"This is an artificial dungeon." Alea said quietly. "The forest doesn't have enough manna to create the eddies that would gather until a core formed."

"I figured as much." He snorted. "I bet this isn't the only one though. Too many goblins around for there to be only one source. Also, too many animals gone. We need to destroy this dungeon." He thought for a moment.

"The way to destroy a dungeon is to destroy the core. A core can form when a higher leveled beast dies in this area, and the manna crystal will continue to evolve. It would need to be fed manna until it changes though." She sighed. "A dungeon like this will most likely be around ten floors. The lower levels have stronger beasts to protect the core, and the higher levels will have weaker enemies, but more of them."

"Will the entire dungeon collapse when it's destroyed?"

"No. Just the lowest series. The stronger monsters are there to protect it until it stabilizes. The top most floors will be stable though. It will need to be blocked to prevent any monsters from finding it." She said quietly.

"I can block it up when we're done. If you're coming, that is." He said, and watched her smile.

"I'm a few thousand away from a level up, and I haven't stretched my battle skills in a while. I am definitely coming with you." She grinned and walked behind him into the artificial dungeon.

"I don't normally fight with others, so be careful. I may not be able to coordinate skillfully." He said quietly and continued into the cave. "Seems oddly uniform. Walls are straight instead of a rounded tunnel." He continued to move forward, his detection skill scanned ahead of him. "No threat detected yet."

"Keep pinging until we get to the first intersection, or room. Depending on design, it should be a series of corridors, and rooms, or a few large rooms." She said as quietly as possible.

"Threat detected." He said, and stopped. "Goblins. Advanced. Ten detected. My range is short. How advanced is your threat detection?"

"I haven't battled that much. I'm apprentice level, as I was taught by my sister. Threat detection confirms ten signatures. What do you think?" She asked. He thought for a moment.

"I could get mine to the next level, and it will evolve with a larger range. A few minutes."

"Let's wait then. That next level might give us a bit more warning." She said and waited while he continued to activate his magic skill.

"Not good. They've seen the shine from manna being used. Get your sword ready. I'll smash the first few, and throw a few behind me. These are advanced, but still goblins. They have weapons, and some bone armor. Quick strikes to vitals, or take off the head." She tapped his shoulder three times. He nodded as he knew she meant that three meant 'Yes, I understand.'

Baris rushed forward, smashed the first, grabbed the second one's head and threw him backward. His hammer took out the third and fourth before the other six even responded with a chirp.

"Flame!" He said loudly. "Get ready! I've lit the torches!"

"I can see that." Alea said with a feral grin. Goblins roared and squealed as they ran into the walls to try and put the flames out that now used their own body fats as fuel. Their bellies bloated from gorging themselves on meat that should have fed the wolves in the area was now their undoing.

"Ten to the left, ten to the right, and ten in front!" He said. "They have rooms at the end of each corridor, but that's all I can see. Oh. Detect just leveled up, and the range has expanded another twenty feet in diameter. Crap."

"What did you see?"

"Each room as at least twenty inside. This is only the advance guard. We'll need to rest after we finish this floor and check to see if there is a spring. We won't last long without water." He said quietly. "I'll aim left, and you aim right. As the center approaches, we'll retreat and switch out if one gets tired."

"Agreed." Baris moved forward, and didn't hesitate. Alea smiled. "I like this human. Too bad he's a male. I would be able to sate all my appetites here. Poor Zennie is going to be tired right out when I get home." Baris shivered a bit, but held his hand out, palm forward.

"Maybe these FLAMES will take away that chill down my back." He said and watched as a gout of flames, similar to a flamethrower, spread out before him. It lit the surroundings up brightly as several goblins were engulfed.

He didn't take the time to read his messages and finished the job.

"Retreat! How many did you get?" He retreated back into the corridor. Alea followed him, not breathing heavy, but a bit shiny from the sweat. She still had a lot of stamina.

"I got six." She grinned, and watched how he didn't watch that corridor. "Fuck, you got them all?"

"Of course. Multiple use skills. Flames, followed by a wind gust will encourage those flames to grow faster than just the flames alone. It's like using a bellows on a fireplace, or a forge." She groaned a bit.

"Damn. No wonder my sister keeps telling me to stop buying xp and just go out to fight." She growled. "How are our surroundings?"

"The rooms haven't emptied. We still have ten ahead, four to the right, but each room has about twenty in it. I can't tell if there is something beyond those rooms." He smiled a bit. "This would make a nice area to work on skills. Can't wait to clean it out." She grinned.

"You'll be happy to know that I see the sheen of water on the wall, and not down low. It looks like the dungeon burrowed right into the mountainside where a spring runs along. We can recharge our magical source on this floor, once it's secured." She growled and cut the throats of the first two who ran in front of her.

"Good. We'll need it if all we're going to be able to eat is jerky. It's salted, but--I never asked, can you eat jerky? Or is it a preference thing?" He smashed his hammer onto the shoulders of the next two and let her finish them off.

"Preference. We can eat cooked, or raw, but prefer raw due to the flavor of animal blood. I know that might make you feel ill, but that is our way." She said, and waited.

"Why would it make me feel ill? We had blood sausage where I grew up. Fermented salted meats ground and stuffed into cleaned intestines, hung until aged just right, then fried with a bit of oil, or butter. The ex wife loved it. Spices, texture, and scents were pretty decent too." He held out his palm. "Snow! Gust! There. Take your shot now! That will slow them down enough to allow you to do your thing, Guild Master!" She grinned and felt a fire shoot through her.

The multiple layered magic enhanced the first one cast, and nearly froze all ten targets. She slipped forward in a dash, swung her sword swiftly, took the first four heads off cleanly, and continued on until all ten were dead on the floor.

"Call me Alea, Baris. We've trusted our backs to each other. There are few people I can say that I've done that with." She smiled widely. "I wish I had Zennie here now. That mare can use a shield and sword better than most, and would be able to level up nicely in this place."

"Maybe, but if she's a loved one, you might not wish for that so easily. You don't know what the front lines have done outside this dungeon, nor what they brought back for these bastards to eat." He said firmly, and her face cleared of her amusement.

"True. To get so fat, this place has to have existed for a while. Spawns do not happen overnight, nor does a dungeon get formed in only a few months. The manna would have to be siphoned off for a while, and to spawn enough to send them outside, they have been here quite a while." She bared her teeth.

"So take a breather. Here. A bit of jerky. Not much, or it will back up on you when you go all out." He said and handed her some freshly cooked bear.

"You've done this before." She said softly before her pointed teeth ripped into the jerky. She smiled. "Nicely salted." An old memory of a hearty meal, and a foolish run right after made his cheeks redden a bit.

"Once or twice. I take a while to learn from stupid mistakes. Sometimes, I also marry them." He shrugged, while she grinned.

"Maybe the one who made the mistake was not yourself." She grinned wider when he blushed. "Shall we continue? Left or right?"