Sora and his group stayed in the cave for 30 minutes before reorganizing their party. Sora and Nobunaga had been fishing together, mostly in silence since Nobunaga didn’t talk a lot. They had managed to catch a decent amount of fish from the cold water, which housed a type of fish called Chilling Water Fish. Apparently they were the reason why the water was so cold on this section of the cave, while the fire boss had been the reason why the water in the other section was so hot. Blossom, LeeLee, and Athenes had seemed to bond while they were in the hot springs together as they came out laughing happily with each other. Sora went back to the cave that had the fire boss to cook some of the Chilling Water Fish over the open flames that the boss had left. The fish were cooked decently but sadly they gave an Intelligence buff and didn’t help any of his party. Sora pulled out some of his Crater Fish and tried cooking those instead. The Roasted Crater Fish gave +10 to Strength so it was perfect for everyone except Athenes. Sora decided to give her a few mana potions since he had already released the second recipe, dropping the price to a point where Sora didn’t mind sparing a few to help with the dungeon. The team ate the Roasted Crater Fish and headed out of the chasm, refreshed and ready to tackle the dungeon.

…..

Sora and his group watched as the royal soldiers packed up their equipment and tents, preparing to leave the mountain. The sharp cry of a murder of crows was heard as a decent amount of giant black crows landed within the encampment. These crows were used to set up a flight system for those who didn’t want to climb the mountain. The cost was hefty but it did save quite a bit of time. The group of soldiers had packed up everything efficiently before lining up near the exit of the camp, filling the road with soldiers standing at attention. Veradon walked to the front of the army before signaling the army to start their march. It would only be a short wait until the road was officially opened for players to use.

Sora and his group waited for the flight system to be set up, securing a spot right in front of the area so they would be the first to be up the mountain. NPCs that looked like beast tamers could be seen riding each crow to the top of the mountain, circling it, and flying back to the encampment. It was shown as a sort of test to make sure each crow was suitable for the journey, but in reality it was just a way to stall for time as the players started to rush to the mountain.

After many different tests and adjustments the beast tamers started to officially ready themselves to open for business. Sora was a bit irritated but kept a patient look on his face. He had been used to being able to fly on his own mount but now he had to wait for so long just to pay for a ride. The first players started to rush in as Sora was complaining in his mind. At first it seemed like a normal crowd but soon the entire road was filled with players from one end to the other. Some players immediately started to line up behind Sora and his group while some even tried to push their way to the front. Once the players saw that Nobunaga and Athenes had ‘Phoneix Rising’ next to their names they calmed down and obediently got in line, of course not every player did so. A few players would occasionally try to push themselves to the front, only to be forced to the back by a few guards that the army had left in the encampment to maintain order.

Some players directly passed the flight service and started rushing up the mountain, not wanting to spend the extra money to get to the top. The trip up the mountain was also a good training experience so some players who weren't confident enough to try the dungeon had just came to start training while they made their way up.

The flight service officially opened after another 5 minutes. Sora and his group climbed onto the giant crow, with Blossom shaking a little and clinging onto LeeLee. They each paid the huge fee of 50 silver to take the crow to the top of the mountain. While they were flying up the group could see a long line of players, still flooding into Frost Peak Mountain. It wasn’t until a long ways away that the line finally started to loosen up, revealing spots of the road every now and then between the cluster of players.

…..

Sora and his group landed at the top of the mountain where a huge bronze double door could be seen standing a little ways from the peak of the mountain. A man that looked like a sage was standing near the double doors, stroking his long white beard. The man was the person who was here to help new players understand how the dungeon would work, along with giving a little bit of lore to how the dungeons were formed. Sora walked up to the man, he didn’t really need the information but the rest of his group would.

“Greeting adventurers, I am Calus, a man who has dedicated his life to studying the way dungeons work. Would you like to hear some of my wisdom?”

“Yes.”

“Good, information is the key to success. I would first like to tell you about why dungeons exist, along with why they are so important to the kingdom. A dungeon is a place where different forms of energy generate at a rapid pace; it could be elemental energy, essence energy, mana energy, or even something as simple as the energy released by the inanimate object. The energy will then take many different forms and affect the area around it, creating different creatures, treasures, puzzles, and even form magnificent structures. It may seem like a bad thing at first but it is actually highly coveted by each faction to control a dungeon. Like I said, the dungeon can create many mystical treasure, along with tempering adventurers to become better fighters. This shows you how important the dungeon really is and usually the faction that controls the most and best quality dungeons is the strongest. That covers some of the basics of what a dungeon is and how it benefits you, are there any questions thus far?”

Sora turned to his group, he could see each person seriously listening to the sage. They didn’t have a confused look on their faces so Sora concluded that they were probably just immersing themselves in the information they received.

“No, please continue.”

“The second thing to know is how a dungeon will work. Thanks to the rampant amount of energy, strong enemies will be within your path. Even normal enemies will have more strength from absorbing the energy within the dungeon, we call these enemies ‘elite’. There will also be some leaders of sorts that will monopolize most of the energy for themselves, creating a strong opponent that you must face, they are referred to as the ‘bosses’ of the dungeon. They will also usually carry the best equipment thanks to saturating in so much energy. They will be tough enemies to defeat but the rewards will definitely be worth it. This brings me to my next point, instant resurrection. At the beginning of the dungeon there will be a statue of Helara which will serve as your respawn point while within the dungeon. The statue has been blessed by the goddess herself and will be able to almost instantly reform your essence after being defeated. That should be enough information for now, if you have any question then I will answer them.”

Sora didn’t speak up and simply stepped aside to let the others ask any question they want. Athenes was the first to go forward with an inquisitive look.

“Why are the other statues in the world not blessed by Helara?”

“Ah, a very good question my dear. The statues that you are used to seeing do not receive enough energy to properly operate if they were blessed by the goddess. Her power is immense and requires an extraordinary amount of energy to operate, which this world cannot supply. Even a normal statue of Helara has very limited capabilities, which is why many powerful sages had to sacrifice their lives to help give enough energy to power the statues that you see today.”

The rest of the group seemed to have had a similar question since they all started to nod their head as they listened to the explanation. Blossom was the next person to step up.

“What happens if a bunch of people go into the same dungeon? Wouldn’t you be able to go through with hundreds of people?”

“Not even the greatest of sages have come to a conclusive answer regarding that question. For some reason each dungeon can only accommodate a certain amount of people. Once that number is reached it will give of slight fluctuations of space-time magic and seemingly create a new world all together. I have a theory as to why it happens but it’s not conclusive.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“I believe that the energy within is at such a high concentration that it is able to bend the fabric of space itself. Right now the dungeon is at a very high point, but still stable. Once adventurers start entering they release a strong amount of energy that goes beyond the point of stability, creating another dimension to help stabilize the energy within. Of course this is only my theory, there are many other ones that people have came up with. One theory even mentions Sairagus, the God of Space-Time.”

At this point the group has spent a decent amount of time talking to the sage, they each still had a few minor questions but decided to find out later since they could see another group of giant crows coming towards them. The group thanked the sage before turning towards the big double doors.

“Good luck adventurers.”

The group disappeared as they got closer to the door, leaving in a flash of white light. The group went through what looked like a tunnel of many different colors and auras, until the space seemed to tremble slightly and they found themselves standing next to a statue of Helara that was glowing in a elegant looking gold and white light. The room they were in looked like a normal cavern with nothing special standing out except a pathway at the other end of the room. Sora wanted to go over the basics of their formation now that they were officially in the dungeon.

“When we are clearing the enemies we will need to make sure we only aggro a few at a time. If anybody accidentally aggros an extra enemy then call it out so we can move our positions backwards to regain our footing. We will form an arrow shape formation with me at the tip and Athenes at the end. As for bosses… we will discuss that more when I see the opponent and the battlefield.”

The group followed orders efficiently and made an arrow with Sora at the front, Blossom and Nobunaga at the sides just behind Sora, LeeLee in the middle, and Athenes behind LeeLee. The formation was fairly tight to avoid aggroing too much at once and also made everyone within range to help one another. The group went into the pathway at the other side of the room.

The path was very wide and looked like a straight shot to the next cavern. The only thing in their way was the same insect creatures that had inhabited the mountain before the corruption took over. They looked the same as the normal monsters except their name now had the word ‘elite’ in parenthesis at the beginning.

Level 40 -(Elite) Green Caterpillar-

The health of the creatures had reached up to 15,000, which was five times more than what the a normal creature would be. Luckily the caterpillar had a low defense so the attacks could shave off 200 health per hit, not including the use of skills. With four players dealing damage the caterpillars were a bit of a joke, especially since three of the players were a good amount of levels above the enemy. Sora let Nobunaga start aggroing another caterpillar to speed up the process of killing their way through to the next cavern. Sora decided to choose Nobunaga as the off tank since he was extremely good at reading his enemy. Although Blossom had an advantage in levels and gear, Nobunaga surpassed her in dodging and reaction skills.

The team continued killing their way through the large caterpillars, picking up the coins they dropped and occasionally getting some caterpillar silk, which was a material used for tailoring. They had been so efficient in killing the caterpillars that Athenes was regenerating her mana at the same rate that she was using it, which was based at 1% of your mana per 5 seconds. After just 10 minutes they had made it to the first cavern without any mistakes along the way. The cavern was filled with strands of silk that spanned across the ceiling and walls. In the center was a large caterpillar that had many red spikes jutting out from it’s body, giving it a more threatening look. The caterpillar itself was so big that it would take five people standing on top of each other to measure it. Sora only shook his head at the boss, it may look threatening but the fight itself was extremely easy.