Day breaks over the town of Maeceenns, Four boys staying in a large room within a rest tavern near the dungeon wait. The boys changed by not only the days prior, but a purpose they found.
-Alister-
When i woke up Sebastian and Corbin had apparently already gotten up and ready to go, Eden and I had slept in.
"You must have been enjoying your dreaming" Corbin mumbled with a bit of a sour voice.
"ha, yeah.. i guess i must've" I said without being able to recall my dream.
"Well, I want your votes on our next adventure" Sebastian was smiling at us, or at the call to adventure i wasn't entirely awake or sure.
"I don't care, id like to fight some good monsters though" Corbin muttered out, completely surprising me and Eden yet Seb simply smiled.
"wait, we're still going dungeon adventuring?" I needed to ask considering but it didn't matter, I just want adventure. Sebastian grinned like an idiot and Eden started to smile and then laugh
"We're here so lets do what we do!" Eden was laughing through his words
"Okay, so whats our options" I looked at Seb and Corbin for answers.
"We have two dungeon towns within immediate paths, Varrcca and its Crystal Behemoth dungeon, or Seecain and its creepy giant insectoids dungeon" Sebastian pulled out the map they had been given prior and opened it on the table. (Pronunciation for Varrcca is varr cuh pronunciation for Seecain is see sayne)
We took some time to discuss before our votes, understandably at first we were a bit against Varrcca because of the monster we faced in our homeworld. Corbin although wanted to go to Varrcca to face monsters as strong as the prior. when discussing Seecain it became apparent we share a general disdain of bugs especially giant monster ones, we'd save that for another day. At the time most of us had, valid reasons not to go to a dungeon that might have monsters akin to our once killer but then.. we had so many reasons to go. I wanted to prove myself as I had done nothing that day, whatever the case we were slain, and I didn't so much as strike the creature with the once slight flames on my blade. The others had their own reasons.
-Eden-
-Within the moment-
Its been a pretty day so far, i'm a bit nervous about the choice we made but I really really wanna see if I can throw one of the crystal monsters like I did the Kangar. Looks like Alister is walking over to talk
"Eden, can i see the food bag?" he didn't eat breakfast and I tossed him the bag. we usually take turns carrying one or two food bags so everyone can eat when they need to but today we only earned enough from our dungeon endeavor to buy one bags worth. I heard Sebastian start to speak
"So we've got some time before we get there, should we try to hunt along the way considering the animals we've encountered so far?" a reasonable idea
"Let the hunt begin!" I yelled with a smile. I like sporadic events like hunting or chasing wild animals. The others were having a laugh as if I was a child doing something funny.
"Well alright then, some morning exercise and some extra food, we meet back here in a knot?" Alister smiled and set his bag against a tree with a stone bead necklace. I always liked those as the stone beads are infused slightly with magic energy and if the bag is moved after they are placed they will break with loud unusual cracks, which I thought was awesome. (In Avverth a knot of time is generally a fifteen to twenty five minute period)
while the others are running off in different directions I'll take a moment to breath in, the feeling from a breath before chaotic bursts of energy is something to love. I could feel my heartbeat with each motion of my foot striking earth, the air pushing against my face. "Alright nature give me something fun!" I yelled leaping into a clearing. I shifted my weight using my strength magic to land on foot before hearing a noise. I looked up and around to see it was a sizable Tigreir. (Avverth and Anendra share this animal, like a tiger but with extra claws that are more curved like a birds talons and a very shoulder focused muscular build)
"YES!" My enjoyment obvious in my voice, I love fighting big animals it just feels amazing. Time to catch some big food i thought with a grin. I took off towards it and it charged towards me with wrath in its eyes, I swung my left leg up to catch it on the head as i brought it down, but it moved in that last moment. The tigreir was moving at an incredible speed, too fast for any tigreir id ever encountered I thought. It slammed into me with its shoulder and I couldn't breath. Magic! I never thought a natural tigreir to have magic before! before i could catch my breath I felt the impact and crack of a solid tree.
-Alister-
-Within the moment-
I thought the loud noise I heard was probably Eden smashing something with a rock or a large stick, I happen to be busy waiting on my snare traps. A much simpler way. I thought that I heard the snap of one going off, but when i checked i saw my snare was completely snapped, rather torn and frayed as if something had been caught but quietly and quickly chewed through it. "Well that cant be right.." I spoke aloud since i was alone person wise, A normal rabbit or Cormun shouldn't have been able to chew through it that quickly let alone calm and quietly. (A cormun is best compared to a oddly large wingless bat with scraggly legs, as you can guess quite harmless and edible.)
"Alright you little shits" I thought aloud again having found more of my traps eluded or chewed through.
"Come here little shiits, come heeere" I said pulling a small dagger from my bag as I looked for the culprit of destroying my traps.
Suddenly a flash of dull tan, I turned to throw my knife and watched it hit the cormun into a bush. As i walked up to the bush i expected a dead or dying cormun there, but it was entirely fine in fact it was trying to chew on the knife id thrown at it. "what..." i thought aloud while slowly walking around the cormun curiously chewing on the handle of my dagger. I couldn't feel it at a distance, but it became clear to me that there was magic of some sort present within this cormun before me.
"So.. are you from a dungeon somehow?" It wasn't quite thinking aloud but i knew the small rodent wouldn't respond and probably wouldn't even if it could. (in Avverth there were rare reports of Dungeon monsters that could speak, the more trustworthy cases tell that they didn't so much as speak or discuss but copy vocalization they heard in an angry yell. in a sense meaning the creature could speak but not understand language.)
I continued pacing around it before drawing my sword slowly, but the cormun reacted fast.
"How could it tell I drew a weapon I was behind it" I thought aloud once more before slamming one foot to the ground and leaping, if it was gonna run I was gonna chase.
-Corbin-
-Within the moment-
"I hate everything" Okay so maybe i don't actually hate everything like i said but when a random ass trap that seems to be made for a large fucking horse catches your leg and strings you up in a tree a bit of hate should be welcome.
"WHO THE FUCK SETS A TRAP LIKE THIS AND LEAVES IT FOR THIS FUCKING LONG?!!"
Admittedly screaming into the forest air about it wasn't very efficient so I brought forth a blade of shadows and threw it at the rope, cutting it and subsequently starting my fall. I stuck my leg out with a shadow spike from my heel kicking into the tree. It worked but my legs sore as shit now and i'm even more annoyed than before.
"Ho! not the catch i was expecting but a welcome sight that of a prior acquaintance!" The voice came from a small and hard to notice path, it was the hunter from before: Seth Vassana.
-Unknown-
-Outside the moment-
It goes without saying the four had interesting experiences while hunting in this world mostly new to them, but none so much as Sebastian.
He walked slow but with confidence, he already caught and bagged some small game and decided to explore. Silently he walks, coming across what seem to be ruins more out of place than any he'd seen in other worlds, not that he remembered them.
As Sebastian passed by rubble and decrepit buildings he noted it seemed to have once been a village of decent size, smaller than Maeceenns but large enough for a decent population. The most surprising was what seemed to be the ruins of a Dragon like skull, but not bone, Sandstone. Very detailed sandstone seemingly carved or formed in the shape of a monsters head, "A dungeon?" he thought aloud before deciding to step in, if it was a dungeon he was strong and sure he could make it out in time to reconvene with his friends. He stepped forward but upon crossing what appeared to be the threshold nothing seemed to happen, until he stepped back out, what was once the ruins of a village and a dungeon, was now an even smaller set of ruins, still human buildings old and breaking down but not what he saw before. Likely the once happy settlement known as Cegair Pronounced Sea gare although it was never formally placed on the maps. One might wonder why I insist on giving pronunciation at this point, I merely enjoy proper pronunciation even if improper can be humorous.
This led the man to curiosity one should usually avoid, he returned into the ruined building he had seen as a dragon skull, but again nothing going in and nothing going out. Sebastian decided to return to his hunt and friends, not realizing the reality of the prior events. The man known as Sebastian had crossed through a veil of reality, seeing another but not enough to piece together the meaning, and the warning.