Sallera took a step forward.
“Stop,” Somani said with a low voice, not wanting to attract the statue’s attention.
What are they even?
The Stone Chivalries didn’t move at all as they stared ahead—above us. The only indication they were alive was the information [Identify] had given us.
“Hunger Gate; Dungeon Exit,” Sallera spoke, pointing at engraved letters just above the arched gates.
I couldn’t read this language, but its meaning was obvious.
“Guys, I suggest we hurry up.”
Following Tob’s gaze, a horde of Minatours, Ghosts, and Orbitals was hurriedly heading our way.
“Let’s try finding another exit. Four question marks… that’s suicide,” Somani suggested.
But Sallera didn’t agree.
“This is a Dungeon.”
“What?”
“This maze… everything surrounding us is a dungeon. The white shining halls, the maze, the advanced technology, we’re inside a Dungeon.”
“This is not the time. We—“
“Think about it, your—Somani. The System had spoken to us when we had entered this place, something it never does in this pretext. The question now is, how did they get a Dungeon to follow their orders?
So, all of this is a dungeon… interesting.
I knew about Dungeons from Kamos’s memories. They had different shapes and inhabitants, but in general, they were challenges that’d reward you if you passed them and kill you if you failed.
“This is interesting, but if we do—“
A ghost shot at Somani.
I made him dodge with biomancy before throwing my soul disk at it.
Sallera ran towards the bulwark.
“What are you doing?!” Somani shouted after her.
So she’s willing to disobey the kid’s orders if it aligns with her needs… she’s not as loyal as she pretends to be.
“Somani, this exit might seem impossible, but it may be our way to escape not only the maze, but the entire prison,” the elf spoke without looking back.
Somani looked between Sallera and the fastly approaching threat.
Tob shrugged before following the elf.
“Sorry, but I don’t want to rot here.”
Somani hesitated for a second before running in the opposite direction.
‘Follow her, Somani,’ I said, stopping the kid.
‘What?! Those statues will flatten us with a blink!’
‘But, if she’s right, we’ll leave this prison.’
A Guardian tried to impale us with a horn.
Somani infused the entirety of his body with Mana, then held the horn with both hands.
Ooof
He slid on the ground for a short distance, eating the creature’s momentum.
A bone arrow through the eye ended the monster’s life.
Somani dropped the monster, then turned to stare at the elf’s back.
‘Just follow her,’ I insisted.
My thinking was simple: The Noblesse wanted our knowledge, so they wouldn’t let us die, probably. Plus, this was our best chance at escaping this place, and if they really were aggressive, they would’ve already attacked us; we weren’t hiding.
Somani turned again, looking at the clear corridor, which promised a predictable but hard path.
Ahhh
Somani followed the elf.
‘If I get obliterated, I hope you carry my regenerating body far away.’
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
‘Don’t worry.’
“Challengers! Our past, hence our future, lies within your hands!” the statue in their midst, above the door arch, shouted, its sound deafening.
Somani was a bit further away, so he wasn’t as startled as Tob, who summoned his Mana arm.
Sallera did nothing except stand still and gaze up at the statue.
“Save my homeland, and your reward… freedom! Do you accept the challenge?”
Sallera answered it.
“Yes, noble warrior.”
GRRRRrrr TICK
The gates creaked open, revealing… darkness.
Sallera didn’t hesitate; she entered the gates.
Passing Tob, Somani mocked him. “Getting cold feet?”
“Me? Nah, was just waiting for you, Captain.”
They both entered the gate.
Darkness engulfed us, then…
You have accepted the challenge of the Stone Chivalries.
Protect the Stone Villagers from the Hungering Maws and their leader, The Fleshmancer. (1/12 of a day before the invasion starts)
Suddenly, the lights returned.
As his eyes adjusted, Somani found himself inside a cavernous expanse. A few stone homes were to his left—their light source.
“I believe that’s the village,” Somani said.
“Duh,” The giant mocked back. Somani ignored him.
“What’s the plan?” Sallera asked.
Pretending not to have ignored Somani’s order, are we?
Seeing that she had been right, I didn’t ask Somani to push the matter.
“Let’s keep a tight formation while advancing towards the houses. If I understand this correctly, this is the village we’re supposed to protect from… the Hugering Maws.”
Sallera nodded, while Tob had a different idea.
“Can’t we just escape the challenge from this place?”
Somani looked at Sallera; she probably was the most knowledgeable on these matters.
“No.”
Concise, huh?
“Why not? I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in fighting mouths.”
“Maws,” Somani corrected.
“Whatever, my reason still stands.”
“Dungeons are fermented Mana cores that have soaked up Mana from Ley Lines for decades. This one… probably centuries, giving it the ability to create pocket dimensions or very tough barriers; the latter is probably the case here, seeing the scale. Once inside, the only exit is victory.”
Tob wasn’t convinced.
“C’mon. We have a full day. With your powers, we’ll obliterate this cave’s walls.”
This time, Sallera looked at Somani—the so-called Captain.
‘What do you think, Cello?’
‘The elf is more sensible and knowledgeable.’
“Let’s protect the village, then, if we have spare time, we can see if escaping is feasible. The formation is as follows…”
Somani was at the forefront, with Sallera behind him, as Tob protected their backs.
“Well, at least now we know where they got the game’s name from,” Tob spoke from behind, but the atmosphere was a bit tense, so no one responded.
After walking a short distance, which felt longer due to their slow pace, they reached the first stone house.
No soul was in sight, but then…
Sweesh!
The arrow impacted against Somani, penetrating his eye, but broke against his brain.
AhhhhhHHH!
KHKHKHK
WOWOWowo
From the stone houses, statues poured out.
Stone Warrior, Lv. ???
Stone Tender, Lv. ??
Stone Poet, Lv. ??
What the heck?! Weren’t we supposed to protect them?!
The stone men had different shapes, heights, and equipment—some swords, others hoes and other miscellaneous equipment.
Tob stepped forward, forming his Mana arm.
Sallera conjured a conal thing from Mana; she placed it in front of her mouth.
“Thsuw skwem dkmwkh!” Sallera’s gentle voice had turned into a guttural sound that was so loud, Tob had to cover his ears as Somani plucked the arrow from his eye.
The attacking villagers stopped.
One tried to charge us, but was tripped by a friend.
“Tkhukh khununu Ghagdu System ejnc!”
How does she know their language?
The stone men looked at each other before they started…
Celebrating?
“What sorcery did you cast?” Tob asked, his eyes wide.
Sallera raised her eyebrow.
“Sorcery? I just told them that we’re their promised saviours sent by the system to protect them from the maws.”
Tob stared at Sallera for a long moment.
“Whatever. Are you gonna keep your eye wound like the chest one? Ahhh!”
Tob hadn’t noticed that Somani’s injury had already healed, so he was surprised when he turned toward him.
Tob shook his head. “Why am I surrounded by crazy bastards? I was supposed to get a class evolution and a promotion,” the man mumbled.
The stone men parted, revealing a wrinkled stone man with a hump.
The old man approached us and started talking to Sallera.
“Hey, how do you think she learnt their language?” Tob whispered into Somani’s ear.
Somani looked at the man as if he were stupid.
“What? This is my first time seeing this species.”
Somani ignored the giant.
“The village elder says that the Hungering Maws attacks have increased recently, and they had suspected a big one today, but were surprised by us. He says he’s deeply sorry for attacking and harming us,” Sallera translated.
“He’s excused. Ask him—“
“Sallera, ask them if they know that we’re in a dungeon,” Ton jabbed in.
That’s smart.
Somani added his part. “And see if they know of an exit. Of course, word it in a way so they don’t think that their saviours will desert them.”
Sallera nodded, and I saw in real time as the old man’s face morphed from that of a kind, but stern elder, into an expressionless, if creepy face.
“Don’t change the script or the Dungeon will kill us,” the elder spoke in the empire’s language.
…
What…
The elder’s face returned to normal, conversing with Sallera in his guttural language.
Somani exchanged a side eye with Tob, but neither dared press the matter further.
Sallera turned to face me.
“There are approximately one hundred villagers here: two-thirds women and children, and the final third, capable male fighters. I asked him if the woman could fight, to which he was offended, saying women never fought, no matter the circumstances, in their culture. How do you suggest we proceed?”
I had been thinking of a plan the whole time we got here, so I took control and explained.
“The system had said that our goal was to protect the stone villagers, so we’ll barricade them there.”
I pointed at the central house, which looked the strongest and the most easily defendable. It was the highest building, standing at three floors high, and the ground floor had no windows.
Sallera told the elder something.
“They’ve already placed their weak there.”
“Perfect. Tob, you seem to have a military or adventuring background, right?”
The man nodded.
“This is how it’ll go. Sallera, you stay with Tob, acting as his translator and protector as he organises the villagers. Tell the elder to follow Tob’s orders no matter what.”
From Kamos’s memories, I knew the importance of discipline and organisation in combat scenarios.
“What about you?” Tob asked. He had a small smile on his face as he crossed his arms.
He likes command, huh?
“I’ll be the one who kills the Fleshmancer.”
***
I watched from the roof’s top as Tob organised the stone men into rows and columns, fixing the positioning of some, while Sallera translated his orders.
“You should learn how to hide your class.”
Ahhh!
I jumped, trying to figure out where the sound had come from.
“Sallera. It’s a spell.”
But Sallera was down with the giant.
Just how many spells does she know?
I tried to act unfazed.
“And how do you suggest I do that?”
“A spell or a skill, if you want it to be stronger, faster, and more passive. With you being so easily identified as the Primus… it’ll be hard to escape. Of course, that’s if this challenge will give us our freedom.”
Sallera went on to explain how to create this spell that’ll allow me to hide my status and hinder divination spells.
It really was simple. I just had to create a Mana film around Somani’s core, but the Mana type had to be purple—space Mana, for some reason.
My core is already a film, so maybe that’s the reason no one has been able to identify me, or I’m just too small.
Somani’s [Primus Manipulation] skill allowed him to change the Mana’s type to whatever type he wanted, but we had only relied on Supreme Mana up until now; it was the most potent.
I’ll try this after we escape.
After the explanation was done, I asked the question that had been on my mind.
“Who do you think these creatures are? I mean… are they conjured by the dungeon or coerced into compliance by some contract?”
Looking at the stone men down below, their expressions didn’t change, so it wasn’t taboo to talk about this matter.
“There are many theories—“
“So you knew we couldn’t as him?”
“Your—Somani, please don’t cut me; I’ll explain. This is my first time entering a dungeon; they’re rare, so I wanted to see what would happen with my own eyes. Anyway, the most prevalent theory is that those killed by the dungeon get a second chance at life through a contract: serve your killer.”
For some reason, the dungeon reminded me of myself, killing my opponents, then taking their bodies.
“What are dungeons, even?”
“…this, too, has many theories. In my college curriculum, they emphasised the idea that dungeons are the remnant Mana cores of dead beings. After the cores somehow got connected to a Ley Line, they seem to gain sentience and start creating these challenges.”
College… maybe I should enter one in the future.
One of Kamos’s cousins had managed to enter an academy, making the entire village celebrate. Humans considered colleges as wells of knowledge and opportunity.
“But what do they gain from doing these challenges?”
“Incentives. They absorb the loot of the dead humans and can make contracts with them, if the theory is true, gaining servants, knowledge, and defendants. The idea is simple, but clever: Win, and you shall be rewarded; lose, and you shall become the reward.”
VOOOOOOM
The war horn was blown.
Looking down, I saw how the stone men rushed to enter the gates of our improvised fort.
Sallera was the last to enter, waving at me.
I waved back.
Let the challenge start!