Dungeon dweller team

It has been a good year for Samantha and the rest of her group. It was a hard choice to leave Zlavawl to come to such a backdoor city such as Narmis. But it was worth it just for the easier and regular access to the dungeon.

They arrived at Narmis 6 years ago now, and today makes it 8 months from the day she and her team validated the requirements to apply as dungeon keepers. That would mean being in charge of a dungeon, its delving, resources and everything related to it.

New dungeons are a rarity, but dying or retiring DD (dungeon dwellers), are common enough. And Niloofar, the actual owner of Narmis’s dungeon, is nearing a hundred year of age. She was and is still powerful, otherwise she would not be permitted to administer a dungeon on her own. But she has been talking about her retirement with her secretary, and words got out.

While Samantha’s group is not the strongest in the region, by far, they are well organized and have proven to be reliable in case of emergencies. So their application is either the best, or near the best there is in the region.

Samantha was preparing for the delve her team was scheduled to get at 9 AM, one that should last nearly a week, when Nebile, her team’s scout, arrived in the room and informed her that their team is asked to assemble in Niloofar’s office in 10 minutes.

At the scheduled time, 8:05, Samantha and her team were in front of Niloofar’s desk. The old woman offered them a dream job: “A monster has been spotted nearing Orpul’s village. From its behavior, it is thought to come from a tenderfoot dungeon. It is unknown if it has already begun its first graft.” Niloofar said, her voice still sounding as if she had lived 50 years instead of nearly double that.

She took a deep breath before resuming. “ Your mission is to go to Orpul and track the dungeon core’s position. In the case of it already having had its first graft, you are to establish a defendable position to keep it under control and take charge of its presence until ordered contrary. In the case of the core not having achieved its first graft, you are to take possession of it and bring it back here.”

“Also, in the case it is not a monster produced by a dungeon, you are to take the appropriate measures to assure the villager’s security. Do you have questions?”

The question and answer was quick to finish, excitement and impatience surging in the group. While a tenderfoot dungeon, those less than 3 years old, is not directly interesting because of its feeble capabilities, it is considered an enormous opportunity.

The aged dungeons have already developed their genre and affinities, while a young one can be influenced and shaped to produce specific resources. It takes years to reimburse the initial investment, but the older it gets while being shaped, the more it accepts being shaped and influenced as its owners want.

And better yet, if it has not yet had its first graft, meaning it has not finished building its first arena and scene, commonly referred as the first floor, then they can take it away to place wherever they want. Basically having the ability to plant a dungeon where they want.

The regulations of the DD stipulate that when a team is organized to investigate a new dungeon, in the case its existence is proved and the team successfully establishes a new DD ward, then the team is declared in charge of this new dungeon. This right can be canceled in rare cases, but the conditions are hard to meet.

Samantha and her team did not even talk after getting out of Niloofar’s office, they separated to go and prepare all their belongings. In 30 minutes they were all out of Narmis and scurrying on the track to Orpul.

Ordinary people would take around 3 days to travel from town to village, but for DD it is just a long jog they are able to finish in a single day. They would take time to rest midway for thoses who don’t specialize in their physical capabilities, namely the casters, more focused on their mana control and flinging spells for battle.

Along their way, about a quarter of the distance still separating them from Orpul, their group encountered 3 people on the track, going in the same direction as them. Once the two groups were near, they engaged in a discussion.

“Are you perhaps the ones who signaled the monster's presence in Orpul?” Samantha asked while already knowing the answer. Being polite is important, even more if a dungeon is discovered near the village. A good relationship would be beneficial in many ways, what if the locals don’t want to share food or water? The group would need to dedicate time for gathering living necessities themselves. It is simple to understand, but easy to overlook.

The group of three was surprised to be identified in this manner, they left Narmis as soon as possible to get back to Orpul quickly. They wanted to make the trip to Narmis and back to Orpul a 5 days and a half journey instead of a 6 days one. It also made them spare money, not having to pay an establishment to sleep.

But to have been catched-up to so quickly, they found it rather suspicious. Hardwin, a 31 years old farmer asked: “We indeed signaled the monster that came INSIDE of the village, but we did so 2 days ago. So, who are you lots?” There was some animosity in his voice, making his wariness evident.

Samantha, being the one who engaged the conversation, presented herself. “I am Samantha, the representative of this small group. We are dungeon dwellers, this morning we received the mission to secure your village and investigate the monster that entered your village.” She said, keeping a courteous smile on her face the whole time.

Amon, the second villager who made the journey, the third being Cren, said with a small air of embarrassment. “I think what he meant was how can you already be here? Even more so if you left only today.” Samantha raised an eyebrow at the question.

“You are not familiar with dungeon dwellers it seems. How to explain it…-” Samantha was thinking when the woman in plate armor at her left talked. “We just ran, duh. What is hard to understand?” Her name is Marianne, a DD specialized in physical resistance and reinforcement.

Before one of the villagers could talk again, Samantha talked. “You probably heard that dungeon dwellers use magic and such to become stronger, yes? Well, there are permanent reinforcements that I don’t have the right to explain, but to keep it simple, we are way stronger than what we look like.”

Samantha saw the suspicion on her interlocutors faces, so she made a discreet sign to Kunibert, their arcane mage, to make a point for her words. He sighed and tiredly said: “Well, better to give a demonstration.” With the single action of raising his hand, Kunibert made a sphere hover above his hand, the thing was the size of a human head, the color at its surface slowly changing, making the impression it was made from shifting rainbows.

Then he launched it far away, around 200 meters away. When the sphere met the ground, half of it passed through it, but then it exploded, sending dirt in every direction. Samantha formed a barrier to block all debris and projectiles. The explosion did not produce any smoke, so the 2 meters wide hole in the ground was immediately apparent.

“There, now even if you don’t trust us, you should be able to see that we can take care of your matter.” Said Kunibert like it was a matter of fact. For this commentair he got thanked by a hit behind the head by Nebile, the scout of the team. “Stop being rude, can’t you do that for even a day?” She said, while being a head shorter than Kunibert, the man knew not to start a conflict with her. He already tried years ago, and the dagger he got in his ass cheek made him have nightmares for weeks.

Cren, Adam and Hardwin were a little dumbfounded by both the explosion and the interaction between the members of the group of 7 individuals. “I don’t think I understand what their point is?” Adam said, more to himself than a real question.

Samantha simply explained. “It is simple, with that little stunt, you should know that we have spent a considerable amount of time in a dungeon, and I don’t know if you have that knowledge, but hunting dungeon monsters has its perks, one of which is reinforcing yourself.” She explained it with her smile plastered on, this time seeming a little more natural.

Still not really thinking, Adam said: “I guess, even if we didn’t want your help, we couldn’t prevent you from doing it.” Cren placed his hand on Adam’s shoulder, Both to calm him and to signal for him to stop talking. Adam is a young adult, he is 21 years old and has rarely left the village. But Cren, with his 37 years and all his experience with going to town to sell the pelts he makes, has experience dealing with people.

“If you were not dungeon dwellers, your group would have made rumors about itself. So there are no more things to prove, I still find it impressive that you caught up to us in two thirds of a day while we had to walk 2 days to get here. Will you go ahead, or would you finish the journey with us?”

This time it was Sarsaw who answered. The man is a spell caster specialized in healing and casting support type spells. “Well, I think we will finish the journey together, I’ll just use a spell of endurance and one of recovery and swiftness. It should let you follow our rythme, only if you want though. I won’t oblige it to you.”

Samantha nudged him with her elbow, whispering to him so only him and her team could hear her. “Wow, look at that. The mana keeper decided to spend some on his own! What a surprise!” Her tone made it clear it was not a serious talk, just humor. The others looked at Sarsaw will smiling, while Sarsaw held back from glaring at her.

“So”, said Samantha to the villagers. “Would you accept to finish your journey with us? With the reinforcement spells my camrade talked about, we should be at Orpul less than an hour after the night settles.”

“That… is quick.” Said Cren, surprised by the offer. He turned to Adam and Hardwin. “If we can get there sooner it would be better. What do you think?” Cren had seen what spells could do, he had assisted at some public shows, but Adam and Hardwin did not know what to say, so they chose to let Cren decide.

“We would like to accept your offer, getting back home today would make us gain half a day. Thank you for it.” Cren showed as much respect as he could muster. He does not want to be rude, knowing that even one member of the group in front of him could probably destroy his village to the ground. They may not have the desire to, but that does little to change the fact that they could if they wanted.

Not having any idea of the paranoïa Cren was under, Sarsaw casted his spells, it took him less than 10 seconds to do so. “Alright, now be careful. You will be able to run faster and for longer than you have ever been able to. So you will grab one of us by the collar, we will drag you at the beginning, it will prevent you from falling and injuring yourselves.”

They organized themselves and departed, walking at first, then trotting, sprinting, and finally they moved at the speed a trained horse would get to when going as fast as it could. Their progress was quick on the track, when the sun did not light the ground enough, Samantha made an orb to light their way ahead, and they got to Orpul. The village is intact, but because of the time, no one is out. So Cren, Adam and Hardwin arranged themselves to have the DD sleep inside. It would not do to let them sleep out.