Chương 59: 1.3.15 - The Hollow Delve

We were all gathered by the west gate by the break of dawn. The bag of holding loaned to us had enough space to hold all our supplies, which made it a lot more convenient to travel. The items placed inside had their weights reduced but not completely eliminated, so we only placed the bulky items like our bed rolls inside.

"Morning Damian, the weather is starting to cool this time of year" Annie greeted me as she walked up. Instead of the cloak she was wearing the last time, she had something thicker that had additional animal fur lined around the hood.

"Are you warm enough in that thing?" She lifted my cloak by one edge to feel the material slightly.

"It is good enough for now, I don't feel the cold as much" I lied. While I could still function in the cold, the biting wind during winter was still miserable for me. I should really consider getting proper adventurer attire now that I have the coin.

"Alright Annie, if you're that worried about Damian why don't you hug him to sleep tonight. We need to get going." Randell teased.

"Wha— No— I just don't want him to get sick. He's new to this... as— as seniors we should teach him— YOU! It's because you're not doing your job as a party leader teaching him that—" Annie was flustered as she tried to turn the conversation around.

"Yea yea, let's get moving. I would like us to reach the entrance to the second level and make camp there tonight." Randell hurried us out of the west gate. I honestly had no idea why Randell and Waldo kept teasing Annie. Did Annie turn one of them down in the past and this is their petty revenge?

"Since Annie said I need to do my job — Damian" Randell called.

"Yes?"

"You should still keep your scouting spell up but we can talk while we walk since we're using the cleared path to the dungeon. Is this your first time entering one?" Randell asked. I gave him a light nod.

"Do you know the different types of dungeons?"

"No, I had not read up about dungeons yet." I admitted.

"BWAHAHA! Never pegged you for the studious type. You might find a detailed research book in the Vesperian Royal Library but I doubt anyone will write what I'm about to share as it is sort of common knowledge" Randell laughed when he heard my response.

"I'm all ears."

"There are two main types of dungeons. Elemental dungeons and Corrupted dungeons. Let me first start with Elemental dungeons. You can probably guess by the name what Elemental dungeons are but effectively there is an elemental source of a specific affinity deep down in the dungeon." Randell explained as we walked. We paused for a bit as we approached the tree line. Some of the leaves had already started to yellow as we headed into autumn.

I swept the area to make sure there wasn't anything nearby before I gave the clearance to proceed.

"The elemental source does two things. First, it naturally attracts beasts of the same affinity. Second, it empowers these beasts and also usually results in Elemental Spirits spawning in these dungeons. All the creatures you hunt and resources you harvest would be of the same affinity." That would be interesting, I wonder if there's a better metal that's superior to Storm Steel for my coil gun if I found a Lightning Elemental Dungeon.

"The second type of dungeon, which is the one we're heading to today is considered a Corrupted Dungeon. Any guesses as to why it is named that way?" I thought about it for a few seconds. I had not thoroughly researched this topic but I could hazard a guess based on what Randell told me about Elemental dungeons.

"They corrupt the beasts within?" I guessed.

"Right, but how exactly that happens is the question. Truth is, no one knows. These dungeons tend to go very deep and get more dangerous as you go. The materials harvested from the beasts in the first few levels are still usable for basic armors with simple enchantments. But once you start hitting Green cored beasts, the corruption is so strong that the materials harvested are not usable at all." I nodded my head in understanding as Randell explained.

"The flesh of the beasts from a corrupted dungeon however cannot be consumed at all, even at the early levels. What we do know however, is that the corruption coming from the source of the dungeon mutates the creatures that live nearby and also allows for them to break their natural grade threshold."

"Which is why the young lord thinks that the ants might have come in contact with the dungeon" I added.

"Which is also why, despite the similarities across Corrupted dungeons, the beasts inside each dungeon are generally unique" Annie chimed in, ever the most studious one of the trio.

"It's a result of the corruption mutating the local flora and fauna."

"So no one has ever reached the deepest level of a dungeon?" I asked out of curiosity. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"There are some Violet cored mages that have done so occasionally for Elemental Dungeons. There are affinity attuned treasures to be found apparently but they are usually guarded by a guardian beast. No one has done so for Corrupted dungeons however as there is simply no reason to" Waldo added on. I asked a few other finer details about the dungeons in general, and what they knew about Hollow Delve dungeon. Most of it came from recorded information in the guild hall as they had not entered it themselves.

It did not take long after that for us to arrive at the dungeon entrance. Most adventurers that farm this dungeon daily did not usually head out this early so we did not see anyone else on the road. While the air during the mornings of early autumn was starting to become a bit chilly, it could not compare to the chill that I was feeling from inside the dungeon. Apparently the temperature stayed constant throughout the year so it would feel warmer inside the dungeon during winter.

"Alright, usual formation with Damian in front. I'll be right behind him. Waldo will provide support, and Annie you bring up the rear. Keep your Water Whip active in case something circles round and approaches from behind" Randell barked out the usual instructions. Waldo and Annie were probably familiar with their roles having worked together for so long — the recap was more for my benefit. Randell had memorized the map that Aldric shared last night as part of preparations for the mission.

While we brought copies with us, we could not really study it in detail until we made camp for the night. I had Electrolocation running since we left town this morning, and while I did not spot anything near us the entire way to the dungeon, it did not take long before I saw several beasts approach in my vision.

"Incoming, at least 4 from the front and 2 from the right." I warned the team.

"Waldo! Light — front! Damian you take the 2 on the right." Randell rushed forward to meet the 4 coming. I prepared one Lightning Bolt in each hand and fired at the creatures once they were within range of my spell. The brief flash of light showed that they had dark scales — both the creatures stopped moving immediately after the spells hit them. Waldo moved the orb of light that we had used as a source of light up front near where Randell was.

It was then that I saw the creatures were dog-sized rats but instead of the usual fur, they had overlapping black scales — the tails almost as long as their bodies and ending in thorn-like barbs. Their feet were also not small like a usual rat's but were thick and muscular, ending with sharp claws. Randell had created two Earth walls to funnel them one at a time to him. The first creature already had several ice shards sticking out of its body — courtesy of Annie.

I could not get a good angle of fire with Randell in the way. After he stuck his blade into the head of the first one, he seemed to realize that as well, and he quickly stepped back. Annie shot a blob of water at the remaining rats which allowed me to paralyze all of them with a bolt of lightning. Wrapping up after that was easy enough. The beasts were only Orange cored and did not pose a danger individually, but their numbers made it easy to get swarmed if we were not careful.

"Good job. You three take two cores each, I'll just harvest the claws" Randell instructed as he dismissed the Earthen walls.

"These seemed to be what the locals call Scaled Rats. Though the only rat-like thing about them is the shape of their heads" Waldo muttered as he began absorbing the cores. I went to the first two I took down and absorbed their cores, instantly allowing the notifications to appear before I dismissed them just as quickly. [You have absorbed an Orange Core. You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 37] [You have absorbed an Orange Core. You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 37] While individual pelts of these rats were not worth a lot, they were still worth a few silvers. Unfortunately, we did not have the time to skin the rats for their pelts, nor did we have the space in our bag of holding to hold the bodies. We needed to store our supplies and camping equipment and still leave enough space for the potential giant ant carcass.

There were several paths we could take to get to the opening to the second floor and there were a few times we had to circle back to take another path as the mob of monsters that I detected was too large even for the four of us. One group of monsters we did fight looked like giant papillon rabbits back on Earth, which the locals called Gnasher Hares. However, the size was where the similarities ended.

Their jaws could open wide like a snake, which revealed a row of serrated teeth — the leading edge of their ears also had hardened keratin that was almost like blades. They would have fit right into one of Guillermo del Toro's films. They hopped around, bouncing against the walls and ceiling and using their long bladed ears to slash at us.

They were too quick for me to reliably aim my Lightning Bolt at — we had to rely on a combination of Randell's Earth Wall and Annie's Water Whips to limit the direction they could attack us from before I could take a few of them down. A few well-timed Ground Spikes also caused them to ram their own heads into the spikes, stunning them briefly.

After what felt like half a day, we knew we had finally arrived at the camping site when we saw the markings previous adventurers left to indicate the path to the second floor. We had no way to tell time as the deeper parts of the dungeon had almost no light except for Waldo's light orb. As we were pulling the equipment out of the bag of holding, I felt a sense of discomfort in my core. It was the first time I'd had this sensation. I wasn't sure if it was entirely mental since it was my first expedition.

I almost wanted to ignore it as I did not want to sound like a wuss, but remembering Randell's advice about asking for help, I decided to ask anyway.

"Erm, anyone feeling a strange sensation in their core?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even.

"Ah right, you've used way more mana than all of us, so your core probably took in more ambient mana than the rest of us. Plus all those beast cores you absorbed probably added to it." Randell explained. I just gave him a puzzled look.

"Remember what I said about their flesh not being edible, that actually applies to their core and the ambient mana in general. Most adventurers don't stay too long in the dungeons so the effect dissipates after a good night's rest. Considering we're staying the night in here, Waldo you mind purifying Damian?" Randell looked over at Waldo.

"Most parties will buy purifying draughts from the alchemist if they were planning an extended expedition into a Corrupted Dungeon. We can save coin on that due to my core mutation" Waldo explained as he walked up to me. He used the same Light Infusion spell as he did when I got injured by the Sabertail Panther, except this time I could feel the weight of discomfort lift from my core.

"If my only contribution to the party was just blinding enemies and being a hand torch, Randell would have kicked me out long ago ha ha" Waldo chuckled.

"You do more than that Waldo." Annie said with a soft smile.

"Annie, help me fill the pot. Let's get supper going and get some rest. Waldo might as well purify us after you're done with Damian. We'll use the same watch rotation as last time after we eat." Randell instructed.

"It'll be a long few days checking every nook of the second floor. Based on the information I gathered, the monsters down there would make those bunnies earlier actually look cute."