The New Bond

Aster

Our entire course met at the back of the school, with Kat and I being some of the last people to show up. Everyone was dressed in various gear, but there was a stark difference with the armor either looking expensive and brand new or repaired and handed down. We found Fernand and Wren waiting with our minder, Ellysa. Nodding to Fernand, I looked at what he was wearing. Leather poked up from under robes that were shorter than usual, only going to about knee length, and trimmed to allow for easier arm reach. He also held a long stick that looked similar to the one Ellysa had, if a bit older and worn. Wren was wearing a mix of chain and scale mail with a big shield he was resting against the ground and a sword strapped to his belt.

Kat probably was the simplest, with just some padded leather armor, but it seemed to suit her as she messed with the straps around her wrist, giving me a grin as she looked over to me when finishing. “The armor looks great. I almost wish I had some.” Kat’s speech was much better than it had been only an hour ago. She had some type of pill she had taken that had removed the effects of the previous night, but it had taken a minute to set in, the reason why we were almost late.

I stretched a little after greeting Ellysa, listing as she listed off the rules. Most of them were common sense, such as if anyone was injured to the degree that could cause an issue to the party, then we would back out of the dungeon, or if there was anything unexpected, then we would have to back out. We were also each handed a coin by Ellysa. I identified it as she explained what it was used for.

[Dungeon Tracking Token - Uncommon - This token is used to follow the user's movement through a dungeon once activated. It can be used with a new dungeon map to map the dungeon. Reduces experience gain by 10% when in a dungeon.]

“The entire course will be using these to track movements in the case we lose contact with a party member. Keep them on you at all times. I know the experience loss isn’t good, but it’s necessary.” I shrugged a shoulder. I wasn’t happy with it, but I wouldn’t complain when there was a good reason behind it.

Looking over the token, I put it in the bag I’d brought. It was an unpleasant surprise being told by Kat that not everything found in a dungeon could be stored in spatial storage until after leaving it. Had I known, I would have got something better than the old rucksack I had over a shoulder, but that would be for next time. Looking around, I saw that Herney wasn’t going to give a speech before the teleport; instead, the groups were already moving inside the building, with a bright flash happening every minute or so.

As our turn approached, a thought crossed my mind, and I brought up the party screen.

[PMS, Aster: The only portal I’ve ever been through didn’t feel good, so let’s be ready?]

I also reached through the bond and prodded Umbra. We had already talked about the dungeon, and we didn't know if we’d be able to talk to each other with the distance that would separate us. “I’ll see you when I get back in a day or two,” I promised her.

“Good luck with your level gains. I’ll see you when you return.” That was all Umbra said, but I could feel the affection and worry she had and that I shared.

Then, it was our turn to go inside. Unlike the last time I had traveled with portals, there was a group of mages, some of them students, I assumed, who were learning how portals worked. The room was small and had a circle of runes on the ground around a metal disk. All of them, except a few, were foreign to me. Had I the time, I would have tried to write them down to learn what they were for, but as we gathered on the metal disk, the mage in the middle of the group nodded to Alyssa and then cast a spell. A blue glow rose out of the ground and started to reach towards the roof. There, I noticed another set of runes. Once it connected, there was a pulling sensation as the blue light filled my vision, then it dimmed. I blinked as I shook my head. The second time had been easier, but my head still swam.

We were outside again, and the air was noticeably more windy, pulling at my hair. Once I could see, the first thing I noticed was how close the mountains were. They seemed to tower over us. Coughing, then a hurling noise had me looking over at Kat, who had taken the travel way worse than I had, leaning over in the grass while emptying the contents of her stomach. Looking around, Fernand was looking green as well. In fact, the only person who looked unbothered was Ellysa.

“We're set to enter in seventh, so we have a few hours until we enter,” Ellysa said, looking at a paper.

It was another thing I’d learned in the last few days. Dungeons had the ability to run multiple parties in the same area at once; they were called instances, and the amount was dependent on the dungeon grade. With it only being a grade two, there could only be four groups in the first level and two in the second. Time also ran faster in these instances, so what seemed like only two hours for us was anywhere between eight and twelve or even more for them.

The area we were in wasn’t much. There was hardly anything around. The only structures were a small wooden wall made out of stripped tree logs with a simple arched entrance and a flat stone floor with a series of circles made with charred stone, one of which was the one we had appeared in.

“Well, while we wait, Fernand, do you have anything else on the Dungeon?” Kat asked, and she sat. The rest of us followed her lead.

“Does it matter? We’re only going to be on the first floor the only thing that might be a problem is the boss of the floor. “

“That means they can be up to level seventy-five. Most of us aren't even half that level. We need to be cautious. If we get surrounded by even a few monsters, it could be a problem. With only four of us, no real formations would work that well, but I propose Kat focuses on the edge, taking care of monsters that aren’t together. Aster and I can back you up while she does that. I can help boost your defense with some spells, and Aster can focus on taking the creatures out." Wren glared, but he didn’t object, which was a nice change of pace.

With a rough idea of a plan for when we went in sorted out, I looked around, curious about where the dungeon entrance was. I expected some arch made out of metal or stone that had runes all over it and some magical door with a riddle or warning based on the stories I heard. It was none of those. It was just a crack in a stone, a big stone that looked completely normal. The only reason I knew it was the entrance was the fact it was in the middle of the clearing.

“Well, shouldn’t a dungeon have a big grand entrance? They're important, right?”

“The dungeon usually only works outside of its zone when it’s a high enough grade. Until then, it’s set on working in the dungeon.” Ellysa said, tapping her staff on the ground, and an image started to form out of a yellow light.

The image was a sandy landscape; it continued to rise higher as and under the sand, squares, rectangles, circles, and a myriad of other shapes started pleasing themselves together.

“This is a tier-five dungeon. Unlike this one, it allows groups of twenty to adventure into it. An expedition was created to go to it as it’s located in the desert far south. It’s probably changed quite a bit, as it has been over a decade since I've been there, but as you can see, a floor isn't determined by height.”

Diagonal and straight lines cut across the illusionary image, marking five direct sections of the dungeon.

“You are notified when entering a new floor, and usually, there's a gate, door, or hallway that will make it quite obvious.”

She had the entire group's attention with the display, and even some of the other groups had gathered around to look at it.

“How do grades work with dungeons? I understand that they get new floors when they reach a higher grade, and I read that they take in the ambient mana to go up grades, but dungeons don’t have levels, do they?” The question came from Kat, and she was looking thoughtfully at the dungeon with a spark in her eye.

Ellysa shook her head with a slight smile on her lips as the image changed, splitting into an orb and a splinter. “Dungeons can take many shapes, and the topic you bring up is up for debate by almost everyone who studies dungeons. They don’t seem to have levels but do have something similar. Before anyone asks, yes, dungeons are sentient, or they can be. No one knows how it works, as any dungeon with intelligence refuses to answer, but when a dungeon starts off or when it evolves in grade, it has a chance to become sapient. Whether that is how classes for dungeons work or whatever it is, we don’t know. Personally, I don’t much care to know; all that matters is knowing always to treat a dungeon with respect but not as a friend or something that can be bartered with once you enter.”

There were murmurs through the groups as some seemed to find this information exciting, and some also seemed nervous, looking towards the dungeon with a worried gaze.

“Is it known how dungeons are created? There’s no information on that subject in the academy library.” Fernand had conjured an almost translucent slab of force he was using as a desk to write on as he took notes on a paper.

Ellysa laughed, making a light noise as the image dispersed in front of her, the yellow light turning into motes before dissipating into nothing. “If someone could find an answer to that question, then they wouldn't be a hot commodity wars are fought over, and destroying one wouldn't be a crime that would get your soul torn from your body. Some say it’s the system; others say the gods created them to keep the mana natural. No one really knows, though.”

Fernand nodded, writing down something as a new set of questions were asked by others. This lasted until there was a commotion from the entrance to the dungeon. A group was coming out. I was able to spot the first few, and they looked tired and had fresh cuts and scrapes covering them. One was covered in leather with a sword on his back and had part of his hair burnt off, but all of them looked upset.

As curious as I was, I didn’t get up to go greet them. In fact, only Wren and Ellysa rose. Kat and Fernand, I assumed, were distracted by the same thing I was, the message that had appeared in front of me.

[Party: New Task Available]

[First Come, First Serve - All appropriately leveled parties currently in the dungeon have failed to defeat the first-floor dungeon boss.]

[Task: Reach and defeat the first-floor dungeon boss on your first run without the help of a grade two or higher party member.] [Time Limit - 12 hours, 59 Minutes, 59 Seconds] [Reward based on accomplishments during the dungeon run.]

I felt my mouth turn up into a smile as my tail waved excitedly. I exchanged looks with Kat and Fernand, who smiled as well.

[PMS, Kat: You know what this means, right? No one else cleared the dungeon. They're all heading back, which means we're going to be going in soon. Should we tell Ellysa about this?]

[PMS, Fernand: No, if we spread around this, it’s going to create more problems than keeping it quiet, that is, if you want to Aster, it is your skill. If it posed a problem, then I’d agree with Kat, but it’s not like this is going to change anything.]

[PMS, Kat: No, you have a point. If we start telling people, then it might create a rush to kill the boss. There is no doubt that some of the groups that have nothing but nobles are going to want to say they killed the boss first anyway.]

I thought for a moment about it. I didn’t see a reason to tell anyone. It was like Fernand, said it wasn't going to change anything.

[PMS, Aster: We can wait until after to tell someone unless we have to in the dungeon. We don’t even know if we’ll be able to take the boss on.]

Ellysa parted through the crowd that had sounded the entrance with Wren and started towards us. As we stood up, she gave a nod and then gestured to the entrance.

“Three parties have come back and were waiting on one more, then the next set will be allowed in. So far, there have been no grave injuries, only a few broken bones and burns.” Ellysa said.

“That's because they were commoners and were using armor that would be better suited for someone in a coffin,” Wren snorted, watching the dungeon entrance.

We went to stand beside the other parties that were set to go in with us, and I spotted Easton, the person I’d fought in the pit. He was holding the same large hammer that he had used against me. I waved to him, and he waved back with a big, almost goofy grin. He seemed as excited as I felt.

I ran one last check on my gear. My bow was on my back, clicked into place. It unclipped smoothly and relocked just as easily, but it held firm if I didn't pull on it the right way. The belt of arrows around my waist that I had added this morning felt as normal as it had in the forest. I planned on taking any arrows I needed out of my storage, but I would follow Ragon's, the person or rather dwarf who had made the armor's advice.

Our group spoke in low voices, discussing what we knew about the dungeon as we waited. If it had been an older dungeon that had been run multiple times, the monsters that spawned would have been logged, and there would have been more information. It was apparently adventure Herney's idea to send us as soon as possible to keep that information as limited so we wouldn't know what we were walking into, not that it hadn't been cleared by him several times to verify it was safe enough for us. As it stood, all we knew was the dungeon had a draconic beast and some type of fire element. From what Fernand had learned in the library, a draconic beast could range widely at lower levels but be more limited at higher levels as it evolved. There could be insects, fish, birds with scales, or anything with negligible draconic affinity. With people coming out with burns, it told us a little, but every party was being stingy with their information, keeping it close to their chest.

“Ah, there they are,” Allysa said sometime later.

My ears flicked, turning to the dungeon entrance faster than my head could turn, and I could hear the footsteps. The group that came out looked like they were made out of tar, but my nose told me they were just covered in so much soot they were all unrecognizable.

The only person who wasn't a walking pile of ash was who I assumed was their minder.

“Ah, Jose, I should have guessed it would be your group that came out last. How far did they get?”

Jose, who was an elf with dark brown hair and green eyes, gave a grin as he gestured to the party members who were setting down their equipment and wiping their faces. “Oh, Ellysa, it's a pleasure to see you again. The students made it to the boss room, but I had to step in to pull them back before the fight had really started.”

Ellysa looked down at the students with an approving gaze. “You were the first that seems to have made it to the boss room. Well done.”

A girl, who I could only see the eyes of, a hazelnut brown color, let out a long sigh of breath. “It was an unfair matchup. None of us were set to deal with fire monsters, and when we learned that the boss was a..” she stopped speaking as another soot-cover student tapped on her shoulder and gestured to us. “Well, you'll find out.”

The group set off, probably to get cleaned up. As we prepared to go in, Herney, who was standing at the entrance seemingly appearing out of nowhere, gave a quick look to all of the minders, nodded, then stepped to the side, only speaking two words, “Good luck.”

With that, the groups set out. The first two rushed in almost without a care, brandishing their weapons. The group behind us appeared more nervous than excited. Ours seemed a mix, with Wren taking the lead, Kat behind him and me, and Fernand taking up the rear if you discounted Ellysa. We went into the crack of the stone, only waiting a moment for the other group to get far enough ahead to be recognized as a separate party.