Travis's Journey Through the Apocalypse

Chapter 6

No dungeon for you!

Janet finished her story, I rolled my eyes, and the Incoanmenti fucking clapped. They actually fucking clapped. Damn it. There will be no living with her now, shit. Unlike me, Colismo loved the story, and once he was done, ugh, clapping, he lifted the large bottle of Torick. The local alcohol. Tasted like peaches, weird but not unpleasant, and filled Janet’s Stein.

“My, that is quite the tail. It’s only a credit to your strength that you two stand before us. See, I told you, death walks with these two.” Then he smacked his own stein on the floor and was then mimicked by the rest of the hunters as they chorused, “Death walks with you,” and they all drank. I said fuck it and took a large swig out of my own stein. The booze was delicious, and I would have to try and see if I could get a jug before we left for sure.

The rest of the night went on like that as the food was brought in. Then there was more booze and a performance of dancers. It was a magical evening, and the Incoanmenti were becoming fast friends. We drank and talked with our new friend late into the night until we were all too drunk to stand or talk anymore. Most of the Incoanmenti at that point had just passed out where they were. Just laying down and knocking out. I don’t even know if I considered trying to find another place to sleep. I was well and truly shit-faced at that point, and I had just passed out.

The following day, when I woke, I instantly felt slightly panicked. I had just spent the night surrounded by beings I barely knew. They could have robbed me or slit my throat in the night, but they Haden’t. Every bag of holding I had was where they were supposed to be, and there wasn’t a mark on me. I let out a breath of relief and finally looked around to see if anyone else was awake. Sure enough, it looked like the hunters were staring, but as I looked around, it appeared that Colismo had already woken and started his day. Janet was still passed out on the floor. So I decided to let her sleep a little longer, and I walked out of the small house and into the sun.

The day was warm and sunny, with a soft breeze that almost entirely compensated for the heat, I said almost. Birds chirped in the trees, and animal sounds abounded from the surrounding forests. I took a deep breath in and then let it out. As I did, I closed my eyes, letting the sun hit my face. It was a great feeling. However, a voice pulled me from my sunbathing.

“Travis! Your awake young human good. What a time we had last night. Already, we are like comrades who have been separated for a long time. Come join me for the morning meal, would you? I let my face drop from its position, pointed at the sun, and turned towards the Incoanmenti.

“Colismo, good morning, and yes, last night was a good time. I’ll have to have some more of that Torick before we go. That stuff was amazing.” Colismo let out a bark of laughter at my words, then clapped me on the shoulder.

“Then we shall have to give you a bottle before you end your time here. Now come the morning meal awaits.”

“Should I wake Janet? I don’t think she will want to miss out on food.” Colismo smiled at my words and then tilted his head.

“As you will. If I have learned anything in my years, it’s that a hungry wife is an angry wife.” He let out a final Bark of laughter, then slapped me on the back.

“Now go wake your woman, and then let us break our fast together.” I laughed at Colismos words as I jogged off to wake up Janet.

Breakfast was great. Big slabs of wild boar or an animal of a similar type, eggs not from chickens but so good, fresh bread baked that morning, tons of fruit, and even a dish that closely resembled pancakes tasted like them, too. Once breakfast was done, I had the itice full-on, and all I wanted to do was go and find somewhere to pass out again. Colismo had other plans, however. Once we were done eating, Colismo insisted on giving us a grand tour of the village.

It was an enjoyable tour, and after thirty minutes, the itis started receding. In meeting and talking to all the Incoanmenti, it was, for lack of a better word, ordinary. Being in the village was a nice break from the hectic sprint I felt my life had become since the integration. It was nice to hear about mundane problems for a change. There was no life-ending threat to worry about. No dark cloud hanging over our heads, and fuck, it was really nice.

Janet and I spent the remainder of the day with the Incoanmenti. We even went out with Colismo and a few other hunters so they could show off their land a bit. By the time five o’clock rolled around, Janet and I had talked and agreed to stay an extra night in the village as they had already offered. We figured we could get off to a better start in the morning, and one more night of stories, food, and booze wasn’t a bad incentive either. So that’s exactly what we did. Colismo was ecstatic that we had decided to remain for another night, and the night carried on much as the previous had.

Janet and I woke up a bit later than we would have liked the following day, packed up, and gathered our belongings, readying ourselves to leave the village and get back on the road. We hadn’t wanted to create a ruckus with our departure, hence the hour. However, there was Colismo near the gates to the village, with three of his hunters waiting for us. As he saw us make our approach, the Incoanmenti waved us over. Colismo seemed to be in great spirits while the three hunters that were with him had been part of the party last night, and they didn’t look too good. They looked hungover as fuck. They looked how I felt. Like shit, but there were places to be and dungeons to find, so there was no time for that shit. Plus, I had a little smoothie and was right as rain.

“Good morning Janet, Travis. About to head out then?” Colismo asked us. Enthusiasm radiated off the man while the hunters with him visibly flinched at his words. I took pity on the hunters and passed them a flask of healing smoothie while I answered Colismo’s question.

“Yeah, it’s about that time. We’ve got to keep it moving, and we’re on the hunt today. We relaxed a little, but now it’s time to get back to business.” The Incoanmenti nodded as I spoke.

“That’s too true, my new friends. I remembered you said something about what you were hunting for, maybe on our lands.” I nodded, and he continued.

“If you’ll have us, we shall accompany you and offer help wherever possible.” I looked at Janet, thinking about how to answer the man. Janet and I had talked a little about telling the Incoanmenti about the dungeon near their settlement, but we hadn’t agreed yet on what to tell them. While I was thinking, Janet, I think she got bored, or maybe she was just hungover and wanted to get going, but while I was thinking about what to say, she just straight up told them.

“Fuck honestly, I think we both would appreciate that. Right, Travis? So, here’s the thing. There’s a dungeon located close by, up to the northeast. We’re going to find it.” By the time Janet finished talking, Colismo was wide-eyed and almost pulsing with excitement. The rest of the hunters just looked at Janet slack-jawed. They also didn’t look as out of it as they did a second ago. I guess the idea of potential levels and loot could do that to you. Colismo was the first to recover.

“Ah… um, oh, well then. What are we waiting for? Shall we be off?” He said with a glint in his eyes. Janet smiled evilly at the man.

“Don’t know? You’re ready, old man.” Colismo barked with laughter at Janet’s words, then slapped her on the shoulder, and we were off to find a dungeon, Incoanmenti in toe.

So there was good news and bad news. The good news, we found the dungeon. It wasn’t as far as I assumed it would have been from the Incoanmenti village. We were probably about ten miles from the village, and the hunters had no qualms accompanying us the entire way. I think the fact we were looking for a dungeon help, but the hunters had told Janet and myself of hunting trips that traveled much further than the dungeon location.

The dungeon itself had been located about halfway down a shear cliff. We found it in a small cave in the middle of the rock face, and it had been an interesting adventure in its own right, getting up or down to it, depending on your perspective. In the end, I had just empowered my hands and feet with Mana, then pounded out handholds and foot holes all the way up to the dungeon. Once every member of the team was standing in the small cave that was the antechamber of the dungeon, we were all caught up in the spectacle that was the entrance to the dungeon.

It was an impressive sight to behold, for sure. The first thing that stood out to me was the actual doors to the dungeon. They were large, maybe twelve-foot-tall doors, dark as night. The doors almost felt like black holes pulling the light around us into themselves. Flanking the double doors on either side were two beautiful female centaurs. They were clad in armor that extended all the way down, covering their equine halves and torsos. The statues were possessed with weapons in hand as well. One held a large spear, while the other was depicted wheedling a huge double-sided axe. They both were up on their hind legs, giving off the appearance they were charging into battle.

As we all stood there admiring the artistry, we were silent, our eyes too busy to let our brains talk. Except for one of us, that is. After a few moments of taking in the dungeon entrance, Colismo clapped his hands together, surprising all of us, and then turned to look at the rest of the group.

“What a magnificent place! Well, shall we take a closer look?” Colismo asked, gesturing towards the dungeon’s doors. I shook my head because it was still ringing a bit from Colismo’s clap, but then I shrugged and told him, “No time like the present,” and we all started walking towards the imposing doors. As we approached the door, an odd realization hit me. Where were the door nobs? The doors had no obvious handles nor anything of the like that I could see. Then, as I looked over the doors, I could make out what looked like an indentation in the door, the size and shape of a human hand.

This was it. This must have been it. Before I really thought about it, I had reached my hand out and placed it on the door right where the depression was.

I felt a pulse of Mana, and then a notification filled my vision.

You have found a Dungeon! Dungeons are creations of Mana and our Mana-rich areas. You may feel a sense of euphoria when you’re close to them, and you may also notice a higher Mana recovery rate while in close proximity to or in a Dungeon.

Dungeons and the creatures living outside of them don’t mix well, so a safe area naturally occurs outside of a dungeon. This can be larger or smaller, depending on the size and strength of the Dungeon you have found. You have discovered the Dungeon of the Lost Sagittarey Soul. Do you wish to enter?

That was odd. There was usually a yes/no option when asked if you wanted to enter a dungeon, but then I saw my following notification, and everything made sense.

You do not meet the level requirements to enter the dungeon of the Lost Sagittarey Soul. Level requirements: level 30-45. Fill your party with one or more members that meet this requirement to do so.

And there it was, the bad news.

“Well fuck.” I said to nobody in particular. I was just annoyed. We had come all this way, put ourselves through innumerable dangers, all to end up at a dungeon we couldn’t enter. Janet looked at me questioning, and instead of answering her, I merely gestured at the hand-shaped depression in the door. Janet frowned but walked over to the door and placed her hand on the depression. She held her hand there momentarily as her eyes glazed over, and I could tell she was viewing her notifications.

A moment of silence later, Janet pulled her hand away from the door.

“Fuck,” was all she said.

“There is a problem in assuming?” Colismo asked Janet and me.

“Yeah, there is. None of us is high enough level to enter the dungeon unless you have a level thirty to forty-five hiding in your back pocket.

“Aw, I see. The level requirement. If it’s that high, we have found an F-ranked dungeon. Dungeons have grades and rankings. This is a G-grade planet, so this dungeon would be classified as a Grade G, F-rank. Each grades and ranks goes from H to SS but those are extremely rare. your planet could have a Grade G or SS-rank dungeon, but there might only be one on the whole planet.” Colismo finished his word, glee filling his expression. I didn’t quite understand Colismo’s excitement, so I asked him about it.

“We can’t enter. Why does it matter what rank it is?”

“We may not be able to enter the dungeon at the moment, but once we are at a high enough level. This dungeon will become an unimaginable blessing for my people.

Leveling, recourses, loot, this dungeon will make us strong and give us a better chance of making it here on the frontier. Dungeons are natural resources like ore veins or lumber, but they offer substantially better rewards than anything else in the multiverse. That is if you can survive to calm them.”

“I see. So it’s an opportunity, a resource to be farmed and utilized like any other. It’s just a bit more dangerous than mining or logging.”

“Exactly. Now that we know where the dungeon is, we can gain levels and then come back and truly accelerate my people’s growth to new heights.” Colismo explained. It made total sense. Hell, even in video games, dungeons were the same thing. Places to be farmed for levels and to harvest loot. I totally got it.

“So, should we head back to the village for now? We were planning on running the dungeon once we made it here, but seeing as that’s no longer an option, we need to regroup and figure out our next steps. Would you mind if we spent another night in the village Colismo?” Colismo nodded in agreement, letting us know we were more than welcome to stay the night, and we returned to the Incoanmenti village. Once we were back at the village, Colismo pulled Janet and me aside.

“what’s up, Colismo?” I asked the Incoanment. Janet and I waited with the man while the other hunters split off, and he waited till everyone was out of earshot before speaking.

“I’m sorry for the caution. I trust my people, but there is some information that you should keep to yourself even here in the village. There are things in this multiverse that information brokers would pay a pretty penny for, and I don’t believe you are aware of the potential danger you may find yourself in if you’re not careful.” I tilted my head at Colismo’s words, not truly understanding them yet.

“what do you mean?” I asked him

“Let me put it like this. How did you know there was a dungeon there? I have my suspicions, but I would like to hear from you. If you don’t mind, Travis.” I looked at Janet, and she just shrugged, so it was on me to decide whether to tell Colismo the truth. I thought about what to say for a few moments, and Colismo waited patiently as I did so. I finally decided to tell the Incoanmenti the truth.

“We found a dungeon shortly after the integration, and as a reward for being the first on the planet to clear a dungeon, the three members of our party, me included, received, among other things, a Dungeon Coin.” When Colismo heard the words “Dungeon Coin,” his face looked like it would break. He smiled so hard and then began to laugh hard. Janet and I watched the Incoanmenti, unaware of what was so funny. We waited for Colismo to get his laughter under control, and it took a while.

About two minutes later, Colismo calmed down, whipping a few tears from his eyes as he did so.

“what was so funny?” I asked him, honestly curious.

“Oh my. Oh my. You really stepped in it now. First in world too.” Colismo almost started laughing again before he caught himself.

“Well, my friends, let me just say this first. Don’t tell anyone you have that first in world title, especially any nobility who make it out here. They are usually the ones who take all the first in world titles on newly integrated planets. The fact you stole that right from under their noses is brilliant but extremely foolish, to say the least. You will be targeted relentlessly if they know you have it.

As for the Dungeon Coins, they are treasured on newly integrated planes in particular.” Seeing mine and Janet’s confusion at his words, he sighed and continued explaining.

“When planets are integrated by the greater system, many things change. With Mana now flooding your planet, changes occur rather quickly at the beginning. Rare resources, natural treasures, dungeons, and even never-before-seen plant life and animals will start to appear. Integration can be a magical and beautiful event to witness, and often, you can find things unique in the multiverse. That is why pioneers flock to the frontier. They are hoping they will get lucky and find a treasure that will change their fate. That is why you must keep these Dungeon Coins hidden and a secret. You will be hunted down if the wrong people know you have these.”

Janet and I were both made a little nervous by Colismos’s words, and it must have shown on our faces because he then added, “Come now, you have a treasure, a true treasure of the integration. Don’t fear. Your two are smart and powerful. For now, be happy with that. Now come, the evening meal awaits us.” Colismo, with a smile on his face, clapped us each on the shoulders and steered us off to eat.