There was a man from the registry who arrived alongside them to check the validity of the group.
This scene is normal with newbies, so I let him give them a little briefing.
I knew him. He is Arthur, an old acquaintance of ours. He was the one who picked dungeons for the old man. He works for the old man, but he runs the pub and the dungeon permits. It may not look like it, but his skill involves profiling. The reason he personally meets with newcomers was to look for talents to recommend to the guild masters. He might be working for the old man, but he had lots of connections all over the new continents. It's also natural for us, as escorts, to be recognized by him as he was one of those who looked after the validity of the contract. We don't really talk to each other that much, but he likes teasing the old guy, so I'm sure he's going to inform him about my new team. Before leaving, he gave me a wink as if to say 'I know it's you.' which sent chills all over my body. He better not give any information about me or else I'll start tower hunting instead.
Cassius, the supposed 'archer' of the group, was talking to Gab. I saw his files last night. He was an immigrant, but it didn't state where he came from. So it means that he's definitely not human. Damn, I should be used to it by now. Sigh. Super-human, as humans turned to undead. It would be awesome if it was just an apocalypse. If so, the world would've been cleansed. Undeads or zombies, as we used to call them before, were like mobs in any RPG game you play. No matter how many times you kill them, they will respawn the next day, over and over again with the same face as they had when they were humans, but all that's left is a shell, or so we thought.
Super-humans who were underage were called Enlightened. They have access to skills, but they won't level up until they're awakened. Awakened was the term used when one had gain access to the system window. Blessed was the term used for those who have been given access to the Appraisal system and the 'Hero' title will be given once an individual reaches a thousand level mark. That is where they were supposed to embark on another journey to save the world, but the mortal greed and satisfaction made them settle with just the usual game ranking system that was probably made by some hardcore geek who believed that SSS was the highest rank one could ever attain, which is ridiculous. The world will start to crumble unless a new god is bestowed upon our world. These so-called heroes who were not able to achieve a thousand levels will not be able to comprehend the existence of higher beings as telling them this information will lead to either censorship or drive them to insanity, as the two worlds that have been newly merged will not be the same as anyone would have known, even with those who survived through their ancient times as this is a newer, bigger, better, and more deadly world than it was before. Guilds existed years after the SYSTEM was introduced to everyone. So to say that the guild holds the ranking system will be an insult to the creator. The creator was not merciful. No. The creator wants to destroy the world, and we need a god to stop world destruction. That was no longer my problem. My focus right now is to make sure that the future generation survives stronger opponents that society never expected may happen.
Heroes never really need public recognition. As long as the system acknowledges you as one, then you are already wearing the title. These proclaimed heroes here are just kids playing pretend. I don't need to take part in that charade. I have my people and a better future to protect. I don't have to waste my time on recognition as my people know who I was and that's enough.
I observed them again as I smiled at myself. These youngins were in for a treat. They're already willing to broaden their horizons, albeit not intentionally, the results should be good.
I ushered them in after getting the final go from Arthur.
What was laid behind the entrance was a well-lit caved hallway. The corridor was chiseled with an intricate design and an ancient tongue was seen among the carvings. It looked like the walls were telling stories of a journey of people who were able to stumble upon a strange cave but at the end of it was a huge door with the words: Le salam altperas que ruit. Of course, not even the elves could read that, as it was not even translatable into the common language. Many assumed that it was a warning and that was not far from the truth. As it says, "Peace be with those who worship thy name." and beneath it was 'Ker nawit ha kum lhu rassui,' which means, "as misfortune awaits a sinner of realms." indicating that there are rules in each realm that one entry. These only appear when a newbie is within the group. It's like a welcome ceremony and all the enemies inside will bless you according to your class. Just like an initiation of sorts. The only thing you have to remember, is to determine who the enemy is and that is why we, the guardian escorts, were given a curse, which is "the courtesy of a guide". We are not allowed to stop any actions being done by beginners as the world observes what type of people they are, as they are in a different realm with no restrictions or any forms of laws aside from the unwritten rules of the dungeon (realms).
Freya was so fascinated by the story on the walls, so Claire cast a spell that made the little figures start moving as if on a story-line and the team was now watching a shadow reenactment version of the story on the walls.
A figure was standing all alone then, suddenly, a crowd surrounded it. There were four taller figures, one a little shorter, two figures that were holding hands, and two children with one shorter than the other. They went through trials together and they all survived. All were using skills aside from the main figure and the kids. On all the stages, it looked like the figure was not participating and was just watching. Not even a single finger was raised as it stood in the shadow. It may seem like the figure was just watching, but that person represents us doing our work, that was the very first guardian to ever exist in the dungeon. I saw this story once with our mage. She was skilled with illusion, and she was a fan of the origin of the guardian escorts, but hers were not as detailed as this.
The kids were being protected by the adults and on the task, where they were attacked by a rampaging spiritual beast, the kids suddenly disappeared in thin air. Like a popped bubble as if they never existed.
A shadow was cast above the adventurers and a bigger, more powerful monster arrived. A dark beast with red-glowing eyes and blood-red-colored vines. So huge and full of energy that even the ground shakes with its every move and the surroundings started to burn. It shrieked every few minutes, and it caused the other monsters to go to the fighting ground. Exhausted and depleted with energy, they can no longer fight as more monsters start to appear in their location. The longer they survive, the wilder the beasts will respond to the call. The magical beast had announced a war ground for all the leaders, and it was a territorial war.
A lava beast appeared and tried to devour them, but the figure, with firepower, jumped in and sacrificed himself and the beast suddenly backed down. The boys felt proud of the man, but the girls were getting emotional. Although Claire hides her emotions very well, the look in her eyes tells me a different story.
They were all hooked on the illusion, as if they were kids watching their favorite cartoon program on the television.
All was fun until a seven-headed dragon appeared. They held their breaths as they saw its huge body towering over the beasts who were scaring them earlier. The beasts were eaten one by one with such gore (but censored version as it's just a reenactment, so the beasts just vanish every bite), until only the adventurers were left. There was a little sigh of relief.
A huge statue suddenly started moving and reading something from a book made of stone, as if it was just a regular paper, as loud thuds would be heard at every page change. After some sort of announcement, the beast smiled bloodily. Seven heads started to move with the desire of swallowing them whole. There was a fog created by the chaos. What remained on the ground after it disappeared was a figure surrounded by bright light and then the magic started to fade away.
Marcus was the first to react," What the fuck was that?" to which Claire just shrugged at. "That's illusion magic. Historians could use this method to get clearer details of what happened in the old civilizations. The results, on the other hand, differ from every viewer's perspective. It's still incomplete, so I have to tweak it more to get exact details."
"That was so unfair." and our healer got teary-eyed. "Oh, such a cruel fate! They did not deserve it!" and she started bawling her eyes out at Claire, who immediately comforted her as it was only a story on the wall.
"It was quite... interesting." I heard Cassius mumble. "I wonder what happened next."
"It was obvious," Gab, suddenly said to him in a hushed tone. "They're dead."
The other didn't take it seriously and stood for his opinion. "They can't be," he whispered back. "That person clearly saved them!"
He looked at him, irritated. "If they were saved, then where are they now?", and all that followed was silence.
I grinned. Oh, I'm excited about their future. I have a genius mage. What can these rascals do?
"Follow me until we get to the field." I instructed, as I walked ahead of them. "We have four more hours to clear this dungeon before it closes, so make sure not to get separated." Common mistakes made by new adventurers were to venture on their own in the dungeon without knowing that there are more dangerous entities inside the dungeons than just monsters to clear to get to the final boss.
I started feeling the surroundings. The coast is clear. We can select this path for our journey, so I lead them to the farthest door.
Dungeons most likely have only one nest in them, but training dungeons have many as these doors link to the other green leveled dungeons. Yes, training dungeons exist, but their time limits are shorter than the green levels, and you can only enter once per lifetime, but that rule does not apply to my job and there were more privileges given to us, not just here, but also in the community on the outside world. Although the link is connected to other dungeons, the doors change and disappear whenever it is cleared, so there's no way you can encounter the same enemies as before. We are only using this because we need a starting fund for our future dungeon explorations as most gray and green dungeons were being hogged by the guilds, so we need to bid for a permit to clear one for directly heading into dungeons without noticing the authorities were highly illegal and may lead to possible arrest for fraudulent activities as having too many people in the dungeon increases the possibility of aura increase making monsters evolve that would make dungeon clearing harder than it should be.