The children were inside a cave, and the glowing butterflies flying randomly in the air helped with their search. A glowing black ball escaped Rhia's pendant, and Lucia showed herself.
"You younglings have poor eyesight! Check behind that rosebud berry bush." Lucia tsked and lightly mocked the children, well, mainly Rhia.
Rhia walked towards the bush growing with green leaves and red berries that resembled rosebuds. Her eyes saw something glittering, and reached to pull it out.
"I got it!"
In Rhia's hand was a fist size ruby egg traced in gold.
"Not without my assistance, of course!"
Lucia puffed her feathers as Naomi and Alex ran over.
"Nice job, Rhia."
Alex complimented.
"So, with the pink egg Alex found earlier, we now have two eggs! Meaning one more, and we're finished," said Naomi as the children walked the path leading up ahead.
"Wow! What are these crystals!?"
Rhia exclaimed with awe, having separated from the others and stumbled upon an area clustered with colorful crystals growing out of the walls and ground. The ground was laced with various size puddles. Rhia walked farther ahead and was greeted with an entrance blocked by chains.
On the other side was a large tree with transparent purple leaves as its roots extended far into the lake it was growing in. Yet, the lake was glowing for some reason, and the center looked like a whirlpool.
"Be careful. That's a dungeon gate. Some gates have a mind of their own and will sometimes drag those in close proximity inside. Judging by these chains, I estimate it was probably suspended but has reactivated," Lucia warned, having flown over and perched herself on top of Rhia's head.
"If what you say is true, and looking at how rusty these chains have become, it was probably a long time ago when it was put into suspension. This cave should've been off limits and sealed off, but obviously, someone has forgotten about it."
After that incident with the dungeon gate appearing in the classroom, the school president sealed off the entire section, and the fourth graders moved to a different building. These were the usual procedures after a dungeon gate appeared for safety and reassurance reasons.
"Those procedures were only put into effect fifty years ago. If you are right, that old dungeon has reverted back to a weak state. Dungeons grow stronger the longer they are in operation. The people of this world are like cattle to them. The more blood they shed and feast on, the stronger they grow."
Instead of talking down to Rhia, Lucia spoke seriously to Rhia, going deeper into her explanation.
"Which is why it's so important to close the gates while still in their weak states. The stronger they become, the harder they are to defeat." said Lucia
"Remember, without the champion's powers, the gates still exist. You are still very young and inexperienced. There's no way you can take out stronger ranked dungeons, but at least lower ranked ones give you a fighting chance." Lucia advised.
"Well, on the brighter side, this world has stronger hunters and knights to help with the situation," said Rhia, only to receive a slap to the face with a paper fan!
"Where did the fan come from?!"
Rhia held her bruised cheek, but Lucia did not care.
"You naive child! The percentage of hunters and knights who can close a dungeon barely makes up a city! Don't even get me started on those who can close a B-rank dungeon and above! There are too many dungeons and very few people with the skills to tame them! People desperately need you and the other champions to save their homes and lives!"
Lucia's words only made Rhia's stomach hurt with guilt and stress of the responsibility resting on her shoulders.
"Without the champions and their followers, the next best option would be to defeat the boss, resulting in the gate being suspended. The suspension period could be a few months, years, or decades before the dungeon reactivates itself."
"Question!" Rhia raised her hand in the air.
"When a dungeon is defeated and put into a state of suspension, does it lose its former rank?" she asked, aware that the D.A.H {Dungeon Administration Headquarters} gave all dungeons a rank that correlated with their strength levels that one could identify based on the color.
"Yes! Say, a group of well-trained hunters defeated an A-rank dungeon. After being put into suspension, the monsters become weakened and, upon reactivation, will probably have the strength of a B or C-rank dungeon. B and C-rank dungeons will be downgraded to a D-rank. Based on its blue color, this dungeon was probably once a B or C-rank dungeon."
Rhia was satisfied with Lucia's explanation. Deep in thought, she pondered over the information she received when a hand touched her shoulder and made her jump.
"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! While I was searching with Naomi, we realized we lost track of you and began searching for you."
Alex held up his hands in surrender as Rhia tried to calm down her beating heart. Alex's gaze peered behind Rhia and saw what had captured her attention.
"Is that a dungeon gate?"
The fear in his voice was evident, and Rhia couldn't blame him.
"Yep, and we are about to take our leave."
Rhia placed her hand on Alex's shoulder and turned him around, ready to walk away, when Lucia and Rhia sensed a premonition of danger heading their way.
As if sensing their presence after being in slumber for so long, blue strings flew out of the gate and secured themselves around Rhia's ankle.
"The dungeon has sensed us!"
Lucia panicked as Rhia screamed when the string tied around her ankle and pulled, causing her to trip and fall flat on the ground as the dungeon dragged her toward the gate.
"The dungeon is pulling her in!"
Lucia yelled the obvious as Rhia dug her fingers into the dirt. Fear gripped her chest, anxious at the thought of repeating what she had faced when dealing with the Wonderland Dungeon.
'I know I said I'll help, but I hoped it would be on my own terms. Despite what others believe, fighting blood-thirsty monsters is not cool, but terrifying!'
Tears leaked through Rhia's eyes, feeling another string tie around her other ankle.
"Hold, Rhia! I got you!"
Alex reached for her hand and tried to pull Rhia towards him, but it was futile.
"The gate is determined to pull us in. There's no way out of this."
Lucia flapped her wings, helpless to lend aid as more strings shot out and bound the two children and spirit guide. In the blink of an eye, the gate dragged all three inside. Their fate was undetermined.
—
Rhia's vision flashed to black, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw jagged black rocks jutting from the ceiling. Standing on her feet, she looked around and saw more black rocks.
A hand fanned her face due to the blazing heat that made her skin sweat.
"Based on the structure of the layout, we're inside a cave." Rhia turned around and saw Alex and recalled he was dragged inside with her.
"Too hot! Someone bring me a glass of iced tea!" Lucia moaned from her place on the ground. A puddle of sweat formed underneath her.
"The only way we can get out of here is by defeating the boss. But what way is it?" asked Alex.
Lucia seemed to have regained some strength, flapping her bat wings before speaking in a robotic voice.
"Analyzing layout of the dungeon." A minute passed before she spoke again. "Scan is complete."
A green hologram screen appeared, showing a diagram layout of the map with two red dots.
"We're here."
Rhia pointed to the red dot that marked their current location before dragging her finger to the red dot that read boss lair above it.
"The boss lair is northeast of here. So let's get a move on it, people!"
Rhia got ready to step forward when she heard an animal growl in the distance.
"Let's hurry up! My instincts tell me the longer we stay here, the faster danger approaches !"
Rhia grabbed Alex's hand, and the two ran for it with Lucia flying in the air. Rhia could hear the growling chasing after them.
The two children carefully made their way through the various-sized lava pits. Rhia's heart dropped to her stomach when they came upon a scene that made them freeze.
"Don't tell me we must cross this thing?!"
Rhia's terrified eyes were pointed toward the broken, aged suspension bridge that looked on the verge of collapse. The bridge was suspended about twenty feet up, hovering over a boiling river of lava that streamed below.
"We've got no choice, Rhia. Don't worry. I'll make sure that you don't fall in."
Alex gave Rhia a reassuring smile that managed to calm down the scared girl's racking nerves. Hesitantly, Rhia nodded, hands and legs shaking, squeezing Alex's hand as the two began crossing the bridge.