”In the depths, we find ourselves. In the depths, we grow. In the depths, we are free.” - Antiquated Delver Prayer.

  ? Grim reached the entrance to the dungeon half an hour before his allotted delve time. Others might have begrudged the early start time, but he was still used to this kind of schedule from his time in his starter guild. It was a common sight for the early risers of the city to see young adults with golden crosses on their uniforms waiting outside the entrance to a dungeon. Now, of course, he had no cross–no guild heraldry at all–but still, he approached the dungeon.

  ? This would be his second time doing this dungeon, he thought, craning his neck to stare up at the peak of the monastery-style building. He thought the bell tower was taller than in his last visit, but he couldn’t be sure. That had been a little over a year ago, and he’d been level two. Now he and the dungeon had both gone up a level, and they met again. Outside of its possibly increased height, nothing about the exterior seemed any different.

  ? Each dungeon in and around Beastwick had its name carved into a sign and posted at the entrance, and this one was no exception. The Cathedral of Midnight, he read with a smile. He remembered his last delve here fondly, both because he’d admired the architecture and because it was a shadow affinity dungeon. He was almost made for it, he thought.

  ? The double doors that served as its entrance and exit swung open, spilling two figures out onto the street, squinting and brushing dust from the outside of their uniforms. They looked to be a year or two older than him, and both wore the heraldry of a feeder Delving Guild he didn’t recognize. They paused slightly as they adjusted to the bright morning light peeking over nearby rooftops and looked around, noticing him.

  ? “First slot of the day?” They asked, and he nodded without a word. “Good time for this one. It gets weaker in the morning.”

  ? He knew that, of course. It was one of the many facts recorded about the dungeon in the dossier kept at the Grand Council of Guild’s offices. He’d purchased a personal copy of the most up-to-date information for a few gold coins and had spent the past two days since his rejection from Compass Rose reading up on the available public dungeons and their information. Strictly speaking, he had free access to all Beastwick dungeons for a year after graduation, to give him a bit of a head start, but he still had other factors to consider aside from price.

  ? “Not a solo delver, are you?” The girl of the pair asked, looking him up and down. “You’ve only got one knife.”

  ? “Weapons don’t mean anything,” her partner said, making an apologetic smile in Grim’s direction. Again, he didn’t feel like saying much. “But if you are planning on delving solo, I’d avoid the vertical shaft in the north-west corner. It’s got a puzzle at the bottom that requires two people to solve.”

  ? Grim nodded his thanks for the advice, but still said nothing. The two delvers gave a small wave and departed, chatting happily together. He caught a comment from the girl about how ‘that boy seemed so grim’. A thin smile tugged at his lips at the unintentional play on his name. So what if he didn’t feel like making small talk with strangers? Based on the fact that they’d left the night slot, they were evidently able to get access to the dungeon at its strongest, which probably indicated noble connections. He let out a long sigh, forcefully pushing the duo out of his mind. He had to prepare for his delve, and he didn’t have time to let anger get in the way.

  ? He’d arrived early in order to make sure that at least fifteen minutes passed between the departure of the last party and the entry of his team. Any less, and the dungeon would be weaker, leading to smaller rewards. Any longer, and they’d run the risk of delving outside of their time slot. Each party had six hours to delve this dungeon–a time limit determined to be feasible for most delver parties, given extensive study of the dungeon’s monsters and layout. As long as they were in before the eighth hour began, they’d have plenty of time to push to the boss and then leave.

  ? “I’m thinking about this too hard,” he told himself with a laugh. At least he could still recognize when he was being ridiculous. “This is just going to be a delve like any other.”

  ? The first of his randomly assigned party members arrived ten minutes before their start time. An unassigned delver with no heraldry, he noticed. He was sure he’d be the only one in his level who delved solo. A longsword was sheathed at his belt, and he could see a medium kite shield slung over his back.

  ? “Been waiting long?” He asked as soon as he picked out Grim’s thin frame against the dark exterior of the building. “I’m not late, am I?”

  ? “No, you’re a little early,” Grim assured him. He got to his feet and moved forward, extending a hand in greeting. “Grim. I’m our scout for the delve.”

  ? “Nice,” the swordsman said, accepting the handshake with a firm grip. “I’m Luther. I prefer to be a duelist, but I’m a tank today for the delve slots.”

  ? Grim nodded his understanding. Sometimes there were too many of a particular role, so some delvers took on alternate roles to ensure a faster selection time for delves. Luther was strong enough, he thought. He’d make a decent tank, and the weapon in its sheath looked well-maintained.

  ? “Is that your only weapon?” Luther asked, glancing down at the dagger on Grim’s hip. “Surely you should have two, right?”

  ? Grim offered a small shrug. “Can’t be avoided just now. Funds are a little low. I’ll buy another one after this delve.”

  ? Luther looked doubtful, but offered no other comment, and the two stepped back from each other. Just then, they heard a called greeting, and turned to see a duo approaching. The taller of the two had spiky red hair and the beginnings of a mustache, and the girl beside him had jade-green hair tied into a tight bun. They both wore white cloaks with a golden fist, the heraldry of The Golden Order, Beastwick’s highest-ranked Judicial Guild.

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  ? “Heyyo!” The girl called, even before they got within easy speaking distance. “I’m Aria! This grouch here is my friend Jeremiah!”

  ? Jeremiah scowled at his description, proving the grump accusation at least partially correct. Once they were within easier speaking distance, he greeted them with a stiff salute. “Jeremiah Warren. C-Rank from The Golden Order.”

  ? “Aria Kett,” the girl said cheerily to his left. “Also C-Rank.”

  ? “Luther Beinn. C-Rank.”

  ? “Grim Kestrel. D-Rank.”

  ? The others looked at him in surprise, and the conversation stalled. Luther was the first to speak. “D-Rank? Seriously? Did you not graduate from your starter guild yet?”

  ? “No, I did,” Grim said. “That’s… just the rank I got.”

  ? “Yikes,” Aria said, her eyes widening. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone being D-Rank after graduation. Did you score that poorly on your final examinations?”

  ? Grim grimaced slightly, but chose not to reply to the subtle insult in her question. Jeremiah nudged her roughly in the side. “Aria! That’s rude!”

  ? ?Her eyes widened even further, and she clapped both hands over her mouth with a quick gasp. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I never think before I speak…”

  ? “That’s what I’ve been telling you for years,” he muttered, shaking his head. Then he stepped forward to shake Grim’s hand. “I won’t pretend I’m excited to work with a D-Rank, but as long as you do your job right, I won’t say anything.”

  ? Well, that was a given, Grim thought, withholding the retort that came to him. He accepted the friendly handshake, suppressing a wince as Jeremiah squeezed more firmly than was strictly polite. “Err, thanks. Kett and Warren, you say? Those are pretty big noble families in the city.”

  ? Aria shrugged. “Sure, my parents are a big deal, but I don’t particularly care about all that. I’m the fifth-oldest child, after all. Not like I’m going to take over the family. Besides, I think my name will change before long.”

  ? She cast a suggestive glance in Jeremiah’s direction as she said this, her eyebrows waggling comically. Jeremiah’s face turned almost as red as his hair, and he turned away abruptly, clearing his throat. “Sh-Shall we get on with it? We’re not waiting for anyone else, are we?”

  ? “I don’t think so,” Luther replied, eyeing Jeremiah with an awkward glance. “When I checked the slot this morning, it said a party of four. We’ve got four here. Let’s get it.”

  ? “How long ago did the last party come out?” Aria asked, reaching into a sleeve of her long robe and withdrawing a wand.?

  ? “It’s over fifteen minutes,” Grim reported. “I was here half an hour early.”

  ? “Alright then,” she said, and her voice took on a more serious tone. “Well, I know there’s a whole pack of monsters at the entrance, so I’ll do some basic buffs here. Cat’s Grace and Ironhide, both Light affinity.”

  ? Two skills? Grim watched her incredulously as she waved her wand over Jeremiah, covering him in a fine white light, and he stood a little straighter. Then she gave the wand a little jab, and something like a fine white mist appeared to wrap around her boyfriend, then sink into his skin. She repeated the same process over Luther, who gave a quiet word of thanks, before moving to Grim. He held up a hand to stop her.

  ? “I appreciate the thought,” he said quickly, “But the one skill I have is shadow affinity. Getting a light buff will weaken it.”

  ? “Really? I didn’t know that,” she said, but accepted his explanation. She moved a few feet away and cast the buffs over herself, then gave Jeremiah a quick nod. “Well, ready as we can be.”

  ? “Right,” the red-haired warrior said. “On my back, then.”

  ? After a short hallway from the entrance, they spilled out into a small antechamber, where there were indeed a few enemies standing nearby, ready to attack any trespassers. Tall, unnaturally thin undead priests surged forward, a few holding long staves, and others summoning shadow to their hands. Grim darted to the left as soon as Jeremiah cleared the door, already beginning to charge his Shadow Dash. One of the priests followed him, but the shadow bolt it sent out was non-tracking and splashed harmlessly against the interior wall.

  ? His Shadow Dash activated, transporting him to the opposite side of the room and leaving him concealed in shadows. The priest that had been chasing him, sensing his disappearance, looked around slowly for a few seconds before turning its attention to the others. Luther had already jumped to Jeremiah’s flank and skillfully parried an attack from one of the priests before stepping forward and slashing upward. The monster reeled back under the attack, giving them a little breathing room.

  ? Grim fell upon one of the enemy mages from behind, his dagger sinking into the chest of the monster, just to the left of its spine. He remembered from his last delve, as well as the public information, that these priests were animated via an inserted core. They were powerful for their level, but died instantly if the core was destroyed. Grim felt the shock of his knife through his arm, and just barely made out a crunch. The undead priest collapsed with a wet thud, and he moved on.

  ? He was able to strike the core of a second mage before the other mages noticed him and moved to counterattack. Even one of the stave-wielding priests turned to face him, but Luther cut that one’s leg clean off at the ankle, making it topple. Grim dove behind a short pedestal on the right-hand wall as bolts of shadow were hurled his way, then came up onto one knee, peering around his cover. One of the mages was creaking his way, aiming to wrap around and finish Grim off. A bolt of light magic slammed into that one–a reprieve granted by Aria, no doubt.

  ? “Thanks!” He called, darting out from the pedestal. Shadow Dash was still on cooldown, and he couldn’t break line of sight long enough to lose aggro on the remaining priests, rendering his abilities as a scout and assassin fairly moot. Still, he charged forward in a long, arcing path, moving to place at least one of the mages between himself and the others. A streak of shadow flashed over his head, and he hit the ground in a long slide to avoid it, before popping up within melee reach. Throwing himself forward, he sank his knife into the priest, just as he’d done with the others.

  ? In less than a minute, the first fight was over. Enough of the stave wielders were destroyed to allow Luther to break away and aid Grim, and together the two of them took out the remaining two mages. Once the room was clear, Grim quickly sorted through the fallen enemies, collecting a small handful of coins. “Four copper and three silver.”

  ? Jeremiah nodded. “It’s a start. I have an extra pouch to keep it accurate, if you like.”

  ? The others regained their formation, and Grim moved to the tunnel leading deeper in. The new layout hadn’t been shared publicly yet, so he was moving blind, but he was confident in his ability to remain unseen at the very least. “We’ll operate on thirty-second intervals.”

  ? The others nodded at once, understanding what he had in mind. He’d move ahead in a specified direction, and if they didn’t hear from him for thirty seconds, it was safe to proceed. He gave a small wave as he began down the hallway, pausing only briefly to glance back as he hit his first corner. They were still standing there, watching him expectantly. Well, at least they weren’t going to just leave, he thought. That was a start.