Group one: Pigsky, Red, and Yellow marched ahead of group two: Coco, Alex, Fenrir, and Alex, descending down the stone steps to the first floor of the forest themed dungeon, The Glowing Crypt.
After hundreds of steps later, with the walls slowly going from clean stone to mossy broken down slabs, the two groups finally reached a flat ground. They arrived at the first floor of the C ranked dungeon.
Team Earth, or rather, group two, took in the atmosphere around them.
The first thing they noticed was the strong earthy dirt smell. It wasn't bad, but overly strong. Then they noticed the mossy stone walls, cracks on the ceiling and floor, misty blue and green coloring filling the air, and glowing mushrooms and vines in the corners and cracks on the dungeon.
It looked like an overgrown temple.
Lastly, and the most unsettling feeling that the group felt was that this place didn't feel threatening.
Despite this place being a C ranked, a deadly dungeon that has taken the lives of many adventurers and lost children. This first section or maybe the entire dungeon felt mystical, enchanting, like they could stay in this place forever.
"The hardest part about this dungeon is that it wants you to be here for as long as possible. I wouldn't call it dangerous in the typical sense, but draining, like being buried alive." Pigsky said, watching their first impressions of the dungeon closely.
Pigsky's words stuck with Coco, Fenrir, Zena, and Aelx. Despite knowing that this place is dangerous, they have to force themselves to be alert.
"Since we will be working together for the next few hours, I will walk you through the traps and puzzles of this place." He continued.
Group one walked forwards at a steady space, group two followed behind.
They walked, walked some more, and walked even further. The sensation of one foot being placed in front of the other felt as though it had gone on forever.
The hallway in front of them seemed to continue on infinitely like the aspen forest.
Zena, Coco, Alex, and Fenrir, just assumed that this was just how long they had to walk, and the people leading the way seemed confident and just kept marching forwards. One step in front of the other.
On occasion they did check behind them, but the hallway seemed to be endless even if they did turn back.
The walls, floor, ceiling, glowing mushrooms, the smell, all of it remained the same. There seemed to be no inconsistencies.
This is the tenth time that I have seen that same crack in the wall. A small slant seemingly pointing to a plant vines that has six prickles on it. The first time I saw the crack I thought it seemed out of place when everywhere else there are massive breaks in the wall. The second time I thought "what a coincidence!" Now I am certain of it though.
"Mr. Piggy? How do we get out of the infinite loop?" Alex asked perplexed.
"You finally noticed, haha"
Zena, Coco, and Fenrir were shocked. How did they not notice that they were looping in a circle?"This first floor loops, right after the staircase is out of vision."
Realization set in, if they were looping, where was the way out?
"Relax. This is a test that my group and I know all of the answers to. Alex, do you know the secret to it?" Pigsky asked like a teacher.
Alex shook her head, wracking her brain for a way out.
"Does it have something to do with the glowing vines and mushrooms? Since they are the only glowing living materials here I figure it might have something to do with that." Coco asked, not completely positive of her answer.
"Correct! Haha." Pigsky pulled two swords from his back and handed one to Red and one to Yellow, his two attendees.
They set the blades in between the crack in floor and the wall, the two mages were directly across from one another.
"GO!" Pigsky yelled.
The two mages ran in a straight line down the hallway with the swords cutting the mushrooms, moss, and thorns along the way.
When they looped back to the group, and the final bit of flora was cut, the floor sunk.
"Woah!"
"WHAT?!?"
"Awsome!"
"..."
Sliding down, the sound of rocks skidding against each other.
Crunch, Chrrr, Chip, SLAM
Finally the group hit solid ground.
Red and Yellow handed the two blades back to their leader, who took them back happily.
Looking around, there was an open area. This section then led to six open paths.
"Welcome to the second floor of the dungeon." Pigsky announced
This time, the atmosphere was more blue than green, it had a sharper feel to it. The mythical and enchanted feeling only increased.
There was less moss and stone, as the ceiling, walls, and floors were now made of wood. Tunnels upon tunnels of dark wood.
"A maze?" Fenrir asked, making sure he was understanding correctly.
"Right! A maze. The first floor was a puzzle, and this floor is a trap. I would say to just follow me, but the path to the end changes frequently and some traps can kill whoever lags behind, so we will break into groups."
Zena smirked like there was an opportunity here.
"Yellow, you take Fenrir and Zena. Red, you take Coco. I will take Alex."
The other two nodded then dispersed.
…
Pigsky and Alex walked straight, or to be more specific, the right center tunnel, where they were facing when the floor fell.
Red and Coco walked in the opposite direction of Pigsky and Alex, the left center tunnel.
Yellow, Fenrir, and Zena walked down the bottom center tunnel.
…
"Alex, before we get too far into this place, I want to ask, how did you notice the loop?" Pigsky asked, puzzled by how she figured it out relatively quickly.
"No place has the same continuous atmosphere. Maybe I am not explaining that right. Wind will move an object, steps can hit a crack in the floor and make a different sound than other steps. Things like that, but that place remained the same, which I have never felt before."
"No place has the same atmosphere twice. Huh? Haha, how interesting." Pigsky said excitedly, for a moment, his eyes were closed, he stepped on a pressure plate.
The ceiling above opened up, like a walnut being cracked open, then sharp wooden needles came raining down.
Pigsky, despite his large stature, pushed sideways off the ground, just in time.
Tink tink tink
The needles hit the ground. Then got absorbed back into the wooded floor. After a moment, the ceiling re-closed, the trap was re-set.
"Haha, don't step on that."
"Hehe, right." Alex said with a small cold sweat running down her cheek.
…
Yellow, Zena, and Fenrir walked down the path they chose.
They marched along, at a slow yet steady pace. Yellow kept an eye out for traps, and due to their unique ability, they managed to avoid anything surprising so far.
I need to escape these guys for a moment. I thought about killing Yellow, but Fenrir is here. I could kill them both, and claim it was a trap that got them, but I think Fenrir could get away. Not that I know his magic, I just get the feeling I can't win against him easily.
"Zena, you okay back there?" Fenrir asked, feeling like his back was being glared at.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine."
Fenrir gave a small nod, before turning back to Yellow.
Yellow seemed uninterested in their conversation, focusing only on the path.
After a moment, the group passed by another connecting tunnel, located on their left side. Zena used this as an opportunity. She whispered under her breath so no one could hear her "boost."
Her body became as light as a feather, then she darted down the passageway for a moment.
Zena came across a giant hole. With her magic activated, she could hear hallowing sounds of branches cracking and something wooden scraping against stone. "I found a way to the boss, nice."
She then dashed back to the group and de-activated her magic.
It was fast and silent enough that no one appeared to notice.
…
Red and Coco walked down the passageway in silence.
This person is a mage, and I can tell that he is powerful, buuut, Red is so quiet. I dislike talking to people too, but it makes the atmosphere awkward!! Do I bring up mana rocks? Can I ask why we haven't found anything to put in the bag Fenrir is carrying? Ahhh.
Lost in thought Coco ran into Red's back. "S-sorry."
"No worries, but we are at an impasse." Red said in a monotone thinking voice.
Coco, stepping to the side of Red, noticed the issue.
A sticky honey colored substance has taken up a lot of space. Almost like a large puddle that was slowly inching towards them.
Noticing it in time takes away a lot of the danger, but if it touches their feet, they will surely be stuck in place.
"Let us turn back and find another way, unless you have a magic device suitable for getting across honeydew." Red said, turning towards Coco inching away from the sticky honeydew substance.
"I don't. All I have is a magic wand that I can cast the waterball spell from."
Red paused, then tapped their foot against the ground. "That should work. I need you to fire off five waterballs back to back."
"Um, ok?"
Coco reached for her belt with her right arm, took it out of its holster, and placed the ebony wand in front of her in a battle pose. She imbued mana into the stone, it glowed bright blue before firing off a waterball.
Splat, splat, splat, splat, splat
Five circles of water launched back to back, almost connecting into a giant waterball.
Red then spoke a spell, "Solidify, solidify, solidify, solidify, solidify!"
Suddenly, the water balls individually became solid, as though the five of them were stuck in air for a moment.
"I pray you have good balance." Red said before jumping onto the first solidified waterball and onto the next, all the way until he was across the sticky muck.
Coco followed suit, but it was much harder than Red made it look. Coco was more off balance, and did it with far less grace.
"Woahh, AHH, wait wait wait!"
Red caught her when she jumped off the last ball. Red then de-activated their spell, the solid circles went back to their original form and fell down, sinking into the honeydew.
Spoosh
"Let us move forwards." Red said nonchalantly.
"R-right." Coco said thinking about what if it was her that fell into the substance.
…
Pigsky and Alex were the first to make it the exit that leads to the third floor.
"You said that this dungeon changes shape a lot, but you seem like you knew where you were going the whole time." Alex asked, feeling like something is amiss.
"I lied. Truth is, something feels off about your group and I disliked how that assassin girl spoke to me, so I lied a little bit." Pigsky said as though it was a harmless prank.
"And you're ok with just telling me that? Zena is my friend you know!" Alex got mad for a moment.
"Relax, I am just going to teach her a lesson. Each path leads to something different. One path leads to an exit out of the dungeon, another leads to the third floor, one leads directly to the tenth floor, and the others are dead ends. Yellow and Red know which one is which. Each tunnel loops back, so eventually you will find one of the three ways out."
"I see. So you sent her and Fenrir to reach a dead end, all for nothing."
"Right! Haha. I just wanted to waste some time."
Coco and Red then appeared shortly after Pigsky's last comment. They met up with Pigsky and Alex.
"Coco, you are ok!" Alex screamed excited about seeing her cute demon friend in one piece.
"Yeah, same to you." Coco said with a little nod.
"Red, look after these two. I have to go handle the problem child." Pigsky said, switching from a prankster to an actual leader.
…
Fenrir, Zena, and Yellow reached a dead end, with only tunnels leading down the left and right path being open.
Yellow began to turn right.
"Are you sure we aren't lost? I think the left is the better path." Zena said intentionally picking a fight with Yellow, figuring out the loop feature of the dungeon. Zena wanted to lead Yellow over to the boss room.
"Shut up carrier, I know the way." Yellow said with an uninterested voice.
"You can't speak to me like that, Fenrir, let's go left."
"Huh? But Yellow says the right path is the correct way to go." Fenrir said as though being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"Would you trust your party member or a stranger?" Zena spoke, pulling a dirty card.
Fenrir was at an impasse while being physically at an impasse. Some might call this a check mate situation.
"You may do as you wish, I care not what happens to a few carriers." Yellow said before continuing walking down the right pathway.
Fenrir started to walk with Yellow. Zena turned away irked, but then a hand touched her back. "Where are you going? You were told to follow Yellow."
"I know the way, Pigsky, the left way leads out." Zena said, turning towards him with annoyance.
What she saw was the eyes of an angry pig. Pigsky's face was scrunched, eyes narrowed, his big stature loomed over Zena.
Despite Pigsky staring daggers into Zena's eyes, she never faulted in the starring contest, Pigsky got the gist of the idea.
Pigsky sighed after their starring contest and relaxed his face."You want to place my group in danger with the boss of this dungeon and come in to save the day, making half the promised rewards." Pigsky scratched his chin before continuing.
"It wasn't a bad strategy, and the fact that you learned the way to the boss so quickly is also impressive. Hmm, sadly, you didn't notice my lie."
"What are you talking about?" Zena said in disbelief that she of all people could be deceived.
"I have been in this dungeon more than a handful of times. I also knew which paths led to which outcomes. I split the groups up the way I did on purpose as well." Pigsky said this as if to imply that Zena was intentionally leading them astray.
"Haha, you have no proof that I thought anything that you are claiming. Are you deranged Mr. Piggy?"
"Yellow's magic is telepathy. She can read your mind, and she told me where you were located."
Zena didn't say anything, but her eyes went wide, pressure settling in.
"You don't become a C ranked adventurer without knowing a thing or two. I will take our group to get the magic item located in this dungeon, then we will head back." Pigsky said like a disappointed teacher.
"Tsk."
Fenrir quietly followed Yellow and Pigsky. Zena is being carefully watched by the two of them.
They headed back to Coco, Alex, and Red. Fenrir looked concerned at Zena.
Her reasons were noble, she wanted our group to make a good payout. However, how could she be ok with risking the lives of those around her? Can I really trust that she will do well by us in the future?
…
The group made it to the exit passage that led to the third floor of the dungeon. This "exit" was more a long wooden slimy looking tube, more akin to a slide.
Red casted his solidify magic on the honeydew, creating a slick slide.
Pigsky belly flopped head first down the tube flying downwards. Although no one could see down to the other side, everyone heard his fat bounce and his hearty laugh afterwards. "HAHAHA"
Red, Yellow, Fenrir, Zena, Alex, then Coco went down the slide in turn.
Making it to the other side, the group saw something peculiar. The atmosphere was black with green hues of light. It was hard to see five feet in front of them, but green orbs of light and glowing mushrooms on the floor helped ease the burden.
"Somewhere in this location is an amulet that I am looking for. The scary part is, this is the enemy's den." Pigsky said in a quiet voice as though not to alert the enemy.
Red and Yellow moved to the sides of group two. Pigsky was in front of the group.
"We inch forwards." Pigsky said with his leadership voice. Everyone slowly inched forwards in the darkness.
Suddenly and without warning, a green insect with six legs, a hardened shell on its back, and a long greenlit horn in the center of its head lunged at the party.
Pigsky took a sword from his back and bashed the bug's head into the ground.
The horn's light glowed dim. Dead in an instant.
"What was that, it was so creepy looking!" Alex exclaimed.
"That thing was a Scute, and there are a lot of them."
Yellow bent down, pulled out a knife, and cut the horn and shell of the scute off, then handed the body parts to Fenrir. Who placed it into his bag. The party then marched forwards once again.
After walking twenty feet forwards, three more scutes jumped the party.
Red solidified some tree sap on the ground, picked it up, and used it like a spear to pierce one down.
Pigsky took his two swords and slashed the other two open as though they were made of paper.
After taking the parts, shells and horns alike, the group continued.
"Red, can I ask you a question?"
Red tilted his head at Coco as though saying "go on."
"How are you and Yellow a good match? This party is strong, but it doesn't feel well rounded." Coco asked, puzzled, wanting some hints on how to function with a nonfunctional group.
Yellow looked over and happily gave an answer. "Red can solidify magic. We have a combination attack where he solidifies the thoughts of my enemy. This is a bad place though, since that combo only works on creatures who think."
Coco looked just as confused as when she asked the question. Solidify the thoughts of another? Huh!?
Despite the strange ideas that ran through her head, like hardening the word "die" in a physical way, but overall she was sad that she didn't get the knowledge that she was hoping for.
After a handful more insects came to disturb the party and another fifty feet of walking, the group hit a wall. "Finally found it! Haha." Pigsky said in an excited whisper.
Fenrir reached his hand out and felt bark. "A tree trunk?"
"Correct, the way to the fourth floor. This is the center of the dungeon." Pisky explained.
Pigsky then turned left and walked over with the party another thirty feet. Killing and collecting another scute along the way.
A small, cobblestone section eventually came into view. Since they could only see a few feet in front of them, seeing this hut of stone come into vision meant that they were already super close.
After a few more seconds of walking, they entered this small stone, broken down, hut. Within this small section, there is a stone chest.
"Get ready!" Pigsky yelled.
Pigsky took a deep breath, pulled out a bigger blade from his back than the previous two, and swung with immense force at the side of the chest.
BASH
The chest's top flew off to the side.
Immediately a number of pointed vines shoot towards Pigsky trying to grapple him. Coco, having her wand out at the ready for anything, launches water above Pigsky. Red then solidified that water, blocking the vine's attack.
Pigsky, without a moment to waste, adjusted his giant blade, then cut down the vines.
The sound also altered more scutes to swarm the party.
Group one fended off the scutes and after a few minutes of bashing and thrashing around, the swarm came to an end. As Red and Yellow began to carve the scutes for materials, Pigsky went to Coco.
"Well done Miss! Thank you for saving me back there." Pigsky said, offering a handshake. Coco reciprocated the handshake.
Pigsky then walked over and reached down for the stone chest, and pulled out the amulet. A silver border with a big green gem at the center.
"That is a Elarune gem right?" Coco asked, wondering if she knew her gems right.
"Indeed! This is an anti-poison gem useful for getting further into the dungeon, here." Pigsky tossed Fenrir the gem to place in the bag.
"Great, so let's get going further down." Fenrir said excited for the next section of the dungeon.
Pigsky looked at Fenrir and shook his head. "No, let us stop for the day."
Zena looked shocked at Pigsky, "you said you wanted to make it to the fifth floor today."
"Right, but I lost our little bet," Pigsky said, clapping his hands. "Coco came to my aid. We will go back to the top, I will give my full report, and your team will be given six silver."
Fenrir was a little disappointed, but understood his sentiment. Zena on the other hand looked mad, upset that her plan didn't work, but some random trap did him in. Everyone else was fine with this decision and followed Pigsky's lead.
Pigsky led the way back to the tree trunk, killing another scute along the way. Pigsky placed his hand on the tree then began to walk in a circle around the tree.
After a few seconds of walking, he yelled, "found it!" Everyone was already behind him, so the yelling was unnecessary, but he was excited to leave.
What Pigsky found was the opening to the hollowed out tree trunk. "Going down leads to the fourth floor, but going up leads back to the top." He said as his final lesson in the event that one day the group wanted to come back here.
Pigsky entered the opening, placed his legs on one side of the tree and his back placed against the other side, then he started to inch upwards.
Everyone began to mimic Pigsky's actions.
After twenty minutes of awkward climbing, everyone made it back up to the top. Exiting out of a small opening of an ordinary looking tree.
Once they all made it out, the tree's open section magically closed and the passageway to the first floor re-opened on the floor.
"Go in one way and leave another." Pigsky said with a smile.
The party walked an hour and twenty minutes back to the Sinful Hunters guild hall.