Chapter 88: Seventeen vol.2

As much as the two could have spent glaring at one another, flexing their might at each other, both Rose and Lilias were easily tamed people; in the sense that neither of them would do something so needless that wasted time. Elsa watched speechlessly as the two girls tacitly agreed to simply continue what they came here for as quickly as they had butted heads.

"Let's go to the dungeon, shall we?" Lilias asked, walking to leave the application 'room' of the Dungeon Association, the android waving them away with a smile as she turned her eyes to her companions. "Have you two read the information it sent?"

Elsa glanced at her pad's display. ". . .this long block of text? Heck no I haven't, what do you think I am, a supercomputer?"

"I already memorized them," Rose stated.

". . .goddammit."

"?"

Just as such, the three began walking the glass compounds of the circular building. The place was massive. They passed by teams of people of all sorts of armor. They passed by people who hovered on boards. And they passed by even vehicles that had no problem riding on the oddly non-slippery floor. Lilias took the lead, checking the map that had previously been downloaded on her pad. Elsa scratched and ruffled her head as she read the information the android had provided them

"The heck?" The girl muttered.

While Rose simply took her pace in mild thought.

A few things surprised her when it actually came time to enter the dungeon. Mostly, it was the peculiar rules and mechanics the android had sent to her pad. Rose had memorized them all in a  swift moment, but they were interesting nonetheless.

'A master-slave sigil. . .' She thought with some mild irony, 'I'll be the centerpiece in what's akin to a network between the other 4 people I so choose.'

From entering to leaving, to storing mana orbs, though it stated no one knew exactly how the dungeon's mechanics actually worked, everyone would be granted a sigil when they stepped inside. Yet, that of a Geared was different from anyone else's, they wielded what was referred to by some as a 'master sigil' but by many more as a 'leader sigil.' They were the centerpiece of a party of 5 unless they chose to be under another Geared.

Then there were the rules to remember:

[Number 1: You cannot escape or advance from a floor without first defeating its Guardian or, alternatively, reaching a 'door.' Some are hidden, some are easy to find.

Number 2: A 'floor' can be as small as a room or as large as what is akin to a large biome.

Number 3: The dungeon will test you, physically, psychologically, it will break you if you are not careful.

Number 4: Some floors include other entrees of the dungeon. You can partner with them, but being careful is also a choice. Some others will break apart your team for its duration.

Number 5: Never lose track of the leading Geared within your team. They are both your lifeline and the only ones able to tap into the various mechanics of the dungeon. Without them, you will perish.]

"Isn't all of this just like a video game?" Elsa remarked after glancing over the notes. She had lived her life in the slums, but it wasn't as if such things as entertainment didn't exist. Specifically, she thought the rules of the dungeons and their mechanics sounded damn well like a video game.

"The dungeons came first. Any games you played that resemble them merely copied from them," Lilias shrugged, "Though, the similarities between how dungeons behave and how we might go about designing one leads some to believe them artificial creations, or, rather, technology more advanced than what we currently possess."

At those words, Rose raised a brow at the dragonian. "I've wondered, but how do you know so much?"

Lilias opened her lips. Paused. She closed her eyes and averted her attention back forward, black hair drifting as her tail floated above the ground.

"You two really must have never heard of the Aunbren clan," She said, "And I suppose that's alright."

Before either of the two could reply to her, she turned.

"We're here."

Rose looked at the area before them.

She saw a cream-colored wall rise up and stretch in a circle as far as her eyes could gleam. Then, around it, there was ground made of metal that stretched for miles upon miles but broke apart like puzzle pieces, lifting people and vehicles up and around. Some went straight for the dungeon, others rose higher before doing so. Underneath the breaking ground that hovered back and forth, bringing people closer to the dungeon and farther from it, new metal took the place of old ones.

In this location, the sky was fully open for them to see and the building of glass was around them.

"Wha-" Elsa's lips hung.

It looked like they had entered into another world when all they had actually done was crossed from one side of the association's building and came out of the other side.

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"Let's go," Lilias said and stepped forward, "Quickly."

The two did the same, clinking against metal.

Automatically, the floor below them broke apart into a circle and they found themselves lifting from the ground and joining the array of those already in the air. Rose and Elsa glanced around them, noticing that a shield had covered the trio in a bubble and that they were advancing towards the dungeon at a remarkable rate.

"What is all this?" Rose asked and Elsa nodded beside her, twice, "Yeah yeah, this looks sweet but what really is this?"

Lilias looked at their bewilderment and sighed.

"Amongst the 9 great cities, Alos is the only one which has a system as advanced as this. In most of the other 8, you won't find something this complex designed and made to simply shuffle people back and forth from the dungeon," She said, staring forward, "This building in of itself houses a core which makes this all possible. If I am not mistaken, the ground only breaks apart and lifts those with pads registered into the system, and it is intelligent enough to know when a group is clustered together as one party like ours."

Rose back forward. In her golden eyes, she counted thousands of pieces of the ground like theirs within the air, moving forward. They were of different sizes, from singular ones with only one person aboard to ones with large groups and vehicles.

"Efficient," She said, voicing her singular thought.

That was the impression she had received ever since she entered Alos. From its flying cars to its drones, to its registration and navigation, and now to how the dungeon was actually reached. Every passing moment, she felt like the city and all its mechanics was pushing forward with the sole motto of 'efficiency.'

"Indeed," Lilias agreed, "And that's the major reason Alos keeps advancing past other cities. It is, quite simply, very efficient. Like an ecosystem unto itself."

A distance that seemed like miles upon miles was crossed within a minute.

The surface they stood upon soon touched the cream wall of the dungeon as a small hole opened up before the dome of mana that had covered them. As it was now her turn to lead, Rose unhurriedly stepped forward and touched the dungeon through that opening, feeling just a mild tinge of coldness seep into her hand.

It was a surreal thing to make contact with something she had once only been able to glance at within the slums.

"Are you two ready?" She glanced back.

Lilias gripped the twin swords at her waist and nodded. "Ready."

Elsa grinned, fists connecting. "I'm fucking psyched."

Rose glanced at the gun at Elsa's waist. Of course, she had decided the girl was better off keeping the thing, despite the risk of such poor quality armaments malfunctioning when wielded in conjunction with others like it. That, she concluded, was a much better risk than that of her friend meeting a foe she couldn't punch through.

She nodded and began following the instructions she had already memorized. She thought about Elsa. She thought about Lilias. She thought about everything on them. Then, she thought about entering the dungeon as she spoke a command.

"Dungeon - Access - Floor 1."

A voice came, sounding somewhat mechanical, yet still noticeably feminine.

[Authorizing access.]

Rose thought for a moment that she recognized that voice. Yet, she also thought that being a person who would know immediately who a voice belonged to if she actually did, that wasn't the case.

[Authorization completed.]

[Beginning transmission.]

The back of her right hand shined white as a circle of the same color floated down from the air until it passed through the trio and ended at the surface of the floating floor.

[It is good to see you once more, Rose Igris Blake. Though you are yet perfect.]

Rose tilted her head as that voice entered her head. 'What?'

[Entering floor 1.]

The three disappeared with a flash of light igniting the circle beneath them.