“This is the Rank C Dungeon ‘The Mighty Peaks’,” the woman explained as the group stood outside the large iron door, “As the name implies, it’s a Dungeon themed around a mountain climb. This is the first time it’ll be attempted on Hard Difficulty, so we’re not entirely sure what you’ll experience in there.”
“Right,” Chris nodded as checked his armor, making sure it was all secured properly. He still wasn’t quite used to the instinctive knowledge he had gained of how to wear and use the gear from his Armor Mastery Skill, but that didn’t matter right now.
He turned to look at the others that were entering with him, a sizeable group of soldiers of various Classes and Jobs, and, of course, his sister, her friend, and his father. Everyone was dressed in combat gear, bulletproof vests, army fatigues and with large packs on their backs. All except him, of course, his armor far superior to anything they could find or make. Chris glanced over at his father, the older man currently staring at the door nervously, jumping slightly when Chris put a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s okay, dad,” he said, “You can still back out.”
“No,” the man shook his head, “I can’t. Not when you and Beth are going to risk your lives in there. I have to go with you, if only for my own sanity.”
“Okay,” Chris nodded, looking back at the door, “Go ahead and touch it then, we need to know your basic Stats before we go in.”
“Right,” the man nodded, walking up to the door as confidently as he could, laying his hand against it.
He jerked back as the screen appeared in front of him, staring at it in amazement.
“Huh,” he said as he opened his Status screen, “Most of my Stats are below five, except Intellect, which is a seven.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Chris muttered, making his father look at him in confusion, “You might not get any combat Skills in that case, so you won’t be able to fight very well.”
“That’s fine,” the man laughed, “I have the two of you, and all these soldiers, to protect me, don’t I?”
“And me and Loppy,” Jessica suddenly cut in from her conversation with Elizabeth, holding up the large Horned Rabbit, “Don’t forget about us!”
“Right, of course,” the older man chuckled, “I apologize. To be honest, I’m feeling quite excited about all this. It feels like a real adventure.”
“Maybe,” Chris sighed, his anxiety rising slightly as he realized his father might be at a disadvantage in the Dungeon, “Is everyone ready?”
“Yes sir!” the soldiers shouted as they all stood to attention, Chris swallowing nervously as the dozen people stared at him in expectation.
“Right,” he sighed, “Then let’s go in.”
------
The group appeared at the foot of a massive mountain, looking around in amazement.
“It’s not as cold as I thought it would be,” Jessica hummed, putting Loppy on the ground as the monster started to investigate the surroundings for food.
“It’ll get colder as we go up the mountain,” one of the soldiers explained, “The higher you go, the colder it gets. No one has managed to reach the peak yet, but it’s predicted to be below freezing up there.”
“Below freezing?” the girl gasped, looking down at her gear, “I’m really glad they made us pack extra jackets then.”
“Alright,” Chris called, “Everyone, keep only the essentials on you, give me everything else you have.”
“What?” Elizabeth said as she watched the soldiers dropping their packs in front of her brother, “What are you doing, Chris?”
“Just this,” he grinned as he opened the simple leather satchel hanging from his shoulder, lifting one of the large rucksacks and putting the entire thing inside, making the girl gasp, “It’s called a Carry-All-Bag. It can hold just about anything, up to about a ton of stuff without getting heavier.”
“That’s amazing!” Jessica squealed, happily shedding her own pack, “This way we won’t have to lug these heavy things all over the mountain!”
“Yep,” Chris nodded as he put her bag in the satchel, “Though it is still dangerous if you get separated from the group, because you won’t have all the things you brought with you. So make sure to stick close by, alright?”
“Yes sir!” the girl giggled as she imitated the soldiers, making Chris shake his head as he laughed.
“Alright, everyone set?” he called, the soldiers shouting their affirmation, before they started up the faint path that led up the mountain.
Elizabeth sighed as she opened his Status screen, checking her new Skills again as she fidgeted with the knives at her hips.
Name: Elizabeth Audrey Sanders
Level: 5
Class: Rogue
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Job: Spy
Experience: 225/1600
Health: 180/180
Mana: 40/40
Stats:
Strength: 5
Vitality: 8
Dexterity: 12
Intellect: 8
Wisdom: 5
Charisma: 5
Free Points: 0
Skills:
[Throwing lv 15]
[Stealth lv 27]
[Small Blades lv 12]
[Lockpicking lv 11]
[Sense Presence lv 10]
The only reason it had taken them over a week to actually get to the Dungeon was because her brother had stipulated that he’d only allow them to come if all of their Skills were above level ten. This meant that she and Jessica had spent the last ten days training madly to get their new Skills high enough to go, only just managing it before Chris was going to cut them off and go without them.
“I still don’t like the idea of putting you in danger,” her brother muttered under his breath, making her look up at him in surprise, “But you seemed determined, so please stay safe.”
“Of course,” she replied, looking over to Jessica as the girl watched her tamed monster hop around the sparse trees.
A shiver suddenly ran down her back, making her shudder as she looked around, unable to pinpoint the source.
“You sense something?” Chris asked, Elizabeth nodding, the man tapping one of the soldiers on the shoulder and indicating for them to stop.
The whole group quickly came to a halt, their father and several others in the middle while the other soldiers drew their weapons, a mixture of swords, knives and bows, a few others summoning balls of fire in their hands. They stood silently for a moment, Elizabeth closing her eyes as she tried to locate the source of the strange feeling, blinking them open as she pointed to her left.
“That way!” she shouted, just as the shadowy figure darted out of the tree branches, flying towards them.
“Fire at will!” one of the soldiers shouted, the others opening up with arrows and spells, the strange form darting through the air between them, “Melee, engage!”
Those armed with swords and knives stepped forwards, forming a barrier between the others and the creature, blinking as it suddenly seemed to sink into the ground, the dark blob sliding under their feet.
“Shit!” someone shouted, “It’s going for the girls!”
Elizabeth drew her knives as the form suddenly loomed in front of her, before it was engulfed in flames, crying out in pain as Chris tackled it to the ground, pinning it down before bringing his mace to bear on its head, killing it instantly.
“Damn,” one of the soldiers muttered as the creature lay there, looking like an oversized crow, “I’ve never seen one of those bastards get taken down so easily…”
“They’re usually only on the third floor as well,” another said, “Hard Mode really is different.”
“What’s the highest Difficulty any of you have done?” Chris asked as he got back up, his father walking over and inspecting the bird corpse.
“Normal,” one of the soldiers said, stepping forwards as he revealed himself to be the captain of the squad, “Most of the others here have only done Easy.”
“Right,” Chris nodded, looking around at the soldiers, “Seems we’ll need to adjust to the increased difficulty a bit before we can call ourselves safe to continue.”
“Yes sir,” the captain saluted, turning to the other soldiers and starting to shout orders.
“Right, let’s find a place to camp,” Chris said to the two girls, “I think it would be best if we got your levels a little higher before we try the next floor. And dad?”
“Yes?” the man hummed as he was doing something to the bird corpse, Chris slightly surprised it hadn’t disappeared yet, “Hold on, I’m almost done.”
“With what?” Jessica asked, walking to his side and grimacing slightly.
“Just dressing this bird,” he grinned as he stood, lifting the large carcass in his hand, “One of my Skills is called Harvesting, so I figured I could do something like this. We’ll need to hang it up so the last of the blood can drain, but I know an army marches on its stomach, so I figured some extra meat would be appreciated.”
“That’s…that’s actually true,” Chris sighed, “Thanks dad. We’ll have to be careful about that though, the smell of the blood might attract other monsters.”
“Got it,” the man nodded, “I know a few tricks for keeping animals away. Maybe they’ll work on these monsters as well?”
------
“I’m sorry sir, but I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Honestly, Captain?” Chris sighed, “You’re probably right, but it’s also the only way we’re going to be able to make sure you’re all strong enough to survive on the higher floors.”
The group had chosen to camp beside a small cluster of trees, Chris having pulled out their packs to allow the soldiers to set up. He looked over at his father, who was watching the bodies of the several birds that had attacked them as they moved, four other soldiers guarding him.
“I know,” he said, cutting off the captain before the man could speak, “We’re technically still civilians, so it’s not our place to make demands.”
“I wasn’t about to say that, sir,” the captain blushed slightly, “I just don’t think that splitting up our group is safe.”
“It’s not,” Chris agreed, “But as I said, it’ll be the fastest way for you to gain levels.”
“Permission to speak freely, Captain!” one of the soldiers barked, standing beside them, Chris recognizing him as one of the men with a shield earlier.
“Go ahead, Private,” the captain sighed.
“I agree with Mr. Sanders, sir,” the man said, making the captain stare at him in surprise, “We’re all only level three at the highest, sir. I think this is because we always enter with a large group, and the Experience is shared amongst everyone.”
“Hmmm,” the captain sighed, turning back to Chris, “Good point. Very well, we’ll try it your way, sir. Any advice for how we should divide the groups?”
“Well, there are sixteen of us here, so I think four groups of four should be fine. Have at least one person who can attack at range, and someone who can defend per group. Do we have any people who can heal?”
“Two Medics with the Healing Magic Skill, sir,” the captain nodded.
“Okay, in which case, make sure only one of them goes out at a time,” Chris nodded, “Two groups will explore the surrounding area for four hours at a time, with the other two resting, but also ready to come help them if need be. How does that sound?”
“Decent,” the captain nodded, “I’ll inform the men. What of you and your…companions, Sir?”
“We’ll rotate members between the groups regularly,” Chris hummed, scratching his chin, stubble already starting to grow back, “To make sure everyone has a chance to get used to fighting in different kinds of groups. This includes us, though I hope your soldiers won’t rely on me too much when it comes to fighting.”
“Of course,” the captain nodded again, turning away and starting to shout at the soldiers, who were almost done setting up the camp.
“So, we’re not going to be fighting together?” Elizabeth asked as Chris looked over his shoulder at her, a slightly disappointed look on her face.
“We’ll be in the first group, so we’ll go on a few hunts together,” Chris chuckled as he ruffled her hair, “I want to see what my baby sister can do, after all.”
“I’m already eighteen,” the girl huffed, straightening her mussed up hair, “I’m not a baby anymore.”
“Then prove it,” Chris said seriously, even as he smiled kindly at the girl, “Show me how strong you’ve managed to get.”
