"Dual dungeon?" Hana had never heard of this term.
"It's not really made public knowledge," Renae said, "But some dungeons will lead into another dungeon. The the phenomenon in which a dungeon is found within a dungeon is called a dual dungeon." She smiled. "The first person to find a dual dungeon is actually from our generation. He's pretty famous, and was the one to name this type of situation."
Hana however didn't miss Renae's softer complaint after. . .
"But the personality of that man is terrible. That (**insert insult here ^_^ **), even saying his name makes me wanna punch something, preferably his face."
"Then, should we go in?" Hana was deeply attracted to the doors. Call it curiosity, but she wanted to see if it had some connection to Earth.
Also, Elder Lan had not mentioned anything about a dual dungeon? Did that mean they were the first to find it?
Curiosity can't kill the cat if the cat was better right after all.
"Yeah let's try it!" Renae was enthusiastic. "I heard dual dungeons usually are full of treasures! And most are not as dangerous!"
"Well, then I don't mind," Song Qi said hesitantly. Her eyes looked calmly at the doors.
Hana nodded. She pushed open the doors and stepped inside.
The door was like a portal. As soon as they stepped through, they stood in a dimly lit hallway. Blue fire torches lined the stone walls. A melodious voice sounded.
[You have entered Delphin's Temple]
"Ah, there is a dungeon master?" Renae exclaimed. She frowned, "This might be bad?"
"Dungeon master?" Hana and Song Qi looked puzzled.
"Dungeon masters are beings that control dungeons. Not much is known about them, but they only appear in A or S class dungeons." Renae explained. "They never engage in combat with dungeon hunters, but their presence here indicates this dungeon is more dangerous that I expected."
'How interesting', Hana thought. "Let's continue." Anyway, she was here so why not explore. She was on solid ground anyway, so she could use summons. Worst case, she could just escape through the doors as she noted that the entrance was still there.
"I don't mind if you guys head back," Hana said, "The risk here is evidently higher."
Renae poked her arm. "If you go, I'll go." She brandished a fist. "I can hold my ground even in high level dungeons, believe me. Dungeons were made to be explored in teams anyway."
"Then I'll continue to be the healer," decided Song Qi.
As the three continued down the hallway, they soon reached a large room. Strangely, there were no monsters anywhere near them. However, the room branched off into separate tunnels.
Above each tunnel was a inscribed symbol. On the left, a image of what appeared to be the Parthenon was carved into the stone, while the right was a twin snake staff.
"Hehe, welcome to a place of crossroads." A lithe figure literally popped out of the ground. He bowed, his smile revealing two glinting fangs.
"A vampire?" Hana's hand was already on her sword.
"No worries, I merely a guide." The man raised his hands, laughing eerily. "I offer you a choice."
"What do you mean?" Renae had somewhat lowered her guard after hearing the stranger was the dungeon master.
"Heh, as the first lucky humans to reach this point, naturally, I offer a choice of rewards." He pointed at the tunnels. "The left path is for those to seek knowledge, while the right path is for those to seek strength. You can take the path that you wish."
"What's the catch?" Hana knew there was no free lunch in the world. A random person popped up in the middle of a dungeon and offered them treasure? It was obviously a trap!
"At this point, there is none. Except you can only enter one path." The man said earnestly.
Hana tugged Renae and Song Qi aside. "What do you think?"
"Um, I think he's telling the truth," Renae said. "Dungeon masters have no reason to lie to us. They oversee the dungeon, but never interfere. Besides, there should be treasure here. Even if this is a trap, we should overcome it for the treasure."
Hana was silent. There was still no much she didn't know about dungeons. How could they be sure that this person was a dungeon master in the first place? Why can't dungeon masters lie? It was also foolish to base their passivity by past precedence.
"Let's split up," Hana suggested. "You and Song Qi take one path, I'll take the other."
"What, no way!" Renae exclaimed.
"It's more logical," Hana said calmly, "I have my summons to accompany me while I fight. It would be better than either of you going down a path alone. If there is treasure on both sides, we would grab both no?"
"True!" Renae and Song Qi nodded in agreement.
"I'll take the left path then. You both take right."
Hana watched the two girls move quickly to the tunnel, before turning to the man. "What is you name?"
The man glanced over her amused. "Why don't you guess?"
Hana walked toward the tunnel, letting the shadows swallow her. "If I had to guess based on the theme of his place, perhaps your name is Janus."
The man chuckled. She was right. Looks like things will get lively from now on. "I need to report this to the boss!" He bared his fangs. "An anomaly has appeared in the tower. Hahaha."
Hana didn't look back as she continued down the tunnel. There was a reason why she chose this path.
Power was something she had and could get. And she would never trust in anything that she didn't get herself.
However, knowledge was something she desperately needed. This world she had transmigrated into. It was mysterious, magical, and even exciting. It was everything she could dream of. But she felt wary for some reason, and she didn't know why.
And all the unanswered questions of this world, especially the mysterious dungeons, were things beyond her control. Maybe it was instinctive, but the assassin within her couldn't let that happen. She had a huge disadvantage against an enemy she didn't know, so she needed to fix that.
Upon seeing where she ended up in, her mouth curled into a smile. Shelves filled with books lined her sight. A massive library that spanned two floors.
Hana put on her Gale Force Reading glasses and started.
Over the next hours, she poured over the books like a madman. With her speed of flipping though books, she moved almost robotically as she opened, flipped, and closed books.
As she moved through the stacks, she found single book on its own stand. Hmm? She flipped it open, but found that she couldn't understand half the contents. Half the book was written in strange lettering and symbols.
"This . . . " She also noted in surprise that the stand sunk into the ground as she took the book. One of the shelves in the back slid to the side, revealing another pair of massive doors. Similar to the one she had first opened, except the doors were gold.
Hana blinked. Um, was this a double dual dungeon??? She tried to open to the door but found it to be locked. The doors stayed shut, not matter how had she pushed.
"Weird." She mumbled.
Suddenly, she felt a change in the system. She glanced at her card storage, only to see that for the first time, one of her cards had returned without her calling it back. The card for Vulpix was grayed out, with a timer on it. It had the same look as when she used her cake card.
"System what is going on?"
[Since Vulpix has suffered a fatal amount of damage, it was automatically recalled back into the system for recovery. You may reuse the card in 24 hours.]
Fatal amount of damage?! Vulpix was ordered by her to protect Rina. Hana's hearted lurched. She sprinted for the exit. Rina must be in danger!