Elsewhere

The portal faded from sight and the three companions stood amongst the standing stones on the strange subterranean island that acted as the entrance to the dungeon. Duke was still overjoyed that the portal no longer interfered with his TELEPORTATION Ability. He secretly wondered if he would be able to create portals of his own someday. Perhaps if I find some way to evolve the Ability. Yes, maybe someday.

“Well, welcome to the dungeon lake and island.” Duke allowed his LIGHT to glow a bit to illuminate the area.

“It’s not much to look at, really, is it Elaine?” Grat groused. “I’ve seen much larger and more substantial standing stones in the forest even.”

“Great job there, bud. You haven’t even gotten into the dungeon and you’re hurting its feelings.” Duke responded.

“Hurting its feelings?” Elaine inquired. “What do you mean by that?”

Duke looked seriously at both of them and answered, “It is sentient. Alive even. It is aware and has communicated with me on multiple occasions. It is also desperate to have someone complete the trials. So, what do you say? Shall we get this show on the road?”

Elaine and Grat exchanged glances and eager smiles. They both nodded at Duke. Grat gave a thumbs-up gesture, and Elaine mumbled under her breath, “Show on the road? What does that even mean”.

Duke placed his had on the correct standing stone. His Intuition score had enhanced his senses well beyond human norm even if it was one of his lowest scores. He still heard her mumbling. She winced as he mumbled himself, “fucking idioms.” With that, he selected the option for them to enter the dungeon and the three of them were elsewhere.

***Congratulations traveler! You have survived transit to the Lake Front Dungeon. You have taken no Residual Damage due to the Dungeon being successfully entered very recently. The Residual Damage counter has been reset. The Entrance Timer has been reset.

You have breached the portal and have entered the Dungeon. This dungeon consists of multiple levels, each with their own challenges and themes. After completing each level, you will be given the option to either exit or continue. Should you exit at any level before the last, you will receive all rewards earned up to that point. Should you complete the dungeon, you will receive additional rewards. Good luck!

Transitioning to Level 1: The Burrows ***

As the familiar landscape of the Burrows level appeared around the trio, Duke looked around in stunned shock. “Sam, what are we doing on the first level? Shouldn’t we be on the third?”

The familiar disembodied voice of the dungeon responded. “As you have returned with two companions who have completed neither the first nor second level, you all must start at the beginning. Besides, this will allow you to see what the second level was intended to be, not what you experienced.”

“Not cool. Not cool, at all.” Duke whined.

“Is there a problem? Elaine asked, worry creeping into her voice.

“Not really, I guess. We just have to start at the beginning. I was hoping to jump right into the third level.”

“Why don’t you let us handle the majority of the level then since it’s new to us.” Elaine said.

“You could, of course, give us a hint of what to expect on the level though.” Grat added.

Duke nodded and proceeded to explain what he had faced on the level including the gigantic ferret that had bit his arm off.

The pair smiled and got to work. Elaine transformed into her bear form and Grat started casting a spell. In moments, the plants all around them seemed to start moving of their own accord. Grat smiled. “Oh, good, strong root foundation. This is going to be fun.”

Duke followed the pair as they picked their way up the hill towards the giant tree. All around them, the plants rippled with motion as Grat’s spell seemed to travel with them animating plants in a travelling sphere around them.

The first ferret that leaped out at them was stopped in mid-air by vines nearly as thick as Duke’s wrist that simply grabbed it and held it in mid-air. Elaine finished it with a single swipe of her paw, nearly decapitating the creature.

Duke gaped in amazement as the pair unhurriedly walked their way through the giant ferrets. Effortlessly. He trailed behind the pair just stunned until one that had laid in wait for him leaped out. He responded almost instinctively at this point with LIGHTNING. There was no extra Mana channeled into the Ability, but the giant ferret just landed, smoking and twitching out the last of its life.

“Sam, what’s going on here? That Giant Ferret shouldn’t have died that easily. None of them should have.”

“You know, Duke, I’m not really supposed to carry on conversations with you in the middle of a level, but just this once, I will. You fought this dungeon level at its maximum setting. The creatures had several centuries to accumulate power. You are now facing it as it was originally intended – as a warm-up and training level. Don’t expect much for rewards at the end either.”

Grat looked back at Duke’s comically stunned face and laughed at him momentarily before returning to the slow charge up the hill. Duke knew it would not be long before the boss monster showed up. He prepared himself to back up his friends, still wondering if they would even need his help.

As it turned out, they didn’t. When the boss burst out of the ground, the pair were ready. The first swipe of the massive ferret’s claws was met with an equally thick vine that snagged and proceeded to wrap around the leg. It then quickly snaked up the limb while the creature tugged and struggled to get free, fully concentrating on the vines restraining it. That, as it turned out, was its fatal mistake as Elaine’s bear paw savagely sliced through its throat in a spray of blood. She must have hit something vital because the spurt of blood was immense, drenching the area quickly but also sapping the beast’s strength just as quickly. In less than thirty seconds, the fight was over.

*** Congratulations! You have completed the first level of the Lake Front Dungeon. You have one hour to collect whatever loot you may find before you must decide whether to continue or to leave the dungeon. When this hour is up, you will be transported to a safe room where you may recover for up to one week before proceeding to the next level or departing the dungeon. Rewards will be distributed upon your decision. Dungeon restrictions have been temporarily lifted. ***

“Well, that was a whole lot easier than the first time.” Duke remarked.

“It helps to have a partner that knows you and your capabilities intimately.” Elaine responded as she returned to human form. She was still drenched in blood, her hair matted with it and her clothing clung to her tightly. Duke looked away and activated CLEANSE. In moments, all three of them were clean again.

“That is a rather handy Spell, Duke.” Elaine marveled.

“One of my favorites.” Duke smiled. Now, let’s gather the loot and move on. You two all but walked through this level. I am hoping the next is just as easy. The third, however, is going to be significantly harder.”

Grat chuckled. “Yes, Duke. We all heard the dungeon’s explanation.”

“Right.” Duke responded, chagrined.

Gathering the loot took less time than running the level, especially since it seemed very light when compared to Duke’s first run. With the looting complete, they left the level.

When they arrived in the area in-between levels, Duke noted that everything from the last time he was here, including the training area, was still there. The big change was that there were now three separate bedrooms.

Sam didn’t hesitate. “Welcome back, Duke. Kindly introduce me to your two friends.”

“Surely. Sam, please welcome Elaine and Grat. They are here to help me in the dungeon. Elaine, Grat, please meet Sam. Sam is the voice of the dungeon. I’m not quite sure how that works but say hello.”

“Hi Sam.” Elaine smiled.

“Good day to you, Sam.” Grat added.

“Well, hello to you both. Duke can explain things for you but let me know when you all are ready for the second floor. Don’t dally too long as I am eager to see how you handle what the third floor has in store for you. Oh, yes, have some rewards for completing the floor.

*** For defeating 26 giant ferrets at level 10, 1 Giant Ferret Boss at level 20, and completing the first level of the Lake Front Dungeon, you receive a total of 19,175 experience. As you have 3 party members, the individual experience has been divided according to your contribution.

Duke receives 2,150 experience

Elaine and Grat each receive 8,512 experience ***

The trio read their messages. Duke knew the experience would be lesser for such a simple level, but he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. He was surprised by his companion’s reactions.

“That’s a lot more than we get for fighting the occasional bad wolf or goblin incursion. Coming here most certainly will level us up.” Elaine remarked. Grat nodded in agreement.

“What level are you two anyway?” Duke asked, intrigued.

“That’s a rather quite personal question.” Elaine scolded.

“I, um, sorry. I was just-“ Duke verbally backpedaled, his face turning crimson.

Elaine burst out laughing, reaching up to pat Duke on the shoulder. “You are so easy to fluster. It really is cute. It IS a personal question, but a valid one to ask when we are partied up like this. Mind you, it is something we should have worked out before we came here. I am level 15 and Grat is 16. Now that I’ve shown you mine, show me yours.”

Duke mentally stumbled to Elaine’s unending amusement but managed to pull himself together after a few seconds. Geez, man. You are a damned fighter pilot. OK, was a fighter pilot. Why are you letting this married woman fluster you so much. Duke finally responded, “I’m level 33 now. I was much lower level when I first entered the dungeon. I’m not even sure I was higher than you are now so I expect the third level will push your levels quickly. But it will also be very dangerous. So, let’s use the next level to figure out how we work best as a group.”

“A bit shaky at the start, but you turned that around like a true leader, Duke.” Grat quipped.

The next several hours were spent going through the loot and getting familiarized with the training zone. The loot itself was unremarkable, consisting mainly of coins and animal parts. The pair were generally uninterested in the majority of the animal parts and dividing the coins amongst themselves was easy. The only thing that garnered any attention was a set of claws from the boss monster. Elaine thought she could incorporate their strength into her transformation and was eager to try.

They spent the next day in the training room experimenting with various approaches to fighting. For now, they all agreed that Duke’s REGENERATION was a great boon but even with it, he didn’t have the mass that Elaine did when transformed. She would be the primary tank. Grat’s vines and plant growth were great crowd control spells if there were plants available. Duke had warned them that if the second level was similar to the last run through, there was no vegetation at all. Grat assured Duke that he had other options should that be the case.

Having had a full day, they laid down to rest for a night and then to head out for the second level of the dungeon.