Dungeon Core Chat Room.

“I’ve got this one-“

A stream of violence blasted past Samantha’s left ear even as she called the most holy of dibs – air magic flipping her hair up and across her face into her eyes and mouth. A wall of spinning needles slipped by her head like a swarm of silver fish and pinned her opponent to the wall.

Glaring behind her, she finished off the helpless monster – one of the crystalline snakes with a pair of dagger-like arms. She jumped backwards a second after smashing its core and turned even as the monster statufied behind her – the monsters in this dungeon did that in the lower floors and no one knew why yet.

Samantha slid her thin blade into a clip on her belt deactivating a half dozen skills on her way – the high-cost upgrades like [Prismatic Blade], it would be foolish to turn off [Hightend reflexes] or [Warrior’s Sight] in the dungeon this far down.

“I had that one – you’re not impressing anyone Craig.” She snipped – spitting hair out of her mouth to do so.

The auxiliary member at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed – nodding to her and looking away.

Craig had been hired to sub in for their magic archer “Smith” – who had contracted some clearly experimental and dangerous virus the week before. Smith was still alive, but recovering from flesh being transmuted to crystal bit by bit was a long process.

Any other week the team would have simply waited for their teammate to recover and spend some time focusing on themselves…but the dungeon and every dungeon connected to it was currently running some rare event and none of them wanted to miss out in case it was a one-time thing. They had had to force Smith to take his healing cooldown and not start waddling around on his bow-staff like he had claimed he could do.

Keys were scattered everywhere in the deeper floors and the rewards for bringing one to an altar were enough to make a priest greedy. Enough for even the most close-knit group to consider gaining a temporary potentially unknown member.

As far as a backup went Craig was…fine.

Apparently he had managed to reach the hardmode mine solo as a hybrid mage – so he was at least passably competent. No, if Samantha was honest with herself at his age – which she guessed was close to 21 – and assuming he started at the average age of adventuring in the central continent – around 18 to 20 depending on region…that was positively genius. The real issue Samantha had with him was his lack of experience working in a team.

The kid seemed to have delved solo his whole life and it showed – painfully – in the way he fought. Poisonous clouds controlled by wind. Explosive shrapnel blocked from hitting him by a shield of spinning air. Nearly all of his attacks filled rooms and didn’t distinguish well between friend or foe.

Stelc their leader – a large man who had to have some sort of orcish blood in his ancestry – had put a stop to most of that an hour into their collaboration. He had absolutely reamed Craig out after taking a deflected handful of poisoned needles to the face – Stelc was fine obviously. As their tank that level of damage was little more than a scratch. Not everyone had his constitution however – if the needles had hit anyone else they could have been seriously injured or even killed.

Which brought them to their current situation. A group of three lifetime friends and one outsider.

Samantha was their vanguard with her Hollow blade while Stelc was their Sentinel with his frankly ridiculous armour and natural defense. Straw was their scout – he kept trying to get people to call him “The Shadow” but no one humoured him. Straw was in charge of finding traps and secrets – or breaking into treasure chests – and most of the time couldn’t be seen. Instead of calling him “The Shadow” his friends sometimes called him the “needle in a straw stack” in jest.

Together with their magic archer Smith – a mage who conjured frosty slowing arrows and shot them using his staff-bow – the group was as close-knit as a group of adventurers unrelated by blood could be.

They had been together since they had joined the adventurer’s guild 16 years ago and worked well with one another. Samantha thought they could have gone without Craig replacing their “Frostbolt” mage who never once poisoned their leader or “helped out” when she had called dibs!

A beam of light spun past Samantha's head – the laser crossing an entranceway and melting through the golem that had been sneaking into the room with a harsh pop.

OH THAT’S RIGHT.

Craig wasn’t the worst part of this delve.

The worst part was that they weren’t the only group currently on this floor – she had counted at least 7 separate huddles of 2-5 adventurers so far. One of those groups just HAD to go playing with this floor's laser puzzle without caring about the potential casualties.

She turned to check no one had been decapitated and found her partners huddled around a glowing section of the wall.

Curious she wandered over to join her group peering over Craig's shoulder to get a better look.

As laser mana had passed over the crystalline surface, it was sucked in. Now lines of light bounced about in a chaotic manner that somehow interlocked into a meaningful pattern. The symbol was a swirling arrow-like shape that pointed downwards and faded slowly as the trapped mana broke apart.

Excitedly Craig pulled out a portable laser ball the device – a previously unknown drop – and began shining it on the symbol. The tinted light solidified the lines of mana into prominence once more and spread.

Following it down he traced a series of arrows into and then around a corner in the room – appearing to disappear as he confidently stepped through the wall.

What was that?

Following him over Samanta reached out and felt a solid wall from the side – feeling a mostly solid but slippery sort of crystal with her callused hands.

Changing her angle to aim from the corner made the wall feel like a strange sort of liquid – more like a curtain of thousands of hanging threads of string than a physical liquid. Wet but leaving her hand dry.

She pushed through the curtain of liquid crystal just as Stelc arrived behind her and found herself in a small dim room. In front of her stood Straw and Craig once more blocking her view and requiring her to stare over the younger mans shoulder. Before them stood a softly glowing pedestal shaped like a blackish crystalline stoney hand. The hand reached up out of the floor in a grasping motion and held a strange sort of grey block with intricate runework – curving shapes that looked like nothing she had ever seen on a properly rune’d item.

This had to be one of the keys they were looking for. It matched the vague descriptions they had been told before everyone started keeping secrets and hoarding knowledge.

“Yes yes, The shadow has finished checking – you can safely extract this jewel if you wish.” Straw said while running his long fingers over the jet-black arm as if wishing it were his own.

Nodding Craig reached out and picked the cube up just as Stelc entered the room sideways. The large man had to crouch and bend his head sideways at a strange angle to get past the weird wet crystal wall.

“I think we got what we came for in this room, You should turn around before holding onto this okay? No need to keep trying to fit into the doorway there’s nothing else here” Craig said casually holding the prize out without hesitation.

Maybe Samantha was being a bit too harsh on the kid. He at least was never greedy about splitting rewards – letting their leader redistribute them at the end of the day. That was something she couldn’t even say for straw who had to be sneaking stuff out. No way he could afford that massive spacial storage woven into his ostentatious cloak otherwise.

Exiting the secret room with their loot and the adventurers found themselves surrounded. Five separate crystal swimmers – a thrice Mort-damned monster to face one of, let alone a group of (not that Samantha was religious enough to believe in that undead god).

[Quickdraw] had her sword in her hand in less than a second – skills revving down her arm mana pathways briefly visible – their cast time removed and cooldown reset by the cheat of a skill.

In the span of a long drawn-out breath, her needle-like sword was held up like she was planting a flag and plunged into the dungeon floor. It encountered the magically reinforced crystalline material and screamed – a drawn-out crunching accompanying its sink into the ground.

Contentemptously the snake she was aiming for slid sideways through the floor – its body contorting about her blade in a 'C' shape even as its companion shot its spiked head at her ankle.

Before she could react in time a mottled gross-looking barrier appeared around her ankle – one of the only ranged skills Stelc used.

Even as the annoying crystal swimming snakes began piercing through the barrier – it deforming and stretching like a thick rubbery goo – she bent her knees and jumped. As Samantha entered the air she followed a procedure they had long ago created for just this sort of scenario. Smith was actually the one who created it – his stupid excited planning flashing through her head for who knows what reason – it's not like he was dead she’d see him again after the delve...well assuming nothing went wrong obviously.

At the top of her arc a mottled cushiony barrier appeared below and around her feet like a bouncy bowl – it caused her knees to shake slightly as her feet sunk into the platform and her body took a moment to gain [Balance].

Straw and Stelc were similarly suspended on makeshift platforms while off to the side Craig stood on…what was he standing on?

Her mind focused on the random shape [Battle-Inspection] forcing her to analyze anything unknown when she had a free moment.

He stood on eight floating sideways needles that locked around his feet. They appeared mostly for balance because all of his lift was created with a whirlwind that encased his entire lower body.

Analysis complete [Battle-Inspection] flipped to check the status of her teammates – content none of them were injured the skill faded and let her turn to Craig focusing on the unknown.

She tried to keep the panic out of her voice as she relayed instructions [Battleplan] letting her words cross and be understood by allies in a microsecond of real-time.

“Listen kid. Those snakes move like a greased goblin in a chicken pen while in the walls and floor. Don’t compare it to the weak ones in the easier floors alright? They can zip through the walls and floor of this dungeon faster than most can follow and are a right pain to put down because of it. Our only chance is going to be in the moment they exit the safety of the walls to attack okay? Now. This is usually Smith’s job you’re going to need to hit them out of the air and kill them before they can escape back into their home turf. You think you can manage that? It's your time to shine! – don’t mess it up”

Taking longer to nod than her message had taken to be said, his arms began moving with purpose.

Samantha hyperfocused away from him once again focusing on herself. Her balance and position were shot…but depending on the angle she was pretty confident in being able to slash one before they hit her…pretty confident.

Stelc could handle being hit hundreds of times but Straw would be heavily injured if they were hit and using common sense Craig probably focused all his free stats into mind and magic-related distributions.

A shot from a lower angle.

The crystal beast exited the floor to her lower left – aiming at her hip and nearly making it before being decapitated with a sideways swipe of her newest blade. Out of the ground, these monsters were nothing to a level 93 adventurer.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched cone-like needle darts rush two attackers aimed at her friends.

The needles shot straight through the snake's necks – hardly enough to kill them, but more importantly, being shaped in such away to divert them from their targets. The backwards end caught on the snake's sides and ripped them out of their aerial path.

Below her a headless snake body writhed in an off-putting manner – its controlling core severed from its vessel but not shattered the strange abilities of these lower monsters letting crystals coagulate out of its severed stump like a spikey scab.

Even as she watched a cone rolled across the floor towards its body, travelling propelled by the floor itself bunching up behind it – Oh, the fourth swimmer was returning its compatriot's head.

That wasn’t good.

Even as she cursed these mobs existence, wind picked up accompanied by a cascading sound as countless needles spilled out of nowhere – conjured by the thousand every second.

Like a field of metal wheat that had been plowed. The spreading needles clinked and flew across the ground in a wave even as Craig spun his arm about like a windmill.

…Samantha hadn't seen him conjure or control this many before – but any mage who reached the hardmode mines should be capable of a similar feat…

No she was just surprised by the way they had formed. The tide of needles looked less like air and needle magic and more like some sort of metallic ocean magic as it surged back and forth across the room’s floor.

Beads of sweat rolled down Craig’s face as he spun his arms around – now spiraling around his head like a mana attractor from one of those big cities.

Samantha did not feel like making fun of him for the strange motion his arms were making because the bed below them had turned blue with crystal blood and he really was saving them right now.

“Is this really the best skill for the job?” Samantha asked, the lull in attacks letting her relax slightly – expensive skills disabled once more as she hung out in the air.

"No" the temporary member said through panting gasps – clarifying again after a moment.

"This is an altered boss fighting skill. Needle storm is less taxing than needle swarm but I've already been warned against kicking up tornados of needles around you guys – so I had to make some changes. I needed lots of wide area damage over a short period of time and had to make do."

Slowly his arms slowed their movement as he explained himself – the bed beneath them stilled as he talked. Instead of relaxing at this point however the boy’s face grew concentrated, his eyes focused on everything darting about the walls.

“There’s still one left hiding below somewhere.” He spoke voice low.

As he concentrated and focused about them Samantha couldn’t help but wonder why he worked alone. Was there some tragic backstory? Did he have some curse or was it mental. Was he just a loner? Most solo adventurers she knew had something wrong with them. Considering how normal this one seemed however…she had to wonder. Based on his actions in this very moment it was pretty obvious he cared about others…and he was kind of cute for a kid – not that she would consider dating someone barely over half her age. Not when Smith was right there an-

The final swimmer burst out of the wall almost resigned to its fate. It was attacking in a last-ditch effort instead of escaping despite the result being painfully obvious.

Below them the floor surged as countless needles swivelled and locked on.

In a fluid motion accompanied by slip streams of air mana they all shot upwards – intercepting the monster's attack and ripping into its body with such force it was flung up and smacked off the ceiling even as it was punctured by a sea of holes.

Stunned the snake twisted as it fell – desperately trying to swim into the ceiling it had just smacked off of. The crystal above bent down to meet it but it was too late mana burst out as cores cracked and the monster perished.

At this level the ambient mana was high enough the explosion between cores and surroundings was subdued and so it was almost anticlimactic. The snake was shredded and then was gone even as the needles everywhere started to fade.

A thick layer of black grey metallic powder was left in the conjured weapons wake – blanketing the whole floor like a bag of soot had exploded and settled.

One by one the group dropped to the floor and stared at one another before Straw started laughing setting them all off.

They turned still filled with relaxed mirth to focus on the cube still held in Craig’s hand – nearly forgotten.

"Want to be the one to donate it?" Stelc said after a pause.

"If you'll let me!" Craig said with a grin – excitement showing he had really wanted to all along.

"You saved the shadow's life today. Of course you can gain the dungeon's prize." Straw said clapping him on the back – then suddenly remembering he was supposed to be hiding and shimmering away as he [stealth]ed into the surroundings.

Samantha felt slightly outnumbered in opinion – he had done what they had hired him to do. Mortimals staff Smith could have done the same thing cheaper and with less theatrics – Craig was just filling in for him!

…but the swimmers were a bad matchup for them and Craig had pulled his weight just then. She would let him have this moment.

"Let's head on down then" Samantha gestured back the way they had come.

…

The group approached an altar deep in the hardmode crystal caverns – a mostly complete arch sitting inside of it raw mana thrumming about the area causing hair to rise even without a mana-sensing skill.

"It's going be a new portal, I'm calling it now" Craig laughed as he approached the altar, voice more relaxed than it had been all day.

Reaching his hand out, the group watched as the block was donated and appeared in place slotting in and causing a whirl of black glittering mist to spray forth.

Samantha could see in complete darkness with her advanced warrior's sight, but this mist stole everything from her surroundings. The thick material briefly blotted out her friends in sparkly inky blackness before suddenly it was sucked away again – being consumed by the central gate now activated purple light spiralling around the previously empty runes and highlighting the purplish hole in the world.

Samantha glanced over at the rewarded glove in Craig's hand unsure what his loot had been but confident it had to be exceptional and tailor-made to the kid.

"We the first to scout this portal? Or are we waiting for a more experienced group to pass through?" Straw asked from a position to the side of the group as they stared at the entrance.

Stelc thought for a moment greed, curiosity and duty flicking across his face before he spoke once more.

"Hey kid, how are you doing after that last attack you did?"

"Fine, don't worry mana's nearly full again" Craig responded slamming his chest as if his mana was located somewhere there.

"I wouldn't want to go through without our proper team but you proved yourself today. I'll leave it up to a group vote" he finally said - tossing the responsibility away from himself by letting them decide.

One by one they expressed interest in being the first and stepped through the portal leading to potentially a new dungeon.

…

The portal was surprisingly stable waiting for them – not even closing behind them as they passed through and being so seamless Samantha couldn’t tell if it even was a portal.

…except that wasn't right, there was no transition, they had stepped through and instantly appeared in this room. There was no disorienting vomit inducing passage through a dark tunnel. They were simply on the other side.

…what was that magic?

Turning to focus on her new surroundings Samantha instantly felt off. Not the typical sick portal passage or in a [Danger sense] manner like they were about to be attacked…no it was just clear that something was different.

They stood in a massive dais in the center of a circular room ringed with eight etched doorways leading out in all directions.

The almost oppressive gravity that accompanied the hardmode floors had disappeared and been replaced with a strange sort of dense feeling in the air. Like the air was much thicker than normal and bled momentum somehow – every movement costing a tiny bit more than normal.

"Hey, we got a title. Facility finder. Doesn't give anything so I think we are still in the dungeon. Think it's a key title?" Craig spoke from the side – eyes reading his invisible status.

Samantha checked her status and saw she did indeed have a new title – nestled away at the bottom of her list.

“I don’t like this feeling, Gravity is one thing but I don’t know what this is and don’t want the responsibility to fall on my shoulders for this…unknown.” Stelc began speaking even as a group stumbled through behind them – Two guys wearing robes that were ripped and cut like they had just gone through a massive battle.

“See told you we weren’t the first – someone had to have activated it before us and there they are. See? Told you. – Excuse me” one of them spoke as they saw the team – pushing past them and moving towards one of the doors without further acknowledgement that they existed.

“Feels like a dungeon alright? It can’t be much worse than where we just were and if it’s a dungeon there's a good chance we can retreat if it gets too hard. I say we go for it” Craig spoke even as he began moving towards one of the doorways.

Dammit Samantha was back to being annoyed at him. Stelc was the leader it was his call – if he thought they should retreat they should retreat. No outsider should make that decision especially not one so young and inexper-

“You’re right, sorry. We retreat on my call however. No arguments if we reach something we can’t handle okay?”

The group nodded as one then headed off into a passage to the side.

The first explorers in a dungeon never before seen in this world or any other.

Excerpt obtained from memory records taken from one “Samantha Cassona” dated 2005 as stored in the Central repository, regarding the facility.

Innearth: How many monsters do you have just for theatrics?

Fated Eternal Design: …just a few. Why do you ask?

Innearth stared at the black mist monster he had helped Fed design – with darkness, laser and mist cores in a skill organ helping to control the ethereal body…solely to spice up the facility unveiling.

Innearth: Is it over 10?

Abe: It has to be over 100. Be real here I can count a dozen in the facility alone.

Fated Eternal Design: …I feel like you’re making fun of me.

Amy: Guys! Look, adventurers are arriving at my shark tank already! AHH! I don’t know why I’m this excited but look at them! They actually think they should climb in the tank for treasure!

Brutality Queen: Yeah if they are that dumb I say let em be ripped to shreds. Next group will be smarter.

Amy: Queeennnn, if they died it means I didn’t design it right. I should have accounted for adventures wanting to swim in such a nice glass pool filled with sharks.

Abe: You can’t account for everything. Hey what say we smash the side of the tank? That will give em a fighting chance and the shattering void crystal Innearth placed there will look great when it breaks. Anyone else see such a thick piece of crystal and want to see it smash?

Amy: I’m saving them!

Innearth watched in amusement as two adventures slipped about a tank full of breached mutated sharks before turning to focus on the group he was more excited by. Look! Craig made it! I’m so proud of him! They grow up so fast.