Cursed Heroine

Chapter 14: First dungeon

We get up early the next morning and prepare our gear for dungeon diving. Sophia and I are wearing our usual clothes. The travel gear we had prepared is tucked away in our backpacks and she has manually selected my maid attire to prevent my battle attire being seen due to auto-equip. I’m given a simple dagger to use by one of the guards and we retrieved Sophia’s bow from the carriage. Once we enter the dungeon, we start killing through the mobs in the upper floors. I take it upon myself to retrieve any crystals we find and the cores from our kills and presenting them to Sophia. One of the guards even lent me a special knife meant for cutting up prey when he noticed my actions, nodding in approval. Sophia keeps all of our gains in a sack tied to her belt since the guards said they would not take anything from such a low level dungeon. We easily make it to the nineteenth floor in just three hours. At my suggestion, Sophia insists to the guards that we explore the entire floor. None of the usually brutish adventurers make any moves towards us due to the overwhelming aura of power the guards give off. The four elites make a great team with complementing skills. One is set up as a typical offensive mage with some healing spells, another is set like a rogue with detection using a short bow and daggers. The other two are equipped as a shield-spear defensive tank and a two-handed axe-hammer user damage dealer. After an hour of exploration of the nineteenth floor, we take a break to eat lunch. I lead our group in a certain direction when we have finished eating. I’m certain that I’ve discovered the entrance to the next floor. It’s a pitfall trap or at least that is what people think it is. The only problem with that assumption is that, according to the map, it is always there and it isn’t even hidden. Standing over the hole, I throw a simple fire spell to the bottom and expand it. As the mana in my fireball expands, I notice it flow easily in one direction. Even if I can’t see it from above, I know there is a tunnel leading off in that direction.

“Mistress, I believe this is the entrance to the twentieth floor. There is a hidden tunnel at the bottom of this hole.”~me

“How are you so sure that it is the next floor instead of just a hidden room?”~Sophia

“Don’t you find it odd that this dungeon is so shallow when similarly old dungeons are much deeper? It’s possible for it to just be a hidden room, but I doubt it.”~me

“Is this the reason you had us explore the entire floor? Your certainty makes me think this is more than just a hunch. Is this another secret you have been keeping from me?”~Sophia

I can feel her annoyance for being kept in the dark as I give a nod in confirmation. Then I scoop her up in a princess carry, eliciting a little yelp and adorable pouting. I cast an air cushion spell around the two of us and jump in. After the guards recover from their surprise, they jumped in after us, expertly making their way down. In front of us is the expected tunnel leading deeper into the dungeon.

“Princess Sophia, we should turn back and report this place to the guild. This doesn’t seem to be a simple hidden room, but the hidden entrance to the next floor. Nobody has ever gone this deep in this particular dungeon, it could be dangerous to proceed.”~rouge guard

“That just gives us more reason to explore it ourselves. The dungeon resources that have built up down here and never been touched are sure to be abundant. We will move slowly, creating a map as we go. It would be unfair if I were the only one to benefit from the coming riches. As such, we will split the loot equally. I just want first pick when dividing the spoils.”~Sophia

The guards discuss among themselves for a few minutes, then decide to proceed under certain conditions that are agreeable. We have to stay at the back, close to the mage and we will immediately turn back if they think it is getting too dangerous. Moving forward, we encounter various mobs that are dispatched quickly. I resume my loot gathering along the way, picking up far more crystals than we had found in the upper levels which puts the guards in a good mood. Things slow down significantly when we reach the thirtieth floor. The guards are starting to expend some effort at this point and even I have to use the occasional spell to ensure our safety. I limit my spell use to beginner second stage spells however, not intending to show my hand. We came across a particularly useful skill crystal on the thirty-second floor. Pocketing it myself with a little sleight of hand, I deposit one of my own stage two mana crystals into the loot bag. We’ve been in the dungeon for nearly ten hours now and it has been decided that we will rest on this floor for the night.

I unpack our camping gear from the packs and set up a tent and bedroll. The guards make quick work of an earlier boar type beast and start preparing dinner, the mage using a fire spell for the cooking. Inside the tent, I conjure a water ball and use a rag to wipe down our bodies. Sophia changes into a clean set of clothes and we exit the tent to eat. When we have finished eating, we turn in for some rest. It would seem that the guards will keep watch in pairs, alternating through the night. The way to keep time in a dungeon is the use of light orbs, special crystals occasionally found embedded in dungeon walls that emit light when supplied with mana. Once they are shaved down to the standard shape and size, they can stay lit for approximately one hour before needing to be recharged. Another type of unique crystal that can be found are the status orbs. They are also a type of crystal found in the dungeons, already existing in an orb like shape. We spend two more days in the dungeon exploring, making it all the way through the thirty-sixth floor before heading back.

That night at the inn, we divide the spoils. The guards take away some stage two and three crystals, a few common skills and a large bag of gold. We got the gold by selling the majority of the cores I had retrieved. My own portion as a servant would be zero if not for the three skill crystals I had squirreled away. Inventory, tamer, and assess were the three rare skills I had managed pocket on the sly. Inventory is the famous storage skill, merchants often pay fortunes to obtain this skill. It creates a subspace for the skill holder to use to store non living items. Plants can also be stored but will not grow, instead wilting quickly. Every level in the skill increases its three dimensions by one meter each. Mana is used when storing or retrieving items, determined by the item’s mass. Tamer is a skill that allows its user to tame beasts as familiars. At levels six and ten, they can gain an additional tamed beast slot. Assess is a lesser version of appraisal that only works with items. It does have the rare ability to evolve when it reaches completion of level ten. At that point it evolves into the appraisal skill. When we return to our room, I pull out the three skills and show them to Sophia.

“Why you little thief. I was wondering why you were so quiet when the guards declared that servants do not get a share. I should have guessed that you wouldn’t be willing to take a loss. So, what should we do with these? Also, what happened to your grand escape plan?”~Sophia

“I’d like you to take the tamer and assess skills, allowing me to acquire the inventory skill. I decided that ‘dying in the dungeon’ wouldn’t work. The guards were too powerful and we are too weak to escape the lower level safely on our own without being detected by the guards.”~me

“By the value in gold for each of these skills, that is a near even split. Very well, we’ll split them as you’ve said. I guess I’ll need to reward you for this, though I’m not sure it wise to reward such dubious actions.”~Sophia

I’ve managed to gain over one hundred sp during our little sojourn in the dungeon which puts my total at one hundred sixty-four. I use up one hundred fifty to activate my dragon’s perception trait, putting me back down to fourteen. It’s a little disorienting at first, but I quickly got used to it. This trait is awesome! It lets me perceive my surroundings in a three meter radius like radar for energy. It seems to depend on my spirit to determine its effectiveness. I can easily see the different energies flowing within things. Specific patterns of energy are indicative of certain skills and I am confident that if I were to study the information obtained by this skill over enough time, it would eventually surpass the appraisal skill. Once our skills have been absorbed, we take a little time to study them and proceed to have a memorable night to celebrate. I get to try out a new massage oil and Sophia took advantage of my furry equipment. She used various methods she discovered in a new book she bought when we had gone out to sell the cores. Cores by the way refers to the physical condensation of qi, mana and spirit that forms in non-sentient life forms. Even some herbs will form a core, usually at its base near the roots, if it is high grade or old enough. We once again fall asleep content in each others arms. If only these blissful days could continue forever.