Chapter 376. Dungeon Intrusion.

  The road to the dungeon was quiet, though I could see some flickering lights in the distance. A signpost directed me from the main road to the trail leading to the dungeon. The guild outpost was located outside a wide open area of rolling hills and tall grass. Only a few trees studded the landscape, and I didn’t spot any type of cave or ruins that would indicate the dungeon entrance.

  Just like with the other dungeons, the outpost was simple wood construction that would be easy to take apart and rebuild as the dungeon entrance shifted over time. A few groups were gathered outside the building, sitting on tables and chatting as they waited their turn in the dungeon. So far, I’d only run into parties of adventurers and had not seen any other solo delvers.

  Maybe it was a rare occurrence, but I found that challenging a dungeon that was almost a full tier lower than me hadn’t been all that difficult. Splitting the experience with a full party for a dungeon of my tier and rank wasn’t likely to be any more lucrative than going solo, so I’d stick with that plan for the time being. The other adventuring groups ignored me as I walked into the outpost.

  “What can I help you with, young man,” an older gentleman at the counter asked.

  “Hi, I’m here for a solo run of the Savage Plains,” I answered.

  “Like to live dangerously, eh? What’s your name, I’ll get you in the queue,” the old man said.

  “It’s Rico Kline, and I think the guild already placed me in the queue,” I replied.

  “Hmm, let’s see, uh, here it is. You have a priority queue position, which means you’re next up. Anything you need before you go inside?” the old man asked.

  “Just the dungeon guide for this place and the normal potions,” I replied. The potions handed out at the beginning of the run were too weak for my needs, but I could always pass them on to others. After all, the cost of them came out of the percentage of the rewards that the guild took from my earnings in the dungeon, so in a way, I had already paid for them.

  “Here you go. Is this your first run here?” the old man asked.

  “Yes, any tips?” I asked.

  “Well, the dungeon’s been a bit cranky lately, and I get the feeling it’s either ready to expand or it’s about to mix up its existing configuration. My advice would be to read the guide but also be on your toes anything unexpected. If something feels off, just leave, there’s no reason to play the hero in there,” the old man offered.

  “Thanks, I’ll take that into consideration,” I said, thumbing though the guide while I waited for the party in front of me to complete their run.

  The guide showed an unusual flow for the dungeon’s progress. You started out in an area with lower tier creatures and had to find and hunt the alpha of that group. Once you dealt with the alpha, new creatures to hunt would unlock. Once that happened, you continued to repeat the process. The final boss varied based on the random creatures you faced and would be a more powerful version of one of the alphas you’d already defeated.

  I stored the potions in my inventory and took a look at what else the shop had to offer while I waited. The gear was a notch above what the guild had in stock at the previous dungeons. There were a few pieces of armor and some common weapons with simple enchantments, as well as a full range of standard adventuring gear. The gear was mostly mundane, unenchanted items that consisted of things from camping supplies and preserved food, to climbing gear and clothing for various extreme environments.

  Nothing in the guide warned about extreme environments, so I assumed the gear was just for people that wanted to pick up whatever they might be missing for future delves. This dungeon sounded like an interesting one, and I was excited to see what a tier two, rank six dungeon would throw at me.

  Unlike the adventurers outside, I was allowed to stay in a small waiting area near the dungeon entrance. A quartet of guild guards in chainmail and holding spears kept watch over a pair of mages that were casting spells that I wasn’t familiar with. Since they were targeting the dungeon entrance, I figured they were measuring the mana flow or something to better predict what the dungeon was up to.

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  I wasn’t about to interrupt their work and took my cue from the guards who just stood there quietly. The entrance itself wasn’t what I was expecting, and it was odd seeing tall grass inside the large building we were in. Waving like it was in a breeze only it could feel, the grass glowed with a faint blue light. It took me a minute to realize the grass itself was the portal, and there wasn’t some round blue circle that was going to open when I approached.

  The wait was taking longer than I expected, and I was beginning to worry that the other party still inside might have run into some kind of trouble. Whatever task the mages were working on was completed and they left without a word. A few minutes later, four more guards showed up to reinforce the four that were already there.

  “Hey, buddy, be on your toes in there. The mages scryed some odd readings, and while they aren’t going to shut down the queue, they want anyone going inside to be aware that the dungeon’s power level might be higher than normal,” one of the newly arrived guards, a burly dwarf in wizard regalia, said.

  “Are you expecting the dungeon to spit out monsters soon?” I asked, looking over the guild defenders. There were the original four spearmen, all humans. They had been joined by the dwarf wizard, two halfling crossbowmen, and another halfling in robes that was probably the group’s healer.

  “From what the mages told me, there’s a small chance of trouble, but the guild likes to be prepared for any eventuality,” the dwarf said. Everyone turned toward the dungeon entrance as the tall grass glowed brighter. Instead of a horde of dungeon monsters, it was the party that had been inside returning.

  They looked a little worse for wear, and while all four of the group were alive, they were carrying a warrior whose chainmail armor was shredded, and who had suffered severe bites and scratches that were leaking blood onto the grass. The halfling I had tagged as the guild healer rushed toward the group, already casting a healing spell. Not wanting to just stand by and just watch, I added a Health Bloom over the entire party.

  “You can go in now, but be careful,” the mage said as the healer led the party back inside the guild outpost. I gave a nod and walked onto the now open grassy area. I felt the familiar pull of a portal activating, and I was suddenly in a new place. A bright afternoon sun beat down on me, and I could hear the roar of some beast in the distance.

  The area was covered with tall grass, and while only knee high, I worried about what might be hiding inside it. A few rolling hills and collections of stunted trees were seen in the distance. Being in the shade under those trees sounded good about now, but my Constitution stat was high enough that I could endure the hot weather for quite a while without any ill effects.

  The drone suddenly turned around, bladed arms raising up just as a large cat-like creature leaped toward him. A slash of his arms gutted the beast, which collapsed dead between us. The system granted me some information on the animal, which looked like a cross between a tiger and a honey badger.

  Sneak Badger, Tier 2, Rank 4.

  It had a cat-like mouth filled with long, sharp teeth, but its claws were more like the ones I’d seen on a badger. It was probably a tough thing, but it wasn’t up to dealing with a mana slayer drone that was a full tier higher than it. A second look at the drone showed that the sneak badger had at least made a good effort. Several claw marks were visible on the drones’ outer armor, but a quick inspection revealed that my minion was still at full heath.

  “Well, it looks like we’ll have to deal with the possibility of sneak attacks and not just a straight up brawl,” I said. Melvin sent me a mental thumbs up, and a feeling of disappointment when the sneak badger dissipated into mana vapor. He had wanted to taste the creature, since it was one that he hadn’t encountered before.

  Before we could resume the hunt, I felt mana building up nearby, and a steady pressure increasing like a storm was about to break. About ten yards to my right, a dark portal opened, with flickering bolts of green and black energy running through it. My team readied itself for a fight, though I didn’t get the feeling that this portal was part of the dungeon itself.

  A skeletal figure stepped from the portal, and it took me a moment to recognize that it was Tzes’zod. The robes and strange power emanating off the lich gave him away even though every humanoid skeleton looked pretty much the same.

  “Rico, I’m glad I could locate you. I have news about your dispute with Gary,” Tzes’zod said.

  “I didn’t know you could teleport into a dungeon, so I take it the information is urgent enough that you couldn’t just send a scroll,” I said.

  “Correct, and yes, it is a bit more difficult to locate and arrive inside a dungeon when it is occupied by adventurers such as yourself. For a lesser being, I suspect it would be impossible, but for one of my power, it is only a minor inconvenience and simply requires a bit more of a mana expenditure than normal,” Tzes’zod said.

  Before he could get into the information he’d come to deliver in person, the sounds of beasts roaring, braying, and screeching began to sound out all around us. The noises were getting louder by the second, and the ground began to shake like a stampede was heading in our direction.

  “Ah, it seems my arrival has angered the dungeon core,” Tzes’zod said. Maybe he would be fine, but even though the dungeon was just tier two, rank six, I didn’t like my chances at taking on the whole place, bosses included, at once.