Chapter 57

Chapter 57

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The Obsidian Beach, Medea Island

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Ajaz Drogat stood with his party, currently second in line to enter the dungeon. They'd arrived on one of the merchant ships which had docked the day before, one of three parties who'd paid passage to this little island.

Unlike those other two groups, Ajaz and his party had been here before.

They'd only been Silvers back then, and were just getting confident on the second floor when the Guildmistress had restricted the dungeon to Golds and Platinums. They'd thought it quite unfair at the time, but they'd also witnessed the Gorge Twins return from their fight with the Third Floor Guardian down two party members.

If whatever it was could kill two Platinums and injure the rest enough for them to retreat, what chance would Ajaz and his party have had?

"Hey, I recognize you!" A voice called.

He turned to the side, blinking at the man who had approached him.

"Ajaz, was it? You were one of the Silvers kicked off the island, I believe." The man stated, "Congratulations on being the first to make Gold and return!"

Ajaz reached out and shook the offered hand. He scanned the man's admittedly familiar face for a few seconds before it clicked.

"Yes, I remember you now. It's nice to see you again, Vert." He looked around, at the other guilders hanging out on the beach. "There are many faces here I do not know. Are we truly the first to return?"

"You are indeed, my friend." Vert's face took on a more serious cast. "This dungeon has taken many from us, though the casualties have eased off, recently. Tell me, has anyone told you of the changes to the dungeon?"

Ajaz and his party members shook their heads. "I meant to look into it last night," Their mage, Allessa, admitted. "But we were too busy celebrating our return."

"Well then, let me get you up to speed." Vert cleared his throat. "You would remember the warning on the entrance, of course, and the rash of deaths that followed. Well, the Platinums recently reached the Sixth floor, which rumor has it is a vision of the Fourth Hell brought to the mortal plane. The Fifth is a castle, surrounded by a thick darkness and a forest of enormous mushrooms. The castle has shadow monsters that float around, while the forest has these strange mushroom-monsters. "

Ajaz felt like his right eyebrow was reaching his hairline.

"The Fourth is another tunnel level, though full of rats. Only the Platinums have made it past the Third's guardian, due to two very important factors. First, it's constant resurrection. It doesn't stay dead, and remembers how it died. The stories I've managed to get out of those who've fought it are harrowing at times. The second is that teleport crystals no longer work in the dungeon. If I were you I'd be careful not to overextend."

The group of golds blinked in shock, and with a glance Ajaz saw two of his party members gaping in disbelief.

"It- But- How?" Iltar stuttered. "Monsters coming back to life, over and over? And it's worked out how to disable teleport crystals too!?"

Vert nodded sagely, "I'm afraid so. I've never seen the Guardian with my own eyes, of course. The lack of teleport crystals has made those of us still alive rather... more careful and cautious." He rubbed his left wrist, seemingly unconscious of the motion.

Vert blinked, and carried on. "Given the difficulty, and risk, in taking on the Third Floor Guardian, many have contented themselves with training to reach platinum, to eventually face the guardian in large groups. It has a half-dozen attendants, and fighting the guardian with anything less than their numbers is a terrible idea." Here, he looked quite annoyed.

"Haythem and the other two with him were the first to reach Platinum." To Ajaz, it looked like the admission physically pained Vert. "Another five passed the tests a week later. There are a further half-a-dozen taking the tests right now." Vert looked sideways and leaned in.

"I'm planning on going in for the test myself, soon." He shared, in a hushed voice. "Haythem may have grown faster than I, but I will not let myself fall behind!"

With that, Vert returned to his party and Ajaz looked to his own. They all shared incredulous looks.

They already knew this dungeon was weird, but eight confirmed Platinums already? Another six in testing, and more to come after?!

Ajaz smirked in that 'I told you so' way, to good natured eye-rolls and groans.

He knew returning to Medea had been a good idea.

This process took a very long time. While enlarging the Sea Serpent only took a day, I was pumping mana into the leviathan for a full week!

And it was worth it.

The pod of fully grown Humpbacks looked like newborn calves next to the Leviathan.

I set them to circle my territory, half a mile inside the blurry circumference. Pleased with myself, I once again turned my attention back to my dungeon, and spent the rest of the day observing various parties exploring and fighting monsters.

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The Fifth Floor, The Dungeon, Medea Island

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Slicing downwards with her left arm, Isid bisected another of the shambling fungal monsters. This was their second day of combat here on the Fifth floor, exploring the Mushroom forest for the elusive key they needed to once again challenge the Guardian.

Given the rising numbers of the irritating monsters, they had about half an hour before enough attacked at once to overwhelm them.

"Isid! Have you found anything yet?" Jerrad called, on the other side of their moving, circular formation. Isid glanced around, peering past towering stalks. They weren't completely sure on what the key would look like, but given the lock on the door it should look like a regular key.

"Nothing yet!" She shouted back. In a smooth motion, she twirled, cutting down two shamblers that had leapt at her.

"We should be getting close!" The young man, Haythem, stated. "From what I remember seeing from the tower, there were particularly dense areas deep in the forest. If the keys are anywhere, they'd be there!"

He'd said that before, of course, but the reminder had her look ahead, to the giant stalks of fungi that were growing closer and closer together.

Ten minutes later, she caught a glimpse of a strange mana signature.

"Something ahead!" Isid called between strikes. "On me!"

Isid forged ahead, cutting down three shamblers in her path. A beam of light mana cut through the air, felling a further three. Two crossbow bolts pinned a pair to some stalks. With quick, confident slices, Isid widened the path between two stalks, emerging into a clearing.

In the center of the open space was a raised platform of the same fungal flesh that covered the ground. Rising from the platform was a key. It couldn't have been anything but. It's mana signature looked nigh identical to the lock on the Guardian's door.

"That's it!" She stated. "Someone grab it and lets get the hell out of this forest!"

Duncan moved into the space carefully, wary of traps. Not that Isid could see any nearby. He picked the key from the pedestal with a disgusted look. "It's made of fungus. The texture is... unsettling."

In the distance a high-pitched shriek rang, loud and true.

Suddenly, the shamblers assaulting them began attacking with renewed ferocity. On their way out of the forest they accumulated more injuries than the shamblers had ever been able to inflict before.

Cuts and bruises were common. Bertram caught an overhead strike on his arm, which did halt the mace-like limb. Unfortunately it also broke quite loudly.

Just as they were about to become completely overwhelmed, they stumbled free of the fungal stalks. The shamblers halted at the edge, clicking and shrieking their displeasure at the guilders escape.

"Alright. We're going back to the surface." Jerrad declared, to general agreement. They'd been in and out of the forest for hours now, and would need proper rest before once again facing the guardian.

They reached the surface just as the sun set over the horizon. While the other two parties headed into the port, Isid's party made a beeline right to the guild building. Layla would be able to arrange an enchanter to analyze the key and, hopefully, replicate it.

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Max Porteous, 2022