“That’s a really heavy door,” Tarte said. She must have thought that if Kent—whose high level and awakened job meant that he was stronger than most people in this world—couldn’t open the door, no one could.
I knew how to open that door, though. “We need to use the permit again.”
“What? Oh, that makes sense. Why didn’t you tell me sooner, Sharon?” Kent blew out a breath and took out the permit...then turned to me for direction.
“Um... I think you just have to touch the door with it. Give it a try,” I said.
Kent touched the permit to the door, and it opened slowly and noisily.
“So the dungeon’s up ahead?” Kent asked.
“One step beyond that door is the dungeon,” I corrected. “Underground Volcano, or just ‘the underground.’”
Kent froze mid-stride, just as he was about to cross the threshold. Monsters could spawn as soon as we took one step into the dungeon, so I wanted to reapply our buffs before we went in.
Once I’d buffed everyone, I gave Kent a nod.
“Tarte, are you okay?” Kent asked.
“Yes,” Tarte answered. She was still carrying Ifrit on her back. We would have taken turns piggybacking Ifrit, but the Fire Spirit refused to be carried by anyone but Tarte.
“Tell us if you get tired. We’ll take a break right away,” Kent told her.
“I will,” Tarte said.
“Let’s take Ifrit to that volcano!” Cocoa pumped us up.
“I’ll fight hard enough for both Tarte and me,” L’lyeh added.
“Let’s quell the volcano and get Tarte her new equipment!” I cheered.
“Okay, let’s go!” said Kent.
“Yes, purrlease!”
We stepped into Underground Volcano, a three-story dungeon. The boss Scorching Salamander lurked on the third level. Today, we would need to take Ifrit through a hidden staircase on the second level that led down to the crater.
“Do you know the way, Sharon?” Kent asked.
“There’s a hidden staircase behind the western wall on the second floor. We go down those stairs to get to the crater,” I explained.
“Got it. I’ll lead the way, so give me directions when I need them,” he said.
“Of course.” Providing support, assessing nearby monsters, and guiding the way—as usual, these were my responsibilities in the dungeon. “Walk next to me, Tarte. Don’t push yourself.”
“Yes, Meowster! I’ll take care of Ifrit!”
“That’s my awesome apprentice.”
Because Tarte was carrying Ifrit on her back, our roles were more starkly defined than usual. Tarte was on Ifrit duty, Kent was on the front line as always, and Cocoa and L’lyeh would focus on annihilating the enemy. Spawns in this dungeon weren’t too high level, so we wouldn’t have much trouble clearing it...except that it was just as hot as Ifrit’s Oasis in here.
After progressing into the cave-like dungeon for a little while, we saw lava oozing from the ground at the far end. It almost looked like a thin puddle, but stepping in it would burn your foot and deal damage. The common method for moving past the lava puddles was to freeze them with magic. Some hardcore players would just walk through them while they healed themselves.
“Cocoa, can you take care of it?” I asked.
“Yep.” Cocoa cast her spell and froze the ground before us, lava and all, so we could keep walking.
“Sweet.” With the magma neutralized, Kent’s step lightened as he led us farther in.
Then, a monster appeared. About time. This one was called a Lava Rat, a rodent about thirty centimeters long that quickly scurried to and fro. With a minuscule amount of HP, it wouldn’t be hard to take down as long as we could land an attack.
“Leave it to me.” L’lyeh fired off her Dark Arrow, which found its mark and turned the rat into a burst of light.
“All right, that was good!” Kent said with relief and picked up the Rat Tail the monster had dropped. It couldn’t be used for much crafting, so the best we could hope for this item was for the Adventurer’s Guild to take it off our hands.
We all took a swig of our water to stay hydrated in the heat and then progressed farther into the dungeon. Because of the cave-like structure, there were plenty of spots with uneven footing and low ceilings. Without a solid grasp of the landscape, we could get trapped fighting monsters in a disadvantageous spot. Squinting into the dark cave, Kent seemed to continuously scout out the best locations for us to take on monsters.
The next monster we encountered was a Lava Loo—a flame-coated monster the size of a basketball with bat-like wings and tail. It kept itself afloat using its wings and rained down flames from above. It was a decently annoying encounter because you needed a long-range attack to take it down.
“I think it’s my turn.” Cocoa cast a spell and took out the Lava Loo in one shot.
I’m glad my party mates know what they’re doing. I felt like I was just coasting behind them without much to do, but I made sure to keep my guard up...because this level had a miniboss. Back in the game, it had taken thirty minutes to respawn. Since no one had been able to clear this dungeon, it was sure to be here. The miniboss was a little tricky, so I was ready for us to jump into combat swinging.
“What’s that huge thing?!” Kent shouted from ahead.
Apparently, I’d jinxed us by thinking about the miniboss. “Oof. I didn’t think we’d encounter it this early on.”
Tarte yowled and Cocoa staggered back a step. “What is it...? It’s so huge...and hot!”
The miniboss, King Lava, was like a step up from Lava Loo. It looked like a sentient glob of lava a hundred times the size of a Slime. It slithered toward us slowly, leaving the ground scorching in its wake. If that thing touched you, you were not getting away unscathed.