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Sosshi 「ソッシ」 is a village in the Forsaken Region of Clover Kingdom. It is located near the northwest border.
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https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1976/...8673b93f_c.jpg
Sosshi 「ソッシ」 is a village in the Forsaken Region of Clover Kingdom. It is located near the northwest border.
Spoiler:
Dior answered the curiosity that apparently Junon and Asher were both holding on to, and his answer made the girl's brows draw together underneath her hat. "Sou..." she said thinking about it. She was just clever enough to realize the implication that the treasure was the reason for the actual phenomenon but she'd never heard anything about it. Perhaps there was something specific to the ability to collect the treasure or something like that, but at the very least they had a goal to follow. Go through the dungeon, find your way to the treasure room, touch stuff until you find something you can take, which also disrupts the entirety of the Dungeon. "Arigatou gozaimasu," she said in response to having received an answer, something she apparently remembered after the fact. Still she was content to take in the sights as they flew towards their destination. She could only hope, this wouldn't be a completely boring trip. Her left leg bounced atop her right, as she waited for their arrival.
"Hai," Dior replied. For the duration of the trip, the veteran Magic Knight remained standing atop the eagle's back, with his eyes on the horizon. A few words were exchanged here and there as the group traveled, mostly from Dior explaining the nature of dungeons. He took care to inform these two of his own dungeon experiences, including types of magic traps, the great density of mana within, and the varying levels of danger regarding the creatures. He managed to conclude these tales before they ultimately descended to a location where this dungeon unmistakably was. The mana in the area was among the thickest he'd ever felt in his life, so it was no difficult task to find the entrance. Overall, this dungeon's exterior looked like a destroyed old castle made with the largest of stones. Walls and towers were crumbled and caved in on each other, to the point of looking as if one would only be able to witness a portion of the entry hall within. Dior guided his eagle down to the open gate, where shadows blocked all visuals of the dungeon within. "Here we are," he said as he hopped off the eagle, giving ample time thereafter for Junon and Acher to dismount it before it disappeared. Asher did so with haste, keeping his position slightly to the rear of Dior. This place was just what he expected from the stories told, but he somehow felt like this wasn't his first experience being at this sort of location.
"Sugoi!~" Junon hopped off the bird as they landed. She'd never seen anything like this and it wasn't just the look of the place which made her excited. "I've never felt so much mana before, this place gives me tingles!~" she squealed, her ability to sense the mana around her, let her know exactly how much was in this place. It was stunning to her really, but she hadn't ventured off or anything. No, she'd gotten to know a bit of Dior in their time traveling and figured he wouldn't just allow her to wander off so she contained herself. Instead she pointed to shadowy part of the open gate and felt no fear from it. In fact she seemed a bit giddy at the prospect. "Can we go that way?" she asked. Though it was beyond her how they were meant to approach the task of finding the treasure room, she was all for the experience of trying, as much as it would add to her wealth of knowledge and reasoning behind becoming a Magic Knight.
While Junon was pointing at the dungeon's entrance, Asher was walking forward with seemingly no purpose. His pace was too slow to dictate an obvious attempt at entry, but too quick to be movement for the sake of moving alone. Dior watched the boy, but looked toward the entrance itself when Junon spoke. "We can. We should be careful, though. This entrance looks pretty standard, but... I've never seen one this dark before. It might not brighten up very much for a while after we enter. Asher, you should let me take the lead," he concluded, knowing well the earful he would get later if he allowed the younger male to wander in first and have negative repercussions from doing so.
Asher heard Dior's warning, but this didn't stop his forward movement. In fact, he casually raised his left hand, forming in front of it a sphere of light to illuminate the entryway. Dior was stunned, bearing a pride he could not readily express. "You use light magic?! Well, I suppose we're clear then. Lead the way; I'll follow close behind," he said, prompting Asher to enter the longer-than-expected hall of the dungeon, with Dior indeed falling in line behind him. There didn't seem to be much to this dungeon initially, but the walls themselves were laced with mana. Little did one such as Dior know right away, that they had already stumbled upon the dungeon's first trap. If the group did not find the secret and proper entrance to the dungeon, they would be doomed to walk down an endless corridor that always seemed to go straight forward, whether they turned around or not. If they separated, they would likely not meet again in this hall... unless perhaps they saw one another as one of the many skeletons - the bodies of those who became lost forever - littering the endless corridor.
Soon enough, Asher was approaching the entrance to the dungeon, and though Dior had said that he should take the lead, Asher's ability to use light magic, would make him a forerunner, with Dior traveling close behind. Junon was also walking along slightly behind Dior bringing up the rear but she felt ill at ease even with the light provided by Asher. "Ano... this place," she started to say as she caught sight of a skeleton as they walked. And the further in they went, the more of them she saw. These were strange as they appeared to be out of time, some of them even looking backwards from the direction they'd come. Given they'd died in this manner, Junon was innately suspicious of looking back. Instead she allowed her finger to trace along the wall. "It feels stagnant," she said. Perhaps it wasn't wasn't the right word though. From Junon's perspective and given her own affinity for the wind, this corridor felt stale, like there was everything here, but also nothing. Like a cool breeze hadn't entered this place in eons even though they'd so recently entered the front gate. The density of the mana would have confused the senses, but for the pink haired girl who felt the wind in every corner of her being, she began looking for it. "Silva-senpai, Asher-kun, you should stop twenty paces ahead," she mentioned, if they did so, she would end up slightly in front of the group and turn to the right staring at the wall there for several seconds.
"There is wind coming from between these cracks. The rest before were too dense but here... is perfect~" the girl chimed. "I'm just going to..." the wind surrounded the girl's palm and created something like a bullet, but instead of forcing it outward and blasting through the wall, she pulled backward shifting several loose bricks at once allowing an opening that looked strangely like an archway to become visible into a lit and airy part of the temple. She took no immediate steps forward as the sight itself was something beyond belief. It was as if it existed as several breezy staircases, but not at all in conventional directions. Some went up or down, side ways along walls. Water ran up, down, left right and in and out of apparently empty tunnels and poured down waterfalls to end up on the ceiling. Tiles and stone were molded and crafted in ways she'd never seen before. Her eyes widened just a bit as she came to a full realization. That unlike the place they'd just been in... this place was brimming with moving magic, it was like their previous place was on a loop and this magic was free flowing.
Junon was right. Something about this place felt odd, and Asher was just beginning to realize it as well. Neither Asher nor Dior could immediately determine what the issue was, but luckily, Junon could. The pink-haired witch even told the others a stopping point, which after being taken, gave her the freedom to interact with a spot on the wall that didn't match the rest of the corridor. Asher's attention was briefly taken by the nearby corpses, while Dior's remained where Junon looked. Asher knew she was right when viewing the spot himself. There was a strangeness to the mana in this location, and as he drew closer to it, strangely... his hair began to react. This was nothing noticed by Asher himself, but the strange rainbow coloration to the ends of his hair became more vivid, and even more so yet when Junon used her wind magic to dislodge the bricks hiding the true, marvelous dungeon on the other side. "Nice work. Now the real journey begins," Dior said whilst stepping out of the forever hall. They no longer needed Asher's light, so it was dispelled shortly after the group began viewing this place.
Once Asher passed the threshold between entrance and proper dungeon, his hair tips reached a level of vibrancy that looked almost artificially colored. More importantly, it didn't seem like this dungeon would be holding any punches. Creatures were most certainly inside, and had been pressed against the walls when they felt the presence of people in the corridor. They had been waiting for a very long time, hoping any of the travelers would be in reach. They were goblins, quite smaller than the average human, but very numerous. As Junon was the one who disturbed the wall, she became the horde's first target. Dozens upon dozens of goblins approached from either side, all coming from against the wall itself. Their collective intentions were to pounce, claw at, and otherwise ravage their target, but even though Dior and Asher were in close proximity as well, they seemed somewhat disinterested in the males of this group - outside of whatever threat they might present.
Strangely enough upon entering this space, Junon's attention was drawn towards the light coming off Asher's hair. "Sugoi! It's like a really vibrant rainbow..." she was curious about it, but figured that questioning this wasn't really going to help in this situation. Still, it seemed the lad's hair was reactive to the high amounts of mana within the Dungeon. But this was actually a Dungeon and beyond the traps and pitfall, the sound of scuffling creatures could be heard. Soon after they'd stepped within the actual danger of this area made itself known. Rather they poured in around the group seeming to focus their attention solely on Junon. To escape the ravaging claws and attacks of these small humanoid creatures she hovered above them disgusted by their attention as they seemed to want something from her which wasn't just her death. "Gross..." she said as her grimoire opened and she raised her right hand. Doing so created a large bow of wind. It was obvious to her these creatures weren't to be reasoned with, as such she'd dispatch as many of them as she could. She'd grown up in the Witch's Forest surrounded by women, but knew from tales of travel by others that when male creatures attacked women, they aimed to harm them in ways they might not recover from.
"Kaze Mahō : Shippū no Shirayumi," the large bow had upon it six arrows made of swirling wind which would immediately aim to descend upon several targets, after they hit, some would even split hitting even more of them in their wake. Split heads and pierced armor would be left in the wake of Junon's attack, and all would come from a glowing golden Grimoire with a four leaf clover upon the front. Strangely, enough this magic could be easily added to or combined with others to make it even more powerful and seemed to be a go to attack for the lass. It also made no hints of being remotely dangerous for either Asher nor Dior, the arrows as fired only targeted the goblins.
"Huh?" questioned Asher. Whatever Junon was talking about, she was looking at him in the moment. He wasn't at all sure what she meant, but there were more pressing matters at hand. More goblins than one could count were converging upon the group, focusing their attentions on Junon for reasons that likely weren't too good. Dior scoffed when he noticed what sort of creatures this dungeon possessed. "Disgusting. There have been a lot more of these in dungeons lately," he commented. As Junon flew overhead, Dior took hold of his grimoire. He could easily clear out these goblins himself, but Junon herself unveiled a grimoire he never thought he'd see, and used its spell to put a sizable dent in the goblins closest to them. Still, there were many, so Dior thought to open his grimoire as well... but, there were two glowing golden grimoires with four-leaf clovers open at this time.
"Hikari Mahō: Danzai no Kōken!" Asher called out. Many shards of light appeared around where Asher and Dior stood, keeping the goblins away from the area around them and below Junon. These shards pointed outward the moment Junon's targets fell, firing off in all directions to impale and mow down members of the horde from the inside out. Dior was awestruck. He didn't even get over the surprise of the first four-leaf clover and powerful spell before another set of the same occurred. Asher's light shards pierced the torsos of many goblins to create a ring at the group's center, with that very ring thickening as each shard speared multiples in a row to create a series of goblin shish kebabs. These were not kill shots, but from what he had just seen of Junon's abilities, he felt she had something ready to finish the job more efficiently while he focused on controlling the crowd in this manner. "Junon-chan!"
If Dior had aimed to assist this pair in anyway, he was apparently finding himself to be a bit unnecessary aside from moral support. Soon enough, Asher was adding his own ability to control the crowd to the raw attack power that Junon apparently possessed. Though, she'd managed to clear the area immediately surrounding them all on her own, Asher had managed to lock up all the goblins in the area. A grin passed the girl's face as the page of her book turned to a more obviously destructive spell than her previously used one. "Kaze Mahō : Kamaitachi no Mikaduki," upon uttering this spell a crescent like blade of wind extended from the girl's hand. In proportion to the immense magic power behind it, the blade itself was massive and with a simple twist of her body in the air would rather easily cut through the mass of goblin bodies, slashing them into pieces and ending their lives in a swift and massive strike. If all had gone according to plan, Junon would be landing next to Asher with a small smile on her face. "Arigatou Gozaimasu, you have some really amazing magic... Asher-kun," she managed. Of course she was still generally abashed and completely unnerved by the idea of Goblins, but according to Dior these were becoming more common in Dungeons and thus she would be vigilant. But that didn't stop her from crossing her arms over her chest and feeling immeasurably uncomfortable in this moment. She also generally appreciated the synergy presented by working alongside Asher in this moment, and saw that if they worked cooperatively she could easily meet her goals.
Dior did indeed feel like he was very useless as one who would be able to help these new Magic Knights, but perhaps his time would come. Whether it did or not though, he would surely be seeing more amazing things from this pair of people, who had together already managed to accomplish something which should have taken someone closer to his caliber. "Well... I suppose that counts plenty toward proving yourselves. Good work, you two," he said as Junon descended. Asher was on the lookout at this point. There were still goblins that had yet to come into range by the time of their combined efforts, but they would still not pose any immediate threat. "Yours is great too! I was hoping you had something with that kind of clearance."
Dior cleared his throat, noting the obvious uncomfortable state Junon was in. This was to be expected, though. He knew exactly what could have happened with the goblin encounter, and what could still happen if any remaining goblins in the dungeon had the right opportunity. "Are you comfortable moving forward? Goblins are a menace; I won't judge you if you want to turn back and avoid further encounters."
It seemed they were to be congratulated on their combined efforts, and such acknowledgement caused a nod from Junon. Though people were always clamoring around her, claiming her to be amazing, it was good for her to have moments where she'd actually done something to be worthy of praise. "Arigatou, Silva-senpai..." she managed some of the sting of her discomfort with this situation starting to disappear. Of course, Asher was also seemingly excited by the amount of clearance that Junon had managed with the use of her spells. "Hai, we're a pretty good team," she acknowledged. Their combined uses of magic had created a large gap in the Goblins but they still weren't finished yet.
There was another matter though and that was the obvious and general discomfort that encountering such creatures should cause any female person. And of course, Junon had already considered that this Dungeon could be plagued with them and she might not get as lucky to face weaker ones as she had just now. There was a deep seated fear that something irreparably negative to happen while she was here, and surprisingly enough (or maybe not very surprising at all) Dior commented upon this. Giving the girl and out and being understanding of the situation. "Ano..." she thought about it for a few seconds, searching her conscience for the proper answer. "I don't want to turn back at all. I became a Magic Knight because I wanted to experience new things... I can't expect everything to make me feel comfortable," she said with a nod, her resolve would come in a shining moment next. "But I also wouldn't want to put anyone else through this either. If a lack of cowardice in this moment will help protect others, I can shoulder this burden for them." Junon wished to see the world and experience what it had to offer. If she could help preserve the comforts of others while she did this, she'd sacrifice herself for it, such was her nature besides her obvious free-spirited disposition.
"Hai," Asher agreed. If what they had just done was to be an indicator of their ability to work as a team, there was much greatness to be expected in the near and distant future. Access to that teamwork, though, was in question the moment Dior offered Junon a chance to turn away from the situation she was in from the moment they set foot in this dungeon. The girl's resolve was strong when she accepted the conditions of the dungeon, and Asher followed suit. "I agree. The quicker we clear this dungeon and make it go away, the quicker we make sure nobody else has to deal with at least the things in this dungeon. We'll just have to keep an eye out so nothing bad happens," he said, understanding what the goblins were intending, and frankly - given Junon's appearance and general ensemble choices - why they would be so adamant as to ignore the male threats to them and the dungeon. Since he was still wearing the large cloak he'd donned before the entrance exam, Asher decided to rid himself of it and hold the article out for Junon, simultaneously revealing something Dior recognized beyond a shadow of a doubt: a pair of triple-feathered accessories complimenting the boy's hair on either side of his face, previously masked by the cloak's slightly risen hood. "Here. If you put this on, you might not be able to move as well, but... maybe it'll help?"
Dior could not be more satisfied with these two as recruits. "Definitely Silver Eagles. No ifs, ands, or buts. Let's go, before the rest of that horde catches up." The leader of this little entourage stepped forward, but lagged his pace just enough to allow Junon to take the lead whether she took Asher's cloak or not. Even if she had the willpower to endure this, he imagined traumatizing would be an understatement for whatever happened if the goblins got to her, so he thought it best to bring up the rear henceforth. Besides, these two youngsters had already proven themselves capable of handling anything that came their way with the ability of a seasoned Magic Knight.
It was put forth by Asher that Junon's resolve to finish this Dungeon was matched by him at least. They seemed to share a wavelength about finishing it up for the good of others even over their own supposed comfort. Of course, Asher took this a step beyond the norm, offering the lass his cloak and as such disrobing himself partially in an aim to help her out. He figured her attire was for her freedom of movement and it was, but such an offer outright warmed her heart. "Hai hai, arigatou gozaimasu, Asher-kun. I'll take this and don't worry, I don't necessarily need to move to get the best use out of my magic," she said knowing this to be the truth because she was a witch and understood how magic worked and flowed on a primal level. A few seconds of downtime would see the girl covered for the rest of their journey through the dungeon and she took up the middle between the two brothers as they moved. Her general idea to provide ranged support in the form of wind based attacks to either who found themselves in need of it.
With all of this taken care of, there was a comment by Dior that these two were indeed the kinds of individuals suited to be part of the Silver Eagles. It seemed however short their time was together, he'd seen something he liked in this duo. A smile came to Junon's face as she nodded her head. "Hai, arigatou gozaimasu, Silva-senpai~" she seemed bemused, but was able to control herself enough to fall in line behind Asher. She'd prepare to use wind based bullets which seemed to hover in the air around them, controlled by the tips of each of her fingers, which she would use to lash out at any approaching goblins while they made their way through to the next area. This would happen fairly regularly even without the Goblins fully recognizing where the threat was coming from. Now would be the time that one would get to see what the teamwork of these two teens was actually like.
"Good. I'll have a little more control over my spells, though, so I'll be able to provide more support." Asher moved forward with the others, eventually finding himself at the front of the line. Dior had expected Junon to be ahead of both males, but now that he thought more about his own positioning and the others' magical abilities, he realized this would likely work out better. As they passed through the dungeon, Asher remained ever at the ready. Goblins continued to assault them as they made their way, but Junon's wind bullets blasted them as they came. It seemed the roles would be inverted from their previous example of teamwork. Dior took note of every goblin struck by wind, crashing against the walls of the corridors they traversed, before ultimately being impaled by a varying number of light shards. Over time, the halls deeper within the dungeon began to look like more gruesome versions of the entry hall. During this leg of the journey, Asher revealed exactly what he meant when stating he now had more control over his spells. His arms were outstretched, moving with every shard to guide them to their target with greater speed and accuracy than what was previously seen, though these traits were in no way lacking before. Eventually though, one of the corridors opened into a large, circular room with a chandelier-lit ceiling... where the floor should be. Gravity was also inverted and simultaneously lacking in this room, resulting in Asher floating slowly toward the upward - and spiked - floor. "Hmm..."
Junon and Asher's organization and plan of attack might have seemed opposite to what Dior had thought they should do, but it seemed to work out for the better. As none were ever touched nor did any seem to escape the massacre that what this duo moving through the Dungeon. All seemed to be going well as they littered the corridors with the bodies of various Goblins. Junon herself took note of the extreme level of control which Asher demonstrated. "Sugoi!" she mentioned absently at the flecks of light used to help eviscerate all of the creatures they encountered for a large duration of time. Of course, the fact that the two so efficiently dispatched their own challenges meant that Dior himself was left merely to observe what they did. Upon entering the room with the inverted gravity Junon as well began to float upwards managing only to orient herself by looking for the winds around her person. The balls of air she'd previously been using to kill Goblins were shifted into large stepping stones, one of which she landed upon and stuck to as the wind of the ball seemed to suck her towards it. "Ano, if we bounce between these, we should be able to head..." her eyes shifted around the room looking for the next large source of mana they should be approaching. "There..." she mentioned pointing a finger towards the only door on the other side of the room which happened to be upside and aligned with the spiked floor while not also being spiked itself. In order to help Asher out on this journey a ball of air would appear under him as well to help him orient himself towards the path she'd made for herself, as well as keeping him from sinking toward that spiked ceiling/floor or whatever it technically was.
Asher kept his eyes trained on the spiked floor as he floated toward it, but Junon seemed to be formulating some sort of escape plan involving another route with high mana density. He felt something was strange, though. Deciding to follow his gut instinct, he gambled a bit by flying around the wind sphere Junon put beneath him to clear its path. He didn't need a hand in balancing himself anyway, and he planned on doing something a bit... different. In the meantime, Dior assumed it was the general consensus that Junon's plan would be followed. Both of the others seemed to have greater mana perception than himself, after all. He followed the guided path to where Junon claimed their course should take them, while Asher fell behind and continued moving toward the spikes. 'The mana is stronger over there, but... I wonder...' he thought as he stopped himself from moving just above the spikes.
The additional corridor discovered by Junon was spike-free indeed. On the other hand, the shadows that darkened as the path continued managed to achieve such a pitch black state for one reason alone: the darkness harbored a far greater goblin threat than this group had experienced thus far. The horde down this path were of a greater size than the norm, larger even than humans. Beyond that, they were quite muscular, and came equipped with anti-magic armor segments and magic weapons such as spiked clubs, hook swords, claws, etc.
As Junon began to follow her own path she noted that Asher didn't seem as keen to take the same route. It made her a bit more cautious than the norm, especially considering what she knew to be inhabiting this particular dungeon. Even so... there was also the matter of the excruciating darkness which lived within that corridor and as such she didn't immediately to go through. Asher hadn't taken her help either, and though she liked to do what she wanted, she wouldn't ignore obvious signs especially by one so talented. "Hm, you don't seem to want to go in there. That makes me not want to go in there, though I am pretty sure the room we are looking for is past that corridor," she said getting a rather ominous feeling as she stopped two wind hops before the door, stopping the path of Dior as well. "What do you want to do?" she asked aloud, mostly of Asher but technically of Dior as well, given he was their senior and had more experience. The way she saw it, they either broached the darkness with him in the lead, because reasons. Or they could potentially try and draw out whatever was in there and use the current environment of this room to their advantage in killing them before moving on. That being thought, Junon also knew she could be a bit singular minded and as such didn't want to potentially lead herself or others into unnecessary danger.
The longer Asher thought about the dungeon thus far, the stranger he found this place. He stared at the spikes in front of him for quite some time before turning around to view the chandelier at the other end of the inverted room. When he looked this way, he realized something very interesting. "Hmm..." As he pondered, he looked to Junon, who was of the belief that their goal was down the darkened corridor. Asher focused his senses on that path, and nodded. "I think it's that way too, but... I also think it isn't. I'm not sure..."
"Well, there isn't much to be done. We have to push forward through the trials," Dior interjected. He took his position at the opening to the new corridor, expecting the others to join him in traversing it. Asher, however, looked toward Junon while Dior wasn't looking, and smiled. Another ball of light was produced by the lad, and as he held it out against the black spikes, they disappeared as if they were only shadows. This left holes in their places, which conveniently lined up with the segments of the chandelier. Beams of light spread between the holes and chandelier, and Asher was caught right between them by the magic light. Then, suddenly, he vanished as if he'd been dragged into the light itself...
Dior turned around to view the lad just as he saw the light through his periphery. When he looked and witnessed the disappearance of his brother, his eyes widened. "Asher! What happened!?"
Asher seemed to be in deep thought as Junon posed her question. It would be Dior who answered, claiming that they needed to face their challenges head on. It was rather obvious that the Goblin threat and it's menacing potential was for her, but... Asher seemed to have something else on his mind. Junon watched as he interacted with the spikes atop the floor. And when he exposed them to light they disappeared. This allowed the light from the chandelier to spread easily which moved him an immense speed so that he vanished from this place. The burst of light seemed to catch the attention of Dior who seemed to be distraught at the lad's sudden disappearance. Junon knew all she needed to know about the lad given the peacefulness of his smile before he disappeared. At the question posed to her by Dior she smiled. Staring at the movements of the mana around them which she assumed to be the wind, feeling it thereafter.
"He didn't seem like he was afraid, he used the light and it moved him. You guys are awesome siblings, worrying after him like that... I'm a little jealous," she said calmly. "Don't worry... he's still in the Dungeon," she was able to discern this even through the density of the mana by way of the wind and the warm feeling in her chest. "I think he's just further in maybe he's going to find something cool!" she stated seeming enthused by the idea. She figured the lad as enough like her that his own element didn't hurt him in the least. She had nothing to worry about, except that the lad might find something exceptional before her. "But I am fairly certain since we don't have light magic, the only way we can look for him is facing the Goblins in that corridor, Sliva-senpai," she said with a curt nod.
With his brother gone, Dior temporarily lost his clear mind for progression. That is, until Junon replied to his worries with her own observations of what happened. A sigh escaped the older male. So long as the boy was in the dungeon and alive, he could move forward in a way that didn't involve tearing up the surrounding area until finding Asher, but he needed the lad to be a bit less adventurous in such moments. "Kuso. I guess it can't be helped. Let's go," he said, wasting no further time before moving into the dark corridor. Within moments, though, the dark areas throughout the dungeon ahead of these two became illuminated, revealing the goblin horde in front. Luckily, this gave Dior a good enough look at them to tell how much more difficult they would be. "Those armor segments protect them against magic. It would take a lot of power, or a lot of precision to take out their vitals, and this hall is just narrow enough for their size that it would take too long to mow them down."
In spite of his words, Dior took the lead with a casual stroll forward. The goblins seemed to think this laughable, but Dior himself only had a few words of advice for Junon. "Stay as close to me as possible," he said as his grimoire opened to its first page. "Suigin Mahō: Gin no Ame." Dior had noticed that though the corridor was relatively narrow, it was also tall enough to accommodate the size of these particular goblins. As such, he utilized this spell to cause drops of mercury to rain down from above in the area surrounding him, but keeping clear a small radius around his body where he expected Junon to stay. The density of Dior's mercury magic was great enough that even the goblins' anti-magic armor stood no chance of saving them. In the end, Dior was casually stepping over the fallen and mangled corpses of these creatures, expecting Junon to be ready to guide at any moment.
A smile came to Junon's face as the man with her stated that they should simply move on then, but he accepted her logic and presumably her promise of the lad's safety. Strangely enough, soon after his revelation the darkest reaches of the Dungeon became illuminated, giving the hallway they'd entered more light than it had originally. Upon going inside, Junon saw larger than human normal Goblins with weapons and strange pieces of armor. This turned into something of a lesson in Goblins from the senior member of the Sliver Eagles. The information given by Dior led Junon to believe that it was possible to kill the beings within with a powerful move or they needed to be precise. She hadn't gotten a full handle down on precision just yet due to the nature of the wind, but... knowing this sort of information it would definitely be something she put into practice. Still it seemed she was in need of following orders as Dior took a casual pace in front of her much to the laughter of the Goblins. She wasn't one to argue in this particular case so she tagged along close behind enough for this to not be considered an invasion of the man's personal space, but still remain in the safety zone created by his magic.
Beyond this, it seemed that he would be the one to use his magic for the first time since making their mode of transportation. Junon's eyes widened as she saw what she could only describe as an intense rain made of heavy metallic liquid which rained down upon the Goblins in such a way as to render their armor all but useless. Given this, the casual stroll of Dior seemed to be completely and utterly normal. "Sugoi, Silva-senpai... that's really amazing," the girl murmured. Whatever she thought of her own skills or abilities, she could fully respect those of others. And this man's magic, combined with his precise use of it, let her know how exactly he'd become the Vice-Captain of such an illustrious group. As they walked she'd gently nudge him towards taking the necessary turns. She guided them through the darkened corridor as it began to give way to light. Strangely though it had seemed straight his hallway was a path of elaborate turns filled with goblins, darkness, and dense mana. But soon, the darkness was giving way to light and the the goblins were decimated by the magic of the Vice-Captain of the Silver Eagles. All that was left was for her to discern the direction of the high mana object which seemed to be the cause of this particular dungeon.
Mercury continued to rain down upon the goblins as Dior, guided by Junon's occasional nudges, walked through the army of beasts with much purpose. The journey soon led to an open room filled with light and calm breezes, with two small segments of a broken bridge meant to connect to a platform with a massive door at the center of the room. Interestingly enough, there were no goblins in this area at all. The only visible obstacle remaining was the missing bridge in a room with mana so dense, an incredibly finite control of magic would be required for even simple spells. Still, Dior walked forward through the final remnants of his mercury rain, looking out into the enchanted forest-style chamber. From his own observation, there should have been no light in this area either, but small sprites akin to fireflies floated through the air all over. What's more, Asher sat atop the massive door at the chamber's center, looking out unto his squad mates. "Ohayou! I found a way to get us here!"
Mercury rained down on Goblins and Junon didn't have to lift a finger other than retaining the concentration to lead them through this portion of the Dungeon. Eventually they would come to find an open chamber filled with light and an enchanted forest and in the middle of it, what was to the best of Junon's approximation likely the treasure room. As she looked up the door from the safety of one side of the broken bridge which led to the treasure room she noted Asher perched atop said door. She had indeed been right about his safety and his placement further inside of the Dungeon. She smiled when was greeted by him and waved to him from across the way. "Ohayou!~ Did you find something cool without me?" she asked of him lightly perturbed but in a decent mood because of the lad's obvious safety. There was quite a bit of an explanation in store and the matter of brainstorming how they would get across this gap. The only way Junon considered it, it simply wasn't easily passable though she might have tried flying across the gap that didn't seem pertinent given the sorts of things that seemed to be happening within this dungeon. Perhaps it was good that Asher had gone ahead, and might be able to fix their quandary.
Dior's eyes widened. He glanced up to see where the voice of Asher came from, and he couldn't be more relieved. He remained curious as to how Asher ended up in this room ahead of him, but judging by what the boy said, he had an explanation in store. First, Asher hopped down from the door, revealing that he now carried a strange staff whose head harbored a set of ribbons matching his very strange hair. Speaking of the boy's hair, that odd coloration had now grown well beyond his ends, having become more like highlights. "I figured out how this dungeon works, then I found this!" he said excitedly. This prompted Dior to look on strangely. "What do you mean you figured out how the dungeon works?"
Asher continued moving closer to the others, soon reaching the end of the broken bridge from his side of the chamber. "This dungeon's been messing with us since we walked in. You said before we got here, the treasure room is always in the center of a dungeon. We were moving so long, we should have been here a long time ago, but... I noticed the dungeon wants people to keep taking the obvious path since it started. If we'd kept straight in that first hall, we would have never found the real entrance. That first set of goblins came from both sides to push us forward once we got inside. Most importantly, it's been telling us the whole time that the obvious good choice was the dark areas. It pushes you forward, makes you take the dark path, then sends you somewhere else when you think you're going the right way... but you're really always walking through a death trap with the best path hidden right where you don't think you should be going. Look!" he said, lifting his own gaze to the sky. High above them, there was a scale birds-eye view of the entire dungeon's layout. All the places they had been so far were part of an elaborate labyrinth meant to keep them on their journey forever, just like the entryway. Had they pushed through the first wave of goblins to either side of them, they would have passed through one of two waterfalls leading through a full series of shorter paths that they could have found at any point during their journey, including the one he found. One could also note that at various places in the dungeon, the very same light sources present in this chamber were scarce, but there nonetheless to guide the way here. "I got sucked up in that upside-down room, and I kinda... fell down here. Or... up here. I'm not sure."
"Sugoi, you found something cool and your hair went crazy!~" the girl said taking note of the visuals. More stunning yet was the explanation from Asher that he'd figured out how the Dungeon worked, and Junon took this in while looking up at the giant map above them. Junon's giant teal eyes were concentrating on the entirety of the map while Asher gave his explanation, and to be fair she was quite stunned. The map itself showed several paths they could have taken and the pieces of the path they did end up taking. Some of them were shorter, and some of them were longer, but it mostly depended on what was there when they went through them. She figured that in moments where they trusted their guts and fully acknowledged their on affinities and skill sets, they were able to move freely in a direction and in moments where they did not do this they were punished by the surroundings. Beyond all this, such a design would imply that they shouldn't have ever turned back, and if she had tried to do that before she would have been stuck without the ability to find her way out. "Sou ka, so this whole dungeon is like a test for whoever comes in here. And you definitely need two people with complimentary skill sets to complete it," she said aloud. "You lit the way here, it was harder to figure it out until the lights came through, I think we could have been trapped there for quite a while if not for that..." she said thinking about it. It'd taken her a supreme amount of concentration to determine the 'right way' to move in that space while abusing the brute force of Dior's magic. It wasn't until she started following the light magic provided by Asher that she found it easy.
"So from this point, the last space is a test too. We actually have to make it from here to that door..." she mused aloud for the group at large, feeling those gentle breezes across her person and noting their direction. She also used her eyes to actually look around, not for the flow of mana, but instead at the light versus the darkness or rather places she assumed the darkness would have been. She saw the enchanted forest for what it was, a potential trap. "One would assume if you can't cross the bridge you descend down into the forest and work your way back up," she said. "But instead of doing that... we should take the path that doesn't look like it wants to be traveled. And follow what we know to be positive," she said. In Asher's case, he'd followed the light he'd had an affinity for, and easily found his way to the door they spoke of. In Junon's case, she'd let them out of the endless loop entrance by noting the wind and lack thereof. This led the girl to the conclusion that she should just follow the wind as she wished to now. She felt the gentle breeze allowing her eyes and to follow the flow of mana towards a path of small stones which barely seemed large enough to properly support a single person which seemed to jut out from the sides of the walls up, towards apparently nothing, but... experience told her there was something there. "I know where to go, Silva-senpai..." she said seeming to be confident in her choice she began walking taking the first step up a small stepping stone then immediately hoping to another and another. Each step she took the breeze picked up a little more and a little more. Until of course, she was standing in front of a wall with apparently no where to go. The gentle breeze seemed to slow right around this point, as if it was blocked by something. But she had an idea for that, and swirled the magic of the wind around her hand causing a gust of a breeze which would blow herself and any in her vicinity straight into the an air current which was created by the density of mana in this place, around and around twist and turns, it was as if wingless, controllable flight was taking place. But just as suddenly as it started, she was being lowered by the breeze onto the very same side of the bridge as Asher, from above. "Sugoi!"
"Hai! That's pretty much what I figured. Following the light got me here from that last area, but I feel like I kinda just fell through a crack to get here. I couldn't have gotten out of the entrance by myself; it was too dark!" True enough, Asher didn't feel as if his entry to the final chamber was fully legitimate. Upon entering, he stood upside-down in this area on the roof's map, and took the staff from a slot in the map's version of the treasure room. Doing that was what let him descend in the first place, but after Junon inspected the room in her own way, she found a path around that did not involve the destroyed bridge. Dior in his awestruck state followed the girl, considering she'd yet to lead him astray thus far. The trip around was relatively short for what one would come to expect in this place, but that was simply the nature of the dungeon. Following Junon's lead, Dior was also carried by the wind back down to the center of the chamber.
When the others arrived, Asher moved toward the giant gate. The time had come for him to unveil the purpose of the staff he'd taken, which he discovered himself only by realizing how the light sources in this chamber reacted to its movement, and Asher in general for whatever odd reason. His grimoire opened to a new page, which had been inscribed by the staff itself, as he stood before the door. "Hikari Seirei Mahō: Towa ni Rozasareta Risōkyō!" By Asher's spell, the light sources in the chamber converged upon his staff to gather their mana, then spread out to the door. This was the very magic which fueled this place, and was not at all limited by the mana density. The light interfaced with the door, causing the entire thing to glow brightly before simply fading away, revealing the true treasure room within. Small mountains of gold and valuable jewels filled the room, and just the same, there were various magic tools on podiums and even the piles of gold themselves.
As the technical leader of this mission, Dior likely should have been leading the way into the treasure room at this point, but something had thrown him for a loop, so to speak. Not only did this staff used by Asher look as if it belonged with him naturally, but the type of magic used by it was something Dior had never heard of. More shocks had come from this day than he expected out of a full year, and he certainly needed to have a few words with his elder sister/Captain about it... whenever he managed to recover.
Hearing the lad's words about his lack of legitimacy in entering this area led Junon to believe she'd been intended to be in the same place he'd been when he'd been moved by the light. Regardless, he was here now and had managed to get here, and thus help them get here, and that was really all that mattered. Still there was the matter of opening the door, which would happen strangely. After they landed, Junon turned to look upon the door, and saw instead, of a manner in which it could be appropriately opened, a new type of magic she'd never seen before. It effectively opened the door and was performed by the lad by way of his new magic tool, which seemed to have been crafted specifically for him. "Cool!~ That staff is really impressive, and it lets you use spirit magic. I've never seen anything like that before~" Junon mused.
The girl would only go on to be further stunned as she would soon find herself standing within the treasure room. She hadn't been told she couldn't explore, and given their track record, she figured if Dior wished to tell them off for exploring he would have done it already. She found herself peeking around various small objects. Picking up minor objects, looking at them, ogling them and the magical powers of the things seen in here. Obviously, since this place was still standing, everything that needed to be found, hadn't been found yet. As she picked up a random vessel which seemed to be making a sound. But when she picked it up, a small green light seemed to escape it. This led the girl to wandering about to follow the light, mostly because as it faded from sight it still felt a bit like the wind. She'd already learned the lesson that in this place, following her instincts was necessary and as such she walked around until she reached a spot where a golden plate was attached to the wall. Even so the small light faded into it and caused her brows to furrow. She held her hand against this and looked around the plate. She saw the shifting of the mana around it and assumed it to be the wind she'd originally felt. She made another wind bullet and touched the plate with it, causing it to dissolve. This would reveal a long tower like corridor with an open roof where the wind blew down and swirled. In the middle of the opening a podium with a scroll on it. She was drawn to it for reasons she couldn't explain, and as she approached it, her Grimoire began to glow. The scroll also began to glow, causing the young woman to open it and look at what was written there. Strangely, it was in no language she recognized, but the more she looked at it, the more it felt like it was familiar. The resonance between her Grimoire and this scroll reached an all time high until a bright flash of light ensued. This happened and by the time she opened her eyes to view the scroll, there was nothing written on it anymore. "Ano.... that's weird."
Asher took a side to Junon, intending to enter the treasure room together as they had entered the dungeon itself. "Hai. All the light in this dungeon comes from these little spirits. I think they're the only protection from the dungeon itself. It has to be, right? That's the only reason I can think of for why going between light and darkness is bad," he said, immediately prompting many of the light sprites to swarm around himself and the staff. Once they were inside, individual exploration became the focus. Asher himself had contact with multiple tools and artifacts, while Dior was content to wander aimlessly through the room. He had no interest at all in the contents of the dungeon; his only concern was claiming whatever would be useful to the Magic Knights and the Clover Kingdom, that no others might receive it. Junon would apparently be the one to take the final item of maximum value after she ran off by herself and discovered a scroll in a previously hidden room. The dungeon began to shake, and it did so more furiously by the second while Asher busied himself grabbing a few items to take with him. "We should get moving. I guess we're pretty much done here," Dior said as his mercury eagle manifested beneath him.
"Whatever the case, they seem to like you..." Junon said of the small light spirits. Perhaps she simply hadn't been seeing them before now, but she was getting a fairly clear idea about them now. They had entered the treasure room together and gone about searching, of course in her solo search Junon had found something and she wasn't at all sure what it did, but it was obviously the last thing meant to be found as the entirety of the building began to shake letting them know it was about the time to escape. Soon enough she was running out of her previously hidden room with an incredulous look of innocence on her face. Though she'd been told if they found everything of value the Dungeon would disappear, she didn't expect it to start the process of disappearing so quickly. She soon found herself beside Asher grabbing up a couple of random objects as well, which she'd liked the look of before heading to the mercury eagle created by Dior, she'd take a seat on the back of it absently and be fine with their potential to take off, assuming of course, she might need to be useful to lead them out of the Dungeon as well. "Hai hai, ready to go~" she chimed seeming to be no worse for wear after the hardships of the Dungeon.
At their senior's suggestion, Asher snatched up only a few additional items to store on his person. He then began moving toward the eagle as the dungeon started crumbling around them, but one more glimmer caught his eye. Whatever the small item he saw was, it seemed very much different compared to everything else he'd picked up. He felt as if he needed to double back and pick it up, so he did just that. "Hurry up, Asher!" Dior said as rubble began falling around them, forcing the mercury eagle to sway in the sky to avoid impact. Asher did hurry, but the eagle was being forced to move higher and higher due to the erupting ground as well, and the rubble was beginning to pile up between him and the others.
"Asher!" Dior called out. He continued flying higher, but made every effort to try and circle around to find the younger male. Asher could not be seen by Dior from any angle he managed while still avoiding rubble, but soon enough, the teen rocketed out from below. He was standing atop the staff he'd taken from this dungeon, as if it were a broom he rode with reckless abandon. A quick ascension took him higher than the eagle, surrounded by sprites. "I'm fine! Let's go!" he called out while continuing to ascend. Dior followed suit, opening his grimoire as they moved toward the ceiling. "Junon! I'll make a weak point; you take care of the rest! Suigin Mahō: Gin no Yari!" Pointing at the ceiling, Dior created a spear of mercury to shoot into the ceiling, easily creating a hole all the way through to the outside world. The spear disappeared once the hole was complete. Dior figured this was more than enough for Junon to abuse the space and open it enough for them all to escape through it.
Asher seemed to be lagging behind just a bit, still Junon seemed less than concerned about this, she was still reeling from her most recent experience. But there was no time to focus on this, the yelling of Dior caught her attention and she looked up to see the man shooting a spell upward in order to give them the freedom to leave the dungeon straight out of the top. A grin came to the girl's face as she duly noted that he seemed to have enough faith in her abilities to let her help with their escape. Her own grimoire opened, strangely to a page she'd never seen before this moment but it shared the same unique language as the scroll she'd so recently picked up. And surprisingly she could read it now...
Her grimoire glowed and from it sprang a creature which looked like a small child with light blond hair and insect wings. It was distinctly female and looked up at the soft point created by Dior and smirked in a way that could be considered cocky. Moving its hand away from its face, it blew a kiss towards the area, as Junon held her hands out also manipulating wind. Junon spoke strangely the words which created this spell she'd used for the first time. "Kaze Seirei Mahō : Shirufu no Ibuki," doing so created a giant bullet of air, which did much more than simply expand the already existing opening. It more than practically, blew away the ceiling all the way through, decimating debris. In addition, it would literally clear this group completely for takeoff with no worries for anything happening to them in the meantime. After this was done, Junon managed to stare with wide eyes as the little spirit turned to make eye contact with Asher, winking before it yawned seeming to lack amusement before it disappeared. Whatever the case, Junon found herself staring at her open grimoire and the small creature completely stunned before it disappeared from sight.
Asher was out ahead for only a few moments before Dior's eagle took the lead in their rise as a group. This ended up being for the best, especially for Asher. Dior's mercury spear penetrated the dungeon ceiling before Junon followed his lead, simultaneously proving that very lead to be virtually useless with her application of very potent spirit magic. Dior hadn't expected another surprise to come from within this dungeon, but he now had reason to assume what Junon had obtained from the treasure room to complete the dungeon.
Asher was less surprised by the spirit magic, considering what he'd seen since entering the dungeon's final chamber. He was still, however, impressed by the spell Junon was now capable of using, and he was feeling more of the rivalry she mentioned earlier as a result. The boy also caught a glimpse of the spirit who was to blame for this development. In viewing the spirit, Asher realized he was presently being winked at by it. His eyes widened, and his face tinted very slightly. In no way was he sure how to interpret this sudden exchange, but the spirit vanished mere moments after regardless. More pressing yet was the fact that they were presently flying through the roof of the dungeon, out into the open world where they would follow a straight path back to the Silver Eagles' base.
