Chapter 27: Trial of Change

[Time Remaining: 611 Days, 17 Hours, 32 Minutes]

The last hours before entry to the dungeon felt more anxiety inducing than any battle Alex had been a part of.

They huddled together near the buried stone doors, a mismatched collection of worldstriders and mercenaries, laying out gear, checking edges of weapons, tightening straps. Potions and talismans were counted twice, spell tablets tucked into belts, rations wrapped and stowed. No one wasted words, they all knew what was coming, and silence seemed the only way to push through the stress.

Alex moved among them, he was still feeling the phantom burn of his close brush with the gold energy in his body. The golden storm lingered in his memory, an itch beneath his skin. Even after his cultivation session and looking over his status screen, Alex was not able to figure what, if any, changes the energy had made to his body or spirit. It was as if it had scrubbed any indication of the event from The System, or at the very least it was being hidden from his screen. Even Obby failed to find anything, at least that’s what the rock had told Alex.

It was worrisome sure, but his body felt different now, he was ready.

He gave a final glance at Tom-Tom. The kobold stood tall, well, as tall as he could. A grin was fixed proudly on his snout, his shield strapped firm, his scaled fingers and tail drumming a rhythm of impatience. Adept Tier energy shimmered in his aura, just barely early gaseous stage, but it was there nonetheless.

Everyone else continued their last second adjustments, rearranging gear or squeezing in a final bit of cultivation. When everything was said and done, they gathered in front of the massive stone doors. The marble frame still glowed faintly in Alex’s [Aether Sight], and the energy flowing in perfect circles like a lock waiting for the right key.

He stepped forward. The others watched, weapons loose in hand and breaths drawn in tight anticipation. Alex pressed his palm flat against the cold surface of the stone.

The System chimed a response, a screen appearing in front of his vision;

You Are Entering: Ruined Sanctuary– Trial of Change Recommended Party Size: 6-7 Status: Party Entry Engaged (Raid) Modifiers Applied: First-Party Diver (1.5x Dungeon Points Earned), First-Time Raider (1.5x Experience Earned, 1.5x Dungeon Points Earned), Raid Trial (x1.25 Experience Earned, x1.25 Dungeon Points Earned). [Would you like to bring your party inside?] [Warning: Current numbers exceed standard dungeon group size. Dungeon difficulty adjustments will be made. Classification: Raid Party.] [Confirm:] [Yes / No]

He read over the information quickly, noting the differences from the last Dungeon entrance screen he remembered. Besides the name of the dungeon being different, which was a given, there were other things Alex noticed.

Party entry this time, which means no “Lone Challenger” modifier. The “First-Time Raider” modifier is nice, bonus dungeon and experience points, and it looks to even stack with the standard raid modifier, too. That warning message doesn’t look good though. He looked back at everyone else, finding them also looking off into the distance, more than likely a screen having popped up for them as well.

They won’t get the “Party Diver” modifier, since they did the Dark Den together. But it still lets me have the modifier, that’s interesting.

“It has a warning message on my screen, something about our party being too big.” Alex called out over his shoulder.

“Yeah, anything over the recommended party size activates the Raid feature for dungeons.” Selka said. “The more people, the more difficult the Dungeon will be. Its a balancing measure by the Heavenly System.”

“So, should we split into smaller parties, or stay together for the raid?” Peter asked.

“Stay together for the raid, of course.” Doran boomed over them all, proudly and confidently. “We said we be sticking with you worldstriders because how the System treats you. This increased difficulty means bigger and better rewards too. You saw the Raid modifier, no?”

The other mercenaries all nodded, even if he could see a bit of apprehension in Sarson and Myrae’s eyes. They were willing to take the risk. He looked to his friends, who also showed him confident smiles and nods of their heads.

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He turned back to the system screen, still worried about that warning message. Last time he had seen one, just before the Dark Den, he underestimated just what it meant. That resulted in him going through hell in the undead fields of the dungeon’s first floor. What would they be put through this time? He didn’t know, and he was a bit scared of that realization.

Yet, there was nothing he could do about that. The allure of the rewards and loot from the dungeon still called to him just as much as it did to everyone else.

His pulse thundered in his ears as he looked back at the gates. He took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. And mentally clicked the option on the screen. Yes.

The world flipped.

Grass vanished from beneath his feet. Air sucked inward, his vision warped, and then, they stood in an immense cavern. The dungeon preparation chamber stretched wide behind them, a cave of pale stone. Beyond the cave’s mouth, a world opened. A hollowed mountain, vast enough to almost hold a sky of its own. Forests rolled green in the near distance below, rivers glinting as they wound down toward a silver lake to the distant right. Far across the hollow expanse, a forgotten city rose, its walls crumbling, spires broken, as though long abandoned. A ruin to its former glory, but still stubbornly holding to existence.

At the very ceiling of the immense cavern, miles above where the top of the mountain sat, where thousands and thousands a shining brilliant lights. From that distance, he couldn’t quite make out what they were, either crystals, luminescent plants, beasts, or something else entirely. Regardless, the light from these many pinpoints shone down all around the interiors, creating a facsimile to sunlight.

He didn’t know if the light ever dimmed, creating a false day-night cycle, but he doubted it. So he assumed they would be in perpetual day as long as they were in the dungeon. He was okay with that, it was much better than the ceaseless dark and dimlight of the last dungeon.

As he looked around, another system message glowed before his eyes:

You have entered a Dungeon Preparation Chamber. Dungeon Start is irreversible once initiated. Prepare your gear, spells, and soul. Enter the Main cavern to proceed. Dungeon Preparation Time remaining: 04:53…

That was also different. The Dark Den hadn’t given him a time limit in the preparation chamber. Yet here, it looked like they had only five minutes. Another change because of the Raid status, no doubt.

He stepped closer to the edge of the room, the others also moving in around him as they dismissed their system screens. They stood together at the mouth of the cavern, staring into the impossibly large space. Their preparation room was a cave tucked into one side of the mountain, the exit leading directly to a steep slope that fed into the forested area below.

“A whole world in a mountain…” Devon whispered. He sounded half way between awe, and fear.

“Bigger than any dungeon I’ve heard of,” Selka said.

Alex tore his eyes away from the ruined city far in the distance, scanning the group. Every face was drawn tight, ready. They’d gone over the team plan. They were as prepared as they could be. There was no use standing in that small cave for another five minutes.

“Well, let’s do this. Everyone stay close, remember the formation, the shout outs, everything we went over the last two days.” He said, meeting everyone’s eyes in turn. After, he drew a slow breath, then stepped forward outside the cave mouth.

The moment his boot touched the soil of the dungeon’s world, the ground shook. A low rumble crawled up through stone and ground, reverberating through their legs. The cavern seemed to groan, the air vibrating with a heavy pressure. Then it came—the scream. A screech that rattled teeth, deep and primal, carrying across the mountain hollow, like the roar of a beast that had ruled this place for centuries, and just found out there were intruders.

You have entered: The Cavern of Hollowed Crown Dungeon Floor 1 – Subdomain: Hallow Biome Objective: Survive. Make it to the Ruined City

That seemed to be pretty straight forward, which was a damn lie, since Alex was very much aware of the fact hidden objectives existed in dungeons. Heading straight to the city at the center of the cavern would not be the best way to maximize their rewards, or even increase their survival chances. There was miles of wilderness to explore under this mountain. Even from where he stood, Alex saw not only the forest below, but some sort of large lake off to the right hand side of the forest. Beyond the lake looked to be some kind of glacial tundra, most likely the ice melt flow creating the lake itself.

To the left of the forest instead, was a rocky area. Beyond the rocky barrens—which is what Alex decided to call it—was some kind of Ashen waste, dark black rocky ground with geysers of fire and molten lava erupting randomly through out.

On the other side of the City, Alex could barely make out a vast area that looked like an immense royal garden, with hedges and topiaries dotting a field of flowers and rose bushes.

Next to that garden, were spires of crystalline formations of some kind. Shimmering translucent tree’s or towers of an unknown composition. Further from there, Alex couldn’t see, the area was simply too vast.

Each area probably holds a secret, a trial, or challenge? Something for us to overcome or solve to earn a reward? Perhaps complete a hidden object that makes the final object easier? Alex thinks, remembering the Skeletal Knight he had to put to rest back in the Dark Den dungeon, giving him an assist in completing that dungeon’s first floor. Doing each objective in the biomes would mean vastly superior loots in the end, but also far more danger for them as well.

He still looked out from their little cave, formulating a plan of action in his mind when the mountain rumbled once more, jarring him. It felt more agitated that second time, like it was getting impatient. Alex was certain whatever was making that sound, it was doing it to hurry them along, as if dungeon wasn’t just waiting for them to go about at their own pace. It was hungry, and they were nothing but delicious snacks.

Alex squared his shoulders, glancing back only once. Holly, Garret, Rynel, Ghrukk, Tom-Tom and all the others; all of them were with him. He set his jaw.

“Alright,” he said. “Let’s see what this place has for us.”

And together, they all stepped into the dungeon proper.

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