After leaving Pops's shop, we make our way to the retail district to buy clothes and other essentials.
When I woke up in this world, I was wearing appropriate clothing for where I was, but I only had this single set of clothes.
I enter a few stores and manage to buy a more than sufficient supply of clothing to wear, and I give a small bag of coins to Kaelin for her to do the same. I have no interest in buying or being involved in the buying of her personal items, until she becomes my woman and I buy her a negligee or something like that.
We also buy bed sets and other essentials like towels.
The whole process only takes around 40 minutes, and then, after storing everything in my ring, we make our way to the dungeon. As I have never entered before, I check a few details with Kaelin.
'How does the dungeon in the town operate?'
'The dungeon costs 5 gp to enter per person. From floors 1 to 3, only one monster at a time spawns in the chambers, and then at the end of the 3rd floor, there is a floor boss.
At the 4th, 7th, 10th levels etc, the number of monsters in a chamber increases by 1. The level of the monsters on each floor is the same as the floor level.
Floor bosses are some advanced variation of a monster from the 3 floors leading up to it. Each floor adds a new potential enemy.
Monsters drop aether stones and items which can be sold in nearby stores.'
Ok, got it, so it basically works the same way I remember from the game I played back in the day.
The reason that Kaelin can't go too deep by herself to hunt is that the number of monsters that appear together increases the lower you go, so it becomes necessary to do things as a team. Nobody in the city wants to team up with her because she is a beastkin, so she is forced to dive alone and stay on the upper levels.
As I follow Kaelin's directions, the atmosphere of the streets begins to shift dramatically. The number of armed individuals increases, and I am able to observe all manner of different weapons and armour.
There is a wide variety of people, from those in basic linen clothing with rusty knives, to those in ornate full plate carrying greatswords. Many people are equipped with either a melee weapon or a firearm of some kind, although I do spot a few bows in the mix, too.
Along the street, peddlers are trying to sell their wares to people who will dive into the dungeon. There are stalls selling potions, weapons, and item carry services. The sheer quantity of street peddlers and weapon carriers is a testament to the popularity of the dungeon.
The entrance to the dungeon is nothing more than a cave mouth that has had an entrance built around it to control traffic.
We line up for around 5 minutes before a guard takes the 10 gp needed for both of us to enter. His helmet covers his face, but I can tell that underneath, he is staring daggers at Kaelin. I really want to slug him, to be honest, but I imagine that would be a terrible idea. I swear to myself that once I am strong enough, anyone who looks down on her because she is a foxkin will, at minimum, lose a finger or two.
Upon entering, I am surprised to see that the construction appears 100% artificial to me. The walls, floor, and ceiling are carved from smooth stone shaped into bricks.
The large room is divided into 3 sections: the left, right, and centre portions.
The left and the right are mirror images of one another. A long wall made of the same smooth stone, and every 10 metres along the wall, an opening that looks a little like a doorway.
At each doorway is a line of dungeon divers, waiting for their turn to enter. As the walk through, the stone floor rises, sealing them inside.
The central part is a simple walkway that leads down to the next floor, meaning that if we wanted, we could skip the floors and directly attack the floor boss on the 3rd floor; however, with my current level, this isn't a good idea.
We join what appears to be the shortest line, and as we are waiting, Kaelin gives me some more information.
'Through each doorway is a chamber. There are 3 chambers back to back that need to be cleared before you can exit and descend to the next floor, or return back to these lines like before.
On this floor, the enemy will always be a level 1 bile rat. Be careful not to let it breathe noxious gas onto you. The poison will make you sick for hours.'
In total we need to wait 10 minutes before our time comes. The stone door in front of me descends, the slowness of its movement only serving to heighten my initial anxiety at going into my first hand to hand combat.
We step through the open doorway, and it immediately closes behind me. Cold sweat running down my face, I prepare for the creature to attack, but I see nothing.
On the other side of the chamber, the air begins to shimmer and bend. A black mist begins to swirl and collect at a single point. I recognise what it is immediately: Aether.
The aether collects together and takes the form of a misty shadow, which over the space of a few seconds, begins to solidify into the shape of a quadruped.
The creature emerges from the black mist with a slinking gait, its grotesque form a mockery of nature. Towering to the height of a large hound, the bile rat's disgusting body is matted with tufts of greasy fur clinging to reddened and chapped skin. Open sores secrete foul pus, and bulbous boils throb with each breath, ready to burst. Its eyes, clouded with infection, lock onto me with unsettling purpose.
A foul stench precedes it—an invisible cloud of noxious gas that turns my stomach to knots, and turns the air to rot. When it opens its rotten jaw, yellow fangs jut outward like broken knives, followed by a spit of viscous green poison that sizzles on the ground like acid. This is no common vermin; it is pestilence made flesh. (picture)