The murals were the key to understanding the lore of any dungeon. I had almost missed this one entirely because the murals were degraded. Many tiles had fallen to the ground and there was significant wear and tear. I pulled out a clean piece of cloth and used it to wipe the dirt off the surface as I tried to make out what happened.

“What’s the hold-up?” Carmine demanded impatiently. 

The other girls were now giving Carmine a dirty look. They liked the lores of the dungeons, and stories I came up with by reading them. They definitely didn’t seem to like her attitude when she spoke to me. As for Carmine, she seemed to let their looks flow right past her as she continued to sit there with her arms crossed and an unreadable expression on her face.

“Can you figure it out?” Lydia asked eagerly.

I shook my head and sighed. “I can only see the basic start. There was apparently a man and a woman. They were powerful magicians. There was something about children, but that part of it is unreadable.”

It appeared that when a dungeon’s mana was strangled, it was more than just it’s ability to output monsters that changed. The lore of this dungeon was damaged too. It was a story on the verge of death. A strange part of me who had grown accustomed to figuring out the lore of a dungeon felt almost sad at this incomplete and degraded lore. I found myself slightly upset with the weak and cowardly hero who had opted to kill it in such an inhumane way.

I shook my head. I was being ridiculous here. This wasn’t a living thing. It was some strange magical aspect of this world. I shouldn’t feel sorry for curses. Dungeons were the source of monsters in this world, and preyed on helpless adventurer’s, luring them in with treasures. They were like a tragic Venus Fly Trap for this world.

“Can we go now?” Carmine demanded.

I nodded, “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

Once again, she headed off, and I had to run to catch up. On the second floor, I checked again for the traps. I would be cautious all the way to the body. I had traveled enough dungeons now. Even if this place couldn’t create a trap now, there is no saying that a trap wasn’t once created while this dungeon was still alive, and now it is waiting to go off in Carmine’s face. I was a support class, I felt it was my job to worry about such things.

Level 2 was finished almost as quickly as level 1. That meant about ten minutes a level. That was about 12 hours better than usual. I’d consider a level quick if I had it done in a few hours. Now, we had levels being done in minutes. It added to our sense of urgency. We weren’t here for fun or exploration. We needed this guardian as quickly as possible. I had only one thing I needed to see. That was what was left of the lore. I had a feeling like knowing the lore of this dungeon would help us in acquiring the guardian.

We continued to explore at a rapid pace, and it was barely an hour before we found ourselves stepping out onto level 5. The midtier bosses had long been extinguished for mana to keep this dungeon alive a little longer, but the kiosk should still be here. It was time to learn the next part of this story.