To the prospective handshake, the Pallum took it without without hesitation. Like grabbing a child's, it felt as though Varanense could crush it with little effort. The resulting handshake was floppy and sad.
"Penn's the name", the Pallum replied,
"don't wear it out."Varanense had asked Dahlia a good question. In fact, that was one of the most important questions. What did Dahlia's training entail? If they were to be thrust onward to level 2, wouldn't that mean that they would have to sluggishly train to become strong enough? Dahlia went to dispel that notion.
"Tut tut, training is only half of it. To be frank, all of you are already strong enough to become level 2. In fact, I think I was weaker than all of you when I first levelled up. No, besides getting a stat past D, what's important are your feats. Entering the dungeon every single day to slay goblins, kobolds, and lizards isn't enough. Heck, even Orcs and Imps won't be enough. What you need is to do something wild. You have to do something so insane that even the gods will be impressed. That's how you level! So my training is less about turning you into and more about finding and fixing your shortcomings. Then, you can push even further beyond on your current strength!"When Castor mentioned vomiting, Dahlia's mood instantly went from energetic and happy to nervous and trying not to gag. She covered her mouth with her hand and didn't look Castor in the eyes.
"Well, erm, you didn't. Uh. Not vomit on me. No, you... well, did vomit but it was after..." She paused in order to not gag mid-sentence.
"Hrm... I... I think it's better for you not to remember. Maybe you'll remember it the next time you get drunk. I'd... I'd stay away from alcohol from now on. You don't want to remember that."With a slap on her own cheeks, she psyched herself up. Well, she mostly just wanted to not think about what Castor had or had done to him last night. Whatever it was, it was a terrifying experience. Truly, coming to terms of it would be more difficult than level 2.
"Head on in, I'll be right behind you, watching your every move!"
Floor 1
While the cityscape of Orario was often whimsical, the dungeon was unforgiving and relentless. For most adventurers, the labyrinthine tunnels were easy to get lost in. What made it worse was that there was, for the most part, only one way in. That meant there was only one way out. It was entirely possible for an adventurer to get lost if they took a wrong turn. A map was only good if you knew where you were, after all. With the exception of some safe havens a dozen or so floors in, monsters would often attack you from both in front and behind. Even if you cleared monsters and took safe paths, it was entirely possible for a party of goblins that were ready to fight to be birthed from the wall.
Thankfully, the party of adventurers weren't lost or ganked at the current time.
The first floor of the dungeon was familiar to everyone. As if cleanly carved from the earth, simple and straight paths lead from room to room. Monsters were plentiful, but they refrained from filling the tunnels. Instead, they chose to primarily remain inside of the rooms. Though, it wasn't uncommon to encounter some wandering monsters moving from room to room, nor was it uncommon to be ganked by a handful of monsters.
The hard brown earth that the tunnels had been carved into were illuminated by glowing blue orbs that littered the ceilings. More akin to a glowing moss or resting fireflies than lanterns, they gave off enough light to see down each tunnel. If they had been warmer and brighter, some would even say that it would be more akin to daylight rather than dungeon light. Besides the strange feeling of seeing no shadows, it was perfectly fine to navigate and fight in. It was easy to see any danger that would come their way.
The party had found themselves navigating the tunnels and rooms. With them, Penn had been occasionally showing them the map of the first floor and where they were on it. They were, of course, making it down to the second floor and beyond. The first floor held little for semi-experienced adventurers. It was, in all ways, a tutorial floor. It taught new adventurers how to fight monsters and use maps, but that was it. Besides those newbies who had been dreadfully unlucky or overestimating their abilities, very few people died from the first floor.
The relatively empty first floor had been interrupted by the upcoming room. Their distinctive dog-shaped heads and furry bodies. There were seven kobolds in all. For now, they didn't see the group so the party remained at an advantage. However, it was also possible to go around the room. After all, the closest hole down to the second floor had multiple paths toward it, but this room was the closest way to get to it. Otherwise, they would have to backtrack a fair amount to avoid fighting kobolds. Additionally, the room was mostly empty. Besides a handful of pillars strewn within the room, it was flat and clear. It was like that for most of floor 1 and this room was no exception.
Member
Phase,
Izurich,
ERode,
vietmyke,
Elite Minor,
Bartimaeus,
Stern Algorithm,
Creative Chaos,
Estylwen,
Obscene Symphony
