The next morning Nikolaos’s mother waited patiently for her son at the front door.

“Mom I want to go to the new dungeon,” Nikolaos announced as he exited his room, resolved, fully prepared for his travel with a sword, carving knife and bow on him, and a bag full of items he would need.

Already knowing what her son would do Nikolaos’s mother was practically grinning ear to ear, as she pulled him in for a hug, which he returned in kind. The tender moment lasted a few seconds as she knew today would be the day she lets her son go.

“oh, just one moment.” Nikolaos’s mother went into her workroom and came back with a particularly colored set of armor and plops it into her son's arms “Go on try it on.” she started to urge him.

Looking at it was a, weird possibly made out of leather cuirass, the inside was definitely Rodo fur, perfect for cold nights, but the leather on the outside was a complete mystery to Nikolaos, it was a greenish sort of color and stretchy, almost to the point one could mistake it for rubber, yet it still felt firm enough that it could even take blow from an ax.

“I just so happened to find some time to pinch it from some those abominations skin in-between battles.” Nikolaos’s mother proudly announced giving him a thumbs up while grinning.

Putting on the armor, Nikolaos broke out into smiles at his mother’s actions, it was just like her to see opportunity even in darkest of times, not only had she skinned those nightmare beasts during all the commotion during the flowering night incident but she also turned it into armor. With everything said and done Nikolaos gave his mother one last hug before sending him out the door.

Now on his own Nikolaos made his way out of the town and found the cheapest carriage he could, which was free as it was already paid for by the Adventurer’s Association to bring anybody who wanted to come to the new dungeon, of course, people with no adventurer’s license were given priority.

The ride to the new dungeon was long, uneventful, cramped and smelly.

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(Dungeon town, front gate, Nikolaos P.O.V)

Upon arriving and exiting the carriage I found myself right outside the newly forming dungeon town, a tall wall made of wood had already been erected and checkpoints already set up to screen who would be entering the town.

The line going into town had been proceeding smoothly but that was when some trouble started the line came to a grinding halt as an argument erupted between two girls.

One girl had long golden-brown hair tied up into a ponytail and sharp blue eyes which gave a sense of harshness but also regality, she was most likely from the western dutchy and was most likely a noble too seeing she was carrying a full set of plate armor with an ornate long sword by her side, which was admittedly a strange sight to behold but also spoke wonders about how fit she was.

The other was a shrine maiden from the eastern kingdom that was on the ground, short neat black hair and brown eyes, her layered silken robes and staff both slightly caked in mud, not that she seemed to notice much, as she was helped up by a man with silver hair.

It was hard to tell what exactly happened since it was so sudden, but it mostly sounded like it was over something childish, well the parts I could hear over the sound of the crowd anyways.

The guards acted quickly and broke up the, admittedly one-sided argument, neither girl had any authority while in a dungeon town since it wasn’t affiliated with either country, but the guards also didn’t want to detain them for questioning either, they definitely weren't paid enough to deal with such a childish argument, so they just let them off with nothing more than a warning and left them to go on their merry way.

The shrine maiden seemed mostly unfazed by dutchy girls attempts to admonish her, as she immediately went into her own world of her own delusions muttering something while exuding a pink aura, as her attendants drag her off into town. The noble girl, on the other hand, stomped off in a huff with her attendants following off after her.

Seeing them go off like that I made a mental to stay away from the two. they were definitely trouble, and seeing as they were also likely here to register as adventurers as well, we were going to have occupational overlap.

The line moved quickly after that, making it to the checkpoint and after going through the proper procedures I was allowed entry.

Walking through the dungeon’s town main street there were multiple buildings in various states of construction but there was one building that stood above the rest, it was most likely rushed to completion to serve as the town hub while construction was underway.

Entering the building I quickly made my way to the front desk squeezing my way through builders, adventurers and officials that were rushing around trying to finish as much work as possible, paid the registration fee, grabbed a job posting from the notice board and slipped out as fast as I came.

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Time passed by as I jumped from job to job, most were simple resource transportation or bringing food to the workers, other jobs were a bit more complex having me don some tools (loaned out of course) and working as a builder jumping between construction groups as a contractor.

The town was looking more like a town each day, even though it’s far from completion, buildings were being completed, more and more adventurers were flooding into town each day, and the biggest thing was that the dungeon would be open soon.

Currently, I sit waiting in the bar area of the adventurers association hall which used to be the hub building, the reason, a week ago I noticed a poster on the notice board advertising a training camp for new adventurers.

“It was finally time!” I thought to myself doing a fist pump in my mind, though it was short-lived as out of the corner of my eye I saw trouble brewing in the near future.

It was those two again, I let out a sigh in resignation.

Those two, yep, the two girls that held up the line at the checkpoint. They really made a name for themselves since I last saw them.

While working in town I heard their names spoken quite often, Tsukiko and Antonia, the former being the shrine maidens name and the later the dutchy nobles.

Their fighting is well known among the many of the new adventurers, no matter what time what occasion whenever they meet they’re bound to end up fighting each other in one way or another. It actually became a pass time to place bets on how long it would take for them to start a fight.

Well at least, for now, things are under control, the shrine girl was completely in her own pink-tinted world, the object of her delusions was one of the receptionists that worked at the front desk, Virgil was his name, I found out having dealt with the man several times during my stay in town.

Just before he was about to start talking about the training camp he called out to someone behind us, it was in such a happy tone that it took everyone in the room by surprise, almost in tandem everyone turned looking for the cause of his sudden outburst.

It was easy to pick out whoever he was calling to, it was a girl who looked around the same age or younger than all the others here standing behind the receptionist desk looking disheveled and messy, her appearance stood out among the adventurer association worker’s neat and prim uniforms.

And just like the calm before the storm, I felt the drafts shift a bit, the placated maiden girl who just a moment ago had been in her own dream world snapped back into reality exuding a force that would even make dungeon monsters run. Meanwhile, the dutchy girl just gave her a look of contempt with a hint of pity before turning away.

Seeing the scene before me I can only offer her a silent prayer. Especially so since the maiden girl's followers are now joining in with their own death glares. I hope that the new girl doesn't end doing something that affects everyone else who's looking to keep out of this mess.

Luckily the orientation ended without any major problems. As we heading out from the building I and several others chose to walk at the back of the group just in case those two end up fighting, we didn’t know each other's names but we all understood one thing that we were kindred spirits in trying not to be collateral when those two end up fighting.

Suddenly the new girl called out to our little group, surprising us and sending a chill down our the spines, the girl’s loud greeting had drawn the attention of the two tyrants who were at the front, their glares where quite....... disconcerting to say the least.

Jogging up to us she suddenly bursts out into a stream of words that were too quick and jumbled together to completely make out, but it was clear what her intentions were. Almost telepathically we knew what needed to be done.

I give a quiet “hi” to get her a bit closer, as she gets a bit closer to hear me I pull her into the center of our group and try to explain to just how deep in she is right now. It’s not like I have anything against her but right now I would rather like to not disturb the balance right now and set those two off since this is gonna be a long trip.

Arriving at the dungeon I noticed just how simpler it looks compared to the one at home which is covered in vibrantly colored plants and flowers, proceeding down the stairs we officially entered the dungeon.

The entrance to dungeon was as barren as it was on the outside, just empty shelves with a counter with some chairs and tables set up parallel to it, though does give off a quaint feeling, I’ll give it that. A little girl that was most likely the dungeon’s avatar was sitting behind the counter, that was in the top left-hand corner of the room, staring listlessly at the contents of a large book welcomed us as we enter.

Returning the sentiment several people including myself scanned the room before checking the bookshelves, tables, floors, wall anything that may be of interest or hide a secret that’ll give us an edge in the dungeon, or information worth selling to the adventurers association, though I doubt we’ll find anything of use, secret areas and the like are usually very well kept and require several steps to unlock, though it is a nice pipe dream.

After a while of searching, I catch a bright light out of the corner of my eye, the source was from an object the new girl had in her bag. Seeing this the dungeon avatars widen in surprise (at least by a little bit) before asking the girl for her book, As the book touched the dungeon avatar’s hands it disintegrates into wisps light, some heading to a bookshelf and others into the hand of the girl form into a red cloth.

Before anybody can ask questions Virgil urged us to move on and headed deeper down in the dungeon ignoring any protests, and as herd mentality dictated, most of the group started following him down the stairs not wanting to be left behind.

Herded through the doorway and stepping foot in the first official floor of the dungeon we were met with sparse woodlands, many were mesmerized by the landscape before them, but I for one couldn't keep my eyes off of the various creatures that lived on this floor.

Many resembled ones that I had seen before, one had a fluffy tail like a rodo but it had brown fur that had a tint of orange in it and white fur on its underbelly another major difference was that its tail was considerably shorter than that of a rodo’s.

As we walked through the dungeon I noticed that many of the creatures on this floor were fairly meek and skittish. Everything was serene normally this would be good but it's different when you’re in a dungeon, nothing trying to kill is a lot more suspicious. Well aside from that, this trek has been fairly nice.

Time passed and passed and passed and passed as we trekked through the dungeon or at least it should have but honestly it could’ve been a couple of minutes or days for all I know, what I do know is that I'm tired as all hell a sentiment shared by the others as they panted and complained, our perception of time was completely null and void on this floor the clouds rolled on and on eternally yet night never comes.

Always have a way to keep time I noted in my head, not knowing when to stop because it’s always midday on this floor, having what you think should be and what you're actually feeling thrown out of sync must be hell, actually I can confirm that it, this does feel like hell.

Hearing everyone's complaints the guides, who haven't even broken a sweat yet, decided it was probably best to set up camp before somebody collapsed. Taking this chance I took out some preserved fruits that I bought beforehand, it was jelly made from a fruit found in the dungeon back at home, and some stale bread that's given out to workers from time to time as a bonus.

Sitting cross-legged on the grass I munch down on my meal, although I'm eating and should be minding my own business I can’t help but observe the various different adventurers goings-on, talking to their friends, setting up their camp or whatever.

The dutchy girl was organizing everyone in her group in a pretty efficient manner, a few were setting up some rocks to use as a foundation, others assembling posts together and some were even unfurling out the cloth for the tents to air them out.

On the other side of the camp the maiden girl was distributing food to her followers while performing some sort of little ceremony, it’s not every day you get to see empire style magic though what art she’s using is lost on me, taking some item of food in her hand she would do a chant causing some sprites of light to appear from the ground and imbue itself into the food.

“I wonder.” is something I find myself muttering as I watch the scene unfold.

“those two are talented aren’t they.” surprised I jerk my head to the side I find that it was Virgil who decided to sneak up on me.

Seeing me with a mixture of confusion and surprise painted on my face he gives me a knowing smile before continuing on with his one-sided conversation.

“those two while they may not act like it most of the time, they really are talented when it comes to leading their peers.” he nods in the direction of the noble girl, she and her group had finished putting up their tents and had moved on to making a fire pit, somewhere even carving little seats and benches.

“look at the armored girl over there, Antonia, she’s a capable leader, not afraid to get her hands dirty, level headed for the most part, and if there's a role someone can fulfill a role she’ll make certain to find it, just look at how efficiently everyone is working,” Virgil said to follow up his previous statement.

“she sure can be really oppressive though,” I added.

Everything had to go according to her plans, while she’s not above compromise you better make a well thought out argument or else you’ll get harsh retort from her, that paired with her icy stare and her demeanor makes it so there’s not many who want to challenge her decision. Really the only ones that can reach a compromise with her or change her mind are her attendants, and even then there are some things that she won't change her mind on like her grudge against the maiden girl.

To my observation, Virgil simply gives a nod and then motions towards the maiden girl and her group.

She was still blessing food handed to her from her followers and to my surprise even people who weren't usually part of her group flocked around her waiting their turn. Unlike the absentminded crazy look shes around Virgil she actually looked like a shrine maiden, for once, she spoke in a soft and tenderly manner to those around her, you could mistake her as a pure girl every time she smiled.

“despite her flaws, she has a mix of maturity and innocence that draws people to her some look up to her others want to protect her, and while you might not see it now she’s fairly perceptive for her age,” Virgil tells me in a sagely manner.

......... I was a bit dubious about that statement, maybe it’s because I only see her in her rotten form but I feel like he might be messing with me, but regardless of what I might feel, people are definitely gathering around her.

“they’ll definitely become pillars for this generation of adventurers and spearhead the exploration of this dungeon.” he ends with another smile as he seems to wait for my response.

I give him a shrug in response “I'm sure they’ll make it as adventurers but they’ll only be okay adventurers unless they grow a bit more.”

I've seen many adventurers similar to them come and go back at home big personalities, eccentric, capable but flawed in one way or another, probably the most troublesome type of adventurer to deal with and downright volatile if not handled correctly.

“it’s my job to guide them down the right path” Virgil nods at my assessment looking as if he was well aware of what I was going to say.

......

.....

...

..

.

seeing as there was nothing left he wanted to say, I try to take the opportunity to ask him why he’s telling me all this and not Sabastian the other guide.

“so wh-. “ when I was about to pop the question Sabastian suddenly calls for Virgil as he sat next to the newly built fire pit.

“you have a good head on your shoulders, well behaved and tries their best to stay out of trouble, all good traits really, but that makes you overly cautious and prone to inaction. To give you an assessment of my own at best you’ll probably end up as an okay adventurer.” he walks away heading into the woods with the new girl while she pulled a boy along by the scurf of his shirt.

Looking off in the distance I think about what he said.

“overly cautious, huh.” with those final words I down the last slice of bread with jelly take a swig out of my water skin to wash it down and pack the rest up later, it was time to set up shelter.

As I started to affix the tent poles into the ground I noticed Sabastian sneaking off into the woods, maybe he was off to take a washroom break?

Awhile later once I finished pitching the tent, I noticed that Sabastian nor Virgil and his group had returned yet.

Looking around I see the others also getting weary off their surroundings as they realized both of their guides were gone and they were in the middle of a new dungeon, unprepared and ignorant of the things lurking in it.