Volume 3 Prologue
Sean
The faces of individuals possessing immense power, both individual and political, surrounded me.
“Ah, Executioner of the Wicked, it is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance at last,” a voice dripping with arrogance and contempt greeted me as I stepped into the meeting room.
“I prefer to be called by my name, Sir …” I trailed off, giving the elaborately dressed man who had called out to me the opportunity to introduce himself.
“Ah, where my manners? I am Lord Cornelius, royal alchemist and representative of the king himself.”
I tensed at that. I was no fan of the nobility, and the entirety of the man's demeanor encapsulated all of the pomp and self-importance that made the kingdom's leadership so distasteful to me. Worse, I hadn't been expecting him. This was supposed to be a meeting with the Adventurers Guild, so why was someone like him here?
I nodded in response to his introduction. It was likely to be received as an insult of sorts, but I cared little. After being dragged halfway across the kingdom for this, I just wanted to get to the point.
“Sean,” another voice called out, cutting the first man off before any words could escape his mouth, “take a seat. I am Monty Aspenbow, regional head of the Adventurers Guild in the kingdom of Abustine. We have called you here to discuss some important matters.”
Unlike the noble who clearly desired it, the new speaker's presence alone commanded respect, and I felt far more inclined to give it to him than to the king's representative. Just being in the same room as the man at the top of the Adventurers Guild felt stifling, so I wasted no time in saying that it was a pleasure to meet him and making to do as instructed. All the while, I took in his appearance.
He had smooth, pale skin that belied the aged look in his amber eyes. Atop his head was golden hair. He wore refined, green clothes over what seemed to be lightweight armor, looked to be sculpted with his elegant features, and, to my confusion, had long, pointed ears. Aside from that, he seemed human at a glance, but something about his uncanny appearance told me that he wasn't. After a few, long moments of racking my brain for anything that matched what I was seeing, it hit me.
Is he an elf?
I'd heard of their race in passing. Supposedly, they were naturally inclined toward magic, long-lived, and a reclusive people, but since they weren't native to this continent, let alone country, that was about all I knew of them. I wasn't even sure how accurate that information was, not that I needed to be in order to tell that the man before me was dangerous.
“Good,” he spoke again, “Now that you're here, we can get to the matter at hand. Lord Cornelius has brought it to my attention that you are currently being supported by the kingdom in order to grow as strong as possible before the war. That aligns with some of the current needs of the Adventurers Guild, so we have come to an agreement. Tell me, what do you know of the current Dungeon crisis?”
“The what?”
He frowned at me.
“The Dungeon crisis. Surely, you have to have heard something about it. Have you not?”
“Um, I'm sorry, sir, but I've been a little busy as of late. Also, I'm no adventurer. I don't know a whole lot about Dungeons to begin with, and I certainly haven't heard of any Dungeon crisis.”
His frown deepened, and after an uncomfortably long moment, he sighed.
“Fine. I will sum things up, then. Recently, we have been running into problems with newly formed Dungeons behaving erratically. This does not seem to be an isolated occurrence as branches of the guild in other nations have reported similar issues. Currently we have three problematic Dungeons within our nation.
“Only one has caused significant problems so far, but the potential for the other two to follow is alarmingly high. We have decided to cut the problem off at its head and dispose of all three. That is where you will come in. Young hero, the kingdom seems to think you are important enough to prioritize funneling one of the cores to, so you will be placed on a team with two other promising upstarts from the guild and sent to dispose of the three. Doing so will award you with a powerful title that is sure to aid you in the following days that are to come.”
“I see,” was all I managed to say in response.
I was out of my depth, so all I could do was go along with what they told me. The handouts from the kingdom still didn't sit right with me, but I couldn't exactly turn them down when innocent lives were on the line. This seemed to be more of the same, even if it was a bit different. That was all I needed to know.
“Bring them in,” the elf called out, and a couple of heavily armored guards standing at the entrance left the room.
Moments later, they returned with two others. One was a massive, heavily armored man with a shield and a maul at his sides, a giant. The other was a short, golden-haired girl in robes that carried a staff. When I saw her, I found myself looking back and forth between her and the Adventurer Guild's regional head. There was a resemblance there, even if her ears weren't quite as long or sharp as his.
“I can see you've noticed the resemblance. Allow me to introduce your two companions for this task. On the left is Cudgel Boarslayer, a warrior from Courden, a nation to the south. He is a powerful and promising frontline fighter with a rare class that has recently joined the guild. On the right is Fable Aspenbow, my great-granddaughter. She is a capable mage currently forging her path in the world. This is Sean, the hero I told you two about.”
At his words, the eight-foot, muscular giant raised his massive arm and waved a greeting. The girl, in a much more subdued manner, bowed her head in acknowledgment. I was a bit slower to respond after hearing that the elf had a great-granddaughter. I wouldn't have pegged the man as being young, but he definitely didn't seem old enough for that either. Apparently, those rumors about them being a long-lived race were true if this was anything to go off of. It was either that or he was at an incredibly high level, maybe both.
“Hey, good to meet you two,” I managed after snapping myself out of my stupor.
“Have a seat,” the powerful elven man said, and the two joined us at the table.
“Now,” he continued, “let us begin speaking of the finer details. If you would direct your attention to the map I have laid out for us.”
It wasn't until then that I even noticed it. The introductions and all of the powerful people who hadn't introduced themselves yet present had distracted me to such an extent that the map of the kingdom spread out across the table had completely evaded my notice. It was intricately detailed and had pins and markings all over it. Connected to it was a much less precise portion that displayed part of the empire.
“The orange pins represent Dungeons. The ones we have deemed problematic are those with red thread tied to them.”
There were orange pins scattered across the map. They weren't overly plentiful, but there were still quite a few marked in both the kingdom and the empire. Only three had red thread tied to them, however.
“To the southwest is your first target. Near to the city of Olvine, it is the newest of the three, only a couple of weeks old at current. It's still weak, and in spite of its anomalies, relatively safe. Consider it a learning opportunity, especially you, young hero, since this will be your first delve.
“After that, you will take out the one nearest our border with the empire. Near a burgeoning town by the name of Firmsoil, it is actually quite profitable, and that is the problem. In other times, we would likely leave it be. With the bounty that is to be found within, a few oddities could be overlooked, even its high danger rating, but due to its location, that isn't an option. It would be a disaster for the kingdom if it were to fall into the empire's hands and a minor tragedy to me to lose such a resource to another regional head of the guild. For these reasons, it must go.
“Your third and final target will be the Dungeon that's actually causing problems. North, past the city of Castallia, is a Dungeon with monsters not bound to remain in its confines. If a stop isn't put to it in a timely manner, it has the potential to bring about death and destruction to a large swath of the kingdom. At the same time, because of the threat it poses, I want you all as prepared as possible to do away with it. That is why it is to be last.”
“Wait, monsters can leave that Dungeon?” I blurted out.
Everyone's eyes fell on me, and I regretted opening my mouth, but still, I felt like it was something that needed to be asked. I was no expert on Dungeons, but even I knew monsters were supposed to stay inside of them. That was part of the reason they were allowed to exist. It stopped innocents from getting hurt.
“Yes, it's rare, but occasionally a Dungeon will form where the monsters can roam outside of it. That, on its own, wouldn't be too serious of a concern. Containing such Dungeons is possible and standard practice. The issue here is that this Dungeon is also the most anomalous out of the three. It's unpredictable, and that's not a good trait for a Dungeon with its capabilities to possess. Our hope is to wipe the slate clean and wait for more appropriate Dungeons to take their places in time.”
“If it's that dangerous, shouldn't taking it out be our priority, though?”
“Yes,” he waved his hand dismissively, “but it being the priority does not make it urgent to deal with. It should be fine if left alone for a short while, and if not, I or one of the kingdom's other few fourth tiers could simply erase it should it become a problem. That, however, would be a waste. It is far more important to make sure the power it can grant goes to someone who can use it properly.”
I didn't like it, but with how plainly he stated that, I could tell there would be no arguing with him.
Also, wait, did he just say that he was fourth tier?
I gulped as I began to realize the true power of the dominating presence in front of me. Fourth tier meant he was over level seventy-five. Few people in the world were that strong, and I had been talking to him far too casually.
“Any more questions before we get into the debriefing on each Dungeon's known capabilities?”
His words were calm, plain, and seemingly unoffended by me. I wasn't too familiar with the way the Adventurers Guild operated, but he seemed okay, better than the nobles at least. I decided I'd go along with what he thought was best.
“No, sorry for the interruptions.”
“Worry not. You aren't one of mine, so you owe me nothing. So long as you are not disrespectful in your questions, I will happily lend you clarification. Moving on ...”
What followed was a long, detailed summery of each of the three targets. Much of what was said went over my head. I was a simple man and not well educated. Still, I did my best to soak up the information given.