Dungeon Salvation

Isabela glowered at Rebecca suspiciously for several tense moments before stomping away, slamming the door on her way out with a bang. His sister had not taken the news that she would not be coming with them on their trip well. Much less so that Rebecca, who she barely even knew beforehand, was coming with.

It turned out that his parent’s plan to improve his foundation quickly was a mixture of training, potions, and a trip to the Thermal Duality Springs Temple. The Temple was just like the magical natural springs in the center of the newbie zone, but much larger. The effects were also far more exaggerated due to being located in a higher ranked zone.

Vivian would be escorting him there since she would be in charge of his training. He would be able to put his body under enormous strain for extended periods with the assistance of the miraculous waters of the Temple. He shuddered to think of whatever training regiment his mother had in mind for him, considering she thought it necessary to bring recovery potions as well.

Elias convinced his mother to bring Rebecca with them as well, as it would be of immense help in improving her own foundation. They had grown fairly close in the past week of training, making her permanent addition to his party likely. Vivian had smiled at him with a raised eyebrow when he brought her up, but acquiesced to Rebecca joining them on the trip.

I would cost them nothing to bring an extra person along and paying an escort to a Journeyman zone was an incredibly expensive prospect. This would allow her to save a considerable amount of money, which she could spend on potions or pills to improve her foundation faster.

Rebecca was astounded when he invited her to accompany them. She didn’t even try to tease him, as she had been wont to do lately. No blown kisses, smirk, or even a wink. Instead, her eyes watered and she jumped on him, hugging him tightly.

“Thank you Eli,” she whispered into his ear.

It may have been immature of him, but that alone made all the time he’d spent training her worth it to him. He hugged her back and simply enjoyed the moment. They parted and he locked eyes with her, her cheeks were blushing and her eyes were glistening. He wanted to kiss her right then and there, but she looked down and stepped away.

They would be spending close to a week at the Temple, which should be enough time to obtain the results they wanted. Being in an area much higher ranked than himself, the higher mana density alone would put his body under strain.

Vivian had a spatial ring that contained a subspace the size of a small room, which they used to store all the things they would be taking with them on the trip. This included all of their bags, provisions, food, and a pair of tents to sleep in. The ring would even keep the food that they were bringing with them warm, as everything inside was put in temporal stasis.

The trio walked to the dungeon like any other day, passing by the gigantic fig tree and into the tunnels leading deeper inside. When they arrived at the clearing, they contoured around the jungle until they saw another tunnel carved into the cave wall. Vivian was talking to Rebecca nonstop all the while, asking her questions about anything and everything, subtly trying to gauge the young woman. She didn’t seem to mind, however, and simply answered with enthusiasm.

Rebecca was much more mild tempered than his mother, but their energy levels almost matched because of her excitement for this trip. Elias hung back slightly, offering only the occasional comment while the pair of women talked.

Vivian seemed to approve of the other girl and even offered to train her as well. Rebecca didn’t seem to think much of it and only accepted politely. Elias wasn’t sure how he felt about that and made a note to warn Rebecca of what she was getting herself into. Hopefully, his mother would go easy on her, but he doubted it.

The first thing Elias noticed when they entered the Beginner ranked zone was how much larger everything was. The trees were taller, the leaves were bigger, and the terrain seemed more rugged. He felt like he’d entered a land of giants. They once again contoured the jungle without entering, finding another tunnel entrance into the cave wall just like before.

The Novice rank zone followed a similar trend, with everything increasing in size once more. He saw leaves on the ground that were the length of his arms. He confirmed that the zones themselves were increasing in size as well, as it took them several times longer to reach the next tunnel.

They walked through the tunnel for a long time until it opened into another clearing. This time, everything had exploded in size in an even more exaggerated manner than previously. The trees stood several hundred meters in height and he could probably make small boats from their leaves. Whereas he felt like a dwarf in the Beginner zone and small animal in the Novice zone, he now felt like an insect. The Temple was located in the epicenter of this zone and it would take them several hours of trekking just to reach it.

“Alright kiddos, here’s how this is gonna go. We’re going to walk straight that way and I’ll kill anything that gets anywhere close to us,” said Vivian, pointing in the direction the Temple was supposedly located. “I’ll be leading the way, so the two of you just need to hang slightly back, alright? Great!”

Vivian slowly raised her hands in front of her with a twinkle in her eyes and brought them together, clapping once. The air around them seemed to vibrate with power and become brighter for a second until the light coalesced into hundreds of small knives made of starry white light. The blades began rotating around them slowly, forming a protective cage around the trio. It was like they were in the eye of a slowly moving hurricane of light.

Rebecca moved back towards him as they began their trek through the jungle, giving him a small, shy smile. With his mom present, she hadn’t teased him once all the while, so he took this opportunity to get a little payback. He extended his hand towards her with a grin, as if to hold hands through the walk. He was taken aback, however, when she grabbed his hand with her own and gave it a slow and soft squeeze, letting go soon after.

It was much easier to traverse through this jungle than through the one in the newbie zone. Since everything was so much larger, the gaps in the foliage were more than large enough for them to pass through.

True to his mother’s words, none of the monsters even got close to reaching them the entire way. In fact, the only indication that there were any of them closeby was that one of the light blades Vivian had conjured would shoot off into the distance occasionally. He only saw a monster once briefly, before it was killed, taking the opportunity to use Analyze on it.

*******

Flickering Lightning Spider

Epic

Level 39

This monster can spin electrically charged webs to trap its prey using powerful currents of the Tier 2 Lightning Mana. It can reposition itself to any spot in its web instantaneously to deliver a devastating attack with its lightning infused mandibles.

*******

The spider had seemingly appeared out of nowhere only to be blasted center mass by no less than five of the light blades. The light burned through the monster’s carapace like a hot knife through butter. It died before it could do anything and it was only by luck that Elias even saw it before it died, as he had been looking at where it appeared. One of the light blades even flitted to the corpse of the spider, collecting its electric energy crystal and bringing it to Vivian. They continued walking in relative silence towards the Temple, reaching it without further incident.

The jungle opened up into an enormous lake, where the top of a stone pyramid could just barely be seen in its center. His mother walked up to the shore of the lake and waved her hand, a canoe appearing to her side. She motioned for them to get in. The canoe started moving on its own as soon as they did, heading towards the pyramid.

The water of the lake was exceptionally clear, yet Elias couldn’t see the bottom at all, only the occasional fish. The lake area was already part of the Thermal Duality Springs Temple and was safe from monsters, but there were some truly large fish in the water. Some of them were even longer than he was tall.

Arriving at the center of the lake, their canoe drifted through one of the many passages carved into the side of the pyramid. The walls were lined with flaming torches, casting a dim, flickering light. The passage opened up into a vast closed-ceiling chamber, a small island made of stone at its center.

They disembarked the canoe into the stone structure, where a large spiral stairway could be seen leading deep underground, with only more torches to light the way. Vivian took off running down the stairway, Elias and Rebecca following after her. It still took them over an hour to arrive at the bottom.

The bottom of the stairway was half submerged in water several meters deep and a large archway rose from the water, marking the way out. They reentered the canoe from before, passing through the archway into the Temple proper. The scene that greeted them took his breath away.

An array of half-submerged stone structures adorned with intricate carvings rose from the water. Frosty blue and burning red runes glowed with arcane power, casting a mystical light around them. A suspended veil of water formed the ceiling above, from which pressurized streams crashed down into the pool below like waterfalls. The freezing water from the streams mingled with hot water that boiled from beneath, where the red glow of magma could be seen, creating a perpetual dance of steam and mist.

Their small boat carried them towards one of the largest structures, a flat top pillar that could have fit a football stadium atop it. Ladders made from wood and rope hung interspersed at its side and they used one to climb up. Several groups of adventurers had camps set up on top of the pillar and they chose an out of the way spot to set up their own tents. The trio ate a quick meal procured from Vivian’s spatial ring and went to sleep soon after.

The first three days of training passed at a relaxed pace, all things considered. He and Rebecca were only required to stay in an intersection point of boiling hot and freezing cold water for extended periods of time. Like with the pool in the newbie zone, the water seemed to break apart and heal his body at the same time, strengthening it. His mother only made them take turns holding onto a strange black orb that put their bodies under even greater strain.

Elias enjoyed those few days immensely, treating them more like a vacation than training. He and Rebecca occupied themselves by chatting and meditating, growing even closer during that time. They even came up with different games that they could play while in the water, as there was nothing else to do. He only felt contentment from spending so much time with Rebecca, strengthening his resolve to win her over.

Elias felt like a completely different person every time he woke up in the morning. The changes to his body were extremely exaggerated and he had to drink several energy-dense potions just to fuel his metamorphosis. Even Rebecca was shaping up, her body looking harder and tougher than before, as all her imperfections were slowly washed away. Not that he was staring, too much.

He caught her staring at him once as well so it was more than fair, not that he could blame her. His body now looked downright corded with muscle, powerful and explosive, he felt like he could run for days without tiring. Even his facial features chiseled out, becoming more attractive. He flexed when she looked and was pleased to note a slight blush on her cheeks despite her eye roll.

On the fourth day, they began training in conjunction with soaking in the pool. They would run or swim as hard as they could for hours on end, relying on the waters to keep them from collapsing out of exhaustion. The difficulty of the exercise lay in harnessing enough explosiveness from their muscles to overwhelm the healing effects of the pool. By the end of the fifth day, even that training garnered few improvements, as they approached the limits of their body’s potential.

On the sixth day, Vivian provided them with an iridescent potion that was supposed to help to train the mind and spirit, instead of the body. Rebecca tried to reject the potions or to at least pay for them, but his mother shut that down immediately, threatening to throw the expensive liquid in the water instead. She had quickly learned the tyranny that was Vivian during training, starting on the fourth day. He’d tried to warn her, but like so many before her, she didn’t listen. He was even made fun of for exaggerating so much since the first few days “weren’t so bad”.

Elias honestly didn’t remember much of what happened after drinking the potion, his mind turning into a blur of shapes and colors. Vivian had actually given them vests to keep them afloat throughout, going as far as tying their hands together to keep them from drifting apart. He tried to enter meditation but quickly lost any notion of time and self. He didn’t even remember drifting asleep several hours later.

He woke up groggily at first, hungover and confused, putting his hands to his eyes to help block the bright lights. All of his senses were overwhelming him and it took several minutes to get used to them, but he was awestruck when he did.

Everything he saw was much clearer than before, as if in greater resolution, and he could process it all better as well. Smells were stronger, sounds were louder and more distinct, and even his sense of touch had improved. His mind was faster as well, like a fog had been lifted from his thoughts, making everything clearer.

Elias tried entering into meditation and succeeded in a matter of seconds, instead of minutes. He had no idea what that potion his mother had given him was, but its effects were miraculous. He had greatly improved the mental and spiritual aspects of his foundation in one go and it felt amazing.

“Good morning sunshine, how are you feeling?” Elias turned to see his mother grinning at him. She offered him a bottle filled with cold water.

“Like I was hit by a truck made of pillows,” he answered, earning a snort from his mom as he took the water.

“Well, your girlfriend woke up a few minutes ago and went to take a shower, so we’ll wait for her to come back to eat lunch.” Elias whipped his head at his mother, shocked at the words of betrayal. Her grin had widened.

“You know she’s not my girlfriend,” he mumbled.

“I know, I know. You really should do something about that soon, you know. You obviously like her, don’t you? Have some confidence Eli or someone else will make a move before you. Do you want some advice?” Vivian looked at him expectantly, just about vibrating in excitement. He groaned, falling back on his back in the bed. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a long moment, before opening them again and sighing.

She must have really liked Rebecca.

“Sure, what were you thinking?” Vivian gave a sharp squealing giggle and jumped into the bed beside him, taking his hands in hers. She immediately launched into a speech on how he could try to win over Rebecca.

He felt like a teenage girl talking about his first crush with his mom. He was a grown man talking about his crush with his mom. It’s totally different. He might have been a bit embarrassed about getting help from his mom with a girl, but his pride could go for a walk if it improved his chances with Rebecca.

Vivian was actually under the impression that Rebecca liked him as well, which just seemed like insane-talk to him. As a friend maybe, but she never demonstrated any romantic interest before. His mother flicked him in the forehead when he said that, saying that she understood this kind of thing better than him.

Together, they hatched a plan for him to ask Rebecca out. His mother actually looked at him in pride when he told her he already had a plan. It quickly changed into a look of incredulity when he told her what the plan was.

“Eli, this girl is a keeper. You need to do something romantic. Sweep her off her feet. At least you showed some patience and that’s going to go a long way. Anyway, we’re taking today off from training, so it’s the perfect opportunity” said Vivian, her eyes sparkling. She even gave him a single iridescent rose she had stored in her spatial ring, giving him a wink.

Before putting their plan into action, Elias went to take a quick bath. It couldn’t hurt to smell nice and he was still groggy from yesterday’s training.

*******

Rebecca hummed to herself while she walked back towards their camp. Today they had the day off, thank the heavens. Vivian was both a nightmare and a dream wrapped into an overexcited bundle. Her foundation had already improved beyond what she had expected to get with her resources, but the training really was exceptionally harsh. She’d thought Elias was exaggerating!

Still, her improvements and training were nothing compared to what Elias had been through these last few days. It was obvious he was used to pushing himself past the breaking point repeatedly, as he took to training like a fish to water. It was no small wonder that he looked so small the first time they met and she resolved herself to figure out what was up with that.

Whereas before she’d enjoyed spending time with him, she was now firmly in the ‘very interested’ camp regarding their relationship. It was honestly a little unfair, she felt like a fool to have dismissed him out of hand before. Thankfully, his reactions to her flirting were adorable enough that she’d laid down some groundwork in that regard. Now, she only had to be a bit more serious.

Rebecca had never had a real boyfriend and had no reason to hurry in finding someone. She was young and beautiful and would remain like that for a long time to come, if she succeeded in her plans of becoming a famous adventurer. Now, she found herself developing feelings for Elias that she had no idea what to do with.

When she was twelve, she had a bad experience with a boy she had liked. After she refused to give him a kiss, he went around saying bad things about her. Despite constant attention from boys over the years, she had never gotten really close to anyone until now. She had met many boys, but none of those relationships had developed into anything more. Honestly, she felt a bit lost; she knew how to flirt and tease, but that was about it.

Vivian seems to like me. Maybe I can enlist her help.

There was no such thing as fairness in love and in war. You only win if you have a good strategy. Right now, she needed to move quickly before he met anyone else. With how his appearance had improved the last few days, it could spell disaster.

“Rebecca.” She was snapped out of her thoughts by the voice of the man she was just thinking about and felt her face heat up. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she turned to greet him, but froze halfway.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?” Elias looked at her intently, his eyes unwavering but filled with a flicker of nervousness. He held a beautiful rose that sparkled with iridescent light, offering it to her. She accepted the flower with a blooming smile; it smelled of dreams. It was nice when things just worked out.

He nervously held out his hands towards her, palms up, with warmth and desire in his eyes. Slowly, she reached out, her fingers brushing against his before curling around the proffered hand. Her heart beating wildly, she pulled him closer and planted a long kiss on his lips.

“Sure, let's go,” whispered Rebecca as they parted.