Devourer Class

Galahad and Trista walked into the Gate of the dungeon.

The Gate was actually below ground and deep inside the huge stone spire that was built on top of the main building. The building looked like a small stone castle with an over sized church tower in the middle. The top of the tower spire contained a large silver bell; ready to ring at the first sign of any demons escaping to the surface.

After passing through the outer walls, they each pulled out their own flat, little crystals the shaped of a playing card. If one were to look carefully, they could see dozens of tiny runes lining the edges.

They made it to the doors of the spire and handed them over to the clerk in the booth next to the door.

The tall, blonde desk clerk passed both crystals over a small white cube behind the desk. The runes on the crystals disappeared and reformed to reveal information clearly across the surface. He gave a quick glance over the information.

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[ Galahad Mystroff ] lvl. 23

Magician Class: Support Mage

1245/1245 HP

Title: N/A

Attack: 19

Defense: 15

Agility: 18

Mana Regen: 2 per second

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[ Trista Ralenta ] lvl. 25

Battle Class: Assassin

1165/1165 HP

Title: N/A

Attack: 19

Defense: 15

Speed: +15%

Critical Hit Chance: 1/16

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He only read over the names, levels, and classes before handing them back over. He flashed them a little smile of approval. He gave them the statement they always heard before entering the Gate to the dungeon,

"Please be cautious of all dangers lurking inside the dungeon, and don't forget to have a 'Return Spell' ready in any potentially dire situation. It is never cowardly to run from a fight you know you can't win."

"Of course, thank you Frederick." Galahad and Trista went through the heavy wooden doors.

Inside was a large pavilion style room with wooden benches and tables everywhere. Over fifty people were chatting amongst themselves in the room.

It may have seemed crowded and bustling, but this was actually the quietest time of day. Most adventures had either left after already going in the dungeon, or they were still down there.

Off to the left side were the four other members of Trista and Galahad's crew. Sitting down were the two swordsman siblings; Mycroft and Heath Ivanstein, they were arm wrestling once again. While standing and chatting was the berserker; Victor Salister, and their leader the attack mage, Rosetta Yondervich.

Before Rosetta could interrogate Galahad for his tardiness, Heath butted in with, "Victor finally got a new Karmic plate, Mydia forced him to get it last night when she saw the huge crack in his old one."

Victor's unchanging face looked down at the small smiling swordsman with unapproving eyes. It was one of two faces he normally made at him.

Victor then sighed, and pulled out his new device, it was exactly the same playing card shaped crystal Trista and Galahad used to get enter the Gate, but his card was faintly green while theirs were a light blue.

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[ Victor Salister ] lvl. 26

Title: Cold-blooded Wall (1 of 1)

Battle Class: Berserker

Attack: 19

Defense: 15 (+5)

Strength: x2.3

Rage: 30%

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Victor followed with, "There aren't any special features to it, it does the same thing as everyone else's; shows stats, makes calls, tells the time. Nothing new like the face projection or three-dimensional imaging nonsense."

He put away the Karmic Plate with a hint of defeat in his tone, "I just wished I didn't have to spend over 600 credits to get the new one. They wouldn't even take trade-ins if the plate had any cracks or malfunctioning displays."

"I heard at least the newer ones cast faster and have more durability, perfectly suited for the front wall of our party." Chimed Rosetta, trying to cheer him up.

"Oh please," snorted Trista, "Since the Karmic Crafting Company started engraving Return Spells onto the plates, it makes them practically mandatory for all adventurers. The only thing they try and sell to customers now is the same thing with slightly different sizes and colors. Every year they push the same product and everyone buys into the unnecessarily expensive trend."

The brothers nodded in agreement with Trista's words, not even trying to be courteous to the sad Victor.

"I just think it's funny our stone-cold berserker only gives in to his girlfriend's demands." Mycroft said while patting Victor's shoulder that towered above him. "Honestly, I never thought when we were children he'd become so submissive, especially to someone as small as Mydia."

Waiting for the right moment to join in, Galahad spoke his mind "She cares and worries for him, she'd feel bad too when his Karmic Plate would eventually malfunction and we'll have to give Victor yours, while leaving your sorry b.u.t.t behind Mycroft." He spoke with a joking smirk.

"Oh ha ha," He retorted mockingly "… You guys would never do that...would you? GUYS?!" Mycroft was now growing concerned as everyone else in the team was nodding their heads in agreement once again, including his younger brother.

While everyone had been jabbing at the idea of leaving Mycroft behind, Galahad had quickly replaced his cotton jacket, shirt, and pants with his lightweight leather armor that was dyed mostly grey. He stuffed his regular clothes and jacket into his pack and pulled the rest of his gear up to check he had everything. Fitted forearm bracer, leather potion case, whetstone, and the large med kit that took up a third of his bag.

Galahad and Rosetta were both mage type classes, but neither of them wore the flashy or loosely flowing robes other young magicians normally wore. They found it both ridiculous for actual combat and it was best to wear light armor with high mobility to be more upfront in the action. The only resemblances they carried to mage gear is the magic arrays sowed into the back of the gloves, and the black hoods attached to back of the c.h.e.s.t pieces.

Trista would wear brown leather armor that was similar, but less padded at the joints to avoid restraining her range of mobility. Meanwhile, the two swordsmen wore thin sections of light armor plating, and Victor's gear set was only one with dense pieces white shining plates designed to give him the best amount of defense and sturdiness. The team was a mix of various armor types and styles.

They eventually settled down and made their way down to the lower floors. The wooden designs transitioned to stone blocks that spiral to darker rooms. The staircase led down into a large pit, that's where the gate entrance to the dungeon began. The only light in the darkness was the small light crystals growing out the walls and ceiling.

*****

Once they were deep below ground and inside the dungeon tunnels, the sounds of monstrous howling and small explosions could be heard echoing faintly ahead. Rosetta turned the group down a different passage, one without the echoes of a fight.

It wasn't that they were afraid of the fight ahead, they followed an unspoken rule that all careful dungeon adventurers followed; don't interfere with another team or party's battle.

They ventured further through the passage, the miscellaneous light crystals growing in the walls showed up less and less, until the walls became too dark to see. Rosetta pulled a little, white crystal sphere out of her bag, she bought it up to her lips and whispered a spell into it.

The little white crystal rose up and hovered above her head while it began to glow very brightly. It cast a powerful enough light that the whole tunnel was visible for over 30-yards, they carried on with a little less tension in their faces now.

The crystal sphere was a basic magical item; something adventurers could buy from stores or find in the dungeon's loot. The crystal sphere was a refined piece of the same crystals that grew in the walls, the difference was the crafting process implemented onto the one she carried with her in the dungeon. Everyone on the team carried their own magical items to assist during battle, although the most unique was the magical arm guards Victor wore.

Magical Armor and weapons were far more expensive to own because the rarity of such items were very great in a small city like Teramore; and the upkeep of owning magical equipment would cost triple the price for any normal equipment's routinely maintenance.

Luckily Victor had inherited a pair of arm guards from his grandfather who used to be a somewhat famous berserker class adventurer. Very rarely would he damage the magical arm guards in battle, so the attack and defense buff was practically a permanent enhancement to his adventure stats.

After a few minutes of walked through the tunnel, Rosetta stopped the team with a silent hand gesture, her powerful ears detected the sounds of scurrying feet just up ahead. She murmured and an incantation and the little hover light vibrated for a moment, she changed its floating mode from follow to manual manipulation.

When the crystal followed her hand movements, she focused on sending it forward before the rest of them would follow. When it sped ahead, they could see glints of shiny fur moving along the walls. Heath and Mycroft unsheathed their identical short swords as soon as they saw the hint of monsters.

No matter how many times they went into the dungeon, the team would also remain cautious to the dangers in the darkness. The tunnels were never favorable to anyone who entered, one mistake against any type of demon could result in everyone dying.

When the team started out in the dungeon, they always were a little stressed about what they could potentially encounter. The looming silence was proof of their seriousness.

"I betting silver rats." Said Galahad casually as he broke the silence. His lack of worry was not unusual, but it was still off putting for everyone else.

"Hey, be quite. Now is not the time to be careless." Said Trista with clear irritation in her voice.

Galahad merely shrugged as he finished mana tethering the other five members. The team stuck to their usual formation of the berserker and two swordsmen in the front, the two magicians in the middle and Trista defending the rear.

They appeared as though a blue glowing web was spun between with Galahad in the epicenter. In unison, they trudged forward to yet another enemy of the dungeon.