At 8:00 a.m., everyone had gathered in front of the restaurant Rodrick had indicated. The groups of adventurers waited patiently alongside the dwarves, who were laughing at a video of an adventurer who had been lost for over a month in a forest west of the Firorn Kingdom.
"It's good that you arrived early. I don't want to take up too much of your time, so you can get into the dungeon as quickly as possible" Rodrick said, announcing his arrival. "Let's go inside the restaurant. I've already ordered a table for everyone."
Everyone followed Rodrick into the restaurant. Upon seeing Rodrick and the adventurers, the waiters quickly opened the doors, letting them in without any problems. Another waiter then led them to a room at the back of the restaurant, decorated with various murals of mythical beasts, where a large round table was already ready for them.
Rodrick quickly ordered that day's dishes for everyone, prompting the waiter to leave as quickly as possible so they could talk peacefully.
"Well, adventurers, today is your big day. Today your true mission begins" Rodrick spoke, his expression serious. "I won't lie to you, there's a high probability that some of you will die on this mission. In fact, it's practically impossible for you to finish the dungeon and all of you will come out alive. To be honest, your masters and I expect that half of the members of this group will die in the dungeon."
Rodrick's words weighed heavily on the adventurers. Even the dwarves stopped staring at the bracer and listened seriously to Rodrick. The nervousness and sweat on the adventurers' foreheads quickly appeared, as they looked at each other surreptitiously.
"Surely many of you are thinking: no problem, I'll survive, I'm more than capable of this. But the harsh truth is, no, you're not, and that's why your masters allowed you to come here, so that when you leave the dungeon you'll already be full-fledged adventurers. Sigh... I know many of my words will fall on deaf ears, but those who survive this mission will understand and comprehend my words in the future" Rodrick said, then leaned back in his chair and extended his arms, pointing at them all. "However, all of you are still important to us, and that's why we're gathered here today. I'll answer any questions you have before you enter the dungeon… So, do you have any?"
The adventurers looked at each other, not knowing whether to ask or not, not even knowing what they should ask. A few seconds later, Annie raised her hand and asked,
"Will you and the dwarves accompany us?" Annie asked, and Rodrick shook his head.
"No, I have important kingdom matters to attend to, while Lornar and his team are coming to this dungeon to get just one material they need" Rodrick revealed.
"How will we distribute the teams? Will you organize us?" Salma asked this time.
"There is no such thing as teams; you're on your own. That's why I brought you here, so you can take charge of clearing the dungeon" Rodrick replied. "Besides, there are some paths in the dungeon. If everyone stays together, it will take more than six months to clear the dungeon."
"We can do or act as we please in the dungeon as long as we clear it?" Reynolds asked, and Rodrick nodded.
"Whatever suits you best, but be aware of the consequences. Every move and action you make could be your last down there" Rodrick stated.
"What about the dungeon itself? How will we know we're progressing or clearing it properly?" Finn asked.
"Good question. This dungeon has a total of 20 levels, like all Class C dungeons. Each level has four zones in which you must exterminate all the monsters. But the most important thing is that you must find what's causing the monsters to appear and get rid of them. Many times there will be cursed objects, other times there will be queens who give birth to the monsters, and other times there will simply be a boss and monsters that just came from the depths of the other levels. However, the most important thing is to take care of the boss of the last level. Once it dies, there will be no way for more monsters to arrive" Rodrick explained.
"Will there be other adventurers?" Charles asked.
"Probably, but don't expect anything, just play it safe" Rodrick said.
"What about the monsters down there? If we like one, we can keep it?" Ava asked, causing Finn to look at her in confusion. "What? I heard Houndmen are very easy to tame, and once you become their boss, they're extremely loyal… plus they're well-endowed."
"Sigh… yeah, you can do whatever you want to the monsters" Rodrick replied. "Any other questions?"
"How will we heal and sleep? Should we clear the dungeon in one fell swoop?" Lucy asked.
"Once you get in, you'll find out" Rodrick replied.
"you said there might be some adventurers down there. If there are adventurers, how come we have to clear the dungeon from the first floor onwards?" Darwin asked.
"Many adventurers only clear one zone on one level and then advance to the next, doing the same thing. Eventually, the monsters reproduce again and repopulate the zones they cleared. That's why many adventurers manage to advance to level 17 or even 18, but never leave. For that reason, you'll be in charge of clearing absolutely every zone before advancing to the next level. If an incident occurs, you'll want a safe exit, right?" Rodrick asked, and everyone nodded, falling silent again. "Well, if you have no further questions, enjoy breakfast today. It may be the last decent breakfast you'll have for a long time... or the last one you'll ever have…"
—
Two hours later, standing in front of the enormous hole were the adventurers and the dwarves, with the dwarves leading the way.
"Getting in is quite simple. Just think about crossing the barrier, and it will let you through without any problems" said Lornar, taking a step forward and slowly sinking as he advanced. "Don't worry about falling, there are stairs here."
Lornar continued walking until he disappeared, and the rest of the dwarves followed him. The adventurers hesitated before entering, but when they saw Finn and Darwin entering without worry, they decided to follow him as well.
As they crossed the dark barrier, they could all see a huge structure anchored to the edge of the well to prevent them from falling straight into the void. Then they saw some stairs leading down to the depths of the well.
"See? I told you you wouldn't fall!" said Lornar in front of them. "Now follow me, I will guide you to the real Everland!" He exclaimed excitedly.
The entire group went down the stairs for a few minutes. As they went down, they could see the dark shaft lighting up until they could finally see enormous buildings protruding from the shaft walls and connecting paths, forming streets and areas for people to walk or stay.
"It's an underground city!" Salma exclaimed.
"That's right, and it's also the dungeon itself!" Lornar revealed, pointing to one of the paths that led to a lower area. "As soon as you go down those stairs, you'll officially be on level 1 of the dungeon!"
"This is simply incredible. So this is where we'll be staying every time we clear the levels..." Finn said, seeing an inn.
"You better go find where he settles. From what I remember, these places tend to fill up suddenly. Make sure you bring enough healing potions. It's not good to be down there without potions!" Lornar said, turning to look at everyone, but everyone had already left, except for Finn and Darwin, who were listening intently. Sighing slightly, Lornar extended his hand to Finn. "Be careful down there, guys. I wouldn't want to have to go with Rodrick to get your bodies out… not you two" Lornar said.
"We'll be. We don't usually take missions lightly" Finn assured him, taking Lornar's hand and shaking them goodbye.
"See you guys!" Lornar said, leaving with his group.
Finn and Darwin watched them leave until they disappeared into the crowd of people, just as the other adventurers did.
"Did they give you your bracer back?" Darwin asked, and Finn shook his head.
"Nope… besides, I think it's called Coti now" Finn said, ignoring the bracer.
"Yeah… good luck getting the adventurers to call it that" Darwin said. "We should go to an inn as soon as possible. The sooner we start clearing the dungeon, the better."
"Yeah, yeah, we haven't even started, and I already want to finish" Finn said.
The two quickly headed to the first inn they saw. They wouldn't waste their time looking for the best inn when they knew full well they might not even sleep there and just leave their things.
Upon entering the inn, the two quickly noticed that it was very deep and that there was an exit door at the back, making them wonder if there was more between the earth and stone walls.
Finn and Darwin walked up to what they thought was the reception desk, where a woman who looked somewhat worn for her age was wearing a waitress outfit. Her brown hair looked a bit dull and worn.
"What do you want?" the woman asked rudely.
"Kindness above all else" Darwin replied without a second thought, only to receive an elbow from Finn.
"We'd like a room with two beds, please" Finn said.
The woman looked them up and down, examining them completely before rolling her eyes in disgust.
"Tch, you're just another one of those adventurers who came to clear the dungeon, aren't you? Forget it and turn around. No one gets out of there alive, and if they do, the job's never finished!" the woman said rudely.
"Did I ask you? Just give us the fucking room" Darwin demanded rudely, placing a bag of money on the bar.
The woman looked at the bag before placing a key on the bar.
"One month's pay, no more, no less" the woman said coldly.
Darwin took the key without taking his eyes off the woman and then began to walk away with Finn.
"You're going to die just like everyone else" the woman said again.
"Tch, am I just being too inquisitive, or why are you giving your opinion where it doesn't concern you?" Darwin asked, glancing at the woman.
"No one has completed that dungeon in 60 years for a reason. You guys won't be the exception, you're hallucinate!" the woman said again.
"Suck my balls and shut up, ma'am. Let us do our job in silence!" Darwin exclaimed rudely before finally leaving for their respective rooms.
The woman watched Finn and Darwin climb the stairs with great attention before nodding.
"What good guys, focused as they should be" the woman said, pleased.