It is fairly common for the gate room to be a safe space inside a closed-space dungeon.
"You guys should start setting up a small base while Alen keeps an eye on the surrounding areas" Vi said with an air of confidence only the boss of a group would have.
"And what are you gonna do?" Enrick quickly asked the demi-human girl that held a big staff.
"Agatha and I'll take the usual safety measures"
Vi's staff and Agatha's book started to glow.
"Oh great light that grants miracles, the same light that guides us on our path and shows us a brighter future! Bless this space with your divine protection and prevent monsters from approaching us"
"Dreadful dark of the night that causes nightmares even to the weakest and strongest of warriors alike. Hide this room under your veil and prevent anyone from entering by showing them what they truly fear"
"[Divine Room]"
"[Occult Room]"
The fastest one to start working was divine room, as a wave of light that expanded on a circular pattern through the whole room. Making it so that undead monsters instinctive avoid this room.
But, even though the occult room had been cast, it still didn't start working.
"First time seeing dark magic get used?" Asked Eusta as he quickly assembled a small table in the middle of the room.
"N-no... not really" I kept watching through the holes and main path, making sure no monsters attacked us by surprise.
In the year I spent with the [Crescent Moon], I managed to see Magnus cast some spells, so I'm used to dark magic taking longer to get going.
!!!
I managed to see a spider the size of a wolf poking through one of the holes.
Divine room only affects undead monsters, and spiders are classified under a different category.
I quickly grabbed a pair of throwing knives from my utility belt. Throwing one first, I managed to hit its abdomen and make it fall off.
"Take it out, I'll look to see if there're more!" I yelled as my eyes began to scan all the holes.
Once the spider fell to the ground inside the safe room, the first one to make a move was Enrick. Stomping on the writhing spider before thrusting his sword downwards, killing it in one blow.
"Eusta, defend Agatha so she can finish casting her spell!" The redhead ordered his friend as he removed the sword from the spider's dead body.
"On it!" With quick movements that betrayed his muscular build, he got next to the dark mage of the group and assumed a defensive stance with his axes.
"There!" I pointed to a hole behind Enrick that had a spider ready to jump.
The leader managed to turn around at the last second, blocking the spider with his shield.
But I also noticed three more spiders. Two of them are on the holes above us, while the other one is on a hole near the main path.
"There're two on the ceiling!" I yelled as I threw my second knife to the small spider on the hole near the main path. The spider quickly retreated inside the hole before my knife got to it.
"Tch"
"Purging light, disorient my enemies"
"[Shine]"
Mimicking a bat swinging motion, Vi launched upwards a small but bright ball that quickly gained altitude.
Once the ball of light was near the ceiling of the cave, it exploded, causing a blinding light and a loud sound that made both the ceiling spiders fall down.
"Ready!" Agatha yelled, and a mist formed on every hole of the room.
At that moment, both Eusta and I jumped to the two disoriented spiders on the ground.
"Haaa!" Eusta roared as he stroke down the spider with both of his axes, slicing it in two.
I used both of my daggers to slash repeatedly on the spider.
Once I killed the spider, I looked at Enrick and saw him slaming the spider with his shield to gain distance.
I planned on helping him, but Eusta threw his axe at the spider. It ended up getting stuck on the spider, almost killing it.
"Nice one, Eusta!" The leader said as he trusted his sword forward, piercing the almost dead spider and finally killing it.
"Those were all the spiders?"
Vi asked as she walked to stand next to Agatha.
"There're probably more on those holes! But thanks to Agatha's spell, they won't even get close to that mist" Eusta added, taking his axe out of the dead spider.
"Yeah, we're finally protected now" Enrick sheathed his sword.
"Well, I've gotta say that you impressed me Alen" Vi clapped and smiled at me.
"That was some quick acting" Eusta began tapping my back and laughing.
"I guess you were given the pass for a reasson" Enrick, while crossing his arms and looking away, also complimented me in his own way.
"..." The only one that didn't say anything was Agatha. She just looked at me with a frown. But once we she noticed that I looked at her, she quickly turned her head away.
"Thanks guys... I guess I do deserve a spot on the group after all" I grinned at Enrick.
"Don't get cocky just because you have a nice reaction time!" While he answered back with a loud and angry tone, I could feel bo actual hatred from him.
Eusta laughed loudly while Vi simply covered her chuckle with her hand.
"Well, we've definitely been needing someone fast on our group"
"Oh, don't start taking his side!"
"Eusta's right though, we're all really slow, and the added speed Alen brings is really useful"
"I don't care! He's only coming with us for this dungeon and never again"
"But what if director Goldenlaw tells me team up with you guys again?"
"Ack! We'd accept you... but against our will"
Eusta, Vi and I just laughed.
__________
Once we finished setting up the two backpacks to collect mana stones from the monsters, we were ready to start exploring.
Between us, we managed to arrange a formation that would work best for this dungeon.
Enrick's going on the front, acting as the first line of defense.
Behind him goes Eusta, in that position he can quickly hammer between the first line to attack and protect both girls that will go on the back line.
As for myself, I'll change between the first line with Enrick, and the mid line with Eusta, always checking behind us so that we get no surprise attack from behind.
I seemed to be working just fine.
I'd go ahead of them sometimes and scan the room before the spiders noticed me, then I'd go back and tell my teammates about the next room.
Then we'd go forward and take on the next room.
I could see the difference between them and me. While both boys managed to kill the spiders in one or two hits, I struggled at killing them.
The two girls mostly did quick and cheap spells to keep their mana full and not run out.
My abilities as a thief weren't that useful on this first floor, as spiders don't have items to steal, and the items were hidden behind cobwebs.
"Items are mostly useless on this floor" Eusta sighed as he started going down the stairs.
"Rusty daggers, worn down leather clothes... I hope the lower floors have something interesting"
Vi also sighed as we all made our way down to the second floor.
"How many floors does this dungeon have?" Enrick asked as we finally got to the final step and officially entered the second floor.
"Four floors"
"We should start seeing more undead and less spiders as we go lower, right?"
"We should, unfortunately..."
"What do you guys think the boss could be?" Eusta asked.
"A giant spider"
"What!? Enrick, if lower levels have undead, then the boss should also be an undead" the blonde held out her finger at the leader.
"I guess I didn't think about that"
____________
On the outside of the gate to the dungeon, the coachman that brought the teenagers to this dungeon sat on the front of his carriage.
"Haaa, nothing like a good and hot tea as I do nothing for an hour"
Thanks to the cold weather, his nose was pink, but he didn't care about the cold. To him, this was the perfect job.
He only has to take some kids to a dungeon and he gets to do nothing for an hour and most of the time, he doesn't need to get worried as the kids can easily clear these dungeons in time.
Most of the time, he even gives the kids more than an hour before he starts worrying about them.
The kids can have more fun, and he can rest even more.
"Those kids looked strong though"
The coachman sighed as he took a small sip of his tea.
"I hope they don't finish this dungeon quick, I'd rather be here than with my wife... but I'd rather be with my daughter than be here"
Another sigh escaped his mouth as he thought about spending time with his daughter.
But then, a sudden shake startled the man.
"Hm? Earthquake? At least it's a light one"
At first, he thought nothing about it. But the shaking and trembling got stronger and stronger by the second, to the point where his tea was starting to spill out of his cup.
"The hell?"
His teacup set he always brings here, the one his daughter painted on as a gift for him, fell all over the place, some on the snow and some on the carriage.
But what surprised him more wasn't the earthquake.
It was the change of the entrance that surprised him more than anything.
The stone that surrounded the wooden gate began cracking.
After a couple of seconds, the rocky surface shattered to reveal the purple tainted crystal underneath it.
"A-a-amethyst!!"
It's the first time that man saw something like that, a low-level dungeon that suddenly spiked up in difficulty.
Or perhaps, a higher difficulty dungeon that hid underneath the appearance of a low-level dungeon.
Whatever the case may be, he decided to leave immediately and report it to the authorities.
He couldn't leave those kids to die inside that dungeon. He needed to look for help.
__________