Chapter 20 Dungeon diving.

  After 3 days of rest we followed a guide to the dungeons entrance. Snow was falling in great big flakes, another blizzard probably making its way. A large set of stairs leading into the earth with a brazier on each side lay in a clearing. As we approached the snow seemed to avoid the dungeons entrance in a small radius. Torches were visible inside but nothing else was aside from the stairs leading downward..

  “Best of luck fellows, ill pray for your safety.”

  He walked back towards town as we double checked our equipment.

  “Everyone ready?”

  I called out.

  Nods and affirmation came from everyone.

  “Let's go then, standard formation when we have the space, keep the casters safe.” I set foot on the staircase leading down and we slowly descended the steps leading into the dungeon.

  The temperature steadily rose to a comfortable level as we descended, Alice began to ask questions as we walked, Our footsteps echoing.

  “So how difficult is this dungeon?”

  I answer her questions, having read up on them with my parents' small personal library.

  “Age typically dictates dungeon difficulty; once a dungeon becomes one hundred years old it can evolve into a labyrinth. Our kingdom has one under lock and key, used to train their elite soldiers but in a dungeon like this we can expect a common theme with the monsters. Expect around level 15 at the highest with the boss being around that difficulty at the end.”

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  We continue walking for a few more minutes until the stairs end. Ending in a cave-like system.

  “Keep your eyes open, we don't know what the dungeon theme is, if we're unlucky everything will be poisonous.”

  We continue walking for a few minutes before a goblin shakes himself awake, he grabs a pot and a ladle and bangs it, alerting the others.

  “Get ready, no fire magic, go for wind and darkness!”

  I ready a gravity spell, intent on crushing the one that's banging the pot. He stumbles and falls as gravity is multiplied around him, he lets out a cry as his bones pop from the pressure. A small wind blade cuts into him as more goblins come from down the hall.

  “Derek, you take their aggro, Jean make sure none get through, we're gonna whittle them down with magic.”

  I join Sarah with wind blades, occasionally casting a darkness spell to blind the handful of goblins attacking Derek. Alice keeps up her chants as she summons barriers to keep them from swarming us, Jean occasionally swatting one that gets past Derrick's defense.

  “Sarah, let's do the thing!”

  We begin a chant in unison, palms together as we try to resonate our magical energy.

  “A fierce force to rip our foes, a wind strong enough to shred a drake, we summon the power of gale hazard!”

  Our chant finishes with everyone dropping low as our spell flies past, shredding through the entire hall of goblins.

  Me and Sarah pant as the spell leaves our hands.

  [New skill learnt! Dual cast. -cast a more powerful spell with another, the cost for such a spell is higher than if you could cast it alone, but its strength is more than worthwhile! At higher levels the strength, chant speed and cost are all improved.]

  [+1200 xp]

  [+1 skill point +20 stat points]

  [Level up!]

  “Dual casting? Have you two been practicing?”

  Jean asks as we sit down panting, the cost of a high tier spell exhausting us.

  “Yeah… I wanted… to have…. A team attack… some day….”

  I wheezed. After several minutes we caught our breath.

  “The end goal is for us to be able to do a team attack with everyone together, we can all use fire magic after all.”

  Jean looks at me with an incredulous expression.

  “Look, I'm flattered but I suck ass at magic, darkness is the only thing that clicks with me, if we worked for like another five years maybe we could do a team fireball but that's just a waste.”

  I sigh.

  “It's a pipe dream, ok? For now me and Sarah can do one big spell together if we're in a tight spot. For now let's rest for half an hour, our mana is a bit low and we should see if the goblins had anything interesting."

  Me and Sarah sat down as our mana slowly regenerated with Derrick keeping watch. Alice and Jean worked through the goblin bodies, finding nothing of note, and pulling them to the side of the tunnel. Most of the goblins had been chopped in half with our gale hazard. Their legs being one extra thing to move. After a bit we got back up and we continued on.