[One Day Earlier]
"Hey!" Interjected a young man, his right arm stretched out in the middle of a party as he practically begged for attention. He was the porter of the group, what business did he have barging into a dungeon exploring team's meeting?
"And you are?" A woman asked rather swiftly, her voice carrying a tinge of annoyance.
Either Des was oblivious to her hostile voice or he simply didn't care. He responded as loud and energetic as he could in his bid to create a positive and friendly impression, after all this was his first job and he had to give his all.
"My name is Des, and it's a pleasure to be a member of this esteemed party."
"He's our porter." A middle-aged man spoke within the group. The young boy was equipped with quite the large bag back, about three times his size, responsible for holding necessities.
"Right."
The man walked to Des and held him on his shoulder. His hand was firm, but it wasn't threatening.
"This young man is our newest addition to the team. He will be responsible for our items. I hope he earns our trust." The man looked at Des upon finishing the statement.
Des stomped his right foot and saluted, "Yes Sir!". He had seen some men in flamboyant uniforms perform the action to impressively dressed characters, and the action seemed just fitting at that moment.
"Right…" His grip left Des's shoulder and the team continued their discussion, leaving Des out of it, which was no surprise, as Porters only had one job: being available everywhere and protecting the team's items.
He glanced at his new employers, absorbing the details of their tattoos and scars they had accrued over the years. Unlike him, all the members of the party were tall and of impressive build, even the team's mage was quite the muscular man.
His gaze fell upon the uneven cold walls that framed the dungeon's entrance.
This enthusiastic boy was no more than sixteen. He had a long cloak to cover his frail-looking body, and hidden by his flank was a dagger, one could never be too careful in a dungeon.
He had dark brown hair, a trait peculiar of the natives of Thra'e, and also shared the common trait of bearing brown eyes. He was a commoner through and through.
'At least, this is one experience crossed off my bucket list. Porter at sixteen, I'll be a grand explorer in no time.' He thought, forcing on a smile.
The team ended their discussion and turned their attention to the boy.
"He is so small." Said the lady that scorned Des earlier. Des felt his heart sink down his chest over the statement. He was small for his age, and appeared slightly malnourished, however that was typical of peasants such as himself.
"Cut him a slack Lisa." The man that declared Des's presence scolded.
"I am Dredd, the leader of the team, and I am an adept warrior meaning I am quite skilled at battling at a distance and at a close range." He turned to Lisa after introducing himself, and she caught on the cue.
"I am Lisa, a novice warrior."
"Beck, a Novice Runecrafter and Novice Warrior."
"I'm Philip, a Disciple Warrior."
"My name is Levi, and I'm a Disciple Spellcaster."
Des's eyes sparkled with admiration. Dredd walked to him and stretched out his open hand. Des's eyes scanned the man from his feet to his head, here an adept warrior acknowledging a mere peasant respect.
Lisa butted in with her haughty voice, "Sir Dredd, you shouldn't treat him with such regard. A well respected veter…"
Dredd's open hand halted her from completing her statement, and she backed away.
"Is this your first time in a dungeon?" He asked.
"Yes sir!"
"I see, you don't seem like you are from Freedom Town."
Even the peasants and low level workers of Freedom Town had a certain fashion sense and air about them that Des lacked, not to mention his rather unpolished accent.
"I arrived recently, I came looking for a job sir."
"I see. You just have to ensure our items are well kept, and update us on changes on quantity of whatever we might have in, and keep everything neat. You can also add in your items in a free section."
'I have nothing but my dagger sir.' Des thought.
"The bag contains our supplies–water, food and some extra items and weapons. We are rather minimalistic in our supplies compared to a lot of other parties so perhaps that's something you should be grateful for." Dredd smirked, and left to lead the group.
Lisa was the last to have her eyes away from Des. There was something about her.
'She mustn't like me very much. Or… Mother did mention that some girls may pretend to hate a boy when in truth, they like him. No no no, that can't be right.'
Then, he realized that the team had gone ahead, leaving him behind.
'Not a good look. Wait up.' He hurriedly ran into the cold desolate cave, hoping to catch up to the rest of his team members.'
He met Dredd addressing them once again. It seemed like he didn't miss anything important.
"Well, as mentioned previously, we're only going to be exploring the First to Third Floors, and only for a total of one week. Let's do our best, okay?"
"Yes sir!" They responded in unison save for Des, whose response came later.
"Yes sir!"
Ch 2
"You are finally a free boy. I would keep you much longer but Soluminis forbids a slave be made to serve longer than his time. Thank your shitty parents for giving you a shitty life." The slave caretaker undid the chain around frail Des's wrists freeing him from his long years of servitude.
Des's parents like most uneducated peasants took terrible risks and of course debts, barely having time for their litter of children. It came as no surprise to Des when news of his parents dying to the sword of some guards got to him, what better way to go as a cheap thief?
As if that wasn't enough, Des was the only surviving child of his parents' six offspring, and coincidentally the last child.
Des merely stood at the empty ranch he worked on, staring at the sandy expanse before him. Before now, he merely had to survive, whether it was to steal or to take on some menial labour, whatever it was to put a meal into his stomach, and then came forced servitude. Though not his, he served a purpose, he had a path to follow, but now, with no parents, and no master, he would need to carve a path of his own.
The sound of his rumbling stomach pulled him from his trance, whoever he was, he needed to eat.
Then, he willed his body into motion, traversing the desert through the cold moonless night, and luckily, before his body gave out, he found a prey fitting of his hunger.
The little scaly thing crawled as it too sought a meal, only to be caught by the tail by Des and slammed to death.
With his teeth, Des tore out its head, and its scales. He merely ate the corpse halfway when he stopped and continued on his journey.
After a couple of minutes, he fell on his knees out of fatigue, his eyes fighting to stay open.
In his moment of weakness, he spotted an erect rocky structure.
"An Altar!" He found strength to blurt, and instantly crawled to it.
It wasn't just any altar, but one dedicated to the god of his city. Des was never the believer, he was always too busy trying to survive to give a second thought to a deity, besides no god had ever stood by him at those times he was nearly beaten to death.
However, seeing the dusty altar roiled a feeling of hope within Des, perhaps it was a sign.
Atop the cuboid altar stood a miniature stature of a giant sun with a blank face.
Des clasped his hands and prayed. That night, he dreamt of a better life for himself.
"Freedom Town." He muttered upon waking, he had slept by the shrine overnight, and the sun was out and beginning to scorch.
The city had been mentioned severally by his caretaker. Overtime, Des had understood the city to be a bustling place with plentiful opportunities, not to mention that it was to this city the cattle he watched over got sold, telling of the city's large market.
He decided, Solarnaris had shown him a path.
'I will go to Freedom Town and build a life for myself.' He declared to himself, praying before completing his journey.
Perhaps he truly had Solarnaris' guidance as he made it to the famous city.
Freedom Town, a city established after the war, formed by the Mercenaries and retired Militants who desired their own land. Though it was only a City, it was recognized by the surrounding Nations as a land of its own—the City of Freedom, and a land of opportunities.
What a place.
"What is worth doing is worth doing well. I'm going to be an adventurer and a Dungeon Explorer."
The pinnacle of occupations in Freedom City. Adventurers were forged from rigorous training and experience, Dungeon Explorer even more so. It was no new knowledge even to one as oblivious as Des that Dungeons could be incredibly dangerous, though often times, their rewards were usually worth their risks.
Dungeons are special structures known to inhabit both great wealth and plethora of monsters also known as horrors. Nobody has a clear understanding of how they came into existence, save that they hold the very things humans crave. A few religious texts had made bold claims of their conception, but they were largely obsolete, lacking the followers to spread the words.
A dungeon held so much wealth that merely clearing an uncleared floor would have a team settled for life, and if they were smart about it, all of the team might get to keep their life.
And though Des had to work some low level jobs like washing dishes, collecting harvest, he finally accrued enough money to register to a Dungeon Exploring guild and now, he's in the midst of seasoned dungeon explorers, there was even a war veteran amongst them.
'Ohh, I am gaining so much experience.' Des approached everything with unrelenting enthusiasm.
They had walked some hundreds of meters without encountering a horror, when suddenly, a strange sound stopped the team in their tracks.
Dredd held out his hand prompting everyone to remain still and silent.
The sound was like that of rocks running down a rough surface. Figures suddenly sprouted from the walls around them, making a dry wail.
A laugh came from Lisa, as she tried to stifle it.
"Fucking Skeletons."