And (N)one Shall Remain

“Good, so all of you are at level 19 now?” asked Sir Inolet later that night after the group had stopped to rest. They set up camp just outside the territory of the [Winged Scavenger Matriarch]. The entrance to the beast’s lair was even visible in the distance from where they camped. Apparently the beasts didn't leave their territories, though, and as such their camp was perfectly safe for the most part.

 

All three of the summoned [Heroes] nodded in affirmation at Sir Inolet’s question. Alissa had actually been the last to reach level 19 despite her early level lead, as she focused more on leveling her skills of late, while at the same time allowing the others to catch up to her. The vicious and frequent fights had not only leveled Ethan and Joshua to 19 as well, but also allowed many of the guards – including the Princess – to reach the same level in their second tier.

 

“I believe I have explained before that the actions and feats you did in your first tier would partially determine what classes you are offered in the next tier, did I not?” said the old knight as he continued. The question was entirely rhetorical, as he had mentioned that tidbit often enough none of the three forgot about it. “It is the reason why I wanted all of you to stop at level 19 before we tackle the beast that awaits us.”

 

“Ah, taking on the beast while we’re still in the first tier would count as an achievement as well, then?” asked Ethan almost immediately.

 

“Correct, mister Greene. For just about all of our people, we would have never dreamed of tackling beasts no more than a tier higher than ourselves, but you [Heroes] are different. Taking on something two whole tiers above you wouldn’t be outside of your capabilities,” said the old knight with an acknowledging nod to Ethan. “Conquering a dungeon in your first tier should also count as an achievement, one that none of us natives would be able to get, since we would be helpless children in our first tier.”

 

“This dungeon is the easiest one with a third-tier boss then?” Joshua asked curtly from the side with a frown on his face.

 

“No, mister Smith, there are several other dungeons with third-tier bosses of lower level in the Kingdom’s territory. However, they are either in the midst of recovery or being cleaned. This dungeon was the first one we could lay claim to when you three had finished your training, thus here we are,” said the old knight with a scoff. “This one is probably one of the harder ones for its level range, but that just means better training for you three.”

 

“Wait, Sir Inolet, I thought the level range of the dungeon was supposed to be five to thirty-seven?” asked Alissa with some doubt in her voice.

 

“Ah, right, I had forgotten that you were not natives to this land. A dungeon’s ruler, the one you would have to defeat to clear a dungeon, is always at least five, sometimes up to ten levels higher than that level cap. That level range only encompassed everything else in the dungeon. It is common knowledge for us,” replied the old knight. “Since the patriarch we faced earlier was at thirty-five, we can safely expect the matriarch awaiting us to be no more than level forty-five at the most.”

 

“So a well in the third tier then… would we be sufficient to deal with it?” asked Ethan.

 

“Most parties that took on this dungeon mostly did so with a few third tiers of their own while most of their group were in the high second tiers,” explained the old knight. “The practice to seek out achievements before your next tier is extremely common. It is a risky practice, but as they said, no good thing comes effortlessly. You three are very powerful for your levels. Between the three of you and the guards, I expect you will be able to clear this dungeon without too much issue.”

 

“Besides, you can always try again and again if you fail,” he added nonchalantly.

 

Those last words weighed heavily on Alissa and Ethan’s minds. They knew exactly what Sir Inolet meant, and also knew that their failure would likely mean that a few of the guards might be losing their lives in the process. Alissa did not care that the guards would have seen that as an honor, if they were to die just because she fucked up then she would feel that their blood was on her hands.

 

Ethan likely thought the same, from what she knew of him. Even when he played games he was almost obsessive in trying to save as many people as he could, much less in a much more real situation like the one they were in now. Both of them had learnt that other than the Fifth Princess, everyone else in their group of guards were as good as disposable pawns. While the locals might feel that way and even agree with that viewpoint, Alissa doubted she could ever bring herself to think that way.

 

She had no idea how Joshua thought about all this, though given how callous that prick was, he probably couldn’t care less either way. He remained mostly taciturn other than with Magus Drummond and Vesta, pretty much only talking when directly asked by others. That silence and isolation – even if it seemed like he wanted it for himself – annoyed Alissa but she had no idea how to tackle that issue.

 

Not like they had time to deal with it, not with the approaching boss fight anyway.

 

“Sir Inolet,” she heard Ethan ask as they sat down and cleaned their equipment that night after the dinner. This world they were summoned into was by no means as convenient as many stories and games make a game-like world sound like. Weapons and armor needed to be cleaned and maintained properly, and Sir Inolet had insisted that they get used to doing it themselves. “I don’t think anyone’s mentioned this, but are dungeons like these only used for leveling?”

 

“What? No, no, of course not, mister Greene,” said the old knight with some surprised bafflement on his face. “I’m not exactly familiar with this particular dungeon. I grew up in the countryside and did my second tier graduation with an adventuring party there before I came to the capital. Murdock! You care to enlighten these little chicks?”

 

“I guess I have nothing better to do,” mumbled Magus Drummond from his seat. He lit a pipe of what smelled like rather sour-smelling tobacco and inhaled before he continued. “Dungeons are by no means used only for the purpose of leveling, boy. Every dungeon is a treasure trove. One that constantly refilled itself as that. As such we’d be fools if we didn’t make the most out of each one.”

 

“Why didn’t we collect anything on our way in, then?” queried Ethan with some confusion.

 

“We’re here in the stead of a party of independent adventurers, who would indeed primarily come to the dungeon for leveling. That said, they also have an important role, as they would clear the way of any monsters,” explained the old mage. “Roughly a day’s travel behind us is a team of miners and harvesters who would collect everything valuable along the way. Nothing is wasted.”

 

“So, like, what’s there to be had in this dungeon?” asked Ethan once more.

 

“Quite a few things. The hide of these beasts make for decent armor or shield coverings when treated properly. Their fangs are also useful for arrowheads,” listed Magus Drummond as he gave examples. “As for the dungeon itself, there are plenty of good quality mana crystals in this one, which is the main benefit to be had for clearing this dungeon regularly.”

 

“It’s common practice for such a team to follow behind us then?” Alissa asked in turn.

 

“Not in this exact way. Typically such teams would wait until after the team that went in left the dungeon after a successful clear. They would risk their lives otherwise, since if the team that went inside failed, the remaining monsters would rage and attempt to kill every foreign thing in the dungeon itself,” explained the old mage as he drew a puff of smoke from his pike. “Our case is a rather special case, which is why they dared to enter so close behind our heels.”

 

“Special case?” she asked once more.

 

“Me and Murdock’s presence constitutes a special case, girl,” chimed Sir Inolet from the side. “The highest level a monster gets in here is the low third tier at best. Having fourth tiers like us as guard are beyond overkill for that sort of opposition. Nothing here would get past us, so those behind chose to make use of that promise of safety to get some extra time mining this place.”

 

“I see, and with the Princess as an excuse, nobody would have correlated your presence with us being heroes either, is that correct?” asked Ethan as he grew thoughtful.

 

“That is so, mister Greene. If anyone asks, you three are just promising seeds that the Royal Guards are raising in secret,” replied the old knight with a nod. “Nothing about our presence here is particularly uncommon other than me and Murdock being around. The King is passing that off as him doting on his favorite daughter, though. Most everyone ought to buy that excuse.”

 

“Right. Also, I recall Magus Drummond mentioning earlier that these places refill themselves? What’s that about?” Ethan questioned once more. While he looked every bit the stereotypical jock to most anyone, he could really geek out when something struck his fancy. Apparently the hows of a fantasy world counted amongst that list.

 

“Ah, yes, with how familiar you are about how things work at times I tend to forget that you’re not from this world,” replied the old mage with an understanding nod. “After a dungeon is cleared, it enters a recovery period. We usually have a month or so from the date it was cleared to mine and harvest whatever we can find inside, before the ‘rest’ period ends and the recovery process begins for real. For about a week after that, the dungeon would be sealed from everyone. People still inside would be forcibly expelled. Once that period ended, the place would be repopulated, with even the ores we dug out from the walls restored.”

 

“There are usually some slight variations after every recovery, but they’re in a small enough range that we could feel certain about knowing what to expect the next time we enter the dungeon,” continued the Magus as he stuffed more shredded, dried leaves into his pipe. “As such, the process continues onward. Some dungeons are the royal family’s property and used to train our knights and royal guards, some belong to the temple, while others like this one are considered public property and are open to everyone. The royal family still has the right to requisition its use when they need to though.”

 

“I see. So dungeons are basically fountains of endless resources for this world,” said Ethan in understanding. “Don’t you ever have issues with people having conflicting claims on them?”

 

“In the past, yes. Our history books even recorded wars between us humans over ownership of dungeons in the distant past. We haven’t had any such issues since the Kingdom united all of humanity, though,” replied Sir Inolet. “Nowadays, we simply cannot afford to squabble amongst ourselves with the demon threat encroaching down on our necks, and everybody knows that.”

 

“None of these are worries you have to think about yet, though, mister Greene,” continued the old knight. “For the time being, you three should just focus on growing stronger, until you’re capable of holding your own. Both you [Heroes] and the demon’s [Champions] usually arrived around the same time, and they too must be growing stronger. We already labor under a handicap with the summoning incident, so we need to make the best use of this momentary peace we have right now.”