As Andreas had said, the soft glow of the crystal grew stronger as they approached them; not only that, but a slight vibration accompanied the glow. Soon they discovered a cave just beyond the goblin village, hidden among a cluster of dense trees.
Unless they used the crystal to orient themselves, it was easy to miss the small, goblin-sized entrance that led to what seemed to be a whole system of caves. From the village to the place where Andreas's men had said they couldn't advance any further was only 5 minutes, and as they had said, there was a warning carved into a stone covered in moss and leaves.
(Kaio: I thought it would add extra charm, good thing this kind of modification didn't cost anything 😁)
–Can you tell what it says here, Cali? – Anna asked, crouching slightly.
Cali looked at the stone from above, an inquisitive and calculating look.
–No, they just look like lines without any logic.
And technically they were, only by using the light from the red crystal would it be possible to see the message Kaio had left there, but it will still take some time before someone notices it, and the clue he had left there for whoever went to the second floor.
–No matter what's written, does any of you feel anything that would prevent you from proceeding? – Mav asked the others.
"No." – they answered together.
–Hmm... so only those who defeated the goblin chief can pass to the second floor? – Connor considered.
–Maybe, but that will have to be checked later. – Anna said, standing up and removing the leaves stuck to her knees. It was common knowledge that after a while the monsters of the Trial simply returned, not depending on the reproduction of the individuals; how this happened and why was still unknown. – If no one feels anything strange, then let's continue.
From where they were to the end of the cave, which they had to crawl into, it took only 3 minutes. At the apparent end of the cave there was a circle carved into the floor, with others on the walls and even on the ceiling.
In total, from the village to that location, it had only taken 8 or 9 minutes of "moderate" walking through a dense forest with winding paths. Strangely, they hadn't encountered any of the goblins that had fled the battle, nor any wolves, slimes, boars, or snakes among the tree branches.
(Kaio: After what they'd already had to deal with, I thought it best to provide a more tranquil path to the next floor; that really scared me a bit 😓)
Unlike the surface level where the teleportation circle shone with a clear blue light, this one was dark. Only drawings of circles with geometric shapes in their center and surroundings were visible.
Despite the only light source coming from the "entrance," the cave still allowed a clear view of the drawings, especially the carved design on the wall, unlike theirs, where the largest circle had a cavity with the exact shape of the red crystal.
–I think it's pretty obvious what we should do with this now, don't you? – Max said with a seemingly nonchalant attitude, but he still had one hand on the hilt of the replacement sword strapped to his waist.
Anna nodded and approached with the crystal already in her hand. As soon as she got close to the cavity, the crystal practically flew from her hand and inserted itself perfectly into the cavity. For a few moments nothing happened; the crystal just blinked slowly like a heartbeat.
As their hearts began to calm down, the rhythm of the crystal's glow began to accelerate. Only then did Cali realize that the slow glows from before were increasingly illuminating the chamber. The instant the glow covered the entire wall where the crystal was embedded, the crystal began to glow more rapidly, mimicking the hearts of the five.
With the glow now covering the entire chamber, it was Connor's turn to notice that the light seemed to seep into the designs, illuminating their lines, until the red glow that illuminated them no longer came from the crystal but from the designs themselves.
As quickly as it had begun, the glow stopped, illuminating them for a few moments before retreating completely into the magic circles. They then began to dissolve/burn without producing smoke or heat, and along with them, they took the wall where the crystal was.
At the entrance to Kaio's dungeon, a small change occurred at the same time, almost imperceptible: the magic circle that shone blue for a moment turned red, and a plaque on the wall in front of the circle appeared, with two inscriptions: 1F and 2F.
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Kaio POV
'AAAHHHHHHHLELUJAH AAAAHHHHH LELUJAH, HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH AAAAAW'
'Finally, how many years has it been since they started with the expeditions and only now have they managed to get to the second floor, huh Sys?'
[It's barely been a year.]
'Huh?! Seriously? Are you sure?'
[I am basically a construct of part of your soul with the reality of this world whose only real existence can only be measured by the existence of the dungeon.]
'Again, that's your pedantic way of saying: yes, I'm sure?'
[Exactly.]
Aaaahhhh, unexpectedly it's good to be able to talk to you again. Having to just observe things or make occasional mistakes isn't the same as a direct conversation, is it?
I even wanted to know what you thought of our challengers' performance now? Do you think they're doing well? Do they need to improve? Will the Baron still make more mistakes before I send my Stampede to give him and the mage order a good beating? etc.
Ah!, yes, no matter how much I ask, there's no way they can answer me, but even without answering, just knowing that they're here and seeing them with me, with Sys and Grumpy in soul form.
[....Why does your schizophrenia seem to have increased even though I'm constantly by your side, not to mention Grumpy.]
'.... It's just a way to release stress since I can't punch, hold, touch, eat, taste, or have almost any sensation in this soul/ghost/smoke body inside the physical manifestation of my soul!!!!'
[Sorry for mentioning it 😓]
'Don't apologize, that makes things even worse. Look, even Grumpy knows what to do in this situation.'
He said, "pointing" to the greenish ball of light that was with us inside the dungeon's core.
'You don't need to worry about me, I was just appreciating how... enthusiastic my creators are.' Ah!, look, the boys have recovered and are making progress.'
Oh, really? But it wasn't anything surprising; in games, what happened would be the equivalent of a cutscene, more visual effects than anything else. Effectively, the moment the unlocking crystal was inserted, the magic circle immediately took them to the second floor. All that commotion with the glow, the magic circles dissolving and burning/melting the wall was just to create an impact.
Yes, I know this is considerably different from what I had said the opening of the second floor would be like, way back in that look at how the second floor was. But that was just the initial idea I had, after some time I realized it wouldn't make much sense for the challengers to go after the goblins, since they themselves had already realized that eventually they would return anyway.
But I still kept several things the same: the red crystal, the smooth transition from the first to the second level, they will still have to go through a cave where they will have to fight bats, slimes and some insects, go through the swamp, then through a cemetery until they reach the city.
By the way, the magic circle was hidden in the wall where they descended to enter the cave, much to the chaotic surprise of someone wondering:
Why make the transition from one floor to another like that?..... I just thought it would be more dynamic, compared to the usual magic circle, flash of light and appearing in another place.
'....But it should still be better to do the usual eventually, shouldn't it?'
[I believe it is better.]
'Whatever you decide should serve the purpose you intend.'
Well, that's for later, let's see how our favorites handle the new environment. To them it still seems like they're in the first-floor cave, but they're already in the safe area on the second floor. I made this one a little different from the safe area on the first floor.