Julia and Braden arrived at a queue that stretched away from a hole in the side of a hill. The hill wasn’t very tall—perhaps only two or three ‘stretches’ high, about the height of two or three average men standing on shoulders. If there weren’t such an obvious, gaping hole piercing the side, one might not realize it was even high enough to be dug through.

  This was the Striton beginners dungeon. The dungeon is about a two-hour walk outside the south gate. There exists another, more advanced dungeon about the same distance from the city to the north. Striton was originally founded by people who wanted to exploit the dungeons’ loot and resources, so the first settlers chose the exact center point between the two.

  The beginner dungeon was almost exclusively used by Bronze adventurers, both for training and for a small income. There was no rule against higher-ranked individuals running the dungeon, but it was a sort of unspoken rule in the city that the dungeon was left to beginners.

  As a low-Level dungeon, the resources weren’t particularly great, but by reserving it exclusively for beginners, the few resources available provided a decent income as they leveled—since no one else would run it.

  Julia examined the line as they took their positions at the back. It didn’t stretch too far. Dungeons used some kind of sub-space to separate parties of adventurers when they entered. It was called “instancing” among the knowledgeable, so the line moved at a decent clip. The majority of the line seemed to be people around Julia’s age, with the occasional older person likely acting as a mentor, like Braden.

  There seemed to, most commonly, be groups of people. She couldn’t see any who appeared to be going it alone. That was standard protocol, of course. Someone capable of soloing this particular dungeon would be rewarded far more by partying up and tackling the more advanced dungeon. Still, she was surprised to not see anyone attempting it at all.

  Perhaps her surprise stemmed from the knowledge that she would, eventually, be doing so herself. Braden had suggested it as a sort of mid-point test. She had been apprenticed for over a year, now. When she turns sixteen, it will be halfway through her four-year apprenticeship, so Braden thought it would be a good midterm exam to run the beginner dungeon solo as prep for the advanced dungeon.

  He wasn’t going to throw her in blind, obviously. That was why they were here today. She, Braden, and Ravina would be running the dungeon as a “party.” Braden had assured Julia that both he and Ravina would have handicaps of some kind to ensure she had a legitimate experience.

  She wouldn’t get any levels from running such a low-Level dungeon with higher-ranked people like those two, but she would get the dungeoneering experience, as well as experience working in a party. When she ran it solo, it would also yield quite a bit more experience than a normal run with a party, so it was fine with her.

  As she was contemplating and people-watching, Ravina approached them from behind. After greetings were exchanged, Braden began the briefing.

  “Alright, Jules. As I mentioned, we’re going to run this with a party dynamic. Do you know what the standard roles for an adventuring party are?” he asked.

  “I believe the three roles are tank, damage, and support. Tanks being the roles that try to keep enemy attention focused on them, damage being the primary damage dealers, and supports being any number of support-oriented Classes. They could be healers, they could specialize in buffing their teammates, they could focus on controlling the battlefield through terrain manipulation…any number of things, really,” Julia concluded.

  “That’s right. Good work. I’m glad you researched. That is actually the first step to any dungeon run: learning as much about the dungeon and preparing as much as possible before going in. We’ll get to the details of the dungeon when we’re in it, though.

  “For this run, Ravina is going to act as the Tank, and I will be Support. We’ll consider me a healer for our current purposes. You, Julia, are going to be the Damage. And, when I say Damage, I mean that Ravina will be focusing solely on defense. She will not be attacking unless she deems there to be actual danger to herself or you.

  “Since I will be healing, actually defeating enemies will be completely on you. I will also be acting as the party leader for this run—though this dynamic will change with each run. Since you’re so versatile, we’ll do several runs with you in all three positions, and then we’ll complete a run with you acting as the party leader.

  “For this run, however, use whatever means you deem most effective to defeat the enemies. I will call out orders sometimes as the party leader, but unless I specifically tell you to do something, use your best judgement. A good party is one that can rely on their teammates. If the party leader has to call out every single beat of the battle…well…things aren’t looking good.

  “Anything to add, Ravina? Thanks for joining us for this excursion, by the way,” Braden finished.

  “Sure. Was thinkin’ it was about time the girl got some real experience. Only thing I gotta say is don’t worry ‘bout me n’ Braden. Ain’t nothin’ in there that can hurt us. The whole fuckin’ dungeon could come down on our asses at once, and they still wouldn’t be able to hurt us.

  “Use this first run to figure yourself out. Figure out what works for ya and what don’t,” Ravina said. She was always so eloquent.

  Julia nodded, and they approached the entrance to the dungeon. It was guarded by a big guy with leather plates over chainmail. His armor selection almost perfectly matched Julia’s. Braden had picked the armor up for her a couple of weeks ago in preparation for this run. It was chosen for its flexibility as well as knowing what the threats in this particular dungeon are.

  “Names and party name?” the guard inquired. He wasn’t actually a gatekeeper for the dungeon. He wouldn’t stop anyone from going in. He was employed by the Guild to keep a record of whoever accessed the dungeon. As morbid as it was, people did die in dungeons, so record keeping was important.

  “Braden, Ravina, and Julia,” Braden said, pointing at each of them in turn. He then acquired one of the most heinous smiles she’d ever seen. She was suddenly very nervous, which turned out to be a good instinct when he said, “Party name is Jewels.”

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  Julia looked down at the ground so quickly she thought she might have gotten whiplash. Her cheeks were burning. Ravina cackled like a witch from the wilderness. How was it even possible to laugh with an accent!?

  The guard, either not getting the joke or completely disinterested, merely nodded and motioned them forward. Julia crossed her arms in front of her and slowed to walk behind the two of them. She kicked the bottoms of Braden’s feet as he walked.

  “Ow, hey! I didn’t—” he started, but Ravina interrupted.

  “Shut up and take your lumps. Ya got your joke in, now ya gotta accept the consequences,” she said with finality.

  They proceeded down a dark tunnel through the hill, Braden grumbling while the bottom of his feet were kicked every time he took a step.

  When they stepped into the sun again, Julia sucked her breath in and held it for a second. Before her was a…town? No, maybe fort was more appropriate? There was a large wooden palisade, perhaps five or six stretches high, spanning the distance between two hills with a large gate right in the middle.

  The gate’s design looked the same as the palisade’s. It was made of huge tree trunks jammed into the ground and carved into sharp points at the tops. The difference was that the bottom of the trunks rested on the ground rather than being driven in. How exactly such a heavy gate would swing open, she couldn’t fathom.

  There was no movement that she could see from the couple watchtowers that extended up over the palisade, nor were there any noises that would indicate an inhabited camp. It was completely silent but for the usual sounds of the forest.

  “What…is this?” Julia asked. “It’s a little…unnerving. There are no signs of life that I can see.”

  “This is a goblin camp. Dungeons are created by the System using memories from the past. This particular memory is something about a camp of goblins that grew so large and sophisticated that they started raiding local settlements. I believe the ‘objective’ is to discover the fate of the prisoners.

  “It’s ostensibly a rescue operation, but it’s well established that there are nothing but picked-clean bones to rescue, here. This particular instance doesn’t matter too much, but the scenario of the dungeon is important to keep in mind. Other dungeons will reward you further if you complete their objectives rather than just slaughter your way through them.

  “Regardless, the dungeon won’t trigger until we open the gate.”

  “...How exactly do we do that? That gate looks like even Dave would have trouble chopping through it,” Julia said with some humor.

  “Who the fuck is that?” Ravina asked.

  “Someone that we used to know. Irrelevant,” Braden chuckled. “The gate will open by itself when we get close. Enemies won’t spawn, however, until we actually cross the threshold.

  “The gate will remain open should we need to retreat. And retreat is an option. Never let your pride prevent you from retreating, Julia. Dungeons can always be attempted again later, but only if you’re alive.”

  “Aye. I’ve seen my fair share of promisin’ adventurers ended by their own egos. ‘S a sad thing, but some folks got heads so big they stop seein’ the ground they’re walkin’ on till they trip over it,” Ravina concluded somberly.

  Julia nodded soberly, reading the sudden, heavy mood.

  “Right, well. Normally, you would have discussed relevant abilities with your party members before entering the dungeon, Julia, but both Ravina and I know your abilities pretty well, and we’ll both be filling very specific roles, so we’ll just head straight in. Remember, neither of us are dealing damage. That part is on you,” Braden said as they formed up their ranks.

  Ravina was in front, with Julia behind her and Braden at the end. Typically, there would be a more sophisticated formation, but three people were slightly too few to do anything practical at the moment. The camp would be relatively close quarters once they were inside, so staying close in that formation was as good as it could get for their numbers and roles.

  Julia nodded and drew the sword at her waist. Braden had also acquired this sword for her with the armor. He had to special order it, though. It was standard steel in almost every way, except that it had a core of Mithril, and the grip was the same wood that Braden’s staff was made of. Braden had to order the sword with the tang exposed and the pommel unattached (the blacksmith was not happy to sell an incomplete sword, even as a special order) so that he could apply the grip himself.

  “Can’t have you infusing lightning into the sword and shocking yourself,” was the reasoning behind the wooden handle.

  It wasn’t just because of the grip that it had to be special ordered, though. Typically, a smith would have an enchanter engrave at least some basic enchantments if even a small amount of Mithril was used. It was such a precious material that it was wasteful to not enchant even a blade with just a Mithril core. However, Braden wanted it unenchanted so that Julia could place her own enchantments.

  She had been working on both official Enchanting and conduit enchanting. That was the purpose of the sword. For now, she would use conduit enchantments as needed, the Mithril core acting to strengthen the steel against the corrosive effect the conduit enchanting would have on it. Eventually, once she was good enough, she could place actual Enchantments on the sword herself.

  The sword was of decent quality even without the Mithril. It was a standard arming sword with the guard bowed out a little towards the point. A fuller ran down the middle of the blade, and a circular pommel of steel was attached to the handle. Braden had wrapped leather over the wooden handle, so it was comfortable to wield.

  Braden was very fond of the sword. Apparently, he didn’t care much for non-functional frills and decorations on weapons. This sword was “all business.”

  The sword now comfortably gripped in her right hand, Julia pulled some moisture out of the air and made her standard water-buckler over her left wrist. The spell she was using, Water Shield, was an idea Braden had given her after acquiring the State spell in Arcane Magic. She had been looking for a magical shield to complement her Faraday’s Armor, since it wouldn’t protect from physical objects.

  “You know, water has some interesting properties. Did you know that it’s incompressible? Or, at least, highly resistant to compression. Imagine if you made a shield out of it. All you would need to do with your mana is focus on maintaining its shape, keep it from deforming when struck. Its own properties of compression resistance would do the rest of the work for you,” he had told her.

  The shield was extremely effective in practice so far. She had figured out how to make the water give a little when struck. Not enough to break the spell or deform the shield, but enough to absorb some of the physical impacts and reduce the strain on her mana when struck.

  In addition to its defensive properties, it was trivial for Julia to freeze portions of it into icicles and launch them. It was both defensive and offensive. Truly a versatile spell. A benefit she wasn’t expecting was unlocking the Elasticity spell for Arcane Magic in her tinkering to help the shield absorb impacts.

  Julia buckled the strap of her iron cap under her chin (the helmet was the one thing Braden wouldn’t budge on—she was getting a metal helmet or she wasn’t dungeon delving, as far as he was concerned), nodded to the other two, and they proceeded toward the gate.