I'm staring at the wall of my room in the direction in which I last felt the presence of the civilian. I can't just leave them alone in the dungeon, right? Sure, we have no idea what level it is, but I'm a lot stronger than most monsters. If I have the power to save them, it is my duty to do so, even if that means going against the NAA's safety protocols.
I grab my sword from the corner of my room, attach it to my belt, and leave the dormitory.
As I reach the barrier that now covers a building and a half, I hear someone sobbing nearby. I turn towards the source of the sound and see a high-level adventurer who seems to be at a loss as to what to do next to a lower-level adventurer who's sitting on the side of the road, crying. She seems somewhat familiar, but I can't remember where I saw her.
I approach to get an idea of what's going on, and the higher-level adventurer turns towards me to say:
"You're a student here, right? Look, I really need to go back to HQ, could you take care of her please?"
"Uh? But what's going on?"
"Apparently, her sister was inside the building when the dungeon opened on it. We can't enter until the NAA inspects it, so there isn't anything we can do for her."
The civilian I felt probably was that girl's sister then. Well, I'll need to get him to leave if I want to enter the dungeon anyway.
"I understand. I'll take care of her, you can go back."
"Thank you! I really didn't want to leave her alone like that... Anyway, the situation is stable here, so feel free to go back home once you're done here."
I nod and watch as he leaves. Shortly after, I approach the crying girl and call to her:
"Hey."
She has almost shoulder-length red hair and is wearing mid-quality armor. On the grass behind her are an axe and a shield. She might be a Defender, an Axe Fighter, or maybe a Battlemage, but I can't tell from those clues alone.
Without even looking at me, she answers:
"What do you want?"
"I felt someone's presence in there before the dungeon opened. It's your sister?"
She finally looks up, a pleading look in her eyes.
"Yes. But how did you feel something like that? She's not an adventurer."
"I can tell where ordinary people are too, since they also carry a bit of magic."
"And from that distance? Weren't you in the boys' dorm?"
"Yeah, I was."
She seems thoroughly confused by my ability. I guess adventurers who can sense magical power only manage to do so over short distances. I did detected the goblins before Michael in my last dungeon, after all.
"So... why are you here?"
"I'm gonna go in and save your sister."
The look of surprise on her face as I say that, I'd probably find it very funny if I didn't feel the pressure of having to go save someone who can't fight back against the monsters in a dungeon.
"Wait... you... what?"
"I know it's against the rules, but I can't just leave someone to die like this if I have the power to save them."
"You seem very confident in your strength. What level are you?"
"I don't know."
This time, she gets angry at me.
"How can you not know your own level! It's such a core part of being an adventurer! You think I can trust you with this after you've forgotten your level!?"
"I didn't forget it. I'm somewhere between 60 and 70, but we couldn't get an accurate reading."
"If that's the case, then why are you using such a weak sword? And you're not even wearing armor."
"Times are tough, I couldn't afford anything better."
She seems skeptical of my claims, but her desire to at least attempt to save her sister wins out in the end:
"Alright, whatever, we don't have time for this. Can you open the barrier?"
"I think so."
"Then let's go."
She seems determined to follow me in. I don't think I can stop her, so might as well let her join me for this operation.
The people from the NAA are gone, so we have no problem getting near the barrier. I've never been in charge of opening one before, but it can't be that hard, right?
I place my hand on the barrier. Within it, I can feel the countless magic threads that separate our world from the dungeon. If I send a bit of energy to disrupt the flow...
As I attempt to move the threads with my own magic, a perfectly circular hole starts forming, growing big enough to allow us entry. Holes normally look like they've been forcefully punched through and start closing immediately, but my energy naturally formed a ring that keeps the hole open. Is this another side-effect of my power not being normal?
I let the girl enter first, but I quickly follow her. After crossing, I cause the ring of energy to dissipate, which in turns causes the hole to close. I wouldn't want a monster to find its way to our world through a gap I left in the barrier.
It's nighttime in this world as well. In the black sky, we can see countless stars as well as a moon crescent. In front of us, a large building stands. Like everything else in dungeons, it appears to be in ruins, but I can guess that it used to be quite magnificent.
The girl walks towards a slightly elevated platform surrounded by small channels that are connected to the main building. After a short inspection, she says:
"I think this used to be some kind of vertical farm or garden."
"What makes you think that?"
"The grooves in the ground look like water channels to me, and they connect to these small structures where plants could be grown."
She turns towards the large building in front of us before continuing:
"Dungeons like these make me wish I could have visited this world before it found itself in this shape. I'm certain it had its own peoples and cultures."
"Probably. But all we ever meet in here are dangerous monsters trying to kill us. Let's go get your sister before anything happens to her. She was on one of the higher floors of the building in our world, so she probably got transported inside of the building here."
"Then let's move. Oh, by the way, since we're going to be working together, what's your name?"
"I'm Matt. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Evelyn. Likewise."
The interior of the building is mostly empty. The channels Evelyn believes to be meant to carry water are omnipresent, and there are plenty of spaces where dirt could be placed to create irrigated beds, but it's all empty now.
As we climb the stairs, I attempt to expand the range at which I detect magical energy again. Since I'm focused on navigating the building, I can't fully concentrate on it, causing me to realize that the range I reached while in my dormitory was quite impressive.
I can feel Evelyn's energy behind me, as well as some unknown energy sources, definitely monsters, on some of the higher floors. As we climb an additional flight of stairs, I finally detect the faint magic of my teammate's sister. Thankfully, that means she's still alive.
"Your sister is a lot higher, at least fifteen floors by my estimate. We also have some isolated monsters on some floors. They're stronger than you but weaker than me, so we should be able to manage."
Evelyn nods.
Her level is probably in the low 30s, while mine is somewhere between 60 and 70. Extrapolating from that, I estimate that the monsters are somewhere between level 35 and 45. They should pose no problem to me, but Evelyn might struggle against them.
We eventually reach the first floor where I detect a monster. Seeing it, I immediately understand why they haven't been moving so far: in front of us is a gigantic plant. Its roots dig into the stone structure around it, and large tentacle-like vines lay on the ground around it. The core of the plant seems to be where its mouth and stomach are. Without roots reaching into the ground, there's no way this thing isn't fully carnivorous.
Evelyn doesn't appear eager to fight it:
"Maybe we can go around it if we move slowly? If that's the kind of monster found in this dungeon, we don't have to hurry to find Amber, so it'd be safer to take our time."
I nod. While I'm higher-level than the monster, fighting always comes with a risk. I also can't ignore the fact that this plant is deeply embedded in the structure of the building. Killing it could very well cause a partial or even total collapse, putting Amber's life in greater danger.
We walk across the floor carefully, avoiding the roots and vines on the ground as we make our way to the next flight of stairs. If my intuition is correct, the monster, being a plant, has no eyes or ears, so it will only react to our presence if we touch it.
We manage to reach the stairs without incident. We climb a few more floors before reaching another plant. This one is even bigger than the first, with far more numerous roots and vines around it. We slowly walk across the floor, taking our time with each step to make sure we don't touch anything.
However, the plant suddenly comes to life and starts slapping its vines around. I manage to dodge a few movements, but Evelyn gets hit. She blocks with her shield, but the plant's vines pause for a moment only to then become even more intense.
It was probably doing a sweep to see if there was anything to eat around it. Now that it found food, it's willing to spend additional energy to catch it. No point in avoiding walking on the roots anymore then.
Evelyn manages to block some attempts at grabbing her with her shield as she uses her axe to cut down as many vines as possible. I grab my sword and start hacking too, alerting the monster to the presence of a second potential prey.
I don't have a shield, so I do my best to avoid the hits aimed at me while striking back with my sword. Evelyn is trying to fall back to an area that less vines can reach.
I jump forward, thinking that killing the monster's core body is likely the most effective way to make it stop. I dodge more hits and keep cutting as I get closer to my target, only to hear a scream behind me.
Vines managed to grab and restrain Evelyn. Unfortunately, this distracts me just long enough for a vine to grab my ankle and lift me up, causing my to drop my sword.
The plant is holding me upside-down as the vines grabbing my teammate drag her towards the now open mouth of the plant-monster. Looks like it plans on eating me later.
I don't intend to let that happen, though. I can't grab my sword, so I'd be in trouble if I couldn't fight without it, but I have access to other tools now.
Pointing my open palm towards the monster's core, I create a small crystalline projectile and launch it. A loud "bang" resonates in the building as it breaks the sound barrier. The small crystal penetrates the plant with so much force that it causes it to be ripped apart. The lifeless remains of our foe fall to the ground as the vines holding us lose their strength, causing us to fall.
I grab my sword and rush towards Evelyn before freeing her from the vines restricting her movements.
As she gets back up, she's looking at me with suspicion in her eyes. She simply asks:
"Were you present at the invasion last week?"
"I was. Why?"
"That projectile attack reminds me a lot of Aurora's. I'm sure you've heard about her."
It makes sense that my fighting style would be similar to hers since we're literally the same person. I can't just tell her that though.
I start walking towards the stairs before continuing:
"Yeah, well, I'm a Sword Fighter and I heard that she was too, and being able to launch projectiles at ranged targets is convenient no matter what class you are. I guess we have a similar philosophy when it comes to what we learn for battle."
"Or maybe you're just trying to imitate her?"
"Maybe. What difference would it make?"
"None, I guess. But how come nobody's been talking about you? If you're this strong and helped defeat the invasion, clearly you should have attracted some attention."
"I wasn't actually that strong when the invasion started. Officially, I'm still just level 8."
My comment causes her eyes to open wide in surprise.
"But... How can you go from level 8 to level 60 this fast?"
"I'm still trying to figure it out."
She doesn't seem to find my answer satisfactory, judging by her expression, but she doesn't pry any further. We reached the next floor anyway.
The plant here seems to have been alerted of our presence, whether by the other plant or because of the vibrations our fight caused, I cannot say. Its vines are swinging wildly as they try to catch anything that might come close.
"Since the monsters became active, I think it's better if we just force our way through, grab your sister, and escape as fast as possible."
Evelyn nods.
I launch a projectile through this monster's core, causing it to die just like its brethren a floor down.
And so, we keep climbing and I keep killing these plant monsters as they show up, making our way towards the floor where Amber is. I haven't sensed her move at all since we entered the dungeon, so she might be unconscious. I heard that being forcefully transferred into this world by a dungeon opening could cause someone to faint if their magic power wasn't strong enough to protect them.
We eventually make it to two floors below our objective. There's no plant here, but there's some magical power on the floor above us, and I can tell it's not like the monsters I've been killing so far. It's a lot stronger than them, and likely isn't a plant at all.
"I think there's a boss on the floor above us."
"A boss? How do you know?"
"I can sense magical power, different from the plants', in great quantity. I think it's comparable to my own level."
"Should I stay out of it, then?"
"If you spot an opening, feel free to try to exploit it. But I won't ask you to risk your life."
She agrees, and we start ascending the stairs to the boss' room.
