Core of Knowledge

“It looks like it’s starting to slow,” Darwin said to his hunting party. “It is bleeding a lot.”

Pos’ eyebrow rose in surprise at the tracker’s words. He had seen larger splotches of blood along the trail, but if their quarry was slowing down, it was not obvious to him. The party had seen no sign of the tiger since they chanced it once and engaged it in battle. The animal had run off once it realized it was losing. A tiger of all bloody thing!

“How did a tiger even get here?” the dwarf grumbled. “I thought they only exist in the south.”

Pos did not expect anyone to answer his rhetorical question, but humans are a strange lot, and humans from the Bright Empire were especially so.

“Probably some rich noble’s pet that escaped a private zoo.” Marica said. “Doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“Yes, it does. Especially when we need to chase it through the woods.” Pos knows he was being a grumpy dwarf, but his attitude seemed to put both [Knight] and [Tracker] at ease. Humans from the Empire tend to think that all dwarves are grumpy by nature, and experience told Pos it was easier to play into the stereotype.

“Let’s keep moving.” Marica said.

The trio moved through the undergrowth, following the trail of blood the tiger had left behind. There was a lot of blood. So much so that they probably didn’t even need Darwin to follow it. However, despite the blood loss, Pos didn’t see any signs of their quarry. Darwin suddenly stopped with a worried look on his face. Pos and Marica shared a look at the sudden stoppage.

“What is wrong?”

As a noble and a [Knight], Marica was Darwin’s social superior, and the male [Tracker] had to answer.

“Don’t know,” he admitted, “but something is wrong.”

“You need to be more specific than that.” Marica said with a scoff.

“The tiger is not slowing, at least not as much as it should be.” Darwin said. “Considering the blood it had lost, we should have seen signs of it by now. Yet somehow, it is still ahead of us.”

“So, we should go faster.” Marica said, but Pos saw the look on Darwin’s face and knew the man had more to say.

“What is it?” Pos asked, playing his role as the non-human middleman. “What are you thinking, Darwin?”

A look of conflict crossed the man’s face, before he pointed at the trail the trio had come from, and the trail further up that the tiger had left behind.

“It’s too clean. This tiger is hurt, but there is no detour, no rushed movement. It is travelling in a straight line. It is going somewhere.”

“You think it has a den?” Pos asked.

“Maybe.” Darwin acknowledged the possibility. “It is definitely leading us somewhere.”

“Then, what are we waiting for?” Marica said. “Let’s not keep the beast waiting.”

The trio took off again. Darwin set a faster pace, but they still could not catch up to the beast. It was always just barely in front of their pursuit. Then, there was a break in the trees and the trio of adventurers stepped into a small clearing. A clearing with a big hole in the ground.

No one spoke. For a moment, all three adventurers looked at each other. Fear and excitement warred across their faces as they knew what this was. All of them had heard the stories, knew the legends. They could feel the magic coming from the hole and felt both fear and excitement in their hearts. This was the entrance of a dungeon, and it looked like it was a brand new one.

Wordlessly, Marica stepped into the clearing and the trio slowly approached the dungeon entrance. Looking down, Pos could see a tunnel gently sloping downwards into the deep darkness.

“Well, at least we now know where the tiger came from?” Pos mumbled.

“You think it was a dungeon creature?” Darwin asked.

“You did say it was leading us somewhere.” Pos pointed at the trail of blood that was leading down the slope. “Well, guess we now knows where.”

“You think this is a dungeon break?” Marica asked worryingly.

Pos shook his head. “Lass, if this is a break, we would all be dead.” The knight huffed at being called a lass, but Pos ignored her. Knights were nothing if not dramatic.

“So, do we go in?” Darwin asked. “Technically, we already completed the quest.”

Pos realized that the tracker was right. Pos had joined up with the two humans at the local Adventurer Guild when he took a quest to investigate the local wildlife. It wasn’t the kind of quest the dwarf usually takes. Pos was usually a guard for trading caravans, but there were reports of strange creatures around the eastern forests and the caravan masters had lowered the number of trips due to the strange sightings. Due to the lack of escort quests, Pos decided to join two other local adventurers and take a simple quest to scout the local wildlife. The quest turned out to be bigger than any of them imagined.

“No, not yet.” Marica said. “We are only at the entrance of a hole in the ground. Until we step into the dungeon and get the notification, we can’t be sure this is a dungeon. At least, not in any way that would pass a Truth Spell.”

Pos thought about it for a moment before cursing. The knight made a good point. Having a dungeon nearby will be a big deal and the Guild probably would not take their word for it. They will demand that the trio undergo tests to prove the truthfulness of their discovery, and a high-level Truth Spell would be part of the package. The [Knight] was right. Faced with the question of whether he saw the notification of a dungeon, Pos would not be able to pass the test.

“Fine,” Pos grumbled, “but only a little bit. We see the notification, and then we leave. We don’t care about the treasure, first clear, or loot from any dungeon creatures. Agreed?”

Both humans agreed, Marica more reluctantly than Darwin, but Pos took what he could. Dungeons were places of death, but they were also places of levels and treasures, and everyone knew dungeons usually gives higher rewards to the first adventurers to clear them. The knight was probably wondering about the treasure she would gain if they cleared it. Pos was the same, but he was aiming to be a [Caravan Guard], not a [Dungeon Delver].

“Remember, just till we see the notification.” Pos reminded the two humans as the trio took their time to get ready. “The Guild has a standing reward for being the first to report the existence of a new dungeon, and I intend to collect. I don’t want to see anything this dungeon has cooked up.”

Pos waited till both humans gave him nods of understanding, before giving way to Darwin. The [Tracker] took the lead and the trio cautiously crept down the slope. The male human was no [Rogue], but his [Tracker] class was the only one with any chance of spotting traps. The tunnel was wide enough for Pos and Marica to stand side-by-side, and that’s what they did. Marica took out a torch and lit it. As a dwarf, Pos did not need it, but the humans did and fighting in the light was better than being in the dark.

After ten minutes, the tunnel leveled out. The walls became smooth, different from the long tunnel they were in. But still, no notification.

“Dame Marica?” Darwin suddenly asked. Pos was wondering what this was about when the knight answered.

“Nothing. I sense no impending danger. We need to go further in.”

So, that’s what it was about. Pos grunted his approval, and the trio went further into the tunnel. Just as they went around a corner, the tunnel disappeared. A wave of darkness engulfed Pos. Pos turned around in a circle and heard the Voice of the World.

[You have entered the dungeon: Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques!]

They had been tricked! The dwarf quickly looked around, his axe at the ready, looking to fight anything that might appear. Then, he realized the oddity.

“Marica? Darwin? Humans! Where are you?”

No answer came, and the dwarf realized his party was no longer near him. He was alone. Either the humans had been teleported away, or this was an instance floor. Pos heard of dungeons which spilt up parties upon entry of a floor, but those were older, more mature dungeons. He had never heard of a young dungeon having such powers. This means either this dungeon was old, which was impossible since the dwarf had never heard of an existing dungeon in the area, or this dungeon was an abnormality. Pos did not know which would be worse.

As a veteran [Warrior], the dwarf kept his calm and was alert for any danger. There was a gray fog around him, and Pos waited patiently for the attack. It never came.

The dwarf did not know how long he stood there, but after a while, he knew this could not go on. The longer he stayed in the dungeon, the more advantage the dungeon had over him. Within the fog, Pos could see strange multicolour lights glowing in the distance and came to a decision. He began running to the nearest light. It was the nearest landmark he could see and if the humans were still around, they would head towards the lights as well. The light grew brighter the closer the dwarf got to it, but he could feel that something was wrong.

He was short of breath.

Pos was a dwarf, a race known for their durability and endurance, so a little run would hardly wind him. There was something on the floor that was causing this. Pos sped up, running as fast as his short legs could take him.

Finally, he reached the light. It was an orb floating about two meters off the ground. The orb illuminates a small area, and the fog did not encroach upon the area. It was like the light was pushing the fog back. Pos stepped into the clearing and immediately felt better. His breath came back, and Pos sat down on the ground to regain his stamina. As he relaxed, Pos received a piece of good news.