It was a beautiful morning. The birds were singing. The smell of a hearty breakfast danced gaily on the air. The sun was bright and shining. The city was waking up and bustling about in all of it's happy noisy morning glory.

 

A serene mixture of peace, contentment and excitement gripped all three of the childhood friends. They had a healer in their group. Everything was improving. 

 

They didn't even have to go back out onto the noisy crowded streets to fight for attention. Although, admittedly, Karen was the most relieved of the three of them to escape buzzing throngs of people.

 

It was a little strange though, they hadn't felt this well rested in a very long time. Ted was almost always upbeat and chipper. But, even Phil and Karen were practically dancing, singing and laughing their way through their morning routine. It was a good day. 

 

All three had opened their doors and stepped into the hallway at exactly the same moment. Their unexpected coordination sent them into driving fits of giggles that only heightened their mood. Pretty soon they were all floating down the stairs and ordering breakfast. 

 

They had just finished sitting down when a sleepy bed headed figure made her way into the tavern. She was still wearing her modest nightgown. 

 

"Good morning, Zephyra!" All three of them chirped one after the other. 

 

The blonde haired puffball mess let out a yawn and a small groan. 

 

"Ugh. The morning is my enemy." And she unceremoniously plopped down and slouched over the table. "No talky-me. Only coffee."

 

And, surprisingly, none of three talked. Most surprisingly, Ted didn't speak a word, or even made a sound. They all waited together in the comfortable silence, ordered their breakfast and waited again.

 

It was a perfectly splendid day.

 

The food, and most importantly the caffeine, arrived soon after their order. They quietly ate until Zephyra chugged her first cup of coffee. Then, her second. Third. And, finally sipped her fourth.

 

After the fourth cup was finished, she finally fully opened her eyes and looked around as if she had only just woken up. An adorable "eep" escaped as she realized that she had wandered downstairs in her nightgown. And, she dashed upstairs to change. 

 

The silence was broken and three friends chuckled quietly at the young woman's antics. Phil and Karen were quite content to continue enjoying their breakfast in silence, but Ted had other plans.

 

A plan to extol the virtues of his newly found religion and his goddess.

 

"Zephyra. Zephyra. 

Her beauty knows no bounds.

Her bed head quakes 

As her heart does shake

When her little eep resounds."

 

Ted was a bard. But not a famous one. Or, a particularly great one. Yet, he had a habit of singing random songs that he would make up on the spot.

 

Karen nearly choked on her pancakes while laughing. 

 

"Wow, Ted. You're pretty head over heels for her, huh?"

 

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be? She's cute, adorable, beautiful, a little bit clumsy, sheltered, naive, sweet. Even if she wasn't a healer, she would be a catch. But, she is a healer." He took a deep breath between some eggs and bacon.

 

"She's our healer. She's perfect and wonderful. We must cherish and protect her. I'm only too happy to sing her praises." Ted continued.

 

Karen smiled, but blinked a couple of times. Ted was filled with all sorts of flim flam and mischief when it came to women. But, it had been awhile since he had seemed this enamored with a woman. The last one was probably before they had even started training.

 

"That's great! If things go well between them. I can have more time to read." She thought to herself. 

 

"I'm glad to have her with us. It'll protect all of us and we can be sure to have more adventures together." Phil said to his coffee cup with a smile.

 

"Aww, do you hear that Karen? He cares about us."

 

"Aww, I do hear that he cares about us. We'll have lots of adventures together." Karen added onto the teasing.

 

"Hmph, well if you're going to embarrass me about it…"

 

"Oh no! What'll he do!" Ted cried in mock horror.

 

"You think he'll stop telling us that he loves us, so much?"

 

Phil grunted and playfully slammed his cup onto the table with mock anger. "I'll throw you both into the dungeons and leave you there with the monsters!"

 

"That sounds like a great idea!" Zephyra chimed in.

 

Dead silence.

 

"Haha, I mean going to the dungeons. Not leaving you there with monsters. That's be a bad idea. Obviously. Not going to do that.." She continued nervously.

 

The other three burst into giggles at the awkwardness. 

 

"I'm surprised you didn't see her as soon as she came back down, Ted." Karen laughed. 

 

"Haha well, I was having too much fun annoying Phil." He answered wiping a tear from eyes. 

 

Zephyra smiled at their playful jabs and just listened to them go back and forth for a while. The conversation lulled for a bit eventually and she piped in, "Do we have any plans for the day?"

 

"Bookstore!"

 

"Getting to know you, my lady!"

 

"Training."

 

All three answered at the same time. 

 

"We don't stay in the cities as much as I'd like and we need to stock up on more books before we leave again-"

 

"I mean, I realize that we'll be together for a long time now and we'll have plenty of time to get to know one another-"

 

"We really ought to train and better learn each other's abilities and roles as team and work together-"

 

The three continued at the same time.

 

An eyebrow twitched. Then, a slight pouting frown formed on Zephyra's face.

 

"Oh... I had really wanted to go to the dungeon."

 

A strange sensation crawled up their backs, kind of wet and slimy, and without thinking about it all three answered in a forced monotonous voice.

 

"The dungeon sounds great today."

 

Zephyra immediately perked up.

 

"It does? I mean, of course, it does! That's great! Let's go grab our stuff!" Zephyra grabbed a piece of toast and stuffed it into her mouth before zooming up the stairs again.

 

Phil, Karen and Ted just sat for a moment, slightly weirded out by the strangeness of the moment. Why did they all suddenly agree?

 

A few small nagging emotions pressed at the back of their mind. It was weird. But, It wasn't anything harmful. They're totally fine. They should listen to her. 

 

Yet, out of all of them the loudest emotion screamed that they needed to get ready for the dungeon. So, they shook their heads, dusted off the mental cobwebs, forgot about it and went off to get ready.

 

***

 

The trip to the dungeon was relatively uneventful. Other than Ted's incessant singing, Karen's mishaps while reading and walking, and Phil's curt directions. Zephyra stayed relatively quiet and seemed to simply enjoy the fresh air, sunlight and the beautiful nature around them. The group traveled to the closest available dungeon, so it only took them most of the morning to reach it. 

 

However, the monsters that inhabited it would respawn at certain set intervals. Which was the case for all dungeons. However, the dungeon rating supplied by the adventurers guild was what had solidified its value as a training ground for new adventurers.

 

The rating system was applied to all dungeons after they were cleared. The ratings ranged from D to S. It was not advised for any adventurers lower than rank D to enter any dungeon. However, from D rank and onward, the dungeon rating corresponded with the adventurers rank needed to safely clear a dungeon. 

 

The rating typically took things such as monsters, traps, and environmental hazards into consideration.

 

Any one could enter a dungeon. They weren't policed or managed by any of the guilds, or governing agencies. They were simply given a rating for an adventurer to be able to make an informed decision.

 

"The dungeon that we are entering primarily has lesser forms of undead. A few traps and a dim interior. We can expect tight corridors and spaces." Phil informed the group.

 

"Huh, you're strangely knowledgeable about a place you've never been to before." Ted replied.

 

"No. The guild has pamphlets. Any adventurer should know this much." Phil shot back. 

 

"I don't think I've ever fought an undead before." Ted continued his own thoughts. "But, I don't think I'll have any problems at all. They're supposed to be really slow and stupid and everything, right?"

 

"They sound like the perfect opponent for you, Ted." Karen quipped. Although she wasn't paying too much attention, her book had reached the climatic love scene between two princesses of warring nation states. "Oh, princess buttercup, why can't I find someone like you?"

 

"Well, actually that's not entirely true, there are a lot of different types of undead that range in their usefulness and capability. The ones that we will mostly be facing are reanimated by the ambient mana found inside the dungeon." Zephyra interjected.

 

"They weren't animated to fulfill a specific purpose. They are usually a composite made of leftover organic materials and waste from animals, plants, insects and even other adventurers. But, they begin to move about with the mana that's infused with Gaia's Will that emanates from the dungeon. They're mostly brittle and not very sturdy, in fact, most of them will fall apart even from moving around."

 

"However, there are other undead that are designed by the dungeon and have their components chosen more carefully and adequately. The remains of sentient creatures give the best components since they're already filled with mana. The best components come from mages and magical beasts because…" Zephyra trailed off as she noticed that the others were staring at her. 

 

An awkward silence filled the air. A slight breeze blew between the group.

 

"Um, that's a lot of specific information about undead." Ted chuckled nervously. 

 

"Yeah. The church is a little dodgy about sharing information regarding the formation of undead." Phil added. "Probably for good reason, what with necromancers and other heretics running about and causing problems."

 

Zephyra's face fell. It almost looked as if she was about to cry. "Oh. My daddy just had me read a lot. I'm sorry."

 

"No. No. It's fine!" Ted immediately jumped to reassure her. "We're simply astounded that we have such a wonderfully well read and educated woman in our group."

 

"Yeah. It'll probably be fine. Just be careful about what you tell people. We don't want to risk an inquisition." Phil shuddered.

 

"In-inquistion?" Zephyra stuttered. 

 

"Oh, yeah. The church takes everything to do with necromancy and heresy incredibly seriously." Ted nodded sagely. "But, don't worry too much about it. They'll take care of all the vile necromancers and make sure we're all safe."

 

"O-of course. No reason to worry then…" Zephyra trailed off and suddenly found an interesting collection of clouds to study intently. 

 

The entrance to the dungeon was massive. Two imposing stone pillars, and an equally large stone slab that sat on top of them, guarded a sinister entrance into the side of the hill. The stench of death, decay, moisture and cold earth wafted out into the open air. The air itself seemed to cloy and claw at the skin as they drew closer to the dungeon barrow. 

 

Ted let out a low whistle. "Well, ain't this quite something. They're a lot bigger in person."

 

Karen and Phil nodded in agreement. 

 

"Wait. You've never been to a dungeon before?" Zephyra questioned. 

 

"Nope, this is our first time. It's impressive. We've mostly been training and trying to raise our rank till now." Ted laughed full heartedly.

 

"Oh... well, in that case, could we share [Status] information? I'd, um, like to know what we're all doing." Zephyra asked timidly.

 

Karen flinched lightly. "We can... but, its really personal information. I mean, usually only l-lovers share that sort of thing."

 

"I know... It's just that we don't know much about each other. It would really help if we all knew each others abilities." Zephyra continued a little bit more quietly.

 

"I'd be happy to show you anything that you'd like, Zephyra." Ted replied exuberantly. He'd take any chance to get closer to the gorgeous girl. 

 

"Ted!" Karen hissed. 

 

Phil shook his head and sighed.

 

Ted smirked with a cocky grin, "Share [Status]!"

 

Zephyra stared at the wall of information that appeared before her. It was a bit... underwhelming.

 

"Do you like what you see, little lady?" Ted joked while flexing his arms.

 

"Um, it's... adequate. I think." Zephyra replied awkwardly and avoided making eye contact.

 

"I'll take adequate! I've been called worse." Ted chuckled. "Alright! Karen, you're up next!"

 

"M-me? No, no. I'm not ready. My heart isn't prepared." Karen paled and stepped back.

 

"Ha, well fine then, coward. Phil! It's all you!"

 

Phil rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Share [Status]"

 

 

He was quite decent for only being a level one warrior. Zephyra breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh. thank the gods."

 

Karen sighed and nervously played with hair and concentrated really hard on the information that she didn't want to share. "I guess its my turn then... Share [Status]."

 

 

Zephyra blinked. Karen's status was fairly basic. Although, her mana regeneration was abnormally high. 

 

"Um, what's [Fantasy]? I don't think I've heard of that one before..." Zephyra questioned Karen.

 

Karen flushed and found a sudden interest in the nearby flowers. She mumbled, "Its the combined version of [Imagination] and [Visualization]." 

 

"Wow!" Zephyra praised. "That's impressive. Its unusual to have a combined skill at level one. Its so high level as well. How did you get it up so high?" 

 

"Reading..." Karen mumbled again. 

 

Ted smirked, but wisely chose not to say anything. "Alright! Now that we've done that boring bit of sharing. Let's go in and clear this thing!"

 

Ted didn't waste another second and marched forward into the darkness. It didn't occur to him to ask for the healers information.

 

"Woah, wait Ted. I should be the first one-" Phil started to reprimand him.

 

Unfortunately, it was too late, Ted had already made a good distance away. Phil and Karen hurried after him to catch up.

 

"Well, this is it." Zephyra tightly gripped the strap of her satchel, her knuckles turned white, and she plunged into the darkness.