As they pulled up outside the diver’s guild building it was immediately obvious that this was a much smaller building. Only one story and quite narrow, made from a dark grey brick and wood mix. As the carriage came to a halt the professor spoke. “Everyone out and wait in the courtyard” she said as she opened the door and walked out towards the guild building.
Sam and the rest of the party got out and waited in courtyard passing the message to the other teams as they got out of their carriages. As they waited Sam took a look around the area. While the guild building was small from the front it was actually quite deep, how deep he couldn’t really tell but more so than the adventurer’s guild building. It gave off a kind of odd feeling especially with it being right next to a huge gate which was apparently the defensive line for two of the city’s three dungeons. As Sam was admiring the sites the professor returned. “Alright everyone. Luckily it is pretty empty in here today so we should be able to get this done quickly. As we’re running short on time we’ll all head in and line up at the reception desk together as parties to register. Once you and your parties have registered please head back to the carriage you arrived in. Once we are done here we’ll go through the gate and check out the dungeon entrances before heading down to Combat Street, which is where all the main adventure gear shops and such are located” she instructed. A few moments went by, and Sam was wondering what everyone was waiting for before the professor spoke again. “Okay…. Get a move on then, what are you all waiting for” she said in an exasperated tone as she waited for them to enter the building and begin to line up.
The Star?Scythe Dawnbearers were towards the end of the line having been at the front the first time they decided to hang back so they could get a better look at the diver’s guild building since they wouldn’t be there for long. Unfortunately for them it was quite dull inside. It was pretty dark in the building with little decoration outside of a couple of banners and a few tables for people to sit at as well as a board off to the left-hand side. Sam assumed the majority of the building was likely for administration of the dungeons with the adventurer’s guild providing most of the other required services at the other end of the street. It made sense in a way as duplicating the resources would be pointless at least he thought it would be anyway.
When it was finally their turn to register they followed a similar process to that of the adventurer’s guild filling out a registration form for themselves individually and for their party only this time they also had to provide their adventurers guild membership numbers and ranks as well. Once they were registered to the diver’s guild and had received their guild cards Sam took a quick look at the board that was near the seating area on the left side of the room. Upon inspection he noticed that there were listings for a bunch of monster drops or lootable items from the dungeon that were currently in demand or there were some with specific requests from crafts as well. Something to pay attention to before they go on their first dive into the dungeon Sam thought as he followed his party back to their carriage.
It was about 10 minutes before the professor returned to the carriage and they all proceeded beyond the gates. Sam was feeling excited to finally get to see the dungeon entrance. It finally felt like he was becoming an adventurer. As they came to a stop the professor quickly got out of the carriage. Sam and the rest of his party did the same following behind her to area with a couple of stone benches. They waited with the professor for the rest of the students to get out of their carriages and walk over to them.
“Alright everyone listen up. We are going to walk over to the portal for the G rank dungeon known as the “Small Cave of the Undead”. Once we are there I will then give a short explanation as to how it feels to go through one of these portals and I will give you some background on the dungeon itself. After that we’ll get back in the carriages and head down to Combat Street to do some afternoon shopping. Does everyone understand?” A chorus of voices affirming their understanding rang out from the group. “Alright then, let’s go”.
Sam didn’t know how to feel when he first got a glimpse of the portal. It was set into what looked like a dirt mound. It was a bit of a disappointing view although Sam understood that the grander entrances into dungeon normally came with higher ranked ones. “Is that it?” Darren asked. “It’s a G ranked dungeon, what did you expect?” Albert replied. “More than a mound of dirt” said Darren. “Yeah, it is a bit disappointing although looking into the actual portal gives me an odd feeling” Sam agreed.
Just looking into the black portal gave Sam a very weird feeling indeed. It felt like he was staring into nothingness but at the same time felt as if he was being watched. Becoming uncomfortable Sam looked away from the portal and looked around the walled off area they had entered. It was just a big empty chamber that had been built around the portal entrance to prevent people from getting in without authorization.
“So, this here is the gate to the G rank dungeon “Small Cave of the Undead”” the professor said from behind them. Everyone turned around to give her their attention. “This G Rank dungeon is one of only two known dungeons to have 10 levels. The lowest floor count for a dungeon after this is 25. There have been many theories put forth as to why there are only 2 but the true answer continues to elude us. Inside this dungeon you will have to navigate between narrow tunnels, fights skeletons of many different types and beat the floor bosses of each floor to conquer this dungeon” Professor Voss explained.
“Over the coming couple of weeks, we will be focusing on preparing each of you to head into this dungeon. We will cover maps and monsters next week followed by some time in the dungeon simulator we have on campus. After that you will dive into the dungeon accompanied by some experienced divers. Remember that when your party enters you have to allow another party to join you on your floor as only a single party can be on a floor at one time unless the party already on the floor accepts the other party joining them. The party leader is the one who receives the notifications however if incapacitated it will fall to whoever is next listed in party order. If all members of the party are incapacitated it will automatically allow another party to enter your floor” Professor Voss said.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Now I’m getting a bit carried away. We will go back over this in class. For now, let’s head back over to the carriages and head for Combat Steet” she finished. The students all made their way back over to where the carriages were waiting, the parties talking amongst themselves.
When they arrived at Combat Street the carriages dropped them off at the top of the street and departed down to the other end where they would wait for them to finish their shopping trip.
There was really only one thing Sam was looking to buy at the moment as he wasn’t really sure what he would need. The academy has already provided some basic armour for them so he wouldn’t need to buy any. He did, however, want to pick up a short sword for when they dive into the dungeon. His current sword was too long for narrow passageways and would only be useful in more open spaces. He also thought about getting a short mace as well as a bladed weapon is a lot less effective against skeletons since they didn’t really have much to cut with a regular steel sword.
Sam’s thoughts were interrupted by a question from Darren. “What are you all looking to get? If we’re looking for similar things then we should split up into groups” he suggested. “I’m looking for a weapons shop, I want to get a shorter weapon for when we enter the dungeon” Sam said. “I’m not really looking for anything at the moment” Alice followed. “I’m looking to see if I can get some magic detection tools” Albert said. “I’m looking for some magic tools as well” Chloe added. “I’m just looking to browse and see if anything catches my eye” Darren said shrugging. “Well, in that case Darren, Chloe and I can go looking around some of the magic stores while Alice can accompany Sam to a weapons shop” Albert suggested. “Sounds like a plan” replied Chloe. “Well, then. See you all back at the carriage” Sam said as the other’s headed down the street.
“Guess it’s just me and you” Alice said with a smile. “Hopefully we won’t have to run away from any thugs this time” Sam replied. “Anyway, do you know where the weapons shops are located?” Sam aske assuming she would be more familiar with the area. “Not a clue. I don’t normally do my own shopping, and when I do it’s not here” Alice replied. “Fair enough” Sam said looking around to see if there were any signs or anything he could use to point them in the right direction. As he was looking around he saw Professor Voss looking into a shop window. “Professor Voss should know. Let’s go and asked her” Sam said as he began to head towards the woman. “Good idea” Alice replied as she fell in step with him.
Alice and Sam approached the professor from behind waiting to see if she would acknowledge their presence. When it seemed like she would not, Sam spoke. “Professor Voss, I was wondering if you could point us in the direction of a weapon shop. Preferably one I can afford to buy one or two items from” Sam asked her.
“One you can afford well I’m not sure how much that is but…” the professor paused for a moment to think. “Either Willy’s Forge or Lancrel’s Weapon Shop are your best options. Willy makes high-quality low-grade weapons and items, but they’ll be a bit higher in price, Lancrel’s Weapons Shop has stores all over the worlds and provides a large variety of products at fairly low prices” the professor said. “Sounds good. How do we get there?” Sam asked. “Lancrel’s in about 2 thirds of the way down the right-hand side of the street. Willy’s forge is about halfway down through an alley. There are signs leading to it once you reach the alley” she explained. “Okay, thanks for the recommendations professor” Sam said as he and Alice began walking down the right side of the street.
“So go to Willy’s and then continue down the street and check out Lancrel’s?” Sam asked Alice as they walked down the street towards the two stores. “No, I think we should go to Lancrel’s first. As the professor said it’s a large chain with a lot of products so we might be able to get some ideas from there. Then we can go to Willy’s as she said they were high quality where I expect a big chain store like Lancrel’s might not have as high quality stuff” Alice countered the suggestion. “Makes sense, okay let’s head to Lancrel’s first then” Sam agreed picking up his pace slightly.
They arrived outside a store with a light blue sign that read Lancrel’s with a sword underneath it. They entered the store and had a quick cursory glance around. There was a lot of stuff neatly hanging on racks on the walls. There were some plain-looking steel swords all hung together on one rack and five of the same shields sitting together on the shelf. It all looked very mass produced, which tended to mean lower quality. “Do you know if these prices are good?” Sam asked Alice. “You’re asking the wrong person Sam. I have no clue what a normal price for a standard sword would be. I know the price of a sword for a member of the royal guard though” she said. “Oh, and what is that?” Sam asked curiously. “10 Gold coins each”. Sam stopped the price mindboggling. “10 Gold coins? Seriously?” Sam asked. “Yep, they’re very high quality and have high level enchantments on them” she explained. “Still, 10 gold. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything worth that much before” Sam said. “You have, a lot of the equipment in the academy is very expensive. My ring here is also worth a pretty penny” she said. “Ring?” Sam looked over at her raised hand. “Yep, a one-off defensive item charged to take a fatal hit from an S rank monster or person. It’s worth about 20 gold coins” she said.
They spent the next 15 minutes looking through Lancerel’s but nothing really caught his eye. There were some short swords and maces that looked like they would do the job, but Sam didn’t really want to buy something that didn’t look like it would last even a year. Hopefully Willy’s Forge has something that he likes within his price range otherwise he would have to settle for hiring something from the guild he thought as he and Alice walked out the door.
