Dungeons... isolated dimensions that contained countless mysteries, dangers and most importantly treasures. The quickest and most effective way to get stronger and gain unimaginable wealth was simply to traverse and conquer one, dungeons would have been crawling with scores of people if not for the life threatening dangers that came with them.
The more one stood to gain from entering a particular dungeon the more danger one would be exposed to.
Dungeons are ranked based on the level of energy produced by the boss monster with an A-rank dungeon like this being at the very top aside the ones sealed by the various orthodox churches. Before a raid is carried out the first and most important piece of information to be determined is the type of dungeon discovered. A dungeon was deemed ordinary if the monsters and treasures inside were not related to any of the churches.
Powerful artifacts lost from history tended to influence the environment around them and manifest as dungeons attracting all kinds of monsters. The other type of dungeons are the one that manifest at tombs of ancient and mysterious beings or creatures, they usually involve creatures related to the owner of the tomb. Access to these dungeons were strictly restricted to only those above tier-3.
Although Nova city was isolated due to its geographic location, it still maintained good relations with some the cities close by including Ankewelt City.
In the central avenue of the city stood a magnificent cathedral that seem to emit a kind of holy aura. Grey stairs led upward to the massive entrance of this building, scores of believers could be seen entering and leaving the cathedral as people entered, they would immediately feel a calming influence deep within their souls as they immediately took their seats on any of the pews within the church to pray and await the days sermon.
Underneath, the cathedral seemed to extend for several miles. It was divided into various subsections with different teams within the church carrying out various tasks.
In one of the rooms of this underground station, three people discussed about a message received a few days ago.
"We've finished all preliminary plans for this expedition", a middle aged man dressed in a grey clergyman robe spoke. He was dark skinned and had soft features with dark grey eyes but the scars along the back of his hands marred his otherwise innocent appearance.
"The message was sent by the commander of city guards at Nova city, they wish for assistance to prevent the worst case scenario of a dungeon break", this time the one who spoke was a teenager in her late years. She had red hair, black eyes and wore a cold but gentle look while wearing a simple white shirt and trousers.
"His Excellency has approved the use of a Grade-one sacred treasure and a Grade-two cursed treasure", she said.
"Looks like this isn't good to be easy", a young deacon spoke as he laid lazily on the sofa in the room.
"Of course not, Ciro. Grade-one treasures are only released for the most dangerous cases so it would be preferable if you take this meeting seriously", the red haired girl spoke.
"Being too serious all the time is bad for your health", the blond deacon named Ciro spoke in a subtle yet teasing tone.
As the red haired girl was about to refute his word, the dark skinned bishop spoke,
"Ciro, fill a request form to obtain cursed treasures 2-07 and 2-11 and Fyre gather a team with the following class requirements", as he spoke he scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it to Fyre.
As the red haired Fyre looked at the list she couldn't help but shiver as her eyes paused on a particular class.... Berserker.
"I will go to retrieve the Heavenly seal from the vault", the dark skinned bishop said.
The following information appeared in the minds of the two deacons,
*Grade-one sacred treasure 1-21*
*The Heavenly seal of balance*
*A badge like emblem that wields the Authority of the Goddess*
*Clearance level: An Archbishop of the church, Tier-2 and above level Bishops*
*Origin: Bestowed upon the church by the Goddess*
…
*Grade-two cursed treasure 2-07*
*Mask of Orpheus*
*Origin: found during an expedition of the forsaken mountains*
*A silver mask with streaks of black blood across its surface*
*Grants the user the ability to paralysis any creature within its user line of sight*
*Negative effects: continued usage after 20 minutes results in loss of vision with permanent loss of eyesight being the worst case scenario*
*The wears becomes overly irritable and rash*
*Clearance level: Tier-3 level Deacons and above*
…
*Grade-two cursed treasure 2-11*
*Scepter of the undead*
*Grants one the abilities of a Tier-3 mage in the death domain*
*Negative effects: the users has random suicidal thoughts and tendencies and after usage the wielder has the urge to praise 'Death' for an unknown period of time*
*Clearance level: Deacons and above*
Although the cursed treasures thoroughly indicated the level of danger of this mission, what made Frye petrified the most was the inclusion of berserkers in requirement list.
The Berserker class was one of the four major classes of the mystic arts. The others were warrior, healer and scholar classes.
The abilities of mages under each class was simply as the title announced;
'Mages classified as warriors were purely combat oriented, they could either be close combat specialist or ranged damage dealers'
'Healers are considered a supplementary or support role that were extremely rare and important. Only the orthodox churches and a few powerful organizations had them within their ranks'
'The Scholars class comprised of mostly researchers and scientists obsessed with obtaining more knowledge about the mystic arts. They were responsible for creating magical tools and innovative ways to further integrate magic into normal society and were also at the forefront when discovering ancient ruins'
'Berserkers or berserk mages are mages that possess a special connection to mystical existences or hidden deities.
Normally, this wouldn't be a an issue as powerful mages with a variety of abilities were welcomed in this world but the kind of ability gained depended on the temperament of said deities'
As Fyre reached the end of the hall, she saw a large black door with strange symbols carved into it. The symbols seemed to pull her gaze towards them, she almost had the urge to dismiss her duties and solely focus on studying them. Just then she heard a female voice that was firm yet so silent it was like a whisper," To what do I owe this visit?"
Fyre felt her body turn cold as she stammered, "G-good afternoon ma'am Amelia, your services have been requested for a-a mission."
"Mutant?", Ma'am Amelia asked through the door.
"It hasn't been confirmed but there's a possibility", Fyre replied.
"Nova city?", She asked almost certain.
"Yes ma'am...how did you know?", Fyre confirmed although she was confused as to how the berserker guessed the location without ever been told before she arrived.
Ma'am Amelia ignored her question and simply muttered, "So it begins".
***********************************************
Outskirts of Nova city, Mountain range
A-rank dungeon.
The alliance's expedition of the dungeon had slowed down tremendously due to their extreme caution. According to their initial strategy, they split into groups to explore the different parts of this dungeon while eliminating any monsters found and finally rendezvous at the clearing in front of the boss's lair.
The other reason was because they were wary of the mysterious mages in the dungeon.
"There was no sign of anyone in the other parts of the dungeon", Reina reported to the commander.
"That implies that whoever came here is in there", Norman said pointing towards the massive cave just ahead of them .
Even though they hadn't entered the lair, the could still sense an unnatural chill and bloodlust emanate from it. Some of the weaker members felt nauseous while some even vomited.
"While we don't know if those mysterious people have allies who might come to support them nor do we know if the overall situation in the dungeon would suddenly change. Let's advance and end this week long raid. Aside a few mages, all Tier-3 and above will advance while the rest of you guard the perimeter and wait for the reinforcements from the Church of Twilight", the commander stood as he had finished giving all relevant instructions.
'The closest base of the church is Saint Gustav cathedral', Gus recollected the information about the church at Ankewelt city.
"Maybe they'll bring some powerful artifacts with them", a random person muttered in relief .
"That isn't essentially good news, very powerful artifacts means that the church has placed the level of danger here very high", a veteran member spoke up which caused some of the members to quiver .
"But don't worry and place your trust in the heads of our various guilds. They are the best of the best in our city", the veteran said to dispel the growing worry of the younger and inexperienced members as he and the rest of the alliance watched the group of twenty mages all Tier-3 and above venture into the dark cave that resembled the mouth of a beast.
As the top members of the alliance moved through the cave, closer to the battle against the dungeon boss they couldn't help but wonder what kind of creature they would face.
"What kind of monster do you guys think we'll be facing?", Selina asked the rest of her guild members.
Gus replied saying "Not sure. All we know from our initial scouting is that the boss is most likely a creature of the water element".
"So some kind of smelly thing with scales", Ryker guessed.
Ahead of them the guild master of the Desert wolves dressed in black trousers and an armless jacket that left his chest bare for all to see. His raven black hair was left a mess and somehow complimented his deep blue eyes which had a feral and untamed aspect to it.
"One of the three auras just vanished from the cave", He said.
"Are you sure Zyran?", The commander asked. Although he didn't doubt the guild master's abilities, one of the three entities vanishing meant a few things.
First, it meant that the invaders overestimated their strength and were shocked by the sheer might of the monster.
Another fact is that the intruders might have just sensed them approaching and divided their forces to deal with the boss and the alliance. Being able to fight the boss one on one and also fight the alliance that consisted of Tier-2 mages and warriors confirmed that whoever the intruders were they couldn't be trifled with. Each person thought of several other reasons but these two were the most important .
After a consensus, a plan was quickly put together. All twenty mages divided themselves into three groups, the first team had only seven mages that specialized in speed based combat or had speed related skills. It's core members were Ryker, Katrina and Zyran.
The second team of six was comprised of all the close combat experts that would immediately follow after the first team confirms the situation. This team had most of the heavy hitters including Reina, commander Bale and Norman.
The last team was filled by the three healers and four long ranged specialists, spearheading them was the top scout of the Silver Talons, a Tier-2 archer Zeke.
"Begin", Zyran ordered as his team immediately dashed towards the monster's lair while raising their guards up to counter any attack.
Just as they left the tunnel, the first thing they felt was the heat, then they saw what appeared to be a clash between the elements of water and fire.
Tiny explosions erupted on the scales of the behemoth like creature that was half submerged inside a black water lake. The creature had several heads that sat atop long and thick necks, they seemed to be trying to swat something down.
Two heads were bound to each other by glowing silver chains that seemed to be held by invincible hands.
The faces of the first team immediately turned grim and serious because they finally realized why this mission was put together so quickly. The monster in question was the kind that once allowed to leave the dungeon the death toll in the area would grow at staggering pace.
Zyran simply muttered through clenched teeth, "Hydra".