Core of Knowledge

“Now, we come to the information portion of the ceremony. The Guild is selling a more detailed report of what our exploration team faced, but for the cheapskates among you, this is the first floor of the dungeon. It is simple, dangerous but beatable. You will first need to walk through a long dark tunnel, before being teleported to a cavern filled with poisonous gas. We do not believe that the gas will affect your constitution or mental capability, but your starting point is random, and you will be alone. So, keep calm.

Now, the dungeon core is not totally unfair. It had created several safety orbs on the floor which have a healing effect to counteract the poison and the trick is to find a way to reach the end of the floor using these orbs as safety stops. You will see many lights in the fog, these are the safety orbs, and to beat the floor, you will need to use them to reach the end of the floor, which is the biggest, brightest light in the cavern. Now, the floor is spatial so each of you will be alone, but the end point is not. Everyone in your team will meet up there. There is only one chest.”

Murmurs could immediately be heard among the adventurers. Claudio ignored them and continued.

“So, the Guild advised that every party discuss how you intend to divide the loot before you enter the dungeon. Whether it will be first come, first serve, or are you going to wait for everyone to reach the end before opening the chest, it is better to get it out of the way first before you begin. Of course, the Adventurer Guild will be here to buy whatever loot you gained for a fair price if you are unable to come to an agreement. There is no need to fight your follow adventurer in the dungeon. Any questions?”

Not known for their etiquette, several adventurers immediately shouted but the Guild Master was prepared. There was a method through the chaos, and Claudio pointed to an adventurer near the stage. All the adventurers immediately went silent as the adventurer shout out her prepared question.

“Are there any monsters or traps we need to watch out for?”

“The chest at the end of the floor is trapped, but you should be able to disarm it if you are careful. At this point, the guild does not know of any other traps or monsters on the floor, but this dungeon is new, so we cannot rule them out totally. Adventurer Calious, your question?”

“Do healing potions and spells work…”

Pos sighed and took another drink from his flask as he tuned out the remaining questions from the adventurers. Pos already knew the answer to most of them, but he was glad the Guild was doing this. As the first person to survive the dungeon, and a member of the exploration team, several adventurers had approached him for information on the dungeon in the past few days. With this, maybe the adventurers will finally lay off.

Pos only wished it wasn’t so boring.

After answering several questions from the adventurers, Claudio gave a signal to Fabiana. The image above them changed to show a small circle with three paths leading from it. Only one of the paths was highlighted. Claudio took only the smallest of glances at the image above him before continuing.

“This is the second floor. You and your group will appear in a large room, with three tunnels leading from it. Above the tunnels are signs showing the numbers ‘1’, ‘2’, and ‘4’. From prayers, we believe all three tunnels can lead you to the end of the floor,” there were murmurs at this from the crowd as none of the adventurers expected that, “however, the Guild is unsure about that as only Tunnel ‘1’ has been explored. So, it is the Guild’s recommendation that adventurers take Tunnel ‘1’. Anyone who wish to take the other tunnels will be doing so at their own risk. Of course, the Guild will be paying for information on the other two tunnels if you survive them.”

The murmurs, which had died down as Claudio continued his speech, started up again. This time with more intensity as teams discussed if they should take a chance on the other two tunnels. Pos was sure some of the parties would give it a go, either for greed or for the spirit of adventure.

“I shall now tell you about Tunnel ‘1’.” Claudio said as the image now extended to show the lake, two highlighted areas at the top and bottom of the image, and eight small pavilions situated in the middle of the lake. “Tunnel ‘1’ leads you to a lake room. You will appear at one end, and you will need to reach the other end of the floor. There are eight separate footpaths leading across the lake with magical restriction preventing more than one person on each footpath. The dungeon has not set up any Rules Board yet, but the number of footpaths makes the Guild believe the dungeon will only accept a party of up to eight members. Usually, this is not an issue as most teams have less than that number, but it is something to note as teams above eight members may not be able to access this room.”

“Also, there is a small pavilion situated in the middle of each footpath. There is a puzzle in the pavilion which you need to solve. Failure means you will need to face the Boss of the room, a giant squid that will rise from the bottom of the lake. You do not need to kill it. For some reason, once you do enough damage to it, the Boss will retreat. Parties may wish to adjust their strategy around this fact.”

“That’s unusual, isn’t it?” Someone shouted from the crowd, a question Claudio could only shrug in reply. Murmurs erupted from the adventurers again, and Pos could feel that they were getting uneasy with how unusual this dungeon was. He saw Claudio and Fabiana sharing a smile, and realized this was probably what they were hoping to accomplish. Father Raul look less than happy behind them, but Pos did not mind. Uneasy adventurers were less likely to take unnecessary risks, which means they were less likely to die.

“Now, the puzzles in this room are known as jigsaw puzzle. You will each receive a thousand strangely shaped pieces which you need to assemble to form a picture within an hour. For those of you who do not know what a jigsaw puzzle is, the Guild has been selling copies of the puzzles for you to practice for the past few days. They come with information on the Skills that could be helpful with the puzzles. You may approach our receptionists on the price of the puzzles.”

Pos had to chuckle at that, just like the Adventurer Guild to find a way to make some gold before sending adventurers to their death. Claudio took questions from the adventurers about the second floor which Pos tuned out once more. He turned to look at the dungeon entrance, lost in the pull of it. Then, Pos felt it. A Skill washing over him, demanding his attention. Pos looked back at Claudio as the Guild Master put everything he has into his [Commanding Presence]. He had raised both arms above him, his face looking at the sky above and then he shouted.

“I, Claudio of House Campisi, Guild Master of the Adventurer Guild of Viaggia, with the authority granted by the [Queen] of the Bright Kingdom, and by the blessings of the Gods, hereby declare the Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques opened to all. For the Systems of War and Magic!”

“For the Systems of War and Magic!”

A cheer erupted once more, and things would never be the same again.