Recognizing that traveling through the storms was dangerous business, Tepo calmed his mind down. He stayed close to Dassy's back, permanently observing his surroundings.
After only a single hour the young man's arms and legs already felt the strain. Even with the combat training at school, his athletic body found it difficult to cushion the shocks caused by the wild ride.
Flying at speeds which would even leave the fastest birds in the dust, Tepo directed Dassy to take a snaking path towards the west. He surmised that since the dungeon was prepared for him, he should be able to find it.
And indeed, it didn't take Tepo too much effort. Two hours later a small gray cloud entered his eyes.
His body trembled lightly as he recognized the strange swirling vortex of colors above it. This was a portal! It was the source of humanity's demise in Tepo's old world. Although it was irrational, Tepo couldn't deny his hate for those magical constructs.
Images appeared in Tepo's mind. Hordes of mindless, crazy, and fanatical humans poured out of a big portal. The army had just managed to free up some space for humanity. But the outsiders didn't grant them time to enjoy it. They drowned the human army with pure numbers.
Bodies piled up like mountains. That day Tepo lost two of his good comrades. Their faces would forever be branded in his mind.
Tepo took a deep breath. Now it was time to focus on the present. He didn't know what waited for him within the dungeon. Those insidious places were notorious for being random, which was the greatest tragedy of many brave heroes. He could only hope that no strong monster was lurking right behind the entrance.
With some apprehension, Tepo and Dassy landed on the grey cloud. The young man jumped from his mount, his face stern. The storm swirled around them, blocked by some invisible barrier.
"Thank you, Dassy. If you're hungry, just go hunting, ok?", spoke Tepo as he patted the Náree.
Letting out a low sound the beast acknowledged Tepo before laying down at the side.
When Tepo noticed how Dassy stayed far from the portal, he shook his head. It seemed even the beast doesn't trust those damn traps.
But unfortunately, Tepo had no choice but to enter it. He scanned his surroundings as he stepped forward. The experienced veteran was sure that the guards would soon appear here. But now he had an advantage. He could figure out the dungeon and begin preparing for their arrival.
Now, only a small gap separated Tepo from the treacherous dungeon. He tried to gleam anything from the constantly swirling portal, but it only left the young man dizzy, hiding its secrets. It was impossible to get a glance of the dungeon from the outside.
Knowing that delaying didn't improve his situation, Tepo took a deep breath. He closed his eyes. When he opened them again all apprehension was gone. Only pure determination remained.
With a focused mind Tepo reached out with his hand. And touched the portal.
Tepo had expected a lot, but not to feel absolutely nothing. At one moment he was still on a grey cloud, the next he had a red carpet under his feet. The young man immediately became vigilant. His knees bent slightly. He was ready run at any second.
Suddenly a mysterious voice appeared in his mind.
[Find evidence of Lord Hoftal's experiments!]
Tepo's body shook. He instinctively jumped to the right. But nothing more happened.
But the young man didn't feel he had overreacted. He knew he couldn't be vigilant enough. The smallest mistake might cost his life.
With a calmed mind Tepo focused on the sentence which had appeared in his brain. He recalled some information about dungeons. It was common knowledge that all dungeons had a task which had to be fulfilled. Warriors eventually began calling them quests.
For commoners this sounded kind of puzzling, but only after learning about artificial cores could Tepo figure out that these tasks were trials. Solving them was the key to receiving the artificial core.
But it wasn't always necessary to do so. Many businesses had permanent dungeons. They didn't solve the tasks on purpose since their dungeons would produce rare materials. Once those were exhausted it wouldn't be too late to get the core.
Having made it through this first shock, Tepmodus focused back on the present.
With narrow eyes Tepo scanned his surroundings. First, he made sure that no living beings were close by, before analyzing the room he was in.
Feeling luxurious carpet below his feet, Tepo automatically associated it with a rich man's manor. And his guess was true. But the carpet wasn't on the floor. Rather it was hanging from a wall. Just like Tepo.
The young man almost lost his balance. But he soon realized that gravity here seemed to be messed up. Or maybe it was the room itself. When people said dungeons were random, this wasn't was Tepo had expected.
But the young man adapted quickly. He adjusted his orientation. Taking the wall for the floor, Tepo studied his surroundings.
His eyes naturally fell on the former floor, which was now the right wall. It seemed to be some kind of lounge area. A few comfy looking couches now hung on the wall. On a small table a pair of glasses laid, not dropping to the floor. In the wall's corner stood lively plants.
Raising his head up, Tepo's attention was caught be the majestic fireplace, which adhered to the ceiling. Wood was stacked within it but didn't fall to the floor. However, the fireplace was cut in half. Just like the room. And one of the couches.
Everything appeared disjointed because the room's second half followed an entirely different layout. To Tepo it looked like multiple rooms were cut in half and put together again. Or maybe like a theater set where the plot happened in multiple rooms.
Not letting the strange environment unsettle him, Tepo scanned the second half of the room. It was mostly uninteresting except for the two bookcases next to the door and the desk hanging from the wall to his left.
Tepo stayed quiet for a few more minutes, trying to make out any steps, noises, or other signs of living beings. Since he didn't perceive anything, the investigator carefully began to move.
First, I have to understand more about this place. Let's check the furniture.
Despite the real feeling of the carpet beneath his feet, Tepo was still suspicious about the furniture hanging from the wall. Why didn't it fall down? Was it attached to the wall? Or maybe it wasn't real in the first place?
With careful steps Tepo walked towards the right. There, in the corner, was a plant in a pot.
Tepo first observed it from all sides. But not finding anything suspicious, no poisonous thorns, or strange reflections, the young man slowly reached out with his hand.
Suddenly… clang! The moment Tepo touched the first leave, the plant seemingly lost its support. It instantly crushed to the ground, the pot shattering into multiple pieces.
Tepo reacted smoothly. He took a swift step back, ready for any change. But even after a few moments nothing else happened.
Breathing out, Tepo approached the plant again. He smelled the dirt and rubbed a leave between his fingers. Nothing about it appeared suspicious. It didn't seem magical and didn't have special abilities. The strange gravity apparently didn't have anything to do with the furniture.
Still, one more experiment came to Tepo's mind. He picked up a piece of the pot and took a few steps back. Aiming at one of the couches, he threw. The piece of ceramic drew a flawless parabola, bouncing from one of the sofas.
With a loud rumble the couch abruptly dropped down. It only received a few scratches despite the ground forcefully stopping it.
Tepo nodded his head, satisfied. His eyes fell on the heavy wooden desk in the room's other half. Since the dungeon's task was to search for evidence, the desk was naturally a prime suspect.
But what should I do about it? If I throw something at the desk, it will crash to the ground. But the desk would splinter into pieces. Eventual evidence might get destroyed.
Pondering over this problem, Tepo's eyes roamed the room. Suddenly he smirked. He found a passable solution.
Taking another piece of the plant pot, Tepo aimed again. With a skillful throw another couch landed on the ground. By now Tepo wasn't too cautious anymore. It seemed that if there existed any danger in this dungeon, it wasn't close by.
Thus, he simply got to work. Leaning his full body against the couch he began to push heavily. His feet almost slipped along the ground. Those pieces of furniture weren't light. It took a lot out of Tepo until he had finally managed to set up both couches at the opposite wall below the desk.
Heaving, Tepo would have loved to take a small rest. But he didn't know how much time he had. It was better to hurry up.
Taking another one of his trusty projectiles, Tepo didn't aim long this time. The desk was hard to miss. With a smooth swing of his arm, the piece of the pot sailed through the air.
A loud rumble followed. Wood cracked. Dust filled the room.
Although the desk groaned under its own weight it remained largely undamaged due to the cushioned landing.