The next day, a messenger from the Guild arrived notifying Lily and Mia that they could enter the dungeon in a week. This meant that Lily had seven days to get comfortable with her skill outside the temple grounds, so she got to work immediately.

  Not only was it harder to use Invoke Divinity when not in the temple, but it was more difficult to control, but Lily was determined to make it work. Day after day, she spent hours training with Rick, staying up late into the night. Finally, on the fifth day, she was able to fully control herself during the skill, which brought relief to everyone. Mia was starting to worry for her girlfriend, but knew there was no way she could talk her out of training so hard.

  This left them two days to make preparations for the dungeon itself.

  Lily didn't really know much about the dungeon system, other than the generalities. How did the monsters work?

  Could you meet other adventurers inside?

  What were the rewards like?

  These are just some of the questions Lilly had, and she headed for the library. Mia was already there however, and was more than willing to provide answers herself. Much as she loved reading, Lily wasn't gonna say no to her girlfriend, so she sat down across the table and started her inquiries.

  "What even is a dungeon?" Lily asked, wanting to start with the basics.

  "The current understanding is that dungeons are stable breaches in reality, connecting our world to a different dimension populated by what we call monsters. The breach stays open for a period of time before closing, allowing adventurers to enter and fight inside. Generally, the lower the tier of the dungeon, the longer it stays open," Mia explained.

  "You mentioned before that the nearby dungeon is Starter tier, what does that mean?" Lily asked,

  "Whenever a new dungeon is reported, the Adventurer's Guild sends high level parties in to judge its difficulty and assign a tier. Since the Sundering all dungeons are grouped in four tiers; these are Starter, Novice, Advanced and Expert. This determines the level of monsters inside, the quality of the loot, and the size of the party needed. Adventurers also group dungeons based on length, since different ones of the same tier can vary in the number of rooms wildly, but this is not official Guild policy. For example, the dungeon we are going to would be a Short Starter one, requiring only a single person to clear it."

  "That makes sense. I guess my next question would be, what does it mean to clear a dungeon?" Lily asked.

  "That is simple; you need to advance through all the rooms and kill the monsters inside, including the boss at the end. This will reward you with loot and experience, and open an exit back to where you came from," Mia explained. "It sounds simple, but make no mistake, that does not mean it is easy. Adventuring is still dangerous work, although not as dangerous as it used to be back in the days when both monsters and humans reached dozens of levels."

  "The rewards must be good if people are still willing to do it, then," Lily noted, and Mia nodded.

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  "They are. The experience in itself is important, and not just because it makes you stronger. Simply put, higher level people live longer. This is not a big thing for the immortal races like Elves and Vampires, but a level 6 human, which is the current maximum, is expected to live around 180 years, double the average of someone who never leveled up, not that there are many people like that nowadays."

  "What do you mean? I'd expect all non adventurers to be stuck at level 1, or are there other ways of gaining experience?"

  "There aren't, but the Guild provides carry services, where ordinary folk can pay a fee to join a party with seasoned veterans who do all the fighting. Since experience is distributed evenly, they level up even without fighting. This is the main source of income and power for the Guild. These days most countries have signed a contract with it, making it the sole legal provider of carry services, in exchange for lower prices. This allows the governments to pay their own citizens fees at a lower rate, securing levels for even those who wouldn't be able to afford it themselves,"

  Mia said. "People living longer means the government gets more money from taxes in the long run, and the Guild gets the fees plus all the loot."

  "What's the loot like?" Lily asked. "If I am to become stronger and fulfill Dahlia's requests, I am gonna need better gear."

  "That's true, but you will have to earn it. The thing is, you can't just go to the market and buy equipment someone else got in the dungeon, because as soon as you leave the dungeon with an item, it becomes Soulbound, meaning only you get any effects it might have. For everyone else, it would just be an ordinary weapon or a piece of armor.Otherwise, you and I would be at the market right now, getting the best gear money could buy," Mia said with a cheeky smile. "This restriction doesn't apply to Soul Linked people, by the way, which is another upside of the skill."

  "Then why is the loot so valuable?

  Wouldn't most of it be useless for any given person, considering there are a lot of different skills and roles people have?"

  Lily asked, somewhat confused by the information.

  "Look at you being all smart over there, I love it. Makes you even hotter, you know, which I didn't know was possible," Mia said while giving Lily a look that promised a lot of fun in the future.

  Her girlfriend's compliment made Lily blush slightly, but before she could recover and return the favor, Mia continued.

  "To answer your question though, you are right that most items end up being useless stat and effect wise for most people. Their value comes from the material they are made out of."

  She turned and pointed at one of the magic lanterns in the corner of the library.

  "That lantern, and almost every enchanted item, is made out of materials found in the dungeon. Those materials are much more receptive to enchantments than ordinary metals and ores found on Teras, so they are used by enchanters. The adventurers end up selling stuff they don't need to forges who smelt it down to its base materials, and pass it on to the craftsmen and enchanters who create the finished product. That's what happens to most of the loot found in the dungeon, although some items, like jewelry or especially pretty clothes end up being sold as is. Even though they have no special effect for their new owners, a pretty ring or a beautiful robe has value. In fact, my father originally started his business to trade in these, and ended up expanding into other areas, like banking services for adventurers."

  "I see. One last question, can you meet other parties while in the dungeon?" Lily asked.

  "Not really, at least not while you are clearing the rooms. The entrance portal might be in the same spot in our world, but it leads to different places inside the dungeon. Once you clear the final boss, however, a smaller portal opens which leads your party to an intermediate area with a portal back to Teras. That's the only place you can interact with other people inside the dungeon," Mia said, getting up. "If you have any other questions feel free to ask either me or my parents. Both of them are seasoned veterans with a lot of first hand experience."

  "Sure, thanks for the offer," Lily said honestly, and Mia waved her off.

  "Anyways, let's grab something to eat, and then I can take you on another ride around the estate," Mia said with a smile, and Lily got up quickly. She grabbed Mia under her arm and they exited the library together.