As the group made their way back to the tavern, Anemone remembered something important.
"Would you both like to go into a dungeon? A fellow applicant from the adventurer's test is here and invited me."
Astrape seemed to grow with excitement for a moment.
"I would love to!" She said, before her expression went dark. "I just, I hope there is no blood.."
"Don't worry, we have Father to protect us. Now Father, would you like to go?"
'Well, she already included me. Now I must say yes, and I still have to uphold my promise to James.'
"Yes, I will go with you both, young one. Who is the applicant?"
"His name is Tasim, he is also a practitioner of the healing arts, and he actually won a competition recently in growing a plant."
'That sounds dumb now that I say it out loud…'
"Oh, interesting, growing plants is actually incredibly difficult, especially from a seed. As you must germinate a seed to bring out the insides, then you must rapidly force it to go through cellular growth. Using life magic to put nutrients into it incredibly quickly, and making it take in the nutrients to go through cell division."
'Oh, he is interested, never mind then,'
"Well, he did it quite quickly."
"That is very impressive. Does he have a cross anywhere on him?"
"No, but he does have staff on his coat; it has a singular snake wrapping around it."
"Interesting, so he belongs to 'that' group."
"What group?"
"I can't say. I'm sorry, young one. Now then, when are we meeting him?"
"Tomorrow, at noon, I will lead the way."
***
The next day came, and the storm from last night had made the stone bricks wet, leaving them dark. The air had the salty smell from the rain, and small puddles formed in cracks in the road. It was a bright sunny day now, mixing with the water, creating a warm, damp atmosphere. It was incredibly beautiful if you looked at the horizon or above, but below, on the ground, there were many pieces of wood that had come off the broken stalls, which were attacked by the fierce, whistling winds throughout the night.
As the group began to walk, following Anemone's lead, the water splashed, causing their ankles to become wet; nonetheless, they continued. They arrived at the meeting area about an hour early. The area, which was once used as a stage, now houses a simple statue of a pair of golden wings, with a star in between them. They looked slightly worn down, but still incredibly beautiful. The wings had immense detail, with each feather being carved with a keen eye. Each feather was almost a meter (~3 feet), making the wings extremely large.
After what felt like a year, which was only half an hour, Tasim arrived, wearing the same outfit he had worn during the exam, a white shirt similar to the one she had seen the other day, along with a blue shield on his back. The shield had the same Rod of Asclepius with only one snake around it. He had short, ruffled black hair and circular glasses.
Father looked at Tasim with a bit of intrigue. They met eyes, and Tasim, similar to how he was when he met Anemone, felt nothing. He didn't care about anyone here currently; it was purely for business, and he had no interest in becoming friends in this moment, but Anemone didn't know that, and Astrape didn't as well. All Astrape saw was a quiet, standalone guy who was handsome.
Astrape stepped toward Anemone as a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, which, of course, no one noticed.
"Hello, Tasim. This is my team, consisting of yours truly, Anemone, the lady to my side known as Astrape, and finally, Father Hatheway."
"Hello, everyone." He said in a monotone, bored voice.
Father stepped forward, feeling a tinge of happiness at the thought of another man finally being in this cohort to take care of Anemone, even if it wasn't long. Father then stuck out his hand, looking to introduce himself, even if he already had been.
"Hello, I am Father Hatheway, nice to meet you."
Tasim stepped forward, grasping Father's hand out of respect and shaking it.
"You should get your leg looked at, sir." He said, still in a bored voice, but a hint of worry now creeping up due to his responsibility, which came from pursuing Life Magic.
"Oh, yes, I know." He said, his voice low, forcing out a soft chuckle to try and make light of the situation.
'I need to tell Anemone, but when?' He thought.
Anemone then stepped forward.
"Could you tell us the plan now? Or are we still going in basically blind?"
"We are still going in mostly blind, but I entered the beginning portion for a few minutes to scope it out. First, there will be riddles. Because of course there will, who doesn't love more challenges." He said, inserting a joke to match his sarcastic, boring humor. "There are many traps, such as falling spikes, tripwires that connect to, who knows what, along with many other terrible things, just to add more fun. Whatever, I'm getting tired of talking. We can talk about it as we enter the dungeon."
"Are the riddles on those three tablets you spoke about when we met?"
"Yes."
"Were the goblins still there?"
"Mhm."
"Well, did you get to read one of the three tablets?"
"Yep."
"Will you tell us what each one said?"
"It's best for each person to read it themselves."
Father stepped forward, next to the pair that was talking.
"Let's just get going, young one. We can ask questions on the way."
'Please don't, I have talked enough.' Kasim thought to himself, sighing as a side effect.
"Follow me," Kasim said aloud.
Kasim then began to walk, leading the pack, while behind him, the ladies began to chat.
The scene slowly shifted, from the city to a dirt path over a green landscape, to a forested area with travelers walking against them through the path, then to a green landscape again, then to a mountainous area without a path.
Eventually, the cohort found themselves at the entrance to a dark, humid, and dripping cave with the sounds of droplets echoing from inside. The smell of salt and iron from the monster's blood emanated from within. The stench of iron from the blood made the ladies recoil for a moment, covering their noses, while the other stood there, indifferently.
Kasim took out a torch from thin air, making it appear from nothing, which Father Hatheway knew was from a spatial ring, probably of the lowest tier unless the man before him was wealthy. Kasim then took out two small rocks, clanging them together in an organized pattern, to force the sparks to go onto the torch. The oil-doused torch then became ablaze before quickly settling down to a calm, quiet, and steady burn.
The cackling sound echoes off the stone entrance of the cave as they enter. The entrance housed stairs that were carved by hand, causing them to be extremely unreliable, while the humidity and dripping water made them risky. The combination was one that none of the people wanted to go through, but now they must.
'Kasim has done this multiple times; if he can do it, I can too.' Anemone cheered herself internally.
"Be careful, even if you do fall, it's not a long fall," Kasim said, his voice indifferent.
The order went Kasim, Anemone, Astrape, then Father. Father stood guard for a few moments, even though they didn't need one, but he watched carefully to make sure everyone went down at a steady and careful pace before joining them. The descent was not as difficult as one would believe it to be; the stone walls were perfect for handles, easily sliding hands beneath them as leverage.
Everyone eventually came to a steady ground, where a tall, menacing door stood, which was about five meters (~16 ft) tall. It was made of wood with stone handles and iron hinges. It seemed to be extremely sturdy as Kasim began to open it; the hinges creaked from the weight, while the metal corner of the door skated across the ground.
Once they opened the door, a gigantic room appeared before their very eyes. A singular small goblin turned his head, feasting on some unknown prey, his bloodied mouth growling before suddenly running at the cohort. Astrape seemed to cry, hiding behind Anemone, while Father seemed to try to rush in front of everyone, but couldn't in time. Kasim, expecting this, shot his water magic, which was in the form of a spear, striking down the goblin with a clean hole in the chest.
The room was extremely tall, around fifteen meters (50 ft), with pillars supporting the dungeon roof. At the base of the stone pillars were candles, and as the cohort stepped over the dead goblin, entering the square created by the pillars, the candles suddenly lit, spooking everyone except Tasim. The candle emitted a faint light, which helped show the rows of pathways that resided inside this place.
The dungeon was similar to the one Astrape was once trapped inside, in that it had multiple cages as well, but instead of being used to flaunt the captured prey, the cages were completely empty and clean. There were no blood stains inside the cages, only in the center of the dungeon, where the goblin was eating the dismembered body of an unknown creature.
At the end of the dungeon, there were three large stone tablets, a bit shorter than Anemone. Above them were many statues, A snake which was in the form of a circle, its mouth encompassing its own tail. A large, thick chain that fell from the ceiling, with a heart hanging at the bottom, a sword, one side ebony, the other ivory. There was a pitch black pillar, as dark as the night; it was pristine, but also invisible due to how dark it was. There was also a large book, the size of the tablets, which was made with incredible detail, but with no words written on it. There was an anvil, and behind it, a horrifying sight, a humanoid statue with faces carved into its stone skin that seemed to be screaming for help. The last one was a statue clearly made of a different stone from all the others. It had pure white wings, the exact same size as the statue from where they met with Tasim, and it had the same star in the middle.
'That statue must mean something. I have seen it twice today.' Anemone thought, while Astrape seemed to think out loud instead.
"I have already seen that statue. What does it mean?" She said calmly, despite how the environment may remind her of past experiences.
Father stepped forward in Tasim's stead, sensing he didn't like answering questions.
"It represents the goddess of light, Thaysus. She is said to have created the sun, light, the healing arts, and is the goddess of passion."
"What about all the others?" Astrape inquired.
"I do not know. I must assume they represent other deities."
The pool of blood behind them continued to leave the goblin's body, flowing between the cracks in the stone, highlighting the almost runic symbols in the stone, which turned out to be no more than some simple decorations. After a few moments of everyone keeping to themselves, looking at the statues, a single, high-pitched note rang from an unknown location, causing everyone to wince slightly. The note was so high, the cohort's ears all began to ring.
"Everyone, hurry up and read these, and let's figure out the riddles. That ring means that we only have a few minutes before a door opens to let out goblins. Even if we would survive, I don't feel like fighting yet."