The amphibians and adventurers were on the first floor, and in much the same way that the Atlanteans and amphibians had, were enjoying a pleasant conversation. However, as time dragged on, and the Atlanteans didn’t return, that pleasant conversation slowly turned out less pleasant, and ever so slightly more paranoid. The adventurers were even debating leaving, but they didn’t want to be at risk of the Burn, especially not without more people there to help them in the water. Rok would likely be waiting, but they still weren’t pleased with the prospect of one man guarding all five of them.

Meanwhile, the amphibians were getting nervous for their own dive. They weren’t sure what had happened, but a short ways into the Atlanteans dive, they’d all heard a soft pop that came from the floors below. They weren’t sure what it had been nor where it was, but if Rok was to be believed, at least one of them was in a poor place after that.

Finally, eight hours had come to pass, and the Atlanteans remained unseen. The Amphibians held out hope that they were stuck on a lower floor, or something like it, and that they’d be able to return fifteen strong, just as they’d arrived. However, as they dived down to the bottom of the shaft to the second floor, they knew it wasn’t likely.

The group was composed of five, as were the other two, but there was much more diversity represented here in the races. All five were some variation of beast-kin, and were all a rather interesting sight to behold because of it.

The first was similar to Rok, though he was shorter, smaller, and appeared slightly different overall. This was reasonable, although he was a crocodile beast-man, he was a freshwater variant, and despite being just as capable in his beast transformation as Rok, the three and a half meter length paled in comparison. Still, it would be wrong to think him powerless due to this, as he filled the role of tank in the party.

The next two were siblings, both semi-aquatic lamias, though they lacked the potent venom found in some of their kind, their own was heavily paralytic, and they were highly capable mages on top of this, the first a light-water healer, and the second having a rare affinity to space, and being very capable of using it.

The fourth was an odd sight, he was a literal amphibian. Unlike almost every other amphibian, the Crab-Eating frog man was capable of surviving the salty waters of the oceans, and had made it far in the dungeon business as a lightly armored scout.

The final was an even more unusual specimen, as she was a mermaid. She was one of the few variants of mermaids who were actually capable of being outside of water, as a salt snake-head, she appeared more similar to a lamia with a smooth tail and fins, and despite having gills, she was one of the few species in possession of a natural spell that allowed them to act as proper, fully effective lungs. Her weapon of choice was a short spear, a common weapon in the Amphibians, rather than the harpoons so often seen in the ranks of Atlanteans.

The group emerged on the second floor, enjoying the sights of the dungeon. They had all been through many before, but the first time through a dungeon was always a mix of fear and wonder, seeing sights that could never be made in nature, and yet not dreamt up by man in the later floors. It seemed, however, that this particular dungeon had started creating grand works of art and danger early, having been born with the Reef as its own starting point. The colors, lights, and creatures found above are already some of the most unearthly works of beauty that can be found in nature, and now a Dungeon has the ability to bend it to its whims in these halls. If it had already started changing the environment in its later floors… they could only imagine what might be shown.

They worked slowly and cautiously through the second floor, feeling little from those strange barracudas beyond annoyance. They all worked slowly, and efficiently, and the space mage was even able to catch a single corpse in a pre-prepared pocket space before it dissolved. Once more the group thanked themselves for having gotten him early on, he’d saved their lives countless times with the relics he’d created, and it was very likely that would continue to be the case. Into the third floor, they were similar to the adventurers, avoiding the halls that were narrower, and although it took them time on that floor, they made it through unaccosted.

For the third time that day, five people descended onto the fourth floor, and marveled at the truly unbelievable scenery that awaited them. Lights and colors shimmered onto snakes that danced and coiled, luminescent corals and vibrant sea grass lined the walls and ground, the limestone they grew on being nearly invisible. However, the reverie they found themselves in was lost shortly after, realizing that this is an active dungeon, one with at least a wyrm at its disposal, likely on this floor. Being vigilant, they started to descend to the entrance of floor five, making sure to remain very aware of their surroundings. A lesser wyrm may be an A- threat they were capable of combating whilst prepared, but it would be easily capable of ending any of them should it catch them by surprise. Thankfully, they spotted the beast, coiled up in a hole near the exit, and decided not to risk fighting.

The crocodile took out a relic the size of his fist, and propelled it toward the wyrm. Just before it got before the irate reptile, it exploded in a grand flash of light and noise, followed by clouding the waters around it in a dark, murky mixture that would conceal their movements. It wouldn’t distract the beast very long at all, but it was enough time to cover the twenty meter downward dash into the welcoming dark of the fifth floor while the beast thrashed angrily. By this point, they knew this floor contained some form of brittle star, large and well hidden, so they took out a relic for light, and then continued forward.

And, just like Rok had said, when the tank neared a corner, a long, whip-like tentacle lashed out from somewhere unseen and met his chest with a reverberating thump, forcing him to take a step back. The limb retreated back, likely attempting to find a better angle of attack. The group was determined not to let that happen, and grouped together tighter, putting the mages in the center, having the scout keep watch beside them. Meanwhile, with the tank at the front and the mermaid facing backwards, keeping watch behind them.

They managed to make it through the floor without much difficulty, even slicing off a limb of the star with a well-timed spatial slash, before that limb was also brought into storage. After that, the dungeon seemed to not send the star after them, despite it being presumably fully healed. They didn’t mind, though it made the trip to the sixth floor much more dull. They made it, though, enjoying being back in the light, and the soft tune seemed to add to that elation, before the scout realized that there was something off about it. They became alert, realizing that something, somewhere on this floor was able to bewitch them, and that put them on edge.

They moved swiftly after that, not stopping as they went through the maze of corridors. By the time they finally turned right and saw the shaft to the floor beneath them, they had all grown rather hungry, and decided to use the next floor as an opportunity to eat. The seventh floor was similar to the sixth, though the bewitching tune was thankfully not there. In fact, it seemed that there was truly nothing here. Even the floor prior had had plenty of fish flitting about, unaffected by the song they’d been hearing.

They also realized that they weren’t hungry anymore, something about that Song had done something to make them think they were, and was a little unnerving how dissimilar to any other Charm they’d experienced before. After the relief of no longer being under that spell wore off, they set forward once again. The more of this strange dungeon they can explore, the better they’d get in commission, though they had already given up trying to map the place after the fifth and sixth floors being so unwelcoming. The seventh, at least, was passive, so passive that they’d almost started to believe that this was the current final floor, and that they’d interrupted the core while creating it, though this wouldn’t make sense with the past three floors and the difficulty experienced.

The halls didn’t even appear to be trapped, just mazelike, orange, and with a floor that was very rough on the lightly protected undersides of the lamia mages. The eighth floor finally came into sight, at least, and with it hopefully a change from the mazes they’d been dealing with.

And a change it most definitely was, this floor put even the fourth to shame in both size and beauty. It was radiating, both light and mana, and put the group into a lull. This truly was a gorgeous dungeon, and it took them a split second to snap back to attention on the floor, big and empty doesn't bode well, especially after a floor that was already large and seemingly empty. And they were unfortunately correct in that deduction, they heard a scream from behind them, both the rogue and the water mage had been attacked by an unseen assailant, the waters were hardly even agitated by whatever it was. The lamia was very clearly in pain, a rather sizable portion of her tail being split open by a wicked gash and coiling in pain as she screamed. However, the frog was doing decidedly worse, he’d had his back slashed open, something cutting through his middle spine with ease. Blood was pouring out of the wound, clouding the waters, and as the healer was out of commission, things weren’t looking good for him.

The crocodile looked around for the threat, bringing the group to the shaft back to the seventh floor as he did so. It was then that the mermaid gasped, shouting out only a single word, “wyvern”, and the rest knew what that meant. On this floor was the wyvern Rok had seen, something they had known was likely still here but totally put out of their minds, and they were paying for it. The lamia was bleeding quickly, and the frog-man was in an even worse state. By this point, going deeper would only result in death, and taking the long way back was not a good idea. The space mage rifled through his bag, searching for something he’d packed, and brought out a rather large relic.

Starting to cast a spell, the other two knew what he was planning, and could only hope that the wyvern either didn’t attack, or could be held off long enough to allow it to complete. They watched the glittering green and purple darting rapidly, seeming to play with the group as it dashed at them and turned suddenly, usually far faster than they could react. They might have a chance of subjugating a wyvern were all five present, particularly the water mage, as she could slow the beast down enough to potentially get a hit in on it, and if they were lucky, a hit on something important. Alas, she was still writhing in pain, having her tail nearly lopped off was agonizing. They had forced two health shells into their mouths as they were retreating, but the frog was unable to even chew, and the effects weren’t fast enough for the lamia to feel relief.

Thankfully, the space mage worked quickly, relying heavily on the relic and already condemning himself to suffer from a mighty backlash in order to complete the spell in less than ten seconds, and the last thing the group saw before the mass teleport took them to the checkpoint they’d left right outside the dungeon entrance was the wyvern hit the crocodilian with a heavy hit downwards, easily shattering the arm he used to block it unpreparedly. They arrived on the Reef bed, spotting the boat on the waters above that the adventurers were transported here in and the lazy silhouette of Rok relaxing in the sun. The mermaid, on some unspoken signal, raced back into the dungeon to collect the adventurers while the remaining four swam as fast as they could upwards.

By this point Rok had noticed their arrival, and upon seeing the blood that heralded them, went to go meet them, his own health shells already prepared to hopefully help, and even a few potions on the boat too. Not a word was exchanged the entire time, and it took but a moment to get both wounded the full tens of meters to the surface and onto their vessel, along with the male lamia. By this point, the adventurers had equipped their water-breathing relics and had begun their own ascent. While not frantic, upon being told the news that two of their own were grievously wounded, they were very obviously hurrying to the surface to help the situation with their own healer.

What they saw when they got there was grim. The injured lamia had finally fallen unconscious, stress, pain, and blood loss taking a heavy toll even in the best, though she would recover in time. The frog however was on his last legs. His slimy skin had gotten unhealthily pale, and he was hyperventilating. His eyes had become unfocused by now, and while he was shivering, it was only his upper body that seemed able to. His legs were limp, and the only thing that could be heard on the boat was the chattering teeth and rapid breathing of the man, even as it grew shallower by the second.

The elven healer was literally launched onto the boat by Rok, and she only used that momentum to reach the dying man as quickly as possible, casting her quickest response spell to try and do anything to buy her time that she could use to get something more substantial ready. She had her hands pressed to the wound now in order to slow the bleeding, but his back, on the opposite side of his false ribs, was slashed open deep enough to puncture the organs resting there, something that gave a poor outlook for the future. His liver and stomach had been sliced open, and she was doing her best to do anything to fix that, but every spell she used, while visibly healing him, wasn’t doing so quickly enough to change the fact that this was fatal. His teammates and the rest of the adventurers had made it onto the boat by now, and they all watched as he slipped away.

Not much was spoken after that on the way back to Gil, only brief condolences by the adventurers and Rok.