The dungeon’s entrance looked like the opening of a giant cave. Several buildings were on the left and right sides of that opening. The nearest buildings looked like official government buildings, and the others catered to different businesses. There were eateries, taverns, and even hotels.
Anton wondered where he could find adventurer groups that he could join. Based on the reactions of the adventurer groups when he talked to Ruel and his friends, healers were sought-after professionals, and since he would declare himself as such, he knew that he would never encounter any difficulties in joining a group. Should he seek them out in one of those official government buildings or the tavern?
He decided to check out the tavern first, and when he entered the establishment, it was the same as the time he met Ruel and his friends. Several groups of people were seated at the tables scattered in the tavern, and several waiters walked around delivering mugs of ale or other forms of alcoholic beverages to people. The groups consisted of different species and genders, and their attire made the place look like an anime convention.
Based on listening to the conversation of the people, Anton surmised that most of the groups were beginners, which was logical since this place was the entrance to the beginner dungeon.
Anton approached the nearest group, which consisted of a male dwarf, a female elf, and a male human. Based on their clothing, the dwarf appeared to be a frontline warrior since he was wearing heavy armor. The elf was an archer since her bow was beside her, and the human was sporting a sword. The three look like your stereotypical adventurer in an anime, that Anton almost looked around for a camera.
“Hello, may I join you?” Anton asked when he neared the three adventurers.
“Who are you, and why do you want to join us?” The elf asked.
“My name is Andrew, and I’m a paladin. I wanted to join a group temporarily to delve into the dungeon starting from the second floor. My healing powers are powerful, and not only that, I can boost a group’s offensive capabilities greatly.”
Anton planned to only use two auras that he would switch with each other. A max level Prayer Aura for healing and a level five Fanaticism Aura to boost the combat abilities of his group.
When the three heard that he had healing capabilities, they immediately offered the last seat to him at their table.
“My name is Flint, and this elf friend of ours is called Ariana, and that blasted human there is called Norman. Norman and I are Warriors, and Arian is an Archer. All of us are level one according to the dungeon entrance,” Flint the dwarf said.
“Are you planning to join a group as a permanent member?” Ariana asked.
“No. I plan to join different groups every time I delve into the dungeon. I don’t want a long-term commitment. You see, I just arrived from Rendindura, and my friends and relatives died from the undead, so my emotions are still a little raw when it comes to finding permanent attachments, so I decided that to heal myself and that requires time. I need to work, but not to make any friends yet.”
“I sympathize. A lot of my kin also died because of an attack by monsters, and it did took me a while to attach myself to a group. At first, I only did it because I realized that I couldn’t grow as an adventurer working alone, and then I met Flint. Norman joined us at a later time,” Ariana said.
“We are a new group. Just a year old, and we only delved the second floor twice, and both times we had to retreat in defeat,” Norman said.
“As I’ve said, my healing powers are truly great, and I can even regrow limbs, so with me as part of your group, you will all become formidable enough to tackle the second floor. Just a reminder, if I’m using my spell to increase your offensive powers or to heal, I’m useless as a warrior,” Anton said, limiting himself so as not to encourage any group’s dependence on him.
“We can agree for you to join us just one time but remember that a delve may last up to several days depending on the instance that we get once we entered the second floor,” Flint said.
Anton remembered that Tobias informed him that dungeons worked as an instance dungeon, and depending on which dungeon, a floor could have at the maximum more than a thousand instances. The wizards theorize that the beginner dungeon had one hundred to two hundred instances per floor, but that research was inconclusive because it was based on the number of groups that entered a specific floor. The wizards didn’t bother to get the specific number, and they didn’t even provide the reason why.
“We plan to start delving later, but since you’re here, we can start now as long as you’re already prepared,” Flint added.
Anton told the three that he was already prepared and would prefer to start delving as soon as possible. Since he didn’t plan to join the group as a permanent member, his presence would just be noted at the entrance, and he was a temporary member, so no need to register at the guild. He would have to pay his entrance fee, though, for a gold coin.
Based on the expression of the three adventurers, a gold coin seemed very valuable to them, and he wondered if they were poor or if he was behaving as a prodigal rich man. Norman said that they would have to go to their room in the hotel to get their bags, so Anton could spend the time getting his. When he told them that he had a spatial item that contained all his things, the three couldn’t hide the look of envy on their faces.
Anton also informed him that he had enchanted items that produce drinking water, an item that would warm them, and could use it to cook food, and another item that would lower the temperature in a place so they could rest more comfortably. The reactions of the three when they heard that he had those items were a little severe, in Anton’s opinion.
“Are you a noble?” Norman asked.
“The enchanted items were entrusted to me for safekeeping by some of my friends, but since they’re gone, I guess they’re mine now. I’ll wait for you three by the dungeon’s entrance.”
Flint the dwarf, Arian the elf, and Norman went to their hotel to get their things while Anton walked slowly, studying everything in sight, as he headed to the dungeon’s entrance. The hotel looked fine, so he guessed that renting a room there was okay. The food at the restaurant looked okay as well. Since he was moving so slowly, the three caught up to him before he reached the place where they needed to pay for entering the dungeon.
The government office that was built by the dungeon’s entrance simply took their coins and wrote their group name in some sort of notebook, and that was it. Anton appreciated the simplicity and efficiency. After that, the four went to the dungeon entrance, and Flint, holding the warp key, which was a simple statuette that was given to them by the guild staff, entered the entrance first, followed quickly by the rest of them.
Apparently, the warp key would activate the entrance for a minute, and those who entered would arrive at the same instance.