POV Tsethem Adventuring Group

“Why do we have to go to this godforsaken mountain again?” whined Samuel, the shadow kin combat healer of the group.

After hearing Samuel whine, the group groaned. “Samuel, for the last time, we are going to the Everlasting mountains to survey the new dungeon discovered there. Besides, we’re almost at the town,” responded Tore, a human knight and the leader of the Tsethem group of adventurers.

“You have always hated the mountains,” snicked Leire, the group’s female elven ranger.

“Oh, lay off him Leire, you’re just like him when we have to travel over water,” scolded Theodore, the human healer of the group. “And besides, it’s a great honour to be chosen to survey a new dungeon.”

“Thank you, mom,” laughed Niko, a half-elf-half human mage.

The group was currently travelling to the town closest to the reported dungeon, Corondale. Corondale is a town centred on the split of the corona river split into two other rivers, one leading into the Portgan lake and the other going deeper into the Outrey forest. It was a somewhat new settlement, with no proper guild master, but there was a tiny guild. The group knew that one was being sent, but they did not know if there would be one when they got there. But the guild should have the information that they needed to complete their job.

The group finally crossed the Corona river into Corondale. It was a small town with a small dock, a small collection of businesses and small guilds, while the rest were homes and living areas. The Tsethem walked down the main street and finally got to the building with a sign that said “Adventurers Guild”.

When the group walked into the guild, they were met with only a couple of people loitering inside the building and a human receptionist.

When the receptionist saw the group, she perked up. “Oh! You guys must be the adventuring group Tsethem sent here to survey the new dungeon.” smiled the receptionist. “If you wait right here, I’ll get the new guild master. She wanted to see you as soon as you came.”

Seeing Tore nod his head, the receptionist ran off up the stairs to get the guild master.

“I guess they sent the guild master before us,” said Samuel.

Before anybody else in the group could respond, the guild master came down from the second floor and smiled at them.

“Hello, it’s great that you’re here. You came at the right time. My name is Chiura Ogi, the new guild master for the town of Corondale. If you would come with me to my office,” said guild master Ogi as she turned back and walked up the stairs.

The group followed her up into her office. Guild master Ogi walked around her desk, sat in her chair, and smiled at the group.

She just stared and smiled, freaking out the group. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes with the guild master just smiling at them before Tore got fed up and asked, “Why did you call us up here?”

Guild master Ogi blinked and laughed. “My, my, my, most people don’t last that long when I smile at them.”

Getting annoyed, Leire blurted out, “Why did you do that?”

“It’s the way that I find out if you have the strength to be a proper adventurer. And I’m not talking about physical strength, but mental strength. Where I was posted before, there were a shit ton of newbies that came in the guild then going out and dying because they overestimated their power. So, I do this smile to see if an adventurer becomes scared when I meet them.”

“I like that. It’s smart and seems effective,” said Theodore.

“Anyways, I called you guys up here to debrief you and give you all of the information that has been collected. From the group that first reported to have found the dungeon, the dungeon seems to have made at least its first floor into a forest, with reported basic creatures, and plants, with kobold monsters. Of course, that might have changed with the mana fluctuation that happened near the dungeon recently. There could be significant changes to the dungeon just from the mana or even the dungeon changing itself. We all know how dungeons like to grow. So be aware of your surroundings, and remember to try to go as far as you can. And bring back any details about the dungeon that you see. We don’t know how large the dungeon currently is, so prepare for the long run. You’re dismissed.” With that, guild master Ogi dismissed the Tsethem group, and the group walked down to the first floor.

“I like her,” said Niko. “She seems quite entertaining.”

“She was probably a guild leader in one of the bigger outlier towns at the end of the Everlasting mountains and right at the pathway to cross into the Rahas continent. That place can be incredibly dangerous, but there tends to be a lot of newbies there trying to make it as adventurers,” responded Theodore.

“Okay, guys, here’s the plan. We’ll room at an inn tonight, then at first light tomorrow, we head out to the dungeon. We bring everything that we can to survive an unknown period of time in the dungeon, and we’ll only go as far as we can until we have to. Our goal is to get as many floors surveyed and mapped as we can,” said Tore.

“Let’s ask the receptionist where the best and cheapest lodgings are,” said Samuel with a flirty smile.

“You just want to flirt with her,” scolded Theodore.

Samuel smirked and walked up to the receptionist and asked where the best inn was. After a couple of minutes, he came back with an answer. He said the receptionist, Kaya, said that the best in with great prices is the river oasis, located just off of the main street.

Taking Kaya’s suggestion, the group walked over to the inn, paid for a room, had dinner, and stayed for the night.

* * *

Just as the sun rose, the Tsethem adventuring group got up and prepared for going into the dungeon. They sharpened their weapons, made sure their gear and armour were not broken and made sure to have healing and mana potions. The whole group did this, but Leire did something different. She prepared something special to give to the dungeon and made sure that she had everything she needed.

After the group was ready, they set out towards the dungeon. After an hour, they finally made it to the supposed entrance of the dungeon. The group took one look at the supposed entrance and the mana that was coming out of it. They knew that this was either a powerful dungeon or an old dungeon, just by the mana’s density flowing out of the entrance.

Just as the group was about to enter the dungeon, Leire took out a wooden bowl and poured a flask that contained a low-grade healing potion into the bowl. She then set the bowl down right inside the entrance on a flattish rock. Leire then said, “Hello, dungeon spirit. Take my offering as a sign that we come in peace. We do not wish your core any harm.” With that, the Tsethem adventuring group finally began the job that they were sent here to do.