The entrance to the dungeon is beautiful.
It looks like the front of a greek temple, carved on the rock of a steep cliff at the foot of a mountain that is big even for the standards of this mountain range.
It's eerily silent on the outside. It looks completely abandoned and peaceful. No signs of monsters or anything.
But everyone was wary, as if something could attack us at any moment.
"This is the place?"
"Indeed, Aurea. Let's get in."
We are walking in a wedge formation, with Kwarah at the front and me in the center, protected on all sides.
I have my sword sheathed to make my movement easier, but I'm ready to draw it if needed. But I trust more in my magic.
The biggest problem with it is that when fighting in a group, I have to take a lot of precautions to not have my companions in the area of effect.
For example, lightning magic works pretty much like electricity bolts on Earth. Which means that it can affect nearby stuff and people.
Especially when they have stuff made with conductive material, like iron.
Someone holding a sword near my target might end up working as a rod that absorbs a part of the damage.
So, when in close combat and with companions around, I switch to attacks that have less AoE damage, like the water cannon.
The first encounter is with a group of maracay, the monster hyenas that are a staple of the Barrens.
The warriors of the front make quick work of them, with Kwarah alone killing three. In the meanwhile, the other ones guard me so I don't get hurt.
"Hey, I want to participate in the fun as well!"
"This is not fun, Aurea. It's real combat."
"But real combat is fun!!"
Kwarah, who was scolding me, sighs.
"Listen, Aurea. Our goal here is to keep you safe. So we won't be letting you participate in the combat."
Soooo boooooriiiiiiing!!!
"But if I don't kill anything, I won't level up!"
"The goal here is not for you to level up."
Even though she is the head elder of another tribe, not ours, she's still the head elder. And she's also the leader in this group, so there's no way for me to disobey her.
I just keep pouting as we walk. The interior of the dungeon looks like a collection of nondescript corridors. Every now and then, a greek-style column breaks the sameness.
I never thought dungeon delving could be this dull.
After some time, we find stairs that go downward.
The next floor is not so different than the first. The difference is that there are some slightly stronger monsters. Which I still am not allowed to fight.
:::
We proceed like that for the next ten or so floors.
"How deep is this dungeon?"
"The barrier is at the end of the twentieth floor. We don't know how much further it goes after that."
"Do the monsters get stronger as we go down?"
"Yes, they do."
The monsters now are becoming so strong that it's been starting to take a toll on the fighters.
When we reach the fifteenth floor, there is a group of skeletons walking around, carrying swords and shields. Like the standard skeleton warriors of every RPG.
The difference being, this is very real. And the sight of it is truly unsettling.
Real-life skeletons, walking around without any visible thing holding the bones together. With a sinister red light in the holes where their eyes were supposed to be.
A truly haunting sight.
Some warriors got injured from that encounter, so Kwarah calls for a stop.
We sit in a loose formation, while some of us take on guard roles. We eat some of the food and drink some of the water from our backpacks, while Pyatan tends to the injured.
He has healing magic, which is not considered elemental, being instead conferred by the Loa.
I know that it is actually the light element, which is one of the cosmic ones, but that is information not known by most people.
In any case, it's very useful exactly for situations like this.
The whole 'getting magic directly from a god' thing is something that fascinates me, because it doesn't use the same linguistic structure as arias.
It actually doesn't look like it follows any structure at all. The incantation for it sounds a lot more like religious hymns, disconnected from the actual effects of the magic.
After everyone has had their share of rest, food, and hydration, we get up and continue.
All the treasure we found until now was as unremarkable as the monsters we fought. But I have a feeling this is going to change from this floor onwards.
:::
Indeed, before the end of this floor, I had my first taste of combat in this dungeon.
It's a bigger swarm of monsters. There are skeletons coming from the front, while some zombies approach from a side corridor.
Everyone is busy fighting, and at some point I see the line breaking. Yaci had stepped a bit too far forward, and her back is exposed.
I notice it and hurry to protect her, but a skeleton reaches the space before me. It raises the sword to hit her.
I jump on the skeleton while casting the taser aria. Then I release the aria as soon as I make contact with it.
I expect to find some resistance, but the skeleton simply crumbles to dust under my touch. That was too easy, to be honest.
"Thanks, Aurea!"
Yaci shouts at me while focused on the enemies in front of her. I cast the strengthening aria on myself and join the fray, tasing skeletons left and right.
Nobody can complain now; my help is being useful.
I'm finally fighting for real!!