Foster looked at the woman in front of him with a wry smile, "Erm, sorry I guess..." He said, kind of weirded out by the way she was looking at him right now, as if she won some kind of grande battle just now. She seemed nearly disappointed that Foster didn't try to do anything to get the map anyway.
She rolled her eyes and quickly handed the guy selling the map the money for it, although he seemed surprised at the item she picked up, "You're not planning on going there, right, girlie?" He asked, and the woman looked back at him with a frown.
"What if I do?" She asked, and the merchant sighed deeply, "You're probably going to die, if ya do. Not even high-tier adventurers wanna go there, and to me... ya don't seem all that strong. You got a party, at least?"
"Why would I need a party for a beginner dungeon filled with nothing but undead?" She asked annoyed, "I'm a cleric! I can deal with a few measly undead!"
"Aye, I can see that, girlie... That's the issue... That ain't a dungeon you go to alone, ya hear?" The merchant advised, and Foster became rather curious what that was about.
"Sorry, but what exactly are you talking about?" He asked with a light smile, and the merchant let out a deep sigh, "This girl here wants to go to a beginner dungeon that's nearby. But it's too dangerous for her, you know?"
"She looks like she can take care of herself, though?" Foster pointed out confused, as the merchant sighed, "Listen, that ain't the issue. The dungeon is a 'Fail' type, you know?"
"..." Foster looked at the merchant, and slowly turned around toward Octer, who grumbled quietly before starting to explain, "A 'fail' dungeon is basically a useless dungeon... Like... a dungeon that's nothing but a hallway and then the boss room, with a couple vermin in it. Young, weak dungeons are usually described like that, since there's just no reason for anyone to try and clear them."
"Aye... just that this time, it's different. It's too hard for beginners to clear, and the kinda party that could actually clear it already has no reason to even enter a measily beginner dungeon, especially considering the risk that still comes with it." The merchant explained, saying something that made Foster even more curious than before , "Why exactly is it that dangerous?"
The merchant sighed deeply, "Well, basically... The dungeon's filled with monsters that give off necromantic magic. And if ya don't know, the feedback from necromancy literally has your flesh rotting of your bones. Worst of all, the monsters there ain't strong, technically. But they're horde types. Meaning-"
"They're a bother to kill or fully avoid. Got it... Yeah, that doesn't sound like a fun dungeon..." Octer pointed out, and not only him, but also Lynol and the merchant were seemingly all thinking that this seemed to be a rather horrific dungeon. The other two here, however, thought something rather different.
"Exactly! And with my skills, I can get rid of those guys suuper easily!" The woman said with a broad, smug grin, while Foster's heart was beating with excitement and he exclaimed, "And you say nobody ever cleared it?"
Foster immediately turned around toward his friends, staring at them before they realized why exactly he was so excited about this. Octer and Lynol looked at each other perplexed, unsure if this was really going to happen.
"No," Octer said, finally, "You're already draggin' us to look at the fuckin' stars, you ain't getting us to enter a rotting hole of death!"
"Wait, you ain't also planning on heading there, right? You look to be a martial artist, that's literally the worst class you can have for that!" The merchant exclaimed, but Foster just turned around with a broad grin, "That makes it even more fun, doesn't it?"
---
"Dude, we're still not going to go there, no matter what you say." Octer groaned loudly, and Foster once more looked at his friend, "But why not? Where's the issue? Those guys literally can't do shit to me. I can be the bait, and then you guys can do your thing."
"Haaahh... I don't think you understand, man. Horde type monsters don't attack just a single target. You can't be the bait. And even if, I'd be completely useless. We can't take on that kinda dungeon without skilled magic users or clerics in our team. And if nobody has gotten through that place yet, it's really not to be underestimated, man."
"...I guess you've got a point... Erm, but shouldn't we have tried stopping that girl, then?"
"And why should we? She made the choice herself, and is clearly hell-bent on going in there. And she's a cleric, so she's probably going to be able to get out of there somehow, at least." Lynol pointed out, "Not that she would have listened to us anyway. You saw what she was like, right?"
"I guess. But I was just kind of thinking... A young woman, probably weighing a third of Octer's weight, heading out into a dungeon without people like us even trying to do anything about it? That might be kinda..." Foster pointed out as he walked ahead a little, barely able to hide his light smirk properly. Octer and Lynol both knew what their friend was trying to do, but the worst thing was, he was actually kind of right.
"...Let's try to learn about that dungeon first, then. It's a 'fail' type, so it's probably not on most official lists." Octer groaned, and Foster turned around with a broad smile.
"Great! We're meeting with Kyla at noon tomorrow at the Inn to talk about it." He said, and right as he finished speaking, he climbed up the stairs beside him to reach one of the upper street layers and avoid the conversation that would surely come with his statement just now.
"Foster, wait up!" Octer exclaimed, basically running after his friend. His heavy footsteps nearly made the steps shake, while Lynol was rushing past him to try and catch up to Foster first. Of course, still wanting to avoid the conversation until he found a way to change the topic immediately, he just kept on running up the stairs as fast and casually as he could, although that ended up being a rather contradictory concept that he clearly wasn't able to properly execute.
But even so, he still reached the top of the stairs first, but when he did, Foster was just stunned by what he saw. Everything up here was completely dark. The planetarium was right here, and there were people here on the platform trying to measure the positions of the stars. The astronomers that Foster was looking for.
But he didn't even focus on those right now. Rather, he was just stunned by this view. He had only seen something like this a couple of times, when he went on some trips a couple of times. The light pollution and smog in the city Foster grew up in made it impossible to see anything but the moon, and even that only on good days.
But now... he was able to see a view that he just so rarely saw with his own eyes. The beautiful, colorful night sky. Formations he had never seen before in his life. And at the same time, he realised that he now lived in a place where he would be able to see the beauty of these stars every single night.