Was this really the best path forward?

For a brief moment, before the big meeting with all the hostel boarders, Amelia reconsidered her grand plan for revenge. A wave of uncertainty washed over her that the map she charted for herself was not, in fact, the correct way to find Ed. The Fourland Growth Company needed to be stopped, but the synth drug trade was a drip in the affairs of the whole city. What if she risked her life, risked being exposed, and it failed to even produce a hint of her girlfriend’s whereabouts? North Sunwell did not know about her yet, but as soon as they found out she was still alive, every spell, every rifle in Fleettwixt would be aimed at her.

After a short reflection, though, Amelia cast those doubts out of her mind, because there was simply no need for them. She knew what she was doing, and she had faith that Ed knew her well enough to recognize her girlfriend’s handiwork. This would be far from the first time Amelia would use violence and intimidation to impress her, after all.

Ed would learn about Amelia, and then the rest of the story would play out from there. Nothing else to worry about but that, she thought. When they met again, what would happen? Would Amelia say something foolish and ruin the moment? Had Ed shaved her head again? These were questions far more important than questioning if destroying a corporation’s drug facility was the right thing to do.

She did have some reservations about using Mino’s incredible enthusiasm for the hostel in order to fuel her revenge plans, but that, too, was a necessary price.

Right now, as she sat on the couch with that human girl Hummer beside her, she recognized that they might come to hate her if they found out about the true extent of her wrath. If that happened, she would accept that hate gladly. All she had to do was descend to Floor 4, find the facility that drug dealer mentioned, and blow the whole damn thing up.

Then, suddenly, Hummer elbowed her in the side and snapped her out of her trance.

“You listening?” she whispered.

“Yeah,” Amelia lied.

In front of a chalkboard rolled out into the common room, Mino paced around, explaining the details of the Manadhmeth Dungeon that they would soon be touring. Otto paced around behind her, mimicking her steps. Amelia finally decided to start listening to her.

“...lots of treasure, but actually, they’re wrong,” Mino said. “There isn’t any treasure left on Floors 1 or 2. Floor 3 might have a chest or two, but it won’t be what the legends talk about; just little trinkets other adventurers didn’t bother taking. We can ignore all that.”

At this evening meeting were all the boarders at the Beechhurst International Co-Lodging House: Mino, the owner; Amelia, the new girl; Aeo, the tattoo artist elf; Hummer, the beautiful human; and Phelia, the kobold. The only other boarder, Gruzut, was already fast asleep, according to the others, and definitely could not fit a dungeon tour into her work schedule.

Phelia raised her hand like a student in class. “Mino, didn’t we find a cool treasure chest last time? That was Floor 3”

“Well, yes, but that was a few months ago. Just since then, Floor 3 has been further pacified, and the whole place is almost fully mapped. With Dungeon Core gone, there’s just not much trouble anymore.”

“Aw... I want treasure.” Phelia’s head sunk, making her appear even shorter than she already was.

“Me too,” Hummer said. “This is probably my last adventure before I have to go back home. I want this to be the best tour we’ve ever done. If there’s no more treasure on Floor 3, then please can we go to Floor 4?”

Mino shook her head fiercely. “No way. No can do. I’m not certified, so they won’t let us in. And even if we snuck in, we’d get caught. And even if we didn’t get caught, it’s still super dangerous, even for us.”

Amelia nearly chortled at the remark, “even for us.” Did Mino imply that this group was a team of seasoned veterans, or something? Because as nice as they were, none of them gave off any particularly strong auras. Perhaps the elves had magical powers she did not know about, but she simply could not imagine Hummer or Phelia being a threat in battle.

“Tell me about the floors,” Amelia said. “What are they like?”

“Oh, good question,” Mino said. “Let me go get the dungeon map and I’ll show you.” She scurried away and left the other four in the common room to chat amongst themselves.

Hummer grumbled, mostly to herself. “We won’t get caught,” she said. “I can just flash my ID card and get all five of us in. Nobody guards the lower floors anymore, anyway. There’s barely any mels left.”

“What’s a mel?” Amelia asked.

Aeo shook her head. “You’re so new to Fleettwixt it puts a tear to my eye.” She pointed to her tear duct, as if she really were about to start crying. Amelia ignored her completely.

“Let Mino explain about mels,” Hummer said. “She’ll tell you. She won’t listen to you if you explain how important this tour is to you, though.”

“So bitter,” Aeo said.

“Be nice,” said Phelia. “Hummer has a good reason to be annoyed. I don’t think we should break the rules, either, but maybe there’s still a way.”

“No, there’s not!” Mino shouted as she rushed back into the common room. “But I did find the map. Here we go.” She attached it to the chalkboard and unrolled it.

Amelia saw the full extent of the dungeon, laid out in a two dimensional grid that resembled something like an upside-down triangle. The first floor was the largest, almost the size of Fleettwixt, and each one below it became smaller and smaller until the bottom was a tiny sliver.

Then Mino finally began her big spiel: “Amelia, the Manadhmeth Dungeon was created by an evil Dungeon Core a long time ago. So long ago nobody even knows when. but what we do know is that it created eight floors with its great powers, and sent monsters up through them to kill people and steal their souls. Those are called melanoids, and they’re really deadly, especially in packs. But kind of cool, too.”

“Mels. Big monsters. Got it.”

“There’s lots of other creatures down there, too,” Mino said, with Otto coincidentally strolling up to Amelia and Hummer as she said this. “But they aren’t as scary as the melanoids. I’ll scare them off if they show up.”

“Mino’s so good at dungeon diving,” Aeo told Amelia. “You’re going to swoon when you see her.”

Amelia declined to respond.

“I don’t know... I got attacked by a rockle once and that scared the bejeebers out of me,” Phelia said. “It makes me freak out any time I hear some stones moving.” Amelia glared at her.

“We won’t run into rockles, so don’t worry,” Mino said. “Anyway, the Dungeon Core reigned supreme for a long time, and changed up the dungeon floors all the time to trick people and keep them from getting down to the bottom. For hundreds of years, people tried to complete the dungeon dive, but always failed. Then that hero from another land came around and blew the whole thing up in one go.

“Now everything in the dungeon is stuck as-is forever. No new mels, no new treasure, no changing landscapes. In just a few years, the dungeon’s gone from a big mystery cavern to a brand-new part of Fleettwixt, and it’s pretty cool.

“Floor 1 used to be a big labyrinth with winding paths and many traps, but even before the Dungeon Core got beaten, that was already starting to change. Now, it’s all been cleared out, and it’s really a new underground city. Malls, casinos, traffic, trains, and lots of parties. We won’t spend much time here, but a lot of people go down there just for Floor 1. I think there’s even people who live their whole lives in the dungeon, lately.

“Floor 2 is a more natural experience. There is one big, shallow lake in the center that glows with a special mana infusion, so that people don’t need the sun. Lots of small plants grow there, and lots of animals roam around too. There’s campsites and small towns, and it’s a very calm experience. They finished mapping this floor out a few years ago, so now there isn’t anything left to explore. But it’s still fun.

“Floor 3 is more like what you’d expect in a real cave. Rocky terrain, everything dark, and big steep drops out of nowhere. It’s not as pretty as the other floors, but it’s still fun.

“The floors below, we won’t be going to, so it doesn’t matter as much. I’ve never been past Floor 5, myself, and that one is pretty tough if you’re not prepared. I saw a corrupted demon floating by, and I just ran for my life.

“We’re all just amateurs here, so we’ll take the slow and easy route. We’ll explore nature, find good spots to watch the animals, and maybe fight some monsters if we’re lucky. Or some mels, if we’re really unlucky. Does that sound exciting to you, Amelia?”

“Can we all handle ourselves?” Amelia asked everyone.

Mino nodded. “Everyone here can hold their own. Especially Aeo, who’s just crazy cool sometimes.”

Aeo leaned back in her seat. “As always, babe.”

Five women who all loved adventure, apparently, descending into the curated, not particularly dangerous depths of a perilous dungeon whose peril had been excised years earlier. Not the biggest of adventures, but exciting nonetheless.

Despite what Mino declared, she WAS going to Floor 4, because that’s where Fourland’s synth making facilities supposedly were. She was going to find it, obliterate it, and deal with the fallout later, and with any luck, she would slip off and do it with these other women none the wiser.

Yes, they were going to slow her down and she would have to think hard on how to split away from the group, but if there was one thing for certain, that was that the hostel was extremely enthusiastic about the dungeon tour, and in away, so was she.

“So, you ready for everything, Amelia?” Mino asked.

“Probably. What do I need?”

“Armor, weapons, supplies... Basically all of that, and I don’t have any spares, sorry. You can go shopping tomorrow, and then we’ll pack up and prepare everything.”

“I’m excited,” Phelia said.

“Yeah, fun,” Hummer said, clearly sarcastic.

The fire in Amelia’s eyes refused to fade. “I’m looking forward to it.” And that was very much an understatement.