Glyn leads his group of six up the side of the mountain. Ivar takes up the rear as Fiona stays close by as Faye wanders about. Mila sticks close to Glyn as Miller follows behind the two of them. The group arrives at the dungeon’s entrance, with Glyn excitedly rushing to the doors.

Before the group, an oddly ornate wooden door sticks out of the side of the mountain, with Glyn rubbing his fingers across it.

            “I see. Quite nice.”

            “What’re you doing?” Miller asks.

            “I’m checking on the stability. These etchings on the door can tell us a lot about the status of the space inside.” Glyn says with a smirk on his face.

Mila nods. “It looks different from the last time we were here.”

            “Yup. Thankfully, we did speed up the process using your mana.”

Mila blushes. “Thanks.”

Faye smirks, looking at Mila. “Come on let’s go inside! I can’t wait to see inside. This is my very first dungeon!”

            “It’s all of ours,” Fiona says, puffing out her chest. “But I admit I am looking forward to seeing how deep we can penetrate this thing.”

Ivar nods. “And whatever treasures we could get our hands on. I’ve heard of some amazing materials being pulled out of dungeons on the mainland.”

            “Yup. With dungeons, they often go for a first come first served kind of deal. But even stripped-down dungeons are still valuable. Some people even charge for letting you inside.” Glyn says.

            “So, what you're saying is this place is valuable in more than one way?” Miller asks.

            “Not quite. Judging by the door, this is only a mid-ranked dungeon. If we had a high-ranked or a full labyrinth, then we’d have some amazing stuff. But what we have here is nice in and of itself.”

Mila’s tail wags through the air. “I don’t exactly get it. But this is very exciting!”

            “Alright everyone, let’s get inside and find ourselves some treasure!” Glyn grabs the door and a small hope opens up before widening into a large white hole. “Last one in has to carry everything.”

 

The six run through the hole into the mountainside, finding themselves in a long stone hallway with pillars surrounding them. Glyn looks around, staring at the pillars as everyone walks down the hallway. The hallways extends with twists and turns as everyone looks around carefully taking in their surroundings.

            “So, is it just hallways?” Faye asks.

            “No. Dungeons are wrapped up in layers known as floors. And everything gets harder the deeper you get inside. We’re on the top layer where it’s the safest. We’re unlikely to see any monsters here.” Glyn explains.

            “So, we have to find a way to the next level?” Faye asks.

            “Yup.”

            “Then what about that hole there?” Faye points to a large hole in a wall as everyone stares at it curiously. “This has to be the right way to the next floor.”

            “I’d be careful. Sometimes these holes are traps that’ll stick you in the wrong place and you’ll have the damnedest time trying to dig your way out. Some would say almost impossible.”

            “Well, how do we make sure it’s safe?” Miller asks.

            “Easy, we just check the mana surrounding the entrance. High mana levels show a trap, while low ones mean it’s safe.” Glyn says.

Fiona sighs. “Well, what if we don’t know how to test mana levels? We’re warriors, not mages.”

            “Come now, even the most basic of warriors know how to test their foe's mana levels. Most use it to tell when enemy mages are casting spells. But it has several uses.”

Miller nods. “Most on the island are incapable of using magic. So much training was deemed unnecessary.” He explains.

            “Come on. Fine, we’ll have to add that to the training curriculum.” Glyn stares at the hole. “But I guess I should give a demonstration.”

Glyn puts his hand up to the hole as everyone watches. Sparks fly in the air between him and the hole as he pulls his hand back.

            “What that it?” Mila asks.

            “Well yeah. It’s more of a feeling but you will feel the sparks like pinpricks on your skin.” He says shaking his hand.

Miller nods. “So, judging from that, this one’s a trap, right?”

            “Yup. Let’s move on. If the traps are showing up, then we’re close to the real exit.”

Before they move, Ivar rushes to the front of the group and takes a stance. “It seems the dungeon didn’t like is fishing out its trap.”

As the group watches, two bodies fall from above as a pair of humanoid figures rise off of the ground. The green creatures growl at the group as they brandish weapons out at the group.

            “That’s weird. Those are Demonoids. Normally, things like that show up deeper in the dungeon.”

Faye and Fiona walk forward. “Don’t care they're here now, so let’s take them out!” Faye yells out.

            “It’s about time this dungeon showed me what it’s capable of,” Fiona says.

The creatures rush forward, howling at the group. As they charge ahead, Fiona rushes in, swinging her ax as Faye runs in with her claws. As they draw in close, Faye leaps out of the way as Fiona swings her ax around, smashing it into the Demonoids and smashing them into the side of the wall.

The Demonoids claw their way out of the wall as they lash out, swinging their blades at the pair. Ivar comes in with an attack, thrusting his fist into the pair and killing both of them with a single blow.

            “Weak,” Ivar says.

            “Yeah, for Demonic beings, they were rather weak,” Faye says.

Glyn nods, touching the walls of the hall. “That’s odd.”

            “What is it?” Miller asks.

            “Mila, touch the wall.”

Mila nods, placing her hand on the wall. “Oh!”

            “What is it?” Miller asks again.

            “The flow is off.”

            “Flow?”

            “The mana flow. Mila can sense the flow of mana in the air almost instinctually. She makes a good sensor.” Glyn explains. “So Mila, how is it?”

She nods. “Um. It feels like the mana is being drained from somewhere or not drained, like everything is going to one place.”

            “An early trap, Demonoids on the first floor, and a bizarre mana flow? Something is up with this place.”

            “Would this mana flow affect the strength of the monsters?” Ivar asks.

            “Of course. If they can’t feed on the mana in the dungeon, then they’ll be incredibly weak. These things were practically infantile thrown out with little choice.”

Faye nods. “So, what do we do, boss?”

            “For now, let’s head back. I’ve got to look into this matter before we delve deeper. I’d rather not have us walk into a dangerous situation.”

            “Come on, it’s better to rush headlong into danger. Especially if it’s something this weak.” Faye says.

Fiona shakes her head. “Well, I, for one, would like to know just what type of danger we’re going to experience. Has something like this happened before?”

            “Potentially. But I’d need to look through my research notes to be sure.”

Mila nods. “We can always come back tomorrow and dive deeper to make up for today, can’t we?”

            “I’d honestly hate to waste the time. But we can’t afford to waste this week's healing from a nasty accident. We’ll head back to the manor for now and come back early tomorrow.”

Faye sighs. “Come on, that’s no fun.”

            “It’s rather riskless. But considering our time constraints, it is a wise move.”

            “Oh, right, we only have two weeks left, don’t we?”

            “Yeah, no thanks to you guys trying to kick me off of the island.”

Miller shakes his head. “Let’s forget about that and leave for now. We’ll return early, as you said before, so we can spend the rest of the day training.”

            “Come on, that’s so lame.”

            “Well, we need it. Our coordination is still off, so we’ll need to work on some form of fundamentals. Not to mention we’ll be in more situations where we’ll have to work together more often.” Fiona says.

Ivar nods. “Instead of basic training, might I suggest more specialized training? It would be good for us to work on our fundamental skills.”

            “That is a fair point,” Miller says.

Glyn sighs. “Can we talk about this on the way back to the manor? The longer we stand here, the more dangerous it gets for us.”

            “Oh right. It was so calm here I forgot we’re technically in danger.” Miller says.

Mila shakes her head. “Brother, you can’t be so reckless.”

            “Reckless?”

As Glyn sighs, he shoots up and stares off at the end of the hall.

            “What’s wrong?” Ivar asks.

Mila stares out in the same direction. “Something is wrong.”

            “Someone is attacking the manor.”

            “How do you know that?” Faye asks.

            “One benefit of the King and Queen pieces. We can check on your statuses as part of the contract.” Glyn explains as he holds his hand to his head. “But there’s something wrong. The war hasn’t started yet. Who can be attacking us!?”