Raul slowly making his way back to them. The priest’s force field was still in place, but the field was clearly designed more for defence than speed as the [Wandering Healer] was slowly floating towards them. In the excitement, Pos had almost forgotten about the priest.

“Fabiana, send a message to the guild. Check if Heathon had arrived. If not, we need to fish his body out of the lake before the dungeon eats him.”

With a body, adventurers could resurrect their team-mates at a temple but there was a problem with their situation.

“The squid is still down there. It could be why it retreated. It is waiting for us down there.” Pos warned.

“Then, we need to spring the trap.” Bazel answered.

“No need.” Fabiana said. “The guild just confirmed that Heathon had activated his Recall Stone and is back in Viggia.”

Pos was relieved. He really did not want to face that giant squid again, much less in its home territory. Father Raul arrived, none the worse for wear, and after making sure everyone was uninjured, the team went down the passage.

The boulder slided back into place behind them, leaving the team in darkness. Pos was comfortable in the dark, but humans were not and Fabiana cast a spell. A ball of light appeared and the team continued on down the passage. It was winding but when they turned a corner, a small, flickering light appears in the distance. Pos’ eyes widened as the light was illuminating an ancient, dusty-looking chest.

He was not about to make the same mistake twice and waited for Talata to approach the chest. The elf did so, approaching the chest carefully as the rest of the team waited a distance away. Father Raul even cast a shield in front of them.

The elf opened the chest, leaping back as she did so. The trap was sprung and something shot out of the chest. It was a small figure holding an even smaller banner. The figure looked like a toy and the banner only had one word written on it.

Loser

What? Everyone waited for a moment, but nothing else happened. Talata approached the chest again, looked in, and frowned. She picked up whatever was in the chest and showed it to the team.

It was a box.

Well-made with a beautiful picture of a multistory tower with a red curved rooftop. Pos looked at the team and saw Bazel giving everyone a nod. “Yes, that’s the puzzle I faced.”

The team approached the chest, and Talata passed the box to Fabiana. Pos looked into the chest while the [Sage] inspected the box with Bazel. There was some gold in it, but it seems that the box was the treasure. Fabiana opened the box, and Pos was unsurprised when he saw the fragments within.

“That’s it? We beat the floor and got a puzzle box? The dwarf got a new Skill, and we get this?” Talata complained, and Pos understood where she was coming from. It was frustrating.

Father Raul shook his head at the elf’s outburst and pointed at the figure that jumped out of the chest. “Did we? Remember, this is a Trick Floor. We beat the monster, not the floor. That’s why the dungeon core is calling us losers.”

Pos put his face in his hand. “You are telling me we need to complete the puzzle to get the real treasure?”

“Most probably. Why else would the core give us this ‘Loser’ banner. If nothing else, it has a sense of humor.” Bezal chuckled with a hint of disappointment.

“Hopefully, just one of us need to complete the puzzle, and not all of us. I was almost done when time ran out.” Father Raul proudly said.

If he wasn’t a priest, Pos would have called him a liar. Pos wasn’t even halfway done with his. Everyone looked at the priest with newfound respect.

“I hope so, because there is no way all of us are going to complete a thousand pieces within sixty minutes.”

The team turned to Fabiana who had been counting the fragments from the puzzle they received. Pos blinked. Talata grasped.

“Wait, did you saying each puzzle is a thousand pieces?”

Fabiana sighed. “Well, this puzzle has a thousand pieces, so it stand to reason the other puzzles have the same number of pieces. I seriously doubt all of us can complete one within sixty minutes.”

“And that is just for this tunnel,” Bazel shook his head, “there are two more tunnels on the second floor.”

As they spoke, a spell circle light up. There was only one, which means either this dungeon does not have a third floor, or the adventurers do not have the qualification to enter it yet.

The adventurers looked at the way out in resignation. Even with their levels, they had not beaten the second floor. This dungeon was much tougher than they expected. Bazel was the first to recover from his disappointment.

“Alright! Take out the first batch of offerings.” Bazel said as he open his backpack.

Pos grunted as he did the same. Dungeons could create materials, and one of the rules of farming a dungeon was to feed it a variety of materials when it is young. Within moments, the adventurers lay out a variety of items on the ground.

Ores like iron, orichalcum, even a small piece of mithral; in the hope that the dungeon would create a floor with such metals for them to mine.

Fabrics made of cotton, silk, and manaweave; in the hope that the dungeon would create a floor with a workshop filled with such items.

Books ranging from serious topics like history to lighter fiction like a romance story; in the hope that the dungeon would create a floor with a library where these books could be reproduced.

After laying out the items, the adventurers approached the spell circle. They were disappointed, but they were all alive, so Pos considered this delve a win. As one, the adventurers turned to the dungeon, bowed, and shouted.

“Thank you for the adventure!”

Pos Opalhand step onto the spell circle with his team, and out of the dungeon.