R. A. T. H

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."