Once Frant and Grant opened their eyes, they noticed that they were in the middle of a wide and soothing grassland with gentle hills. The entire group tensed and looked around, preparing for ambushes.
The leader of the group, Kener, asked the two experienced dungeon delvers. "Frant, Grant, what do you think of this?"
Frant spoke solemnly. "Don't move yet. In open-world
Just as he finished speaking, the System popped into everyone's sight.
[You've entered the
[Summary: You are a group of Explorers that have roamed the land for almost 25 years, building up your legacy and reputation. Not long after you reached the highest rank, the
[Objective 1: Investigate the
…
[Objective 5: Convince the
…
[Objective 9: Gather an army to attack…]
…
[Dungeon Tip: The Dungeon has intelligent creatures that can evolve independently. The longer you spend completing the objectives, the harder they will become.]
A list of objectives appeared in front of them as guidance, and each objective completed would give them a reward. The reward and punishment were not visible until the objective was completed. However, the people could speak with the
Kener, the leader, nodded. "Let's try to find a nearby village and ask around then. Once we collect enough information, we can start investigating the ruins that the objective speaks about."
Everyone nodded and set off. During the journey, they were attacked three times by a pack of wild animals. The level of these animals was 50, the minimum of the
Once they arrived at the village, they couldn't help but notice how powerful the guards standing at the entrance of the village were. "Those guards…" A woman muttered. "Aren't they Level 70? Level 70 guards for a small village in the countryside? What kind of place is this?"
Grant commented. "Dungeon creatures are all inside the level bracket of the Dungeon's difficulty system. Here, even children are at Level 50. Therefore, the fact that the guards are at level 70 is not that big of a surprise. Since creatures can grow until the cap of the Dungeon's level, a guard that fights often reaching Level 70 is actually quite mediocre. Real powerful enemies will be all at Level 74."
The woman nodded twice. "I see."
Kener spoke to the guard. "Respected guards, we are from the
The guards looked at them and didn't answer. Kener felt slightly awkward and glanced at Grant and Frant for help. Frant pondered and stepped forward. "You should've noticed the change in the surrounding lands recently, guards."
Their eyes flashed with slight surprise, and Frant smiled. "We are here to take care of that. Don't look down on our levels, our Tiers are very high, and our equipment is several times stronger compared to what you wear. We just want to help, respected guardsmen."
One of the guards spoke with a cold tone. "Enter then. However, we'll escort you inside. If you dare do something suspicious, we'll cut you down."
The group sighed in relief and were escorted inside the Village Chief's house. Once there, they noticed a relatively well-built elder reading through parchment paper. The elder placed it down and looked up. "You are here. It took a while."
Kener didn't dare to be disrespectful. "Sorry, Elder. We were held back by some packs of monsters in our way. We deal with everything as swiftly as possible to get here."
The elder nodded. "I can see traces of your battle. Well, the
The group nodded and saw a notification pop up.
[You've accepted
Kener frowned slightly. He pondered for a second and asked. "Elder, before we do, I heard something about the ruins nearby. Could you tell me more about it?"
The Elder's face flashed with surprise. He got thoughtful and said. "Please, investigate the
[Updated
[Reward 1: ???]
[Reward 2: Information about some ruins.]
[Reward 3: ???]
They took the quest and went to the forest. Advancing through it was not difficult. Most of the monsters here were Level 50.
Grant cut down one of the monsters, and when the Experience Point notification came, his lips arched. "This is great. The monsters are somewhat sluggish. I guess that must be one of the negative characteristics of the
Kener asked curiously. "Negative characteristics?"
Grant shrugged. "There is speculation that monsters in the Dungeons are usually affected by some kind of negative status effect. Some are overly arrogant, others are mindlessly violent, some are incredibly lustful… Some experts call it
Kener made a surprised sound, and the woman who spoke before asked. "So… These monsters have a Lazy debuff? Then, won't we be able to clear it easily?"
Frant shook his head. "For monsters to be able to laze around, their cunning must be incredibly high. If there are intelligent monsters, we must be twice as careful when facing them."
After crossing he forest, one of the male Aethermancers spoke abruptly. "Jump back!"
Everyone complied instantly, and when they jumped, a pillar of dark energy engulfed the place where they were previously. Kener's face turned gloomy. "That's… Corruption. Someone set a trap in this area."
A woman's voice reached them with a languid cadence. "Ah… To think that you dodged it with a jump. Aren't you tired?"
They all readied their swords and looked sideways.
A notification appeared above the woman's head.
[BOSS MONSTER Lyara Level 74!]
Their faces became solemn, and Frant spoke hurriedly. "Leader, we should retreat quickly!"
"Retreat?" Lyara laughed and waved her hand lazily. "How about you take a nap here forever? You'll feel better, I swear. Also…" Looking at the clothes they were wearing, Lyara snorted. "I would love to have some of those items. They look quite valuable~."
"Leader!"
Kener didn't hesitate anymore when he saw how anxious Grant and Frant were. "Retreat!"
Everyone turned and ran. As they ran, Kener asked. "Frant, Grant, explain!"
Grant spoke while looking back to make sure they weren't getting pursued. "Boss Monsters are the strongest creatures in the dungeon. She is probably the creature that we need to beat at the end of this Dungeon."
A man spoke with some resentment. "Then, couldn't we kill her and get done with everything? I am sure that the rewards would be plentiful if we killed the Boss Monster, no?"
Grant didn't even open his mouth when a shadow fell over them. Looking up, Kener shouted. "Aether Shields up!"
They quickly pointed upward with their staffs and blocked the hundreds of black blobs that were falling from the sky like rain.
An
After exiting the forest, Lyara's attacks also stopped. Everyone sighed in relief and went to inform the elder.
The elder's face turned pale. "Did you say… Lyara?" His face was covered in despair.
Grant asked with curiosity. "Who is she?"
"She is a legendary being… Once, she governed these lands peacefully. However, nobody knows how she fell to Corruption, and everything was swallowed in an era of darkness. However, some people managed to defeat her reign. Lyara is the famed
Their faces gained a touch of realization. 'So, that's why the Dungeon has this name. Our objective is to defeat Lyara forever.'
After that, they went around and did many other objectives. Every time they encountered intelligent creatures, they would be in extreme danger due to the
Their adventure was full of turns and twists, making the group of Explorers get sucked into the narrative and become one with it. They almost forgot that they were doing a Dungeon and instead used their everything to help the endangered kingdom.
Meanwhile, Liu Shu was peeking at them. "Ohh! These people are the first ones to go this far! The rest would usually be defeated by this point and decide to exit it."
To ensure that as few people as possible died, the elder would give a
Hence, if they managed to escape and didn't face her, such a reward would not have been considered biased toward the Dungeon Delvers. Of course, ignorant parties that thought they could defeat Lyara in the
"Ugh… Another party that's been killed by Lyara…"
Liu Shu sighed when she saw that. Almost 85% of the deaths occurred in that forest.
Eventually, Grant and Frant's group managed to overcome all the challenges and defeat Lyara. It took them a long time, but the rewards they received made them one of the strongest teams in the city.
This would happen 5 months later, though. The Dungeon had three floors, the first being convincing the king. The second was going to Lyara's territory for the first time and being absolutely crushed. The third being a final push toward the castle of the