Back to what Darius was curious about. The first was the Element(s) and the second was that Dungeon Core(s) had the same thing. Did this mean that a single dungeon could have more than one core controlling it?

If so, was this how multi-element dungeons were born? So it wasn't that one core could contain more than one element, but rather that there was a need for more of them to work like a unit to achieve this?

Or was it that cores could have multiple elements, and one could just toss in more to double or triple the power and scale? Was this how dungeons climbed the grades?

So many questions, so few answers!

The third and final thing Darius noted was the addition of (damaged) beside the grade of the dungeon core. So not only was this dungeon core a newborn with very little power, but someone had also done something to it?

Well, that was certainly disappointing. However, an interesting thing to note was that the core had never spent any of its gathered energy to strengthen itself.

Looking at the energy gathering rate and the total, it had certainly been around for a long time to accumulate this much. Then, the fact that it was a newborn might not be due to its age, but its current level of power? Could it be that because it had been damaged, it was unable to fix itself or grow stronger?

Interesting!

Very interesting!

It seemed like coming here and trying to claim this dungeon for himself was a great idea, for there was much to learn about dungeons in Faust and why they were so integral to the functioning of society.

Darius wasted no more time as he and Gunner walked into the dark maw of the dungeon, being teleported to a unique instance of their own.

Once they arrived, Darius took stock of his surroundings silently, Gunner coming to stand in front of him as he did so.

The area they were in was a long, wide tunnel that was extremely dark. Visibility was exceedingly poor, and had Darius not tossed a fireball forward to see how far it went, he would not have known that the tunnel before them stretched at least a few kilometers.

This was a Darkness element dungeon, so it made sense that the atmosphere would be ominous and the environment would favor creatures of such type. Since this was only the first floor it should be full of Amateur beasts.

Darius and Gunner moved into the dark tunnel laxly. It didn't even take 5 steps before they were ambushed by a canine creature made out of shadow. Its body was mostly elemental material that seemed like it was on fire, wisps rising from its skin and dissipating.

[Shadow Beast (Wolf) - Level 2 Monster

HP: 18/18 MP: 2/2 STA:10/10]

The only non-elemental aspects of the monster were its two rows of sharp teeth, its deadly claws, and hate-filled red eyes. It tried to pounce on Gunner who was in the lead, but the large lad didn't even bother to look at it as he smacked the monster away with one hand.

The monster howled in pain and then disintegrated on the spot. Against Gunner who had 25 points of Strength and was wearing the Soldering Gauntlets, one casual hit was enough to kill this weak thing without even using skills.

This same scene kept repeating itself every 5 or so steps, as Gunner kept bashing the monsters that jumped out of the shadows from all angles into oblivion. Even those that tried to ambush Darius from behind were pulled over with the special ability of the Soldiering Gauntlets and then bashed away casually.

Any sensible beast would have realized that it would be impossible for them to deal with the duo and that these two young men should be avoided. Alas, these ones in particular were incorrigible. They kept attacking using the same means, always from the same sorts of positions and at the same timing, not even trying to come at them as a group.

After Darius and Gunner had traveled deeper, the strength of the monsters increased proportionately, just as their number. Instead of one at a time, sometimes two or three would jump out.

However, this meant little to Gunner as he would grip them over and then bash them as many times as he needed to in order to end them.

It created a strange sight where this almost 7-foot tall fellow was waving his arms around as he walked casually, a shorter fellow at 6 feet walking behind him with no inclinations to add himself to the fight nor put in some effort.

Even when they encountered Shadow Beasts at level 15, nothing changed for the duo. Gunner didn't even activate his Earth Guardian skill, as his other numerous passives worked in the background to empower him in every way.

Darius predicted that they would only have to get serious once they entered the Adept floor, but he had no plans to kill any monster down there because it would grant them experience, and the last thing he wanted was to level.

So how were they supposed to gain AP and SP if they were so cowardly as to not level up? Well, wasn't that the Events mechanic was for? Darius planned to fulfill the one for Thor's Hammer right after he was done with this dungeon, and then there was also that vampire coffin near the homestead that they had ignored in the past.

Aside from that, there should be many other Events out there for them to partake in that could give them AP and SP as a reward without forcing them to gain too many levels.

This was also why Darius told Foldo he would be paying them a visit, for it was time to brand a new servant. With another mouth to feed, the split up exp would slow down their growth even in the case where the details of an Event would force them to kill something.

Darius had considered many things over the 5 year period, and it was now time to slowly put them into play one by one in order to achieve his goals.