I had bought and prepared everything I would need for our dungeon dive. Water and food being the obvious ones along with a sleeping bag. The foods I had readied were dried meat and hard bread since they can last a long time before spoiling. Dan and Lizz told me the would prepare other necessities so I only had to bring this much. We were going to meet at the city gate before departing. As I walked my mood was high, despite the horrible financial situation I was in, I held my head high. After all, if everything went as planned I would have enough money to buy new equipment.

With a dumb smile glued to my face, I kept walking down the streets before reaching my destination where Dan and Lizz were already waiting for my arrival. It wasn't that I was late, on the contrary, I was early. I guess they were too excited and came even earlier than me. As of now, there are still around half an hour left before our previously agreed meeting time. As they saw me approach I could see a stupidly large grin pasted on Lizz's face and a somewhat small but still noticeable small on Dan's.

"You are late!"

A little bit louder and Lizz's words would be considered a scream. She came close and hugged me out of nowhere I guess she couldn't contain her excitement any longer. Dan simply shook his head before forcibly separating Lizz from me.

"Don't listen to her, you are early, she just couldn't contain herself and forced me to come even earlier alongside her, and don't worry we just got here ourselves about five minutes ago"

He looked as cool-headed as always. However, I was able to tell he was also barely containing his own emotions in check. I laughed a little at his comment. I knew I wasn't late and from the looks on their faces, I could already tell the rest of the story. However, it's nice knowing I guessed correctly.

"Well? what are we waiting for? let's go!"

I raised my fist into the air, and in unison, Dan and Lizz did the same as both of them gave a loud "yea!". Right after that, we departed, our destination? The Masscuro dungeon of course. Its location is two hours from the capital inside a rank D forest however don't let that deceive you. The dungeon itself is ranked D- to A+. Dianna had explained this to me yesterday. Dungeons have two grades instead of one. That is because the first grade is to determine the lower end of the monster's strength and the second for the high end. Meaning for the Masscuro dungeon the weakest monsters are at the D- and the strongest at the B+ ranks. This way of ranking the dungeons lets adventurers know how far should they dive in. For example, our group shouldn't even go inside at all. The thing about adventurer rankings and monster rankings is that monster rankings are more akin to group rankings. What I mean by that is that a monster ranked D- should be tackled by a party of four to six adventurers of the same ranking at minimum. For that reason, Dan and Lizz couldn't enter previously.

Dan and Lizz are C and D+ respectively that would make a group conformed by the two D+ right? Wrong they are only two, so in reality, a group consisting of only them would be at the E+ rank. Add me into the equation and we barely get to be a D- team. However, Dianna knows I am stronger than my current rank even if it's only by half a rank, therefore, she agreed to give us the perm for the first floor.

I was told that at the dungeon entrance permanent camp had been set up by both the adventurers guild and the military. After all, a dungeon break was an issue that concerned both parties. It took us two hours and a half to get to said camp. The two hours of travel time previously mentioned took everything into consideration including facing monsters. Then why it took us another half an hour? simple we were taking it easy, resting whenever we felt like it while also walking at a leisurely pace.

There were many stalls selling different supplies needed to dungeon dive. Then why did we brought our own when we could have bought them here? simple really, the supplies here are at least twice as expensive as in the city, the reason? Whoever brought the supplies here had to go through the forest filled with monsters. Even if there was a road, monster attacks were extremely common. This stalls main customers were new adventurers who came unprepared or unknowing of the increase in price, reach adventurers aka sons of nobles who had no lack of money or adventurers that were planning on diving for an extended period of time.

We walked straight for the resting area, brought out some of our supplies and had a slight snack. Afterwards, we went straight for the dungeon entrance. Well, the actual entrance was in the middle of an inverted fortress, its whole purpose was to act as the first line of defence against a dungeon break. As we reached the entrance to the fortress we were asked by a staff member of the guild to show our guild cards. It was a simple procedure to check if a group or an adventurer were eligible to enter. However, our case is different, and for that reason instead of pulling out our guild cards Dan pulled out the permite that Dianna had made for us yesterday. It took less than five minutes for the staff member to check its authenticity, after which he took out three pendants. These pendants were magical items of low grade, their purpose is to measure and record the levels of miasma on the atmosphere. The reason these were given to us was to ensure we didn't we would stay on the first floor. If we went dipper the pendant would react to the miasma in the air, and by the time we got out and gave them back, the guild would know.

All of these measures were set to prevent young adventurers from entering areas where they would surely die. If someone were to break said rules they would receive severe punishment along with a permanent stain on their track record. Safe to say no one is willing to break the rules, the gains are not worth the dangers.

We took the pendants and went inside. Strictly speaking, you didn't have to wear them only keep them with you at all times. It is also worth mentioning that leaving the pendants on the first floor and then going deeper before retrieving them isn't a viable option either. The dungeon could be considered a living being, one that eats everything it can. As is any object or non-living thing that stays inside the dungeon for too long will be absorbed. The rate of absorption is also uncertain as it always changes. Either way, I tied my pendant on my left wrist, Dan stored his in his pocket and Lizz placed her around her neck. With that, we were ready to go.

The inside of the dungeon was dimly lit by fluorescent moss as we went down the stairs. The stairs were of course mine made, I could tell since when we got to the first floor it looked no different than any other cave except of course for the glowing moss and the constant feeling of dread. This kind of fluorescent moss grows where mana is abundant making dungeons and mana stone deposits their perfect home. The feeling of dread I mentioned before comes from the miasma that permeates the environment. Dungeons, despite their dangers, are an important part of the ecology of any environment as they absorb and transform miasma back into mana. I was intrigued by the whole miasma and mana thing back when I in George's hellish training. Since Dan and Lizz wouldn't stop talking about dungeons and their respective dangers and rewards the subject naturally came up.

I spent a good chunk of my free time in the library back then. This might come as a surprise but I am somewhat of a nerd. I like knowing things even if they might not be useful and for that reason, I researched a lot of things about dungeons. I mean if I am going to be an adventurer I would have to go in one sooner or later.

As I thought about all that information I had researched about our first enemy appeared. It was a large spider. Its legs were extremely long and thing, about two meter each. It reminded me of a daddy long legs but far scarier due to its sheer size. As we spotted it, it also saw us. Without missing a beat it lunged towards us however to its dismay Lizz cleaved it in half with her bastard sword. I am always amazed as to how she can wield such a massive weapon. This first battle could be hardly called as such, however, don't be deceived, things would only get harder from here on out. I say that but most battles were finished in a minute or two. The monsters around these parts where far too weak for any of us, even when they grouped up they hardly presented a threat.

We continued exploring while killing monsters, of course, we also collected the dropped loot. Monsters inside dungeons unlike those from the outside would become a cloud of some a while after being defeated. This was a defence mechanism set by the dungeon to regain as much of the lost energy. However, the dungeon always left something behind, after all just like an angler fish it needed to leave something as bait to lure in its prey.

Things were going smoothly until we met with a group of dirt golems. Despite them being the weakest of the golems their strength and durability is nothing to scoff at. The fight wasn't hard, just tedious as they could take a lot of hits. Finally, after around five minutes of bashing them around, I had enough, I released a punch with a large amount of strength behind it. The last golem standing took it head-on, after all, they are both slow and dumb. The force was enough to send it flying smashing against the wall, where both collapsed, yes both. The wall now had a gaping hole in it, large enough for two people to fit easily, maybe three if they squeezed through it. At the other side stood a corridor, it was similar to the ones we had been in however it looked cleaner, smoother even.

We decided to check it out, after all, secret passages always hold secret treasures, right? As we walked down the new set of corridors we encountered more monsters which were easily and quickly dealt with however as we turned a corner something unexpected happened. I felt an indescribable sense of danger, soon the floor lit up in a purple hue with runs lighting up threatening to activate at any moment. I was the first to react and with all my strength I pushed Dan and Lizz past the runic circle just before it activated. I got disoriented as the light washed over me and then the pendant on my wrist broke.