Nature Dungeon: Level 2

This one was located in a parking lot, which had been blocked off with caution cones and hazard signs.

The blocked off area was quite large, and not centered around the barely-visible dungeon, but it was obvious that the locals had at least noticed something amiss.

The building nearby had a large dent along its side, the scrape leading up to it covered with clear evidence of vehicle paint.

"Did it snatch the driver right out of his car?" Gordon asked, his eyes tracing the line from the dungeon to the wall and the angle of the parking space beside it.

"Looks like it."

Levi moved aside a few cones to make way for their minions, then replaced them behind them. Since they hadn't split up their team at all yet this trip, he anticipated a very easy delve.

"Remember, we don't want to kill anything until we have a chance to assess it," Levi reminded the minions, pointedly looking at Drok.

"Drok, yes," the ogre replied. "No."

Skarm squeaked in assent and Becca ignored everyone, walking into the dungeon before they could congregate properly.

"What do you bet she's going to eat everything before we get there?" Gordon asked Peter in an aside.

Peter laughed. "No bet, she's a cat."

"Let's get in after her, then."

Levi gestured for the rest to head inside too, checking that everyone was accounted for, then stepped inside himself. He hadn't been in a nature dungeon more than once or twice in the past, and wasn't sure what to expect from one so low level.

The ones he'd entered in the future had been so overgrown they could put the amazon to shame. Everything from living swamps to plant monsters to evil mushroom mazes, and they’d never even reached the third level, retreating after the second boss fight without attempting to delve further. It had been a bad day.

When he stepped into this one, he was... not exactly disappointed, but far from intimidated. It was close and tight, hallways rather than rooms, a maze with vines and branches draping down.

The ogres had to duck to get through the halls, while Centoo lowered his head and crawled along the wall, moving slowly as if uncertain if his footing was secure. Skarm slid down off his back to walk with the other gremlins.

Skarm hissed softly, uneasy, while Ward and Two seemed untroubled by the dense overgrowth. Elmire followed Ward, javelin at the ready.

"What should we expect from this place?" Gordon asked.

"Probably a lot of traps, if I'm right. It seems to be a maze type, so fewer monsters and more environmental dangers. Common monsters for a low level..." Levi frowned, trying to remember. "I fought some tree-man things, but I don't think they'd be in one this low in level, at least not like those I fought. Maybe a weaker, smaller version."

"How about poisonous snakes pretending to be innocent vines?" Gordon asked, as one of the vines snapped its jaws at him.

"No, they're just carnivorous environment elements. As long as you stay out of reach, they won’t be able to hurt you. They’re not like shadevines, can’t crawl after you.”

Gordon swatted the vine away with a shudder. "Well, that's alright then. As long as they can only eat me when I'm close."

"They'll always be close." Levi gestured around at the narrow passage. There was enough room for them to walk side by side, but only just, and it would put them well within reach of the snapping vines. "Dungeons are generally designed to kill you as efficiently as possible."

"That's just blatantly untrue. If they wanted to actually kill you, they'd lock you in the first room with the biggest, baddest creature they could."

Levi gestured conciliatorily. "Designed is too strong a word. Point being, they want to eat you, and will do their best to make an environment in which you're likely to end up eaten."

The tunnel branched. Levi slipped on his beast-sight lens, adjusting the makeshift strap. He would be integrating it into that monocle he'd found as soon as he unlocked crafting, until then he didn't want to risk tampering with it any more. It was a precarious enough construction as it was.

Becca had moved off to the right a good distance by now, and Centoo was moving carefully along the wall to the left. Levi couldn't see the actual walls, only the movement of creatures, but that was enough to get a vague idea of the twists of the maze.

"Guys? Split up?"

His minions understood at once and spread out, splitting between the two branches, then splitting again when they reached another split.

"Drok, yes," Drok said, almost crawling his way down the hall Becca had chosen.

Another creature registered at the edge of his vision, something small and fast that darted out at Ward, engaged in a brief scuffle with the gremlin, then disappeared back into the wall. Unlike gremlins, who he could always see hiding in their alcoves, this creature seemed to completely disappear the moment it passed beyond the curtain of plants covering the walls.

"That's unusual," Levi murmured. He couldn't remember any stories about a creature like that. Maybe it grew obsolete, or evolved into something else.

It took three more encounters, one with Centoo, and two with various gremlins, before Levi got a good look at the thing. It most closely resembled a rabbit, but instead of fur it had prickles and its skin was rough and green. The ears were rounded and flexible, with a cluster of yellow spines at the ends.

Level 2

(Cactus Hare)

Health 100%

Now that he saw the label, it did bear a more than passing resemblance to a cactus.

He lunged for it with his beast sword, but it hopped away into the curtain of vines and out of sight. This time he was able to witness the way the branches and vines of the wall rustled and shifted, opening a clear path for it to dart away, too fast for Levi to follow. But he saw its trajectory this time. Upward.

He tilted his head back to search above, and saw the little hare. It was moving through a space twice as far above them as the leafy ceiling, darting about with sudden direction changes as though maneuvering through a maze of its own.

And it wasn't the only one. He saw four others moving through the maze above, and wondered if they'd encountered the same hare, or several different ones.

Now that he knew where to look, he could keep an eye on them and call out warnings to anyone in their vicinity before they dropped down.

But that still left the maze itself to traverse.

Becca finally returned, a dejected Drok and Two in tow. Her branch had ended in a dead end.

Peter and Gordon had gone on down the left branch already, but Levi wasn't worried about them. Between Greg, Henry, and his own minions in the area the cactus hares shouldn't pose any significant threat.

Motioning for Drok to follow, Levi started after them. Crimson seemed to be leading the way, he noted, and so far she hadn't led Peter into a single dead end.

Even as he watched, one of the Cactus Hares darted out of the vine-covered wall, and Crimson reacted at once, biting deep into its neck. Before it could flee, Henry jumped on it, and then it was over. At least the little magma snake was showing her value.

She promptly resumed her lead, and this time Levi recalled his other minions to follow. It seemed she had some innate sense of the place which none of the other minions possessed.

The next time a cactus hare came close to Levi, he was able to snag it with his Beast Bite. He still had an open minion slot, but though he was curious about its stats he’d prefer to save that for something a little bit… better. He smashed it to the ground a few times, stomped on its head for good measure, then released it once it reached 0%.

Halfway through the maze, his beast lens finally caught sight of the boss, waiting patiently in its distant room.

A big, green, blob.