The deep roar continued to reverberate throughout the dungeon.

As the roar reverberated, the thick grit which coated the floor rose into the air, making the grit laden air thicker and harder to breathe. The annoying, gritty, dry dust got into my eyes, forcing me to blink so that I could get comfortable and see what was going on.

The shivers that ran through my body were not to do with the cold, dry air within the dungeon.

Just as sudden as the roar started, it stopped.

Slowly, the dry grit settled onto the ground. Neither Alis nor myself, dared to move.

This dungeon was made of seamless stone, but the colour of pale sandstone rather than the grey of the Tower of Trials and platforms on Netherfane.

We must’ve been transported somehow, as the crude stone entrance we entered through wasn’t visible. Instead, we were in the exact centre of a large domed room, much larger than the domed hill had been on the isle. High above us, in the centre of the dome, was a light orb which shone with a brilliantly bright, yet diffuse, light.

There was only a single gigantic passageway out of this room. The entrance of the passageway was easily wide enough for the two of us to walk, arms stretched out, and still not be close to touching the edges of the passageway. It reached up twice as high as it was wide.

Within the passageway there was no light, but in the distance there was a patch of brilliance.

Alis reached into the pouch on her belt and made some markings on a piece of parchment. I looked at what she was doing. It wasn’t a map but some symbols which seemed to mean something.

When she looked up and saw me looking at her, she gave me a cute smile, complete with that dimple, which made her look even more beautiful. This was bad. We were in a dungeon with no obvious way out, and all I wanted to do was to flirt with her. From the twinkle in her eye, I guessed either she was excited about exploring this dungeon, or happy with the fact we got married. Maybe even both.

Still, it was not good that I was distracted by Alis. Especially when there was a creature whose roar sank right into the depths of my being.

‘What do you know about this dungeon?’ I asked Alis.

‘Ah, Netherfane, Netherfane… Ah, yes, it’s a strange dungeon. A relatively peaceful and simple dungeon as long as you don’t anger, or challenge, the Dungeon’s Guardian. For each distinct group which enters the dungeon reforms into a new layout. There are no traps, other than the layout of the dungeon itself. There are few monsters, all sand type, most of whom should be straightforward to defeat.’

Whereas I had been training with dual wielding axes, mana tool, and mana usage, she had been honing her combat skills and learning more about the islands, their dangers, and the few dungeons which had been discovered.

Still, it seemed that on top of her encyclopedic knowledge of bardic tales she had gained a decent factual knowledge too.

‘Oh, the dungeon is split into at least two parts. All of what I’ve said so far deals with the outer dungeon. There is an exit from the outer dungeon back to Netherfane. But the Dungeon Guardian guards the entrance to the inner dungeon. There are no known reports of what lays behind the Dungeon Guardian.’

‘I’m not sure what you think, Alis, but it might be fun to one day come back and challenge the inner dungeon.’ I said.

‘Well, if you think that way… Celameth told me to give you these.’

Alis dug into the pouch on her belt and handed me three mana tools. One was a marble sized ball, made of that black obsidian-like material. It was a message sphere. The second was a hard edged rectangular stone tablet, the same seamless grey which the tower was made from. It comfortably fit in the palm of my hand, and I had no idea what it was for. I couldn’t even sense any mana flowing from it.

Finally, the third, was a cylindric storage device, about the size of my thumb. I could tell that though its capacity wasn’t all that high, it had been enhanced with temporal magic.

When I poured a thread of mana into the message sphere, I heard an answering echo ping from the depths of the tool.

A small image of Celameth’s slender upper body and unisex cute face appeared, floating above the tool. During the time I had known her, she had allowed her hair to grow out. By now, it reached her ears.

Alis moved around the message sphere to stand next to me. We stood comfortably close, touching shoulders.

‘Beloved Klarric and Fellow Wife Alis. I entrusted this sphere to Alis to inform you of the secrets of the inner dungeon and of Netherfane. I have kept these secrets since before the fall of Sillenal. Which means no one outside the three of us knows about them.

‘So if anyone else is there, please stop the message.’

She waited in silence, and we waited with her.

‘Please, Beloved, I mean it. What I am about to say is meant only for our family. Within the depths of Netherfane is a lower dungeon. This lower dungeon is important not only to our family but also to Aggard.

‘I believe that the two of you are strong enough to defeat the Dungeon Guardian. Especially if the two of you use the tools within the storage mana tool. Within there is food I have prepared for the both of you. Though the upper dungeon can be cleared within a day or two, the inner dungeon might take upwards of a month to traverse.

‘Don’t worry about Hallvard and your guide. Focus upon what’s essential, and that is traversing the inner dungeon. When you are in the innermost room, Klarric use the rectangular key. The dungeon will then attune to you and transform.

‘Once it has fully transformed, you will be able to travel to this tower of ours. Please wait for me, Klarric. I long for the day when we can see each other once again. And Alis, the two of us are not in competition. If we were, I would lose. When we meet again, let’s have another discussion about our roles in the life of our Beloved.’

With that, the message sphere stopped taking the thread of my mana.

‘Alis, with what you heard, do you want to continue to the innermost core of this dungeon?’

She grabbed hold of my arm, and started bouncing up and down on her toes. Her eyes were bright and looked straight into mine. ‘Can we, really? I mean, then we’ll be real seekers! We’ll get to be famous.’

Using her hold on my arm to her advantage, she led me into the gigantic dark passageway and deeper into the dungeon.