While the behavior of dungeons is now empirically well-understood, many questions remain unanswered. To date, no one has determined where a dungeon’s actual physical location lies. The act of passing through a portal disrupts all known tracking Skills and Spells, rendering them useless for attempting to locate the other end of the portal.

  In pre-System times, the word ‘dungeon’ referred to an underground prison. However, despite extensive subterranean exploration below multiple stable dungeons, no abnormalities have been located. There are even those who claim that the environs of a dungeon lie not on Earth but in some other parallel dimension.

  - Rufus Veres, Level 37 Verbose Historian, A Brief History of the System

  When I’d entered the Tutorial, there was no sensation of movement – I was one place, and then the next, with no in between. Entering the dungeon was exactly the same. The instant the timer hit zero, the portal in front of me vanished, along with the empty moonlit landscape around us.

  We appeared in the greenest, wettest area I’d ever seen. I blinked as my eyes watered from the bright light – it certainly wasn’t night in here. Once I could see again, I looked around in stunned amazement. In front of me, past Elin, were towering brown columns rising high above us. Their surface was textured like – dead gods, those are trees! I looked up, seeing branches with thick, green leaves. They were so much bigger, so much more vibrant, than the desert plants surrounding Sunland.

  This must be what it’s like when you climb the Angel’s Spine… it’s beautiful! I’ve only seen trees from miles away, I never imagined this!

  On my right, about ten yards away, rose a sheer rock cliff. There was a strange sound coming from behind me, like soft thunder, but going on and on. I turned around and water falling from the top of the cliff, arching down to splash on a pile of boulders. It formed an enormous pool, maybe fifty feet across. I’ve never seen this much water so close in my life… I can feel it in the air, like it just rained.

  There was so much water it was even spilling out of the pool and flowing away in a broad stream easily ten feet wide. It took me several moments to remember that we were in a dungeon, I was so amazed by the sights and smells and sounds around me. I gathered myself slowly and looked around more carefully, not seeing any movement aside from us, the flowing water, and some of the branches lazily moving in the air above us. The dungeon was brightly lit, though I couldn’t see the sun anywhere, and the sky above us was grey as if covered in clouds.

   I started talking into the Comms when I was interrupted.

  New Quest: Complete the dungeon

  Required Objectives: Eliminate hostile creatures within the dungeon

  Optional Objectives: ?

  Rewards: Essence, Exit Portal

  

   Zaire commented.

   Raylan’s voice was far less calm than Zaire’s. I looked over, and he raised one hand, pointing up into the stream of falling water. I tried to follow his gaze as he continued.

  I could see the area he was talking about, but even with my high Perception I couldn’t make out much, just that the water was streaming off and around something that looked to be… Fuck me, is that… it’s the right shape, but I can’t see anything clearly through the water. I really fucking hope that’s just an egg-shaped rock up there!

  Elin and Zaire both looked confused, and I realized their Perception Stats were probably a lot lower than mine. Maybe Raylan had a few extra points in there as well, to have noticed anything in the first place.

   Elin asked worriedly.

   I didn’t want to lie to my team, and they already knew something was up from Raylan’s reaction.

  “Shit!” Elin hissed out loud.

  

  

  At least she yelled that into the Comms and not out loud.

  

   Raylan added,

   I pointed to the cliff,

   Zaire offered. No one else had any better ideas – we weren’t sure if monsters would be able to cross the water or not.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I arranged us into the best formation I could. Moving close to the wall, I took the lead, followed by Zaire directly behind me, and Elin behind him. The three of us were basically in a line, and I had Raylan take our flank next to Zaire on the side with the trees.

  
  

  As we started moving carefully, following the cliff, I remembered what Mason had told us. Four hours was what he said he needed to get reinforcements. I had no idea how he could manage that, but I was going to trust him.

  “PAST, set an alarm for four hours from now.”

  [Of course, Citizen!]

  “Is there a time limit on this dungeon?”

  [I am unable to provide information about this dungeon!]

  Fuck, so much for that. We continued our slow progress forward. For the first few hundred yards, there was a short distance between the trees and the cliff, giving us a clear path to follow. Beyond that, however, I could see a huge boulder resting against the cliff and blocking our way. It was eerily quiet, with only the soft sounds of our footsteps and the increasingly distant sound of the falling water to keep us company.

  As we got closer to the boulder, I could see that there were many smaller rocks on top of it, and more spilling off into the trees to our left. The huge boulder was driven into the ground, so there was no gap below it, but I saw a small opening into the cliff itself nearby.

   I said softly into the Comms.

  We moved up to the edge of the trees, getting a better angle to see the possible cave.

   Raylan commented, and I agreed.

  

   he replied,

  

  

  We formulated a basic plan and Zaire began our advance by casting Earth Wall. The grey slab of rock slid upward with a grinding noise, closing off the bottom three-quarters of the opening and leaving only a small gap of a couple feet at the top. Immediately, a howl echoed out from within and we charged.

  I sprinted straight for the cave with Elin at my side, Zaire and Raylan following. I aimed my gun into the cave, seeing a dark, narrow tunnel leading into the cliff and twisting out of sight to the left. I saw a flicker of movement coming into sight, but as I pointed my gun towards it another monster leaped up from below and clamped its jaws right around the barrel of my gun.

  Stupid wolf! I pulled the trigger.

  Boom! click-click

  My Light-infused shot blew straight through its head and scattered brightly-glowing pellets into the tunnel. A Pain Bolt warped through the air and slammed into the second wolf, sending it stumbling to the ground, howling, before a second one finished it off. Elin and I took turns blasting the wolves as they tried futilely to get out of their cave, but even when one reached Zaire’s wall it couldn’t do more than snap at our weapons.

   Raylan reported.

   I ordered, spinning to face the woods while quickly loading the three standard shells from my bandolier into my empty gun. Without barriers the low-Level wolves fell before us much more easily than their mutated spider-cousins had. Turning back to the cave I saw that Elin was peering over the conjured wall, but I didn’t hear any movement. We hadn’t gotten any Essence though, so at least one of them was still alive.

  

  I started collecting my expended shells, which thankfully were easy to spot even in the grass with their red plastic and brass bases. Zaire found that the wolf I’d shot in the shoulder was still alive and took care of it with a well-placed blow from his staff. Still no Essence though.

  I walked over to the cave entrance and looked over the wall. It was harder to see in there now, with most of my glowing pellets buried under bodies or covered in blood.

  

  

   I replied immediately.

  A few minutes later, the wall blocking off the cave crumbled into dust and vanished, but nothing emerged to attack.

  

   Raylan sighed,

  He moved from body to body warily, crouching down to thrust a dagger deep into each one, but even as he neared the point where the tunnel turned out of sight, we still hadn’t received any Essence. I forced myself back to my self-appointed task of watching for more enemies among the trees as he cast Light.

   Raylan reported.

  The Essence came in, stronger than any I’d gotten while teamed with the older Delvers, but less than after most of my fights in the Tutorial. Raylan emerged from the cave and I turned, seeing that he was holding up a small leather sack that appeared to be well-chewed.

   He held up the bag triumphantly.

  I swallowed uncomfortably but focused on the bag as he sliced through a knotted drawstring with one of his knives and opened it up. He looked inside for a moment, then handed the bag to me. It was surprisingly heavy.

   he said.