You are entering the abyssal sanctum

The group paused for a second before continuing into the dungeon.

“Crystal cores are crazy. Their names don’t make any sense.” Cassius muttered

Julien cocked his head, “how so?”

“Well a normal metal core, let’s say between copper and platinum. They have names like earth dungeon or fire dungeon. You know more like descriptions rather than an actual title, but then if you take a dungeon with a crystal core or even a high metallic core like mithril they have names like “The Broken Cavern” or “Abyssal Sanctum”. What is that even supposed to mean?”

“Maybe it has something to do with intelligence. I mean crystal cores have been known to hold grudges and occasionally interact with enlightened races.” Sidney responded with a shrug.

“I always thought names were the system's way of telling you what kind of dungeon you’re entering. Like lesser dungeons having simple descriptors because there is nothing to explain, but true dungeons having a more esoteric description,” Hanna chimed in.

Cassius thought about it for a minute before shrugging and returning his focus to the caves and passages in front of him. It didn’t take long for them to make it to a large cavernous space. As if entering the room had flipped a switch they were immediately attacked by a group of rats. Cassius motioned to Julien, with his brand it would be more beneficial for him to take care of the weaker things that attacked them. Julien nodded and quickly disposed of the rats with a short sword that had been strapped to his hip. Continuing onward they were attacked by a few more rats and a swarm of flies before making it to the other side of the room. Entering the tunnel they found there they noted the presence of creatures. It would seem that the relatively peaceful nature of the first tunnel would not hold true for this one.

Unsurprisingly the second tunnel was much more dangerous than the first. Not only did monsters like bats and spiders continuously harass them, but the frequency of pitfalls sharply increased. The process of fighting through tunnels and then caverns continued another two times before Cassius decided it was time to set up camp. “Hanna, Julien, you guys take first watch Sidney and Maya will take second and I’ll take third.” The others nodded and the group set up camp. It was not unusual to sleep in a dungeon, it certainly was not the safest, but staying awake for potentially days on end was far more likely to get you killed.

Cassius awoke to the sound of fighting. Looking around he could barely see anything. It seemed that the dungeon mimicked a day night cycle by allowing the molten rock to cool down significantly during the night. He quickly rose to his feet ready to join the fight claws raked across his back, making screeching sounds as they skidded across his armor. He swung his left arm out clipping the creature with his shield following up with a slash from his sword ending the creature. A moment later the sound of fighting came to an end.

“What were those things?” Cassius asked the others.

“Sisters of the night, rank D,” replied Maya in a worried tone.

Cassius sighed, “D ranked monsters on the first floor. This place is nasty.”

Cassius considered the situation for a moment before deciding they would use everwake potions. While they were expensive Cassius didn’t want any more surprises. The rest of the party agreed and they set off again.

They passed through the final two caverns without much excitement and finally stood before a massive stone arch. There was a thick dark fog obscuring what lay beyond.

“Be careful, it's likely that’s either the core room or a boss chamber,” At Cassius’s words the others nodded and approached slowly. When they all entered they heard steel slam down behind them. The fog cleared revealing a small army of robed monsters.

Cassius raised his shield blocking a bolt of arcane energy before charging toward the cult. Cassius flew into a rampage as his class ability came into effect tearing through the mutants. His shield dropped to the floor and his fist lashed out slamming straight through another monster's head. Cassius carved a bloody path toward the leader of the group. Finally reaching the monster he didn’t give her a chance to fight his blade plunged into the creature while his hand lashed out and crushed her skull. He turned only to see that the rest of his team had already dealt with the remaining of the cultists.

“You were as terrifying as ever Cassius, but do you really think that was necessary to deal with a first floor boss?” Asked Julien with an exasperated look.

Cassius gave a look of slight embarrassment before sighing and continuing toward the exit.

Sanctus watched the events unfold with slight horror. The fog had been a last minute idea to prevent the adventurers from just taking pot shots at the cult without first entering. Although with this group it didn’t really seem to matter. Sanctus’s first guardian had been completely demolished by the group. And on top of all that Sanctus had forgotten to put a chest in the room. That was the other thing Sanctus was upset about, the adventurers hadn’t found a single chest yet. Sanctus gave an internal huff and returned to watching the group.

Sidney stepped out of the staircase and felt a strange feeling slam into her. Glancing at Julien confirmed her suspicion. “Cassius, this floor is completely filled with holy mana.”

“What do you mean? Is someone else down here?”

“I don’t know but Sidney’s right,” Julien replied. “This place is stale.”

Sidney scowled, but nodded. The group walked further onto the sand. Sidney began to think, a chill going down her spine. If this was what she thought it was, it would bring a whole host of problems. Glancing again at Julien she could tell he was thinking the same thing. Before she could fall back into thought she heard Hanna squeal.

“A chest!”

Sidney turned in confusion “what?”

“Look, it's a chest with treasure!”

The rest of the group looked to where the roge was pointing and sure enough partially buried in the sand was a stone chest.

“It looks locked,” Commented Maya in a deadpan tone.

“Not a problem,” Responded Cassius. He strode over and tore the lid off revealing a few small silver bars. Cassius triumphantly reached his hand down only to quickly yank it back out when the silver bars bubbled and turned into flies. A wave of Sidney’s hand caused tiny lights to appear around the flies cooking them.

“Maybe we don’t do the brute force method next time,” Hanna said exasperated. After about a day of walking and the occasional forced swim Hanna spotted the second chest, it blended in with the sand and it took Sidney a minute to see it even after Hanna pointed it out. This time Hanna carefully inserted small metal hooks, a few seconds later they heard a click and the chest was pushed open. Hanna pulled out a small necklace.

Sidney’s eyes widened, “May I take a look at that?”

“Sure it's good quality, probably around one and a half gold,” Hanna replied tossing it to Sidney.

Looking it over Sidney began to shake her head, “This is a talisman.”

“Are you sure?” Nearly all of the others asked in unison.

“Ya she’s sure,” responded Julien, a scowl plastered across his face. “This pretty much confirms the existence of an archangel.”

Sidney nodded and gestured for them to continue. Then paused, “Is it alright if I keep this? It can come out of my cut.”

“It’s fine there is no need to take it out of your cut,” Cassius said after looking for confirmation with the others.

“Thanks,” Sidney responded, happily putting it on and beginning to circulate mana through it.

Another few hours passed before they reached the end of the floor. “Please don’t tell me we need to go underwater,” groaned Maya.

Cassius shrugged, Hanna grabbed two small plants out of her bag and plopped one in her mouth. Maya gave another defeated groan before taking the other and putting it in her mouth. The rest of the group had their own ways of breathing underwater and thus didn’t need to use bubble sprout. The small plant was capable of rapidly producing fresh air and so all one had to do was place it in your mouth and breathe through there.

They swam down and found a small cave entrance where they came face to face with two monsters. A huge octopus and a writhing mass of wormlike creatures floated in front of them. Before either party could react they were met with a blinding light. The group reeled and before they could react both creatures rushed past them exiting through the whey the party had entered. When their vision cleared they could see a winged woman standing in front of them. Her wings gave a flap and all the water in the room vanished.

“HI MY NAME IS CETRIAL! DO TRY AND SURVIVE!” With no further warning the angel leapt forward with blinding speed. It was all Cassius could do to desperately lift his shield, the blow sending him into a wall. Maya began firing arrows only to have the lightning jump from the woman and blast apart each arrow. Cassius returned to the battle as Hanna and Julien joined in. Sidney stood there shocked at witnessing an archangel. Sidney fell to her knees staring revenantly at the being in front of her.

The angel suddenly appeared in front of her, “STAND UP AND FIGHT!” She screamed before giving Sidney a sharp kick to the ribs. The angel then turned and parried Cassius’s blade with her bare hand. She then kicked him into the same wall she had previously. Then she rushed towards Julien and suddenly stopped. “You smell like Markus.”

“Umm, okay?” Said Julien in a questioning tone. “Is that a good thing?”

“Huh, it's just a thing. Think of it like noticing your brother's pet running around your bedroom.”

“Brother?” The party said in unison.

“Uh kinda, we are in the same pantheon so it’s similar.” At those words the group just stared dumbfounded. “Uggg, your looks of confusion just killed the mood. You win. good job making it through the dungeon, now go home.” The group of adventurers just continued to stare.

“Umm, don’t we usually get a reward or something for completing the floor?” Hanna asked with a sly grin.

“Floors not done, go away.”

The party looked at each other before Cassius stepped in. “Can we see the core?”

Cetrial considered it for a moment. "The one that smells like Markus can and the girl that stinks of another angel can if she renounces them and becomes my pet instead."

Sidney shrugged, all she had was a minor blessing from a weak angel that had taken residence in a small church she had lived near. Cassius looked at Sidney and she nodded.

Sidney took a deep breath and said “I accept.”

As those words passed through her lips Cetrial gave a wicked grin and Sidney’s vision went black.