Core of Knowledge

He sat down at the low wooden table and placed his longbow on the carpet. Crytalis did not bother to glance at the others, but instead tried to calm his mind for the task ahead.

After a few moments, he heard a sound, audible only to an elf’s sensitive ears. Crytalis looked up and saw a box in the air. It floated down and landed softly on the table. A painting dropped from the ceiling. He looked and could not breath.

A fierce and powerful human [Swordsman] stood in the middle of the painting in a field of red. Wearing an elegant black robe of foreign design that had red and yellow stripes down the sides, the [Swordsman] was carrying a thin glowing sword. The [Swordsman] had a face that could be considered handsome among humans, with his long, black hair flowing freely in the fierce wind. His eyes were as black as the sky on a moonless night, and he had a slight sneer on his lips. His arms were by his sides, one holding the glowing sword, and the other holding the sheath. He looked to be at peace.

However, the painting was anything but peaceful.

Countless monsters lay at the feet of the [Swordsman]. A hundred, a thousand, ten thousand? Crytalis did not know and was afraid to find out. Humongous birds of prey, gigantic tigers, boars the size of small hills, they were all dead and their blood turning the world red.

Dismembered, their bodies were in pieces, and their faces were caught in an eternal moment of despair as they were killed by someone with neither mercy nor remorse. Even the sun in the blood red sky above them looked to be crying.

The elf felt a breeze, an impossibility unless the dungeon willed it, and the air carried with it an aroma of death. Crytalis stared at the [Swordsman], and wondered how a human could be so powerful. What level someone had to be to achieve this? And whether he wanted to reach such a level? The human was more monster than mortal.

“The painting is different! It has changed!”

The [Hunter] blinked as the shout from Lukalla broke him out of his trance. It drove him back to his senses, and only now did Crytalis noticed the words that appeared on the side of the painting.

“A killer, a murderer, a man,

An unsheathed sword, a weapon without chains,

Death without a plan,

Just to dull his pain.”

Then, the countdown appeared, starting from sixty minutes. There was no more breeze, no more aroma of death, only the countdown and the puzzle before him. Crytalis took a deep breath and began to work.

***

Alessandro of House Canali looked on as The Forevers entered the tunnel. After their exit from the cavern, a shimmer of light appeared at the entrance of the Lake Room. He stood and placed a hand on his sword as everyone went quiet.

The young adventurer was not the only one who was watching The Forevers. The open quest from the Adventurer Guild on the first floor had gathered the adventurers into a loose alliance, but all the parties were on their own now. A few mages went to the entrance and after a few moments of discussion, one of them turned to the group.

“It is some sort of spell that prevent entry. I think the next party can only attempt the Lake Room after The Forevers are done with it.”

Murmurs immediately erupted among the group of adventurers, and Alessandro could hear several of the adventurers cursing. Everyone knew what that means. This floor was different from the first, the adventurers would need to take turns.

The Adventurer Guild never said anything about that.

The third son of a noble house and leader of his party, Alessandro made a quick decision. “Get up, we are going now.”

The members of The Young Nobles immediately stood and started walking. There was no argument from any of them about going first. The party of four quickly reached the tunnel with the number ‘4’ above, and Alessandro looked back, wary of a challenge. There were none.

A few parties were checking their equipment, getting ready for their runs, Alessandro could see a few party leaders gathering in a group, no doubt trying to come up with a list of which party should go first. Alessandro pointedly ignored the looks his party was receiving from some of the adventurers. If the other adventurers wish to dispute their right to be first, they could come up and fight The Young Nobles for the position.

The Young Nobles shared a quick look among themselves as they stood at the entrance of the tunnel, but Alessandro did not doubt on any of their faces. The [Knight] had never felt prouder. Alessandro knew the other adventurers thought The Young Nobles were nothing but a bunch of privileged youngsters playing at being adventurers, but they did not know or care that as the younger sons, all four members of The Young Nobles were in no position to ever inherit their family’s fortune. The members of The Young Nobles were trained by their family, but they were expected to find their own way in life, and the adventuring life was their way of making a name for themselves.

The Young Nobles was not just an adventuring party, they were a bunch of young nobles who knew what the other members were going through. They were friends.

Alessandro looked at his friends. Roberto was a fellow [Knight], Simone and Bellino were both [Mages]. With two [Knights] and two [Mages], Alessandro knew The Young Nobles weren’t the most balanced of parties, but they knew each other since childhood and Alessandro trusted them with his life.

Without a word, the four of them entered the unexplored tunnel.

The first thing Alessandro noticed were the lights. The tunnel was a mixture of grey stone and bare earth, suggesting a natural cave system that has been expanded upon by the dungeon. The air was thick and stale, but the path forward was illuminated with burning sconces that dotted the walls. That was good, no one liked to fight while holding a torch in one hand.

The tunnel was narrow, and The Young Noble found themselves walking single file. As the lead [Knight], Alessandro naturally took the lead.

“Look sharp.” Alessandro said.

With his shield positioned in front of his body, he went forward. Simone and Bellino walked behind him, and Roberto protected the rear. This was a well-practised formation The Young Nobles had perfected, and they slowly went down the tunnel, careful of traps and ambushes.

The tunnel was longer than the reported tunnel into the Lake Room but after some time, the party found themselves in a vast cavern. Like the tunnel, the cavern was well lit, only the light was coming from the glowing ceiling. The light seen to be stimulating sunlight because in front of The Young Nobles was a strange, beautiful forest, filled with trees that were about ten to twenty metres tall. The woody narrow trunks of the trees had rings on them which sprout narrow leaves. Alessandro did not recognize the strange trees, but Bellino did.

“Bamboo. These are bamboo trees.”

Alessandro was shocked. The young noble had never seen them before, but he heard of bamboo trees. They were a type of tree only found in the far west, not in the Bright Empire. Somehow, this dungeon had created a beautiful bamboo forest that stretches for as far as the eye can see.

“Why?” Alessandro murmured; his voice too soft for the others to hear.

The momentary lapse cause Alessandro to shake his head.

The delvers his family hired to train him had always told him this; Curiosity has no place in a dungeon. Dungeon cores loved to trick and confuse delvers, so delvers must never let their curiosity get the better of them.

Alessandro realized how right the trainers were.

Dungeons were amazing places, and a delver would see marvellous, incredible things in them. None of which should matters to a delver. No matter how beautiful and wonderful things looked in a dungeon, a delver must never forget the danger he was in.

Dungeons were deathtraps, survival was key, and full concentration was needed to survive a dungeon. Alessandro just forgotten about that. He vowed not to make the same mistake again.