Part 747: Entering the Dungeon

Far-Future Era. Day 20, AJR. Chrona.

Two more days passed inside Chrona. By now, nearly two months had come and gone since Timothy first acquired the King Network and passed it on to his friends.

With two days of relaxation so everyone could unwind, the group of five had returned their minds to a state of semi-calm. Under the surface, excitement was boiling, though this was mainly the case for Timothy, Ferral, and Marigold. Paimon and Raavul were less interested in exploring the dungeon, with the former only doing so at his master’s command, and the latter doing so out of begrudging obligation, but they were not going to hold back due to a simple lack of enthusiasm. Too much was on the line.

After readying themselves and donning their T-REX armors, the group of five stood in an empty flower-field outside the eastern part of the city, with Rebecca, Blinker, Kar, and Fiona standing not too far away.

"Hurgh. Bring me back some meat if you can." Kar said. "I’d like to taste the flavor of these Dungeon creatures."

"Stay safe." Fiona said. "That’s an order. Timothy, don’t you dare be reckless inside there. I don’t know what you’ll encounter, but treat your life as if survival is paramount!"

Blinker looked more relaxed than anyone else. "If you guys knew the hell I’d put these maggots through, you wouldn’t be worried. They’re better trained than Jason was during Stormbringer! I whipped their butts into shape."

"It’s a shame none of us can come with you." Rebecca added. "I hope the enemies you face are within your capabilities to dispatch."

"Relax!" Marigold laughed. "Kyargh! We’ve got ME here, and I’m a badass now! Timothy’s pretty strong too! You should see his sword skills! He’s not just swinging it around like a lunkhead anymore!"

[I will ensure this group returns fully intact.] Raavul vowed. [You have my word.]

Everyone said goodbye, and Timothy made sure to give his mother, his aunts, and even his crocodile uncle a big hug before he left. Not even Rebecca was excluded, as Timothy saw her as his surrogate aunt.

"I’m wary of the Dungeon, but far from afraid." Timothy said. "We can do this! See you later, everyone! We’ll return soon!"

With that, Timothy’s group turned to look at Ferral.

[I only have the ability to ‘Activate Dungeon.’] Ferral warned. [I do not know what will happen next. For all we know, we might be thrown into a random area and separated. Be prepared for anything.]

Everyone nodded. They waited with bated breath as Ferral activated his Enter Dungeon command.

Then… a portal opened up in front of them. It looked like a swirling blue oval of energy. Everyone blinked in unison. They didn’t expect this.

Raavul held up her hand. [I will enter first. I am the most powerful.]

With that, she levitated forward, and vanished into the portal.

Ten long seconds passed. Just when Ferral was about to step through, Raavul slipped back outside the portal. There was an odd expression on her face.

[The situation… is not dangerous. You may all enter.]

She didn’t explain anything, which only left the others wondering what the heck she had just seen. Unable to bear their curiosity, they quickly entered the portal after her, with Blinker and the others excluded. As they were not Players or Pawns, they could not enter.

"I wonder what’s inside…" Blinker muttered.

"I might check it out later." Fiona replied. "We’ll see."

Even after the group of five entered, the portal continued to levitate silently in the air, making those who gazed upon it wonder if they, too, could enter…

…

Timothy arrived inside what he immediately identified as a grand library. It was filled with rows and rows of books, with shelves rising fifty feet up to the ceiling, way beyond what anyone could easily reach. In addition to him, the other four were also there.

"A library." Ferral said, his senses on high alert. "Not what I was expecting."

Just as the group was wondering what sort of dungeon they had entered. An astoundingly tall, frighteningly slender figure suddenly stepped out of one of the library aisles in front of them. Everyone’s hearts jumped as they looked at the quadruped figure before them. It looked like an unbelievably emaciated centaur, except its body was made of transparent blue ‘goop’ vaguely resembling Jello. When their eyes moved higher, they saw that 45 feet up, the creature had a long neck with a tiny head and two beady eyes.

It wasn’t a scary looking creature, but it was the most alien thing any of them had ever seen in their lives. Each of its four ground-based limbs were as slender as a kitchen sink pipe, with hooves like on a bull, and even its main body was only as thick as a telephone pole. The creature had two long arms that looked like they could reach way above its head, with one thumb and two fingers each.

When the giant skinny creature stepped out of the aisle, its eyes lowered to look at them.

"Or? Mashu? Sheldo nowa ko."

The creature spoke extremely slowly. Each syllable was evenly pronounced, and its tone was completely emotionless.

"I… what’s it saying?" Marigold asked, bewildered. "Is it a boy or a girl? I can’t tell…"

The others seemed lost too, but Timothy wasn’t. Since he had chosen Universal Translator, he realized he could perfectly understand the creature.

"Oh? Who are you? It’s been a while since Po had guests." The creature said.

Timothy blinked. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words that came out of his mouth were complete mumbo-jumbo to the rest of his group. Without even meaning to, he perfectly replicated the creature’s language.

"I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to disturb you. I am Timothy, and these are my friends."

"Ah. Timothy." The creature said, bobbing his head up and down. "Po I am. Po organizes the Story Hall. You are a well-mannered creature. Po likes you."

After a short pause, Po lifted his head and stood back at his full height.

"Po understands now. You are the new Administrator. Welcome to the Story Hall. What story do you intend to experience today?"

The others looked at Timothy. They realized immediately that he could speak the creature’s language, with only Raavul not knowing about his Universal Translator skill. Ferral silently filled her in, and nobody interrupted Timothy while he conversed with the creature.

"I thought I was coming here to run through a Dungeon…" Timothy said hesitantly. "Why are we in a library?"

"Dungeon. Oh yes. Po knows of Dungeon. This is another word for story. We have many story-dungeons." Po said. "This is Timothy’s first time experiencing story?"

Timothy nodded slowly. "Yes. It’s my first time."

"How wonderful." Po said, his tone not particularly one of excitement. "Come with Po. Po will show you how to enjoy story."

The large creature slowly turned around, then began walking forward. Despite Po’s immense size, he made no noise at all while he walked, as if he were not a real creature but a ghost. The silence was eerie…

The group walked behind Po, and Timothy quickly caught them up on what Po was saying. Seeing as they weren’t actually in a Dungeon yet, everyone relaxed a little. It turned out they would be able to exert some control over what sort of Dungeon they would enter, and not just randomly pop into an unknown scenario.

Po strode behind a giant desk with a top that rose twenty-five feet above the head of Timothy and the rest. After a long moment of silence, Po craned its neck to look over the front of the desk at the people below.

"Timothy. Po has gathered many excellent stories for you to enjoy. Since you are not adept in story traversal, perhaps Po may make a suggestion for which story to enter?"

Timothy slowly nodded. "That would probably be for the best, Po. What do you suggest?"

He had realized by now that Po was a lot like Giuseppe. He was one of the King Network’s NPCs. Most likely, there were going to be more that Timothy would inevitably meet.

Since that was the case, it seemed Po was not his enemy. He seemed like a friendly………. creature.

"Po, what species are you?" Timothy asked.

Po blinked slowly. He looked at Timothy with a blank face.

"Po is Po." Po said. "There is only one Po."

Timothy was surprised. "You’re the only member of your species? The only one??"

"Po is Po." Po repeated.

Timothy needed a moment to digest that information. "I see. Well, you’re certainly an interesting individual, Po."

"Po appreciates the compliment." Po said. "Po also thinks you are an interesting individual. Your body should be incapable of properly replicating Po’s language, but you are able to do so anyway. As expected of the talented Administrator."

Po raised his head. There was a rustling noise on the table. Eventually, Po lifted a book off the table, then, unexpectedly, Po lightly tossed the book up in the air. Timothy and the others jumped in fright as the gigantic book suddenly flew over the table and fell toward them, its size drastically enlarging as it was about to crush them!

But, just before the book made impact, it halted in midair, then pulled backward, levitated downward, and rested on the ground, its cover visible before all of them.

"A book??" Marigold asked. "What’s up with that?"

The book did not have any words on it. Instead, it looked like the entire cover was an illustrious painting, one that was so lifelike and real that if it started moving, everyone would think they were looking at another world entirely.

The image on the cover was of a forest in the middle of the day, as if looking at the trees from a grassland, except that beyond the trees there were shadows engulfing the inner forest, with tiny pairs of white eyes peeping out of the inner gloom.

Such a forest appeared ominous and foreboding. The book gave everyone who looked at it the heebie-jeebies.

"What think?" Po asked curiously. "A suitable first story? Po assures you, this story is not too difficult. A good introduction to stories for the uninitiated."

Timothy hesitated. The shadowy forest looked irksome, but he couldn’t really get a clue about what they would be facing just from the cover…

"Po, what will we find if we read the story?" Timothy asked.

Po blinked his eyes. "Po does not spoil stories. Po thinks stories must be enjoyed without any outside context. Po would never ruin your fun by spoiling you."

"Oh. Uh. Thanks…" Timothy said with a grimace.

A minute passed as everyone observed the book.

"Looks exciting. Let’s give it a try!" Marigold crowed, giving her boyfriend a big thumbs-up. "How scary could trees be?"

Timothy sighed. "Alright, we’ll give this story a shot. What is it called?"

Po’s face remained expressionless. "All stories have titles. The title will be revealed when you experience it. Open the book to begin."

Timothy nodded. Without further ado, he stepped forward, grabbed the edge of the book, and pulled it open.

A powerful suction force swept outward. With a flash of light, the five party members vanished, and they entered the world of the book.

Timothy and the others fell down, down, down inside a pitch-black void.

The Party members eventually slowed to a stop and landed on their feet inside the void. They could easily see one another, but everything else around them was pitch-black.

After they landed, giant words appeared in the air before all of them.

…

DARK FOREST DUNGEON

A forest filled with extremely powerful life forms. These life forms are vicious and bloodthirsty. Crossing them will likely mean death. In order to pass through, the party must move stealthily. If the Party inadvertently catches the attention of a powerful life-form, the party must quickly defeat their adversary and hide, lest more enemies are drawn to the scene.

Difficulty: Very Easy

Dungeon Level: 1

Dungeon Objectives: The Party must traverse the Dark Forest successfully. The Party will start at the southern edge of the Dark Forest. The Party must reach the northern edge before the time limit expires.

Time Limit: 1 Week.

Rewards if successful: Level 1 Dungeon Rewards x5. Bonus rewards obtainable if hidden criteria are met.

Penalty if failed: All party members +3 levels. Skip all level-up rewards. A Dungeon Break event will occur.

…

The team grimaced when they saw the penalty. The fact they would all gain three levels without gaining any benefits if they failed the dungeon was a huge demerit, and the Dungeon Break sounded even scarier. On the other hand, the rewards didn’t seem all too enticing. Level 1 Dungeons were likely the easiest dungeons possible, so how good could their rewards be?

"This dungeon seems difficult…" Marigold said hesitantly. "It says ‘very easy’ but how easy can it be when the forest has ‘extremely powerful lifeforms’ inside it?"

The others were quiet for a moment. Before anyone could speak, a window popped up in front of all of them.

…

Party status

Paimon (Leader): Not Ready

Timothy: Not Ready

Marigold: Not Ready

Ferral: Not Ready

Raavul: Not Ready

Ready up? [Yes/No]

The Dungeon will begin once all Party members have readied up.

…

Timothy breathed a sigh of relief. "Look like we have time to think before we enter."

"Then we should strategize." Paimon said. "Read the Dungeon description carefully. The key to victory is stealth. We don’t have to fight any enemies. In fact, since these enemies are said to be so strong, combat is likely a terrible idea."

[What about flying over the forest?] Raavul inquired. [Ferral and I can both fly. We can easily bring the rest of you along, and that’s without mentioning the Hummer exosuits.]

[That might not be advisable.] Ferral retorted. [What if the monsters in the forest see us flying overhead? We would appear quite conspicuous. Flying over the treetops could be the antithesis of stealth.]

"Ferral’s right." Timothy added. "But also, read the description carefully. Stealth is essential, and it doesn’t say all of us have to reach the end. Maybe me and Marigold could wear our stealth exosuits and sneak in by ourselves."

"That’s too dangerous." Paimon said, making a chopping motion with his hand to express disapproval. "That suit is great at stealth, but these enemies could be observant enough to spot you. If you were attacked, the rest of us wouldn’t be there to fight alongside you. You might die."

[Not to mention that simply because the description does not say we all have to make it to the objective, that does not mean only one or two of us can.] Raavul pointed out. [It may just be that we all must arrive there together. The description does not say one way or another. Best to err on the side of caution.]

Marigold didn’t have much to say. She wasn’t the brightest member of the bunch, so she decided to let the smart people talk things out.

After debating for a while, the other four came to a consensus.

"Alright, so we’ll all go in, T-REX’s equipped." Paimon said. "Even the basic suits can increase our speed and muffle our footsteps. Furthermore, we can speak to each other without outside observers hearing our voices. We could probably have Raavul and Ferral set up a telepathic communication relay if that weren’t possible, but it’s too troublesome, so let’s rely on the suits."

"Unfortunately, Paimon, your two exosuits are way too flashy." Timothy said. "The Hummer emits a lot of heat and light from its grav-wings. The Clinician is colored bright-white. It’s really going to stand out in the darkness…"

He looked at Raavul and Ferral next. "Both of you also have Clinicians, but the Thundercats are blue and red. They’ll blend in a little better with the underbrush."

Then he looked at Marigold. "You’ve got a Spectre and a Hummer. Just use the Spectre and you’ll be good. Your scales are bright yellow, so you need to be even more incognito than the rest of us."

"Yeah? Well you have pale white ghostly skin!" Marigold teased, sticking her tongue out. "Maybe you should get some sunlight and a tan, eh, Timmy?"

Timothy smirked. "Chrona doesn’t have a sun. But yeah, point taken. That’s why I’m wearing a stealth suit too."

After a bit of deliberation, Paimon shook his head. "I’ll just have to use my Clinician. Bright white is not a great color option, but it’s the stealthiest option at hand. After this mission, we should make sure everyone has a Spectre for the sake of future operations. At the very least, we should recolor the Clinicians to be more stealthy."

"Yeah, you said it." Timothy nodded.

Before long, everyone donned their exosuits and turned to the giant screen floating in the air. One by one, they pressed the Ready button, and eventually, the black void dissolved around them.

The group found themselves at the same spot depicted on the cover of Po’s book. Before them was a forest that stretched on seemingly for miles to the left and right of their starting position. But when they turned around to look backward, they found there was a wall of impassable mist behind them as well. Paimon tried to enter it, but the mist was as solid as steel!

"It’s a world boundary." Timothy said. "A fake wall. We can only go forward, into the forest."

He looked at his Quest screen, where it showed the Dungeon quest’s time remaining counter ticking down from 6:23:59:47.

Timothy looked at the HUD inside his helmet. Unfortunately, the compass wasn’t working. It seemed the false world didn’t have an equivalent to a magnetic north pole like on most worlds. The compass spun around in slow circles, unable to lock onto anything. Ultimately, Timothy had everyone face the forest, then lock that direction as ‘north’ so they wouldn’t get lost or accidentally turned around once they entered.

"Time’s a-wasting, guys! Kyargh! Let’s go already!" Marigold eventually said.

"Don’t rush." Timothy urged. "Marigold, you and I have the only stealth suits. We’ll go in first. Sneaky. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. I’m not stupid, you know." Marigold groaned. "Come on, we’re on the clock now."

Timothy nodded. He and Marigold quickly moved forward. They entered the forest first, and Timothy glanced at his helmet’s tracking radar. It always displayed red dots indicating the position of his allies who were wearing exosuits, but as he and Marigold entered the forest, the other three party members suddenly had their dots disappear.

"Wait, pause." Timothy said to Marigold quietly. "I didn’t expect this."

Marigold looked at him with a frown, though her expression wasn’t visible underneath her armor.

Timothy carefully stepped out of the forest. Once he’d exited its confines, the other three showed up as red dots again, but Marigold vanished.

"There’s a boundary of some kind separating the forest from the exterior." Timothy concluded. "Everyone, just come in with us. We can’t afford to get separated."

Raavul nodded. "Yes, we will join you."

She, Ferral, and Paimon all stole into the forest. Paimon’s white armor did indeed stick out in the darkness a little, but as soon as they traveled into the forest, they realized the forest itself was deeply, unnaturally dark and gloomy. The tree canopy didn’t seem to be terribly thick, yet somehow, the only light that entered the forest came from the path behind them. By the time they’d traveled just 100 meters inside, they found themselves in utter darkness.

By that point, even the bright white color of Paimon’s Clinician suit was practically invisible. It wasn’t as if their suits needed running lights. They simply switched to night vision which caused the tiny bits of light that did filter down through the tree canopy to light up their surroundings to a barely acceptable level.

Even so, Timothy really had to squint to see ahead of himself. He intended to move quickly and stealthily, but he kept stepping on twigs and leaves, making him conspicuously louder than he intended. He wanted to move silently, but he couldn’t see the ground in front of him!

"Shit. This is harder than I expected." Timothy muttered.

He looked at the clock on the quest page.

6:23:51:13

"Let’s just… take it slow, everyone." Timothy said quietly. "No sense rushing."

The forest was deathly silent. The further they traveled into the vegetation, the more eerie and alien the environment felt.

In addition to all the trees, the vegetation itself was annoyingly dense. There were plants and small trees and bushes everywhere, often concealing two or even three feet of the forest floor.

Eventually, Timothy slowed to a stop. He gestured for the others to come over.

"We should try hopping from tree to tree." Timothy said. "The trees are somewhat far apart, but it should be doable."

"That’s going to make even more noise." Paimon warned with a whisper. "It might work for you and Marigold since your Spectres have those handy climbing tendrils, but I don’t have such a luxury. Maybe we should try the levitation strategy."

The group had already discussed a few options prior to readying up, and this strategy was one of them.

[We can levitate the three of you…] Raavul said hesitantly. [But I am only a 3rd Level Psion, and Ferral is a 2nd Level Psion. If we have to focus on levitating you, we will not have energy to spare on observing our surroundings.]

As low level Psions, they had powers roughly equivalent to Demon Barons, which was fairly formidable. The problem was, their multi-tasking abilities were far beneath those of more powerful Psions, especially the ones who had ascended to the level of Cosmic. This was another reason why a telepathic link sustained by Ferral and Raavul to the others was a worse idea than relying on the T-REX’s; because if they established such a link, it would weaken their other abilities.

"Don’t worry. You and Ferral just focus on getting us to the other end of the forest. Me, Marigold, and Paimon will keep a lookout. Me on the front, Marigold on the back, and Paimon on the sides."

Paimon nodded. "We’re making way too much noise wading through the underbrush, and our speed is terrible. We’ll be even louder if we hop from tree to tree. I think levitation is our best bet."

"We don’t know how far we have to travel to reach the other side of the forest." Marigold chimed in. "Maybe if we don’t speed up, we’ll miss the deadline and fail the Dungeon."

The two Psions looked conflicted, but after thinking things over, they eventually agreed.

[Alright. I’ll fly on the left, and Ferral on the right.] Raavul said. [We’ll levitate the three of you between us. Timothy at the front, Paimon in the middle, and Marigold in the back.]

"Sounds good to me." Marigold readily agreed.

"It’s our best shot." Timothy added.

Like this, they assumed the new formation, and began flying forward, with Timothy and Marigold ‘laying’ flat in the air while Paimon ‘stood’ on nothing, giving himself a better vantage point. Timothy watched the entire area up ahead, occasionally switching between night vision and thermals to see if he could spot anything moving.

Paimon swiveled his head from side to side, looking to the left and right. He put his full focus on their mission.

As for Marigold… she lazily looked around behind the group, quickly growing bored.

It’s really relaxing, levitating like this. Really… relaxing… Marigold thought to herself. Her eyes started to droop a little. So soothing…

Unseen by the group, a single creature hid itself up in the treetop branches. Its beady yellow eyes peered down at them as it stealthily pursued them from behind.

Timothy and his friends were not alone.