Dungeon 1 Chapter 5

“Hi, I’m Cassandra Renard. Most people call me Cass.” A student with lavender hair sat down next to me and I went ahead and put my bag on the other seat to save it for Charlotte.

“Hi, I’m Ken.” I shook her hand finding her ruby red eyes a little mesmerizing.

She only grinned wider and leaned towards me when she noticed my fascination. “Is it true? Crimson brought you to this school?”

“Yeah.” I didn’t see any reason to deny it. It might even help me get over this whole awkward phase of being the only guy here.

“So cool. I saw your exam, when you stepped on the dungeon stone and it called you an aberrant. Then Crimson came down and my heart literately stopped. I was thinking about going to Pendulum, but knowing Crimson is here, screw it I’m now a Haylon, thank god there’s at least one boy.” She lick her lips hungrily and I was suddenly aware of her chest pressing up against my arm.

She was very attractive, and I wouldn’t mind getting to know her. Especially if she was in my class.

Rather than let that distract me I focused by on Cass. “So what class are you?”

“Warlock.” She pouted a little at my lack of reaction to her. “My whole family pops out as warlocks, every single time. There’s a rumor that with the red eyes there’s a little demon blood in the family.”

That made my eyebrows rise. “You come from a family of adventurers?”

“Look at everyone here.” She gestured at all of the girls present. “We are the elite, that means that we likely have a leg up from birth. That’s the unfortunate reality. There might be a few who lucked out with their classes. I bet you come from an adventurer family.”

I nodded. “My grandfather trained me he was a top tier adventurer in his day.”

“Exactly. So let me see your stats.” She nudged my arm with the CID.

I brought it up. Nothing had changed, the Aberrant class still sat like a big black omen at the top.

Ken Nagato

Class: Aberrant

Level: 1

Experience: 0/100

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 11

Stamina: 10

Magic: 8

Mana: 12

Skills: None

“Pretty good stats. You must have trained pretty hard.” She then brought her own CID around to show it to me.

Cassandra Renard

Class: Warlock

Level: 1

Experience: 0/100

Strength: 9

Dexterity: 10

Stamina: 14

Magic: 14

Mana: 10

Spells: Shadowbolt, Charm

Whoa. No wonder she was happy to share. She had fantastic stats. Well above average. “You’re a lot stronger than you look.”

Cassandra did a weak flex while sticking out her tongue. “Maybe its that drop of demon blood in the family. Or more likely it’s the grueling training my mother’s put me through. Seriously, everyone here put in hundreds if not thousands of hours to get here. I used to feel like I was top dog in high school, but now it’s crazy everyone I’ve compared myself to is just as strong.

“You might have that aberrant class, but Crimson herself came down to bring you here. That’s a hell of a vote of confidence.” Her eyes shifted as The headmistress came into the room and I looked down at my watch.

Just two minutes left.

Headmistress Marlow went up to the stage and sat in one of the chairs back away from the podium to wait out the last minute.

She made eye contact with me and just rolled her eyes.

“You know the Headmistress too?” Cassandra asked.

“Barely. She doesn’t like that I’m here, but she couldn’t say no to Crimson. I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about why, but we’ll see soon.” I said as my eyes kept flickering to the back door.

Cassandra looked around me at the door then to the bag I was using to hold the seat. “Waiting on someone? They are almost late.”

Just then the door opened and Charlotte and Bun-bun came through with Crimson in tow.

I turned and waved my friend down. “Charlotte, I saved you a seat.”

She checked something on her CID. “How’d you know I’d be in your class?” Charlotte sat down as I moved my bag.

“Crimson told me you’d be in her class with me.”

Cassandra leaned around me. “Hi, I’m Cassandra Renard, but people call me Cass. This is Crimson’s class?”

“Charlotte DuVell.” The name made Cass’ eyes widen a little. “Yeah, if Ken is here it is going to be Crimson’s class.”

“Awesome.” Cassandra did a little squeal and sat back into her chair as the Headmistress stepped up to the lectern and Crimson walked down the isle past me and shot me a wink.

Cassandra just let out a sigh that made me think her soul had left her body.

The girl must be a hardcore Crimson fan.

Crimson stood in front of our section while two other teacher took up positions in front of the others.

“Welcome to the hallowed halls of Haylon ladies… and gentleman.” Marlow’s gaze swept over me. “It is a great honor to join among the top of the elite. Haylon has produced such exceptional adventurers such as Mistress Crimson here who so generously agreed to teach here this year.”

If any of the attention bothered Crimson she didn’t show it as she just had a placid smile like she was amid a photo shoot.

“Some of you might be curious as to the man here who made history. Becoming Haylon’s first male student in our seventy three years of operation. Well, he shares the same class as Crimson and she has wanted to personally train him.” Marlow shot me a smirk as the crowd couldn’t help but bubble up with gossip.

“That said, he will be treated like any other student. His achievements are his own and so are his failures. I hope that he excels and represents Haylon admirably in the future.”

She seemed to pivot from the interlude in her normal speech back to her normal one. “Women dominate the top fifty adventurers. That isn’t just because of Haylon, but because of our training and all of your efforts. While you are here training please do you best and listen to your teachers. They are among the best adventurers in the world. To show our dedication, class will begin.” The headmistress steped back from the lecturn.

Crimson raised her gaze over the twenty five seats before her.

I couldn’t help but notice that one was empty. Poor student missed this and would be expelled.

“Follow me.” Crimson’s voice was calm, yet carried over the section as she walked past us all.

I grabbed my bag and hurried to follow her.

She marched straight out of the building and over to the dungeon amid the stares of the upperclassmen watching the world’s greatest adventurer with awe struck eyes.

“Are we going to register with the United Guilds?” Cass asked as we walked.

“Maybe?” Charlotte frowned. “We could all do that on our own. My father already took me through the registration and orientation.”

“Right? What a bore.” Cass scoffed.

I hadn’t gone through that with my grandfather, so I just stayed quiet. The properties of the dungeon were well known to all.

Crimson marched us all in.

“Ah. Crimson, you are here for registration and orientation of you class?” A clerk stepped forward with a friendly smile.

“No. We are entering the dungeon.”

“Ah?” The clerk was clearly surprised. “But they—“

“I will be with them.” Crimson cut her off.

The clerk started to fret before another older woman came up behind her with a friendly face. “Please go right on ahead. If Crimson is with her students what concern is there? Those of you that haven’t registered, please come by sometime in the next few days to register.”

She really got her way wherever she went didn’t she.

“We could go through the orientation or you could all just experience it yourself.” Crimson went down a set of stairs that were heavily guarded with members of the United Guilds.

Once upon a time they were members of various guilds organized to keep order with the dungeon entrances, but now they were their own entity, though they kept the United Guilds name.

Shops that both bought and sold goods lined the hall leading up to the dungeon itself.

A dark stone arch that just felt like it brimmed with potential.

“First lesson. Do monster spawn on top of adventurers?” Crimson asked back to the class as we followed her.

“No. The dungeon doesn’t spawn monsters within the line of sight of any adventurer.” A girl with long blue hair stated primly.

“Correct. One point to you. The dungeon is alive, it makes decisions. One of those is not to spawn things on top of you. Another is that if too many of you appear to be fighting together that it will boost the monsters. So while we are down here please stand back unless I call you forward. Any disregard for your fellows while in the dungeon will not get you expelled.”

Crimson paused and met the eyes of everyone following her. “I will kill you personally.”

There was a moment where the entire class froze stiff under her threat.

“Anyway, keep following me.” Crimson continued through the rough stone passage of the dungeon. “The first floor under Haylon is filled with Boggarts.”

Soon the rough stone gave way to bricked walls and there was a lumbering figure like a living mass of moss.

“Ken. Show us what happens when a dungeon creature dies.” Crimson said.

It took me several seconds to realize that she singled me out. “Yes of course.” I stepped forward, my sword and knife entering my hands as leather armor covered me over my uniform.

It was just a level one monster a large and slow one at that.

I could handle it no problem.

This was what my grandfather trained me for.

Yet at the same time it was intimidating. Monsters of the dungeon were the cause of countless deaths every year.

The choice was taken away from me as the creature noticed me and shifted its stance.

Now or never.

The Boggart was easily nine feet tall with arms that were unnaturally long and skinny little things except they had big hands. The whole thing was a soft fuzzy looking green made of moss.

It raised its arm slowly telegraphing every move.

I dodged to the right as it slammed down it’s heavy hand, then I dove in with my sword cutting at it’s arm.

Though I didn’t sever it, I did plenty of damage, that was what mattered in the dungeon.

Dodging back out of its range I waited for it to approach again.

“Monsters at this level are highly predictable.” Crimson narrated my fight. “If you know how to fight them, you can just lure them into a simple pattern if you are fighting one on one.

“The boggart is slow, predictable that it only attacks after raising its arms. Though it seems simple, when you add multiple of them, or later on the floor where there are other monsters you can be distracted and a hit from a boggart can be devastating.”

Crimson focused on me again. “Show the class what happens when you strike the crystallized mana in one. It is located in the center of their chest.”

I switched my knife to a reverse grip as the boggart lumbered forward to get ready for its next strike.

There were two ways to kill a monster in the dungeon. Either after enough damage to its surface it would die, or after you cracked it’s crystallized mana. That was in the core of every monster made by the dungeon.

The boggart swung down and I easily dodged to the side before rushing forward my knife ready as I stabbed it into the center where Crimson had mentioned and I felt a hard surface on the other end of my knife.

It paused for a moment before it exploded in a black cloud.

Something pressed up against my throat and I was shoved to the wall.

“Always be prepared. Don’t stand idly amid your victory.” Crimson whispered. “Lesson number one.”

The black cloud faded and Crimson had let go of me and smiling amid the cloud before bending over to pick up two items. “This is a mana crystal. It’s black because it is of the poorest grade. By the tenth floor they become purple, by the twentieth floor they are blue. Each color variation is ten times the value. This is worth one Ren.” She handed it to me.

Then she picked up the next item. “Bog Moss, it’s an ingredient in basic healing potions. Thus it is in high demand and sells well to the United Guilds shops in front of the dungeon. You’ll be sick of this stuff within a month. But it is a staple of the Haylon Academy, enjoy farming it so you can buy adventuring gear. The more you embrace the idea of farming, the better off you’ll be.”

I rubbed at my throat where Crimson had pressed a knife to me, only to find no blood.

The woman was insane.

Yet she was my best opportunity to become an adventurer.

“Isn’t the guild inundated with the stuff?” I asked.

“No. This is unique to the first five floors of the Haylon academy. After that we start to join with other dungeon entrances. Then you will all push deeper and connect to more and more dungeon entrances. When you graduate this academy you will be able to dive to the twentieth floor.” Crimson promised. “Or that is what I’m supposed to say. I expect my students to reach the thirtieth floor by the end.”

I nodded that just seemed par for the course.

Crimson held herself and those around her to extreme standards.

The thirtieth floor was no joke. The dungeon increased in difficulty every level, but every tenth floor ended in a powerful boss.

The difference between the twentieth floor and the thirtieth wasn’t small at all.

“Good. Ken, come up front there’s another. This one I want you to demonstrate to the class what it is like when you damage an enemy to death.” Crimson handed me the black crystal and the moss to put in my CID. “All of you pay attention.”

I spun my sword around and stepped forward as the next Boggart came out of the shadows.

If she only wanted me to damage it to death, then I would let it attack and counter on its long period between attacks.

It came and I let it smash the floor before stepping into its range and cutting large swaths from it’s torso with my sword and dragging a large wound with the knife before jumping back out of its rang with its next swing.

“Good. See Ken has the right cautious approach to fighting a single monster. There is no need to rush a kill if you can let it miss and win with a thousand cuts.”

I huffed a heavy breath and dodged another attack before going back in and slashing it twice before it exploded into a black cloud.

Only this time I jumped back clearing the smoky cloud.

“Good.” Crimson was there, pinning him to the floor with a hand on his shoulder. “What you just saw was someone with experience. Never, I mean never, ever, sit inside the cloud created from a kill. It can be satisfying, but you never know when a monster can sneak up on you and use that moment to attack.”

A lot of the girl nodded but I felt a bead of sweat trickle down my back.

Crimson was paying too much attention to my progress.

She picked up another piece of moss and then a small ingot of metal. “Dungeon creatures drop all sorts of magical equipment and materials. Like I said before it is alive and it wants us to dive dungeons, so it will reward you consistently with materials, as you delve deeper you will even seen whole items drop from monsters.

“Now everyone will take turns fighting a boggart in front of the class. Experience what the dungeon is like and then when we sit down in class to talk about the types of monsters and difficulties, hopefully you’ll have a respect for the dungeon.” Crimson let me go as she pulled another person forward to face the next boggart.

“She really likes you.” Cass said.

I frowned. It felt more like she was pushing me forward, trying to pressure me. She thought I had some amazing potential, yet her method of bringing it out was only going to be putting me in dangerous situations.

“Charlotte, you are next.” Crimson said looking back at our group. “Let’s see what your bunny can do?” Then she turned around and focused on the student currently fighting.

Charlotte nodded and it left me wondering what happened when she had helped me earlier.

“Char, when you helped me earlier, did you get in trouble?”

She blushed. “No. I called my sisters. Told them about you and asked where the headmistress’s office was. They were adamant that you were going to get in trouble. Shortly after you ran my eldest sister appeared and the security council had their hands full. But Crimson broke it all up.”

“She did?”

Charlotte nodded vigorously. “Yes she just knocked the entire security council out with a single stroke of her whip.”

I shivered at the thought.

Crimson hadn’t drawn her whip in front of me yet, but it was a thing of legend.

“Then she hurried me to the entrance ceremony.” Charlotte continued as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“I’m happy. I was worried that you’d miss it because you covered for me.”

She only blushed.

“Charlotte you are up.” Crimson said. “Cass you are next.”

The warlock gave me a strange look.

“Sorry, it seems that you are in her focus for associating with me.” I scratched the back of my head.