=== Our first dungeon – part 1

 

It was a perfect day for our team to actually assemble for once. I know that some of them really dislike being responsible, but it is sadly evident that we, as a group, have to do something about that we constantly split up and grind alone or in pairs. Yes, precisely this is why on this sunny and clean morning we shall be doing this special thing. This was my suggestion after all. I mean it had to be...

 

[*Yawn* is it really necessary to be awake this early? May God forgive me for my inquiry.]

 

[It is twelve in the morning, Sunday, and you are complaining it is early? Are you for real?]

 

[Don't worry, Noctia is just that kind of girl who needs her beauty sleep, right? She be fine, I promise. On top of that how could we be missing her sleepy face? It is irresistible! Gush it's so adorbs, squeakie!]

 

[It's her own fault for sleeping during the day! We could have done a lot more if she would actually conduct like a normal person, no offence.]

 

"What harsh words Oddie" that is the look I was receiving right now. But isn’t that true? We ever work together as group, mostly because of the schedules...Okay, I wanted just to vent, I'm fine now. I released the air from my lungs with a sigh, and bowed a little in apology. We won't be going anywhere if I only complained, so for now I'm just going to bear with it.

 

[Okay so let me get this straight here, I wanted you guys to embrace the fact that we have other options for grinding. This opportunity is dungeons. You know how they work in this game right? You open a portal using special items, Words. I am not sure how I did acquire this one, but what I read was that you get them from time to time during your hunting, or by simply playing. The guy who wrote that post was not specific at all! They just said the best place to find them...]

 

[Is the dungeons themselves? Goodness, we are in true loop then here. What would we do? In order to get inside you need Words, but to get the Words you need to defeat the boss? So how do you get them in the first place? Hmm...wait you said you got one right?]

 

[Precisely, I'm glad you realised that before someone pointed that out for you. Thank you very much. I will be opening a portal now.]

 

[Wait a second Oddie, she might be right! Like using Words in order to get more Words, it’s like a gacha of darkness right? And then you can't trade them, so they are basically worthless. Oh my gee, someone got very upsetie, ishishi~]

 

Yes Jielby, you seem to be missing the point here. We don't get only the Words—they are just bonus to the normal loot, so you’re missing the point completely, like always. Anyway, you can only open the portal a few times per day, I read, but for now I don't know even if we will manage to clear it at our current spirits. What other choice do I have?

 

[Come down my child, you are taking this a little too serious. Let you be calm by the blessing of the God.]

 

[I'm fine Noctia, seriously. I think she skipped the part that you mostly get normal loot and a chance for a Word. Remember that in the first place we are doing this to replace the usual and inefficient grind! This is exactly why you need to become...]

 

[Okay! I'm all ready to go! You should have said that from the beginning Oddie, that would have saved you the trouble. But on the other hand, I must say that your angry face looks sweety-tweety! As expected from our little miss tantrum.]

 

[I am happy for you that you appreciate the effort of getting our group together in the morning, Jielby. Regardless...*Yawn*I think you two good mannered girls should play nicely together, okay? Here, I shall give you both my blessings.]

 

With that being said, the nun girl approached us and stood in between us two before I had to chance to slap the annoying one. She would then pet our heads gently. What an angelic hand it was, I thought, and despite my previous outburst. It seems that thanks to its blessing my attitude was extinguished. It was the same for the other party, the pink pegasus knight girl in training, who never actually rode a mount with wings. Corona in the background also was cheering for us, with her arms in the air holding her trumpet. We all agreed that it was time.

 

[Okay, I guess we don't need to postpone this further. Let's just go and see what happens. I'm going to open a portal so stand back a little—it needs a little space to appear after all.]

 

And so the four of us that gathered during the morning at the beach of Maremoda were now looking at a strange window. On the other side there was a picture of a mountain. What that could mean I had no idea. I remember something about...dungeons being random? There are a few special combinations, and I didn't really bother learning more. Sadly, that would take too much time. So in short, we were going into the place without any idea what is going to happen next.

 

We stepped through the door to the other world, reluctantly one after the other. Jielby was the first one to dash in, she literally jumped and dived like if she was pretending to be a professional swimmer. The next to follow was Noctia, who wore a tight fitting dress which limited her vertical movement. Nevertheless, she somehow climbed up to the frame and squeezed herself to the other side. The last one besides me was Corona, who simply gripped the wood above and slid down like if she was going down a chute.

 

As for me, I didn't feel like doing anything fancy. While floating, I curled my legs and passed through the portal. On the other side there was something like a transportation conduit which had brilliant colours. Lights and shapes, stars and the sky, they all blended together into a shape of a kaleidoscope. With no other sound, I could hear my comrades clearly.

 

[What is going on? This is really pretty! I should to take note here for my performances...]

 

[I'm falling! Oh my gush, this is so funsies!]

 

They seem to be having fun while falling. Just now I could see their shapes and contours revealed from this vivid mess. At least we didn't get separated, I sighed, and kept on holding onto my coat. Despite that we were travelling very fast, there was no wind resistance, thus no friction was put on our still clothes. It was a similar feeling from when you start the game and fall from the sky into the world below.

 

Soon a picture would appear in our sight, the destination painted below us. I guess the loading time was finished, and we all started to decelerate slowly, giving us the opportunity to make a safe landing onto the ground. Still, we managed to keep distance and not fall on top of one another, which was clearly the testament of our teamwork.

 

Finally, feeling the gravity with my feet, I found myself floating above what appeared a rocky and uneven ground. The picture we saw on the doorway was now the reality—we were taken to a place far up in the mountains, with a giant foggy cloud above our heads. Behind us was a deep and endless ravine, which was probably not our destination. We could only push upwards from now.

 

[So we have to climb this mountain, eh? I wish they would have given us at least some direction first. Say girls, who is the best one at this? Who is the strongest one? Like I have a rope so don't worry, I'm gonna help you out!]

 

[That would be you Jielby, without a doubt. I trust that you don't fumble, since you have the best equipment for this.]

 

[Yea, out of all of us, you look like a mountaineer, and you probably know that Oddia can't really float upwards, yes?]

 

[I am regrettably sorry for you Jielby, that you must carry this burden for all us. But God will reward you, I pray.]

 

It seems that the most suitable person was the one who was trying to evade the responsibility at the very beginning. No worries, I am sure that even a fall here will mean nothing—we would just have to recover the body and heal her up. On top of that, only one person needs to actually carry the rope to the top, so that others will have an easier time.

 

[Okay, if you girls say so, it is up to the extremely adorable pegagus knight again! I shall fly up to the skies! Thank you for your belief sisters, I am going transparently need that moral support for this daring stunt.]

 

[Just don't lose your feathers along the way. Don’t worry about us—we are going to wait here, pretty much.]

 

And so, the pink wearing girl was all alone against the tall and foreboding wall. I looked closely at it, after some initial steps there was a curtain of the white air floating motionlessly. Without any doubt, given the fact that we were in a mountain area, we were probably very high up to begin with. The clouds, the air and the slightly decreasing temperature were the signs of that. Still, regrettably there was no snow, just the uninteresting rocky canvas.

 

[How are you doing up there Jiebly? You need any help?]

 

[Oh not at all, I am really nailing this climb down, you see? Ishishi~ This is quite fun actually. It's probably much different than the other world, but you can defins feels like a pro at this!]

 

[Oh okay, how about a song then? I never tried to yodle or anything—do you girls have any idea actually?]

 

[You just have to shout yodel-ay-hee-hoo and do a little silly dance I guess? I believe in you Corona!]

 

Yes, a concert in the middle of the climb, clearly not distracting and pointless. Alas, due that we had little space, eager fairy girl actually considered not to show us her flexibility and simply gathered her hands near her loud piper. Soon, a voice echoed the mountains, something that could wake up even a hibernating dragon. That ear-piercing screech, I was lucky to cover my ears before it reached me. Fortunately, soon Corona would stop her recital to catch her breath.

 

[So how was that? I actually need lyrics and a song to put out a performance, but this improv was killer, right?]

 

[Yea it didn't kill her, so I guess it was okay. If you please, consider something less breathtaking next time, okay?]

 

[It was a good mountain song! I like it!]

 

[You, concentrate on climbing! Next time I'm giving you my earplugs.]

 

Without the space to shrug, the climbing girl was only giving us back a smile. Alas, I guess she must have been quite fit—it was easy for her to pull herself upwards. As she was gaining attitude, her body was disappearing from our sight, and soon the vanished from my vision. Even calling out to her was no use—her voice would not reach us back.

 

[Okay, I guess she found something there, we should honestly wait until she will be able to reply.]

 

[My goodness, what if she was taken over by something? This place ought to have monsters, right? It's a dungeon after all. I just can't simply stand still here and wait for our captain while she is in danger. I'm going to...I'm going to save her!]

 

[Pray the Lord that she is safe my child. Surely our voice has reached her, thus we must be patient.]

 

[Oh, are you afraid of climbing? Don't worry Noctia, you can wait here, I'm going.]

 

Wait a second, is there something falling there? I dodged just in time to avoid being hit by a long and ebony object. No mistake, it was the rope that Jielby was carrying. On top of that, it seemed to be fixed onto something quite sturdy. We could just all climb up at the same time, but it would be smarted if we all took our turns. So my suggestion was...

 

[Go ahead Corona, you can use this rope if you want. We need to be careful and have only one person go up at a time, okay? We don't want to pressure the cord or it will break. On top of that, you said you wanted to be first. I have no objections of course, but just after you are done, or if anything happens along the way, please shake the rope so we will know when to climb next.]

 

[Oh I see, that is quite clever from you Oddia. You know a lot about climbing, don't you?]

 

[No that is common sense, just hurry up already!]

 

And with me pushing her upwards, she started her furious sprint. Quite frankly, she was going up double the speed, how in the world was she this fast? It wasn’t more than one minute that the rope started to wobble. And I thought Jielby was the one going for a world record...

 

[Praise be the Lord that Corona made up safety. I presume you are ready as well?]

 

[Aren't you going first? Fine, if you want to take your time then I will go ahead.]

 

[Let God guide you my child.]

 

[Yea, I am going to meet you at the top.]

 

And with that encouragement, I was trying my best to pull myself upwards, taking small steps and checking my footing. This rope is there only to help, I shouldn't rely much on it, I thought. Well, truth to be told this was my first time. I was more afraid that I am going to fall because of my inexperience. But so far I didn't actually sense the weight of my body. I guess that’s how it was basically designed. It was as easy as climbing a tree at the time when I was a little noisy kid.