The morning sun rose over the horizon, casting a golden glow across the nearby forest. The group stood at the edge of their camp, their eyes fixed on the towering dungeon. Today, they would face it.
They moved cautiously, their footsteps soft against the damp earth. As they approached the tower, the atmosphere changed. The air grew heavier, the sounds of the forest fading into an eerie silence. The tower's oppressive energy pressed down on them, a palpable mix of animosity and bloodlust.
As they reached the base of the tower, the group paused, their eyes scanning the massive structure. The tower was made of dark, weathered stone, its surface covered in intricate carvings that seemed to shift and twist in the dim light. The entrance was nowhere to be found.
"Where's the door?" Ethan muttered. "It's a dungeon, so there's got to be a way in."
Lily started looking around. "Maybe it's hidden."
The group spread out, their eyes scanning the tower's surface for any sign of an entrance. After not seeing any obvious way in Ethan decided to take a more direct approach. He clenched his fist, his muscles tensing as he focused his mana.
With a grunt of effort, he punched the stone wall, the impact sending a dull thud echoing through the air. But the wall remained unscathed, not even a scratch marring its surface.
"Well, damn," Ethan said, shaking his hand. "This thing's solid. No way we're breaking through."
Lily, meanwhile, closed her eyes, her senses attuned to the mana around her. She could feel the tower's energy, dark and oppressive, but there was something else—something hidden beneath the surface.
She focused, trying to distinguish the different frequencies, but the tower's mana was too chaotic, too overwhelming. "I can't make anything out, it's like… the mana is scrambled. I can't get a clear read."
"Maybe it's not about brute force or sensing mana, maybe it's about finding the right trigger. There could be a hidden mechanism—a button, a lever, something like that." Sam suggested.
The group turned to him, their expressions curious. "What do you mean?" Victor asked.
Sam knelt down, running his fingers along the base of the tower. "Think about it, this tower looks ancient, and it's clearly not natural. Whoever made it would've wanted it to have a purpose, no? So they need a way in and a secret mechanism is just cool."
The others agreed and so they began tapping on the stone walls, their fingers probing for any irregularities. The sound of their tapping echoed through the air for some time.
Ethan was growing impatient when he tapped a stone near the base of the tower. The sound it made was different—hollow, almost metallic. He tapped it again, the same strange noise echoing through the air. "Hey, listen to this," he said excitedly. "This one sounds different."
The group gathered around, their eyes fixed on the stone. Ethan tried pushing it in, but nothing happened. Then, he grabbed the edges of the stone and pulled.
To his surprise, the stone shifted, and part of the wall slid out of the way with a soft grinding sound. Behind it was a dark, narrow passageway, just large enough for a person to squeeze through.
"That's our way in," Victor said. "Good find, Ethan."
The group exchanged glances, their expressions a mix of excitement and apprehension. The passageway was dark and foreboding, but it was their only way in. They had come this far—they might as well check it out.
AJ volunteered to go first. Being a smaller target, he would be able to avoid traps more easily. As he made his way through the tunnel, nothing happened—it was just a dark and narrow passage.
He then arrived at the end of the passage. He didn't yet enter the chamber in front of him, unsure of what would happen.
"Passage safe... come in..." he said.
They squeezed through the narrow passageway, their footsteps echoing softly against the stone walls. The air inside was cool and damp, the scent of mildew and decay filling their nostrils.
The passageway then opened up into a large, circular chamber, its walls lined with torches that flickered with an eerie light.
They paused, their eyes scanning the chamber. The space was vast, far larger than the tower's exterior would suggest. The walls were covered in intricate carvings, their patterns swirling and twisting in all directions. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and something else—something metallic, almost like blood.
"This place… it's bigger on the inside," Lily said with awe. "How is that even possible?"
Sam's eyes narrowed as he studied the carvings. "Seems like this place is its own space and the tower is just the way to get in."
Before anyone could respond, a low growl echoed through the chamber. The group turned, their weapons at the ready, as four small creatures emerged from the shadows.
They were dog-like in appearance, their bodies covered in glossy fur and their eyes glowing with a faint, malevolent light. Their most striking feature was their mouths—rows of razor-sharp teeth glistened in the torchlight, their jaws snapping hungrily as they approached.
"Stay on your toes!" Victor shouted.
The creatures lunged, their movements fast and erratic. The group wasn't able to properly react in time.
Walter remained calm, his long life providing a steady state of mind and a cool-headedness the youngsters still lacked. Walter's cane came slamming down on the head of the creature that came running his way, killing it on the spot.
"They aren't too strong. Give them a good whack and they won't get back up," Walter said, helping the group regain some of their composure.
Ethan barely avoided getting bitten as he jumped back. The creature coming after him seemed somewhat hesitant—it growled at Ethan but didn't go for another attack. Seeing this, Ethan took the matter into his own hands.
He circulated his mana, putting the focus on his legs and arms. When he was ready, he quickly leaped forward towards it and swung his fist at its head.
The creature did its best to dodge out of the way—it managed to pull its head out of the line of fire, but Ethan didn't slow down. His fist crashed straight into its body with crushing force. The creature let out a small whimper as it was slammed to the ground, going limp.
Victor wasn't able to avoid getting nicked. He kicked the one that jumped at him, but the creature had bitten at his leg, leaving minor scratches. "Damn thing is persistent," Victor growled as it got back up and came at him again.
"Let's not drag this out," he said as he pulled out his knife. He then tried to use his mana suppressing ability, wanting to know how it would react. Any hesitation the creature had was gone—it sensed that its opponent's mana was drained and decided to go for a head-on attack. The last thing it saw was Victor's knife suddenly appearing in its vision.
Lily's movements were stiff. Up to now they had been many versus one creature, allowing her to rely on her teammates to take the attention as she did her best to attack their flank.
However, this time was different—it was her and the creature. It was coming straight for her, and everyone else was distracted with their own issues.
As the creature lunged at her, she held her spear out across in front of her and shoved it at the thing's face, causing it to bite the spear. Thankfully, it wasn't strong enough to break the spear, as that would've been very troublesome.
Whilst it continued biting on the spear, she kicked at its sides with all her strength. It let out a yelp and stared her in the eyes, revealing its hideous mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
It was at this moment that Sam's spear pierced its neck. "You looked like you could do with a hand."
"Yeah, thanks... I didn't realise how scary it is to fight alone against a monster..." Lily's voice shook slightly.
"Fighting as a team is always easier, but there are times when the group can't cover you. In those times, you need to be able to hold your own," Walter warned, his expression serious but encouraging.
---
The fight was intense but brief. The creatures were fast and vicious, but they were too weak to pose a real threat to the group. It had only taken a few moments for the creatures to end up lying on the ground, their bodies twitching slightly.
The group paused, their breathing heavy. "That wasn't so bad," Ethan said as he helped Victor bandage his leg.
"We really need to work on our coordination. We managed with the Ravager and these guys, but if we start fighting stronger and stronger creatures, we will struggle. A lot," Walter spoke. This dungeon would be their chance to practice, and they needed to take it seriously.
Everyone nodded, as they approached the creatures' bodies, hoping to reap some rewards. But before they had a chance the bodies began to dissolve. Within seconds, the creatures were gone, their remains vanishing into thin air.
"What the hell?" Ethan muttered.
Sam knelt down where the creatures had been. "It's like… they were never really here," he said with wonder.
Lily though of something. "What if they're… constructs? Like puppets made of mana?"
Sam nodded thoughtfully. "It's possible the creatures are manifestations made by the tower's energy. Made to act as its guardians..."
The torches flickered eerily, casting shadows that danced across the intricate carvings. AJ looked behind them and was alarmed.
"Oh no... That's bad..." His voice rippled out. The group turned their heads in his direction and quickly noticed the problem. The entrance they had come through... It was nowhere to be found. The wall was smooth, as if there had never been a tunnel in the first place.
"Yeah, that's not a good sign at all..." Lily said. "What now?"
The others' expressions weren't good, Victor in particular had a deep frown. Just as Lily was going to ask him what he was thinking about, something flickered in front of her view.