Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 131

Chapter 131 – New Contenders

“So, remind me why we’re here again?”

“Because the University of Florida decided to be the first SEC school to offer a Dungeonology course and a System Studies major, and we were stupid enough to be in the first group to sign up. Then, we convinced the Professor and the Dean that letting all those Hurricanes get the information and details from the dungeon down here would make us look bad.”

“And the other dungeons closer to campus already had teams going to study them. So, it was this or try diving off the coast to find that shark dungeon people have been talking about. And if it is a choice between hentai and Jaws, well, I’ll pick the one I’m more likely to live through, thank you very much.”

Alice Brown groaned at the conversation. Some variation of this had been going on for the entire time they had been traveling from Gainesville. It wasn’t like she didn’t understand the concerns her party had. There were a lot of stories going around about this dungeon on the internet, and no one knew just how much about it was true. But the alien ambassadors had gone and visited the dungeon personally, so there had to be SOME truth to the rumors!

Charles Knight looked over to their Priestess of Knowledge. “Sorry, Alice, I know you’re tired of this conversation. But this dungeon’s got some seriously shady stories about it. Apparently, it straight up broke the team of soldiers that went in there, turning them into full on PTSD types. My brother works for one of the news stations, and he said they’re being discharged on medical grounds.” The Rogue shrugged once. “I dunno. I don’t think the dungeon would have a reputation like it does without reason.”

Lacey Evans smiled at him. “Oh, come off it, Chuck! You’re just looking at the down sides of things! So far, the only person to go into the dungeon to really study it is that professor from the University of Miami, and she didn’t study from a ‘field’ perspective, but got a guided tour, so who knows how much she got right?” The Paladin then tossed her golden hair, and said, “Besides, you ought to be happier! If things go like everyone says, you’re going to be fucking each of our pretty little pussies. Don’t tell me there aren’t at least a hundred guys in the science department that wouldn’t kill to switch places with you!”

Inga Ekdahl, their Fighter, shook her head as Charles began to blush. The foreign student from Sweden said, in her accented English, “Lacey, stop it! You know Charles isn’t like those dumbass jocks from the football team you like to throw yourself at! He’s shy, but he’s great at finding traps and doing that sneak attack thing rogues do. Not everyone is as slutty as you are!”

“Quiet, all of you! The mana has changed here. I think we just passed into the Dungeon’s domain.” Diana Harris, their Wizard, was busy reaching out with her magical senses as they traveled on the boat that was taking them down the coast. Travel across large parts of the state was no longer possible, thanks to the Apocalypse, and a couple ‘broken’ dungeons, but they had managed to get as far as Fort Meyers before they either needed to continue on foot (since cars would draw powerful creatures), or take to the sea. They had chosen to take a boat from Fort Meyers to the little dock at Swamptown in the Everglades, which would let them access the dungeon. But there were still dangers at sea, and Mana Sensing, one of her class skills from being a wizard, had already let them spoil two ambushes already on this trip.

Alice frowned at that statement. “Already? Damn, this dungeon has claimed a lot of the surface, far more than has been reported in the other dungeons.” The other dungeons had all claimed maybe a mile outside their entrances. Perhaps the swamp made it do more sideways movement instead of going down, like the others had?

“No, she’s right. Bagheera can sense the change. She doesn’t like it.” Soledad Garrido, their dark-skinned Ranger who had, to this point, remained silent, keeping watch on the water along with Diana, stood slightly as she looked out into the swamp. The massive black panther by her side gave a yowl of disapproval at the rocking of the flat-bottomed boat, but otherwise remained in her relaxed-looking position. Of course, someone who knew cats could see by the tilt of her ears and the way her tail was moving that the big cat was uneasy, even if she was pretending to clean her claws.

Alice smiled as she watched Soledad scratch the big kitty behind the ears. That was a crazy story in and of itself. Apparently, Bagheera was Soledad’s housecat before the System Apocalypse. The same wave of magic that had turned the Hispanic girl into a dark elf had turned the little pussycat into a panther. It was fortunate that Soledad loved the outdoors, since when she took the Ranger class, she was able to get Bagheera as her animal companion.

She shook her head, clearing away those thoughts, and looked to the rest of the group. “If we’re already in the dungeon’s domain, then we should get ready. According to all accounts, Swamptown is basically little better than prefab buildings thrown up on an island of solid ground no doubt made by the dungeon itself so that people could have a base to dive from. The Adventurer’s Guild has an office there, so I say we check in with them, to see if we can get up to date information on what is happening in the dungeon.”

Inga frowned. “You think that the dungeon will have changed since the last reports we got? I know that the undead floor with that Ranger boss is still new, right? Will the dungeon really have made a new floor already?”

Alice sighed. “Maybe not a new floor, since everything we know about dungeons says that they take time to make a new floor. But we may very well see some new traps or monsters cropping up, especially if the Demon thinks people are taking the dungeon lightly. Better to have the information than not.”

Charlie nodded. “I’m all for that. Especially since the guild might have more on what caused those soldiers to break down like people are saying they did. Anything that can wreck a squad of trained soldiers psychologically isn’t something I’m looking forward to seeing in person, you know? Anything we know about it going forward could be a huge help when dealing with the dungeon.”

Lacey laughed. “Quit worrying about the damn soldiers, Chuck! We’ll go to the guild, get the info, and any walkthrough materials or strategy guides we can find, and make our plans from there. Can’t wait to see what the dungeon has in store for us!”

The rogue grimaced. “Lots of psychological torture, rape, and death, no doubt. And, if we’re really lucky, it will be in that order. Don’t go underestimating the dungeon Lacey. The Demon is said to take it personally if people talk bad about the dungeon, especially where he can hear about it. I don’t want him making my life any harder than it has to be, thank you very much! It is already going to be tough enough just trying to go through the dungeon and get our readings, while avoiding being killed by the monsters. They say that if you piss the Demon off, he stops trying to play fair, and sets out to destroy you, body and soul.”

The paladin scoffed. “Are you talking about that silly Paladin of that weird goddess of freedom? Of course, she and her team were going to get shafted horribly. She went around proclaiming to everyone that she was going to take on the demon and cleanse the dungeon of his taint. That’s just begging for him to make it personal in return! I’m not an idiot like she was, and have no interest in threatening the Demon. We’ll be fine, as long as you keep your nerve.”

“Enough! Enemies ahead, submerged by the bank.” Diana’s words brought an end to the idle conversation, as everyone readied their weapons, and prepared for the ambush. It turned out to be a trio of water elementals, though fairly weak ones. Perhaps it would have been different if they had been caught off guard and someone had been knocked into the water when the elementals tried to rock or tip the boat, but as it was, they were ready for that kind of attack, and the elementals were quickly dispatched.

The dock at Swamptown was a simple wooden affair, with enough room for four or five of the mid-sized boats like they were using. There was no docking fee, since there really wasn’t much in the way of a ‘government’. However, one enterprising person had set up a shack near the dock, and provided ‘security’, if someone paid them, to keep people from stealing boats. They didn’t make much, but it was an alternative to dungeon diving.

After they paid for a week’s security, the man put a magic ward over their boat, so that only they could touch it without him releasing the ward. That caused Diana to ask about how he had constructed the ward, and while they were talking shop, he mentioned that his sister was the Alchemist in town, and her shop was located next to the Guild office. Apparently, he had come out here with her, since he wasn’t entirely keen on his baby sister going out to live in the middle of the swamp without anyone to watch over her. If they went to her, she’d be able to hook them up with some potions that would definitely help in the first couple levels of the dungeon, at least.

“Welcome to the Swamptown office of the Miami Adventurer’s Guild!” Alice looked over to the counter, where they’d been greeted the moment they entered the door, to see a mousey looking woman wearing jean shorts and a t-shirt, obviously dressing more for the muggy weather than for anything else. The woman continued, saying, “I’m Bethany Walsh, and I’m in charge of this office. Y’all look like you’re new to Swamptown. Come out from Miami to try taking on the dungeon?”

Alice smiled, and shook her head. “No, we came down from Gainesville for field work in the new major that UF opened up. We’re going to be going into the dungeon, but thought we’d check the Guild out, first, and see if there was any updated information about what has been going on in the dungeon.”

“Ah, that’s great. Even if y’all are Gators, its good to have some more people around here. Since y’all’re from Gainesville, I don’t suppose y’all’re members of the Guild, are ya? If you want, I can go ahead and sign you up for the Guild. There’s a small membership fee, but you get access to Guild resources, like our most current intel on what is going on in the dungeon, as well as access to the forums, where you can network with other Adventurers, in case you need to change teams or replace members.”

Igna frowned. “Have people been dying that much in the dungeon, that groups often need new team members? We’d been told that the casualties were lower here than other dungeons.”

Bethany groaned. “Are they still spreading that bullshit? Look, you kids seem like a good sort, so I’ll be straight with you. This dungeon plays smart. The actual deaths and injuries that can’t simply be waved away with magic? Those are in line with or slightly below the average for other dungeons that we’ve heard about. Mind you, we only have hearsay reports from other guilds in places near dungeons, but so far, that’s how the numbers look.”

She paused, to make sure they were all listening to her, and then continued. “Problem is, those numbers don’t take into account the psychology of things. This dungeon likes to fuck with your head. Even on the first floor, the gas that makes you horny as fuck messes with you. Sure, you might know in your head that the guy was under the influence. You might even have accepted going in that something was going to happen. Doesn’t mean that having someone forcibly rip your clothes off and bend you over in the middle of the swamp is any less traumatic. And that’s before you get anywhere close to the Black Temple.”

“There are parties that have been tight as family that have been broken apart by the dungeon, even if none of them die. And if someone does die, or gets a crippling injury that takes major magic to fix? The fact that the whole team has been fucking changes the dynamics there, and keeps people from thinking, and they act on their emotions. And that is when the damn Demon really gets you.”

Soledad nodded slowly. “You are talking about the Demon’s ‘deals’ that he offers to people, yes?”

Bethany nodded. “Right in one, sweetie. He’s a clever one, that Demon. Waits until you’re in a bad way, and then will swoop down and offer you ‘salvation’. But sometimes being saved is worse than the alternative, you hear me?” When they nodded, she said, “The only deal I’d recommend you take from the Demon is the one they offer at the dungeon entrance. Promise not to try and destroy the dungeon, and a couple other things, and the Demon doesn’t go out of his way to rip you apart.”

She took a breath, and said, “Now, y’all looking to sign up as part of the Guild?”