Deep in the forest, beneath the bright surface of the world lay the Floors of a certain structure—a Dungeon.
It was a realm shrouded in perpetual darkness and teeming with monstrous life.
As one descended deeper into the depths, the air would grow thick and heavy, carrying with it the musty scent of ancient stone and the faint tang of decay.
The lower floor was a vast network of twisting tunnels and cavernous chambers, hewn from solid rock by unknown hands in a time long forgotten. The walls remained rough and uneven, their surfaces marred by the passage of time and the claws of countless creatures that called this place home.
Throughout the Lower floors, the sound of dripping water echoed through the cavernous spaces, a constant sign of the subterranean rivers that flow unseen beneath the earth. Pools of brackish water gathered in the low points of the floor, their surfaces rippling with the movements of unseen creatures lurking within.
Monstrous denizens roamed the lower floor, their forms distorted by the perpetual darkness. From the hulking shapes of the more gigantus creatures to the lanky statures of the smaller critters.
The Ecosystem of this place was quite intricate and diverse—as expected of one of the Great Dungeons that existed in the world.
Just like every day, the Dungeon would continue its internal activities without interruption.
At least, that was what was supposed to happen.
~VWISH!~
In a sudden display of light, several figures suddenly appeared within the Dungeon. Their silhouettes were easily masked by the darkness that the Dungeon offered, and their presence surprisingly went unnoticed by the several creatures that called this place home.
A total of fifty intruders just entered the jaws of death—the lair of monsters.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Fifty-eight of them were pointy-eared ladies who looked confused as to their surroundings and what they were doing in such a space.
One of them was within a bubble—still unconscious—as she floated with the rest. She too was pointy-eared, but since she was still fast asleep, there was no expression on her perfectly clear face.
Then, there was the odd person among the others.
Not only was he the only male among the group, but he had no pointy ears, neither did he look anything like them. Also, unlike the anxious and shocked reactions of the ladies that surrounded him, his reaction to this was nothing short of absolute calmness.
He had a smile on his face as he looked around—almost satisfied with what he was taking in.
"So this is the Great Dungeon that exists in the Land of the Elves…" He mumbled, ignoring the cries and shrieks of the girls around him.
They were panicking so much despite his previous assurance that everything would be fine.
'Sigh… they're no different from kids.'
At this point, Rey was beginning to wonder if he made the right choice bringing the Elves along with him. However, after going over his lines of reasoning, he reassured himself of the validity of his choice.
'I wanted to come here myself, but after the unexpected incidents with the Monsters, my plans had to be tweaked a little.'
Rather than visiting the Dungeon himself, he decided to let the Elves tag along—partially because he wanted them to observe him more, but also because he wanted them to see for themselves how nature operated.
'They strike me as little kids who have no real idea about how the world operates. Exposing them to places like this should make them grow up quickly.'
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Of course, this wasn't his primary motivation for coming to the Dungeon. However, since it was practically like killing two birds with one stone, Rey didn't think of it as a loss in any reasonable way.
'While they see what I show them, I'll take my time looking through the resources here.' He smiled to himself.
[Perfect Divine Appraisal] was going to come in really handy.
After going over a few more things in his mind, Rey finally had the luxury to give a proper response to the Elves who kept screaming and freaking out amidst the danger they were surrounded by.
"Calm down. We are within my barrier, and I have also put a Cloaking Spell on us, so we should be undetectable here."
Monsters beyond the Grand Tier Class did not exist, and since Rey's Magic was in the Divine Tier—two Tiers above the limit of Monsters—he was pretty confident in his statement.
Besides, even if a variant or mutant existed, he found it difficult to believe they would exceed the Absolute Tier.
'If a Divine Tier Monster exists here, things could get really bad. Still, I can't allow my fear of the highly improbable to prevent me from taking action.'
He already spread out his senses to his limits, and he chose to remain vigilant in the Floor they were currently on despite the Monsters being of no real danger to him.
'The goal here is to observe the Minerals and prospects of the materials that can be found here…'
Plunder was not his goal—at least, not for now.
Until he obtained sufficient information regarding the Oracle, he had to be careful about his approach to the resources of the Elven Community.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})'But, in strict terms, these resources are absolutely useless to the Elves. Not only will they never conquer this Dungeon, but they have no refinement or production method to make the Elves. Not only will they never conquer this Dungeon, but they have no refinement or production method to make proper use of these materials.'
Hence, Rey didn't really see any reason to hold himself back.
'The Dungeon even exists in the forest, outside their immediate area of civilization.'
Not only was it surrounded by Monsters, which the Elves constantly avoided engaging—unless absolutely necessary—
but there was no motive on the part of the Elves to venture so far into the territory of the Dungeon.
'If I took everything I wanted here, who could blame me?'
Absolutely no one could!
'I think I've had a change of heart.' Rey thought to himself with a smile as he looked behind him, noticing how the Elves were still scared out of their minds.
An idea entered his mind, and he couldn't help his grin from widening.
'Not bad. Not bad at all…'
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Thanks for reading!
More info dumps, I know. But, fear not… some really fun stuff are on the way!
