The last couple of weeks, since the evaluators had left were mostly uneventful. The only intruder in the dungeon being a horned rabbit, that one was killed by the pair of lesser demons in the first room. It wasn’t worth much either, at 5 exp, and 1 point of mana, Misaki didn’t even get any dp from the poor rabbit. Misaki was currently in her bedroom and was using her dungeon sight to watch the entrance. She had used her mana to increase her territory so that she could see what happens within a half-kilometer radius around her dungeon. Which allowed her to watch as a rather large group entered her territory.

 

The group was mostly young men and women, only a few of them had armor and weapons. Most of the group was wearing sturdy clothing and carrying tools, such as hammers and axes. The group also had three large carts full of supplies, including tents, food, water and medicine. The guards kept watch on the perimeter, and once the group reached her entrance, she watched as the workers spread out and began clearing land. The guards also split into patrols so that they could better watch the now larger perimeter.

 

Misaki watched the group as they rapidly expanded the clearing, and began to pile the trees they cut down near one of the carts. Another group then began to strip the branches and move the logs into another nearby pile. Misaki quickly grew bored watching them and turned her attention back into the dungeon.

 

Shortly after Misaki shifted her attention elsewhere, one of the groups broke off from the others, and gathered in a small clearing north of the dungeon. Once the group of men was certain that all the members were accounted for, and they weren’t followed, they began discussing the dungeon.

 

“The dungeon seems to be located on a major ley line,” said an older man in a priest’s robes.

 

“That means we should expect it to grow more quickly than the average dungeon. So we should be more careful with our acolytes, as we will need to reach the core quickly or the dungeon will grow too strong to bind,” responded a second priest.

 

“Just because the dungeon will grow more quickly than expected doesn’t mean we have to completely change the plan and be more careful with the acolytes. Just recruit some adventurer’s instead,” said the first priest.

 

“Yes, that could work. Adventurers will do almost anything for money. We could just place a request at the guild for a comprehensive guide on the dungeon’s floors and puzzles. As a bonus, no one would ask too many questions about it either. Since the request is not uncommon for a new dungeon. Hey, even old dungeons need remapping since they change over time,” said a third priest.

 

“Well now that the plan is adjusted, we need to decide the site for the local temple,” remarked the first priest.

 

“I saw a good spot just south of the dungeon, on a small hill,” added the fourth priest who had been silent until now.

 

“Really? Let's take a look then,” said the first priest. The fourth priest then led them to a site south of the dungeon. The site was a small hill in a clearing where the trees had not yet been cut down.  A small stream could be seen flowing from a break in the cliff and flowing around the hill. The spot looked peaceful and the mana was denser here than in the surrounding area.

 

“Yes, this spot will do nicely, let’s get to work and bless the site,” said the first priest.

 

It took the workers a few days to build the first buildings. The priests had the workers they brought with them start quarrying stone to build their temple.  The work on the temple was going well, with the aid of a couple of earth mages. The nearby cliffs were a good source of limestone. While not the best material for building a temple, that was easy for an earth mage to fix. The first building to be completed was the local Adventurer’s Guild. During the chaos of the initial construction, a group of five girls arrived in the new nameless town. The group stopped briefly at the guild hall to buy a dungeon map, before continuing on towards the dungeon. They watched a trio of acolytes enter the dungeon before heading in themselves.

 

The group entered the dungeon just in time to see the acolytes defeat the two demons guarding the first room. The acolytes gathered the loot and headed down the corridor. The group then briefly stopped.

 

“This time, don’t run out ahead, Thomas. Unless you want to stay a girl the rest of your life,” teased Amy.

 

“Could you please, stop reminding me?” replied Thomas, greatly regretting his mistake from last time.

 

“All right, Mei, keep an eye out for traps, and Mara be ready to shield us from the demons. Try to avoid the mana draining spell this time,” said Amy, having taken the leadership position from Thomas in the weeks since the last dungeon run.

 

“I’ll watch for traps,” replied Mei.

 

“I’ll be ready,” said Mara.

 

“Eri keep an eye on Thomas, don’t let her rush into traps.”

 

“Will do,” said Eri.

 

“Could you please stop, I’m not going to rush into a trap again,” complained Thomas, who was wishing Amy would let the trap thing go. While thinking “You have a little accident and wake up a girl, next thing you know your friends and family tease you about it at every opportunity.” Done making sure the party knew what to do, Amy led the group down the corridor. The general plan was to go as far as the second-floor boss, if they can get to it, before heading back. It didn’t take long for the group to reach the fork that Thomas died at last time. They went straight, but this time they went around the pitfall. After a few meters the tunnel turned left, and then continued for a couple more minutes before coming into a room with three demons. The group quickly brought out their new weapons and formed up in a practiced formation. Their new weapons had cost them most of their savings, but had a celestial damage enchantment. Meaning they did extra damage to demons, making it the perfect investment for challenging this dungeon.

 

The three demons didn’t take long to defeat. They were in the middle of collecting their loot as the trio of acolytes that had entered before them came into the room, and quickly passed them, heading through the door on the right. The group rested briefly to let their stamina and hp recover a bit, and then followed them. They reached the next room just in time to see the acolytes passing through the next door.

 

“You know on one hand it's nice, that we don’t have to fight all the demons. But I wish they would slow down a little, so we could collect some more loot,” complained Mei.

 

“Yeah, it would be nice if the dungeon had instances,” replied Amy, then she continued, “let’s go.”

 

The group crossed the room and entered the other corridor. The corridor went straight for a few meters before turning left. They were slowed on the path because they had to go around several traps on the way to the next room. By the time they got to the next room, it was empty and the lone chest in the room had already been looted. The acolytes were nowhere to be seen. The group took the lone exit out of the room to the right. They continued for several meters before coming across a fork in the path. After consulting the map they bought earlier, they went straight. They avoided a couple traps on the route and came to another fork, this time turning left. The corridor ended at a metal grate blocking the door into the boss room. The group was forced to wait and watch as the acolytes fought the boss.

 

The acolytes, after a heated battle with the boss, managed to win, but two of them were teleported to the entrance. The sole remaining acolyte gathered the loot and ran past Amy’s party. The party, wondering if this meant they wouldn’t have to face the boss, stepped into the boss room, only for a group of five demons to spawn and a grate sprang up behind them. The opposing party was composed of three beastkin demons and two demon girls, and they were all level 12 with an extra 2000 hp since they were counted as a boss. As they were a group of boss monsters, the boss bonus was split between the five demons, meaning they got a boost of 2000 each instead of the normal 10000.

 

“Focus on the mages. Mara keep the warriors busy,” ordered Amy. Amy then readied her bow and fired at one of the mages. The celestial enchantment on her bow boosted the damage the demon took. Thomas and Eri charged at the mages, while Mei disappeared into the shadows keeping an eye out for opportunities to strike. Working together, it didn’t take long to take down the mages. With the mages only managing to get off a couple of spells before they were defeated.

 

With the mages down, they had an easy time bringing down the warriors. Having defeated the bosses, they collected their loot, then tended to their wounds. After resting for a few minutes they continued down the stairs to the second floor. The first room on the second floor was empty giving them a place to rest, if they wanted, having already rested they headed left. The corridor on the left side went straight for a few minutes before turning right. They had to skirt several traps before entering a room with five level thirteen demons. Which because of their lower health pools, were easier to beat than the level 12 boss party. The demon’s still managed to inflict some wounds on the party, with Mara taking the brunt of the damage.

 

After checking Mara’s wounds, they continued on. Passing through three more rooms full of demons, they entered one of the two puzzle rooms. The puzzle in this room was a grouping of three riddles. The room wasn’t the one the evaluator team had tried last time. Amy began working out the riddles, while Mara and Eri kept an eye on the door.

 

The first riddle wasn’t all that hard, and before long Amy put in her answer for the riddle. Moments after she put her answer in, she heard a clicking sound and then something started ticking. However nothing else happened.

 

“I think this means, I got the first question right,” said Amy trying her best to ignore the effects of the dungeon’s pheromones. Then she focused on the second riddle. However between the constant ticking and the dungeon’s pheromones she was finding it difficult to concentrate. After a while she managed to solve the second riddle as she placed her answer. Again, she heard a clicking sound and then the ticking intensified. 

 

“You know I don’t really like the ticking, it seems ominous somehow,” said Amy.

 

“It does, I keep wondering if a trap is about to activate,” replied Thomas.

 

“Well, I have looked through this room, and I can’t tell what kind of trap will activate if we get the puzzle wrong,” said Mei.

 

“But there is a trap in this room?” asked Thomas.

 

“Yep, there is definitely a trap, linked to the puzzle,” confirmed Mei. While Amy went back to trying to solve the third riddle. The longer she spent on the riddle the louder the ticking got, then just before she could put in her answer to the final riddle. She heard a loud clicking sound as the floor dropped out from under them, and a blue screen popped up in her face.

 

Then she felt a jolt as she landed on a slide. The group slid down the slide, hitting several bumps along the way and getting separated before it dropped her on a landing. Looking around she noticed that she was in a cell, the one wall that had bars that opened onto a hallway. The wall behind her was solid rock, and she heard a clicking sound as a grate closed above, sealing her in. The walls to her left and right were transparent allowing her to see her party members who had also ended up in cells. She was thinking about how she would get her party out of this, when another blue screen popped up before her.

“That’s not good,” thought Amy.