Brett and Shilia exchanged a few more bits of information, but when it came down to it, they didn't really know what the other could do until they were in action. I guess that she doesn't actually have much higher stats than me, if at all. Being young probably means her base stats didn't have as much time to grow as mine did. Wait, that reminds me. 

He opened his status quickly and threw his only free point into dexterity. It wasn't too hard of a choice. The better movement was always useful. Also, only one point wasn't going to be too big of a deal if he got it wrong. 

Looking up, it was time. As the two of them approached the entrance, still no one who had entered previously had come out. He wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. 

The membrane washed over him in the now familiar sensation, and the world changed.

Welcome to The Endless Horde, a level six dungeon. Objective: withstand as many waves as your party can.

Interesting. The message mentions a party this time. Brett checked, but there was no party interface. I wonder if that's something I can unlock later. As it was, there was only the chat option. Shelia was the only one that he had available for now, with the dungeon cutting off all other contacts.

Taking in the dungeon, Brett found they were in the center of a dilapidated courtyard. Behind them stood the exit to the dungeon; the rest of the courtyard was lined with the walls of a black castle. On the other three sides of the space stood several sets of oddly pristine stone stairs leading up to empty doorways, and a couple led up from passages from under the floor.

They nodded to each other and spread out to each take half of the courtyard. As soon as he moved more than a dozen feet from Shilia, Brett felt his body weaken slightly. It seemed that her passive buff had some effect on him after all, but it was nearly negligible. The reptilian woman pulled a mace from her belt and nervously waved it in the air in front of her.

Brett followed her lead and pulled the swords from over his shoulders. Once they filled his hands, a sense of centeredness ran through him, and his jitters disappeared completely. It was a new feeling going into a dungeon adequately armed. He liked it. Taking a couple steps closer to his partner, he felt her buff reengage.

Right as he resolved to say something to help settle Shilia's nerves, the first enemies appeared. The goblins that came out of the doorways and started down the stairs didn't look much different than the ones he had gotten so familiar with from the previous dungeon. However, after only a few seconds of observation, Brett noticed a huge difference in how they moved. 

Sure, these enemies didn't have the same armor or weapons the survival dungeon had in the end, but they moved with a grace and conditioning that left no doubt in his mind. These enemies were just as dangerous without weapons. 

Luckily, there weren't that many. This was the first wave, after all, so there were only three enemies. I wonder if that depends on how large the party is? The welcome message seems to take that into account; what else does it look at? Brett considered this as he moved forward to take two enemies. Technically he was the lower-level fighter, but it was in both of their interests for him to take the brunt of the danger.

If Shilia was starting to get out-leveled by her friends, she might have been used to this situation anyways. It was something that she should get over eventually, but he wasn't about to give up potential leveling speed for her sake right now. The first goblin got to him, but instead of immediately rushing in, it hesitated for a second on the edge of his range and waited for the others to catch up. Damn, tactics. 

Brett wasn't about to let them actually use the tactics that they knew, though. With a quick step, he closed the distance in a flash; a fancy combo left his first opponent without an arm and then a head soon after. He didn't even have to pause as he engaged the second goblin. A sneaky kick to the shin had it slipping into a thrust straight through its chest. 

Pulling in a breath, Brett realized he had held it through the quick sequence. That was something that both Alan and Bernard had warned him against. Thinking back, he wasn't sure if he had been holding it or if the moment had passed so quickly that he hadn't needed to take one. Turning, he looked over to check on Shilia.

She wasn't in any danger yet, but things were not going as cleanly for her as they had on his side. The goblin hadn't managed to get to her yet, though; he wasn't sure if that was due to her armor or the threat of the mace. He suspected it was the armor. Her swings of the mace didn't look unpracticed. They were just far too slow to be productive. 

This is one of those bad class fits I was warned about. Brett realized. Shelia's build was just pulled in many directions at once. To be good at buffing, she likely needed mental stats, but her weapon needed a heavy investment in all of her physical stats as well. He did know that gear didn't really indicate the person's role, but he understood why Irene used a bow as opposed to something like a hammer.

Of course, Ravenous's group did specialize - maybe that was uncommon. I suppose specialization is inevitable, but it might just be a good idea to never fully be incapable of fighting in any situation. He would need to think about that more. Maybe he should ask Ravenous later today.