It was almost like the ground was shaking around them. The flood of people walking around them, some carrying utterly unrealistically large weapons, while others were unrealistically large themselves. The subtle scent of different foods mixing together in the air, as they were being sold anywhere you looked. If you were able to see through the thin gaps in the crowd in the first place. It almost seemed like some sort of festival, where people were gathering for some sort of special event.

But the truth was that it was simply the everday truth of this place. Right in front of them was the reason as to why they all came here, why this whole city was constructed. This huge open plaza with that towering building placing in its center, in the center of this city as a whole, was where the entrance to the World Dungeon, dubbed 'Basement' by the people of Arcadum, was located. Most of the people in the crowd gathered here were either directly headed in or out of the dungeon, or were looking for others to join them as they dove into it.

As Foster looked at the tower in front of him, even if it wasn't the dungeon itself, he couldn't stop his heart from nearly jumping out of his chest. He wasn't good at many things, nor did he care about much. Rather, there were only two main, consistent things in his life that were part of his very being for as long as he could remember. The stars, and fighting. And this? This was the place where he could fully live out at least one of his passions, and that without ruining others' lives in the process. He could fight to his heart's content and be praised for it.

"You coming?

" Octer asked, turning around toward him. He was clearly as nervous and excited as Foster was, but trying to keep a cool head, he was instead focusing on his party as they all made their way to the dungeon's entrance.

Foster immediately nodded, and took a few quick steps forward to catch up with the rest of the group again. They walked toward the tower's entrance, and lined up. Making sure that everyone in the party had everything they needed, Rachel looked them all up and down, before explaining the procedure.

"So, there are a few rules that you have to follow in the dungeon, alright? First of all, and the most important as far as most people here are concerned, if one party is fighting against a monster or a group of monsters, except if they specifically ask for help or are in reasonable danger... don't interfere. For some weirdos, stealing someone's prey is even worse than murder.

" She explained,

"But beyond that, the only thing that you really need to know is that, while fights between adventurers are heavily discouraged, they are allowed as long as both parties agree to it. You can't just randomly attack others. Otherwise, you just need to follow the same kind of rules as are expected of you within the adventurer's guild itself.

"

"Have you been in the dungeon before?

" Foster asked her curiously, since she seemed to know a lot about the process, but Rachel quickly shook her head,

"Not myself, no. Of course, I did a lot of research on it and the rules around it, but I never felt like heading in there. Not much for me to do in the first place.

"

"What are you talking about? There's so much to do in the dungeon, isn't there~? I heard that there are some really beautiful sights around where the dungeon settlements are built~!

" With a broad, excited grin on her face, Kyla joined the conversation. She was clearly the most giddy about this whole thing. But rather than being nervous together with it, like Octer and Foster were, she was purely excited. Even considering the fact that she had gone into the dungeon a few times before, even if not beyond the first floor.

"...Right. But well, I don't care much about 'sights'.

" Rae replied, rolling her eyes,

"And really, please make sure that you don't randomly run off somewhere once we're inside. You're our primary healer. In case of an emergency, you-

"

"I know, I know~! Don't treat me like some idiot, will you? It's not like this is my first time in a dungeon. I'm well aware of how I'm supposed to act in there.

" Kyla interrupted Rae, her demeanor changing from giddy and even somewhat childish, over to calm, collected and mature. It was in just an instant, but it was clear that Kyla would be absolutely fine once they went into the dungeon.

However, before the conversation could continue any further, cheers could be heard from outside. Confused, most people inside of the large hall turned around toward the entrance, watching as the crowd, inside and outside the building, parted ways to create a path for a certain few people to follow.

Foster was quite curious about what was going on. It was sort of dark in here, and the bright light outisde made it impossible to see everything. However, Rachel's eyes seemed to have adjusted a little quicker, as she soon let out a loud, annoyed groan,

"Perfect, today of all days.

" She said, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Lynol finally turned around as well. He didn't seem to care before when everyone outside was cheering, and rather seemed annoyed and bothered by it. But now that Rachel seemed a bit annoyed as well, insinutating that something could disturb today's dungeon-dive, he started to pay attention as well. He looked at the handler next to him,

"What is it?

"

"...Grandosia. They're the largest, most famous guild in the city.

" Rae stated,

"They're also the guild that holds the record for the deepest reached floor in the dungeon, and they're heavily believed to be the prime candidates for being the first to clear it.

"

"So? What's so bad about them being here, then? They'll just pass through the first few floors quickly, so we won't see them after this anyway.

" Foster pointed out. That's what he figured was going to happen, at least. But Rae quickly shook her head,

"It's not them directly, it's that... urgh, so many people enter the dungeon on days that they start their dive to try and impress them and be scouted, that it's going to be impossible to do anything on the first floor. We'll have to go the fourth or fifth if we want to be able to do anything.

" She explained,

"Even though this wasn't supposed to be that long a trip... great.

"

"Isn't it fine? We can just clear the fifth floor, go to the settlement, restock on our supplies when we're there, and then just come back out.

" Kyla suggested, and Rae thought about it for a moment,

"...I don't have anything strictly planned that can't be pushed back a little, so that's fine with me. What about you three?

"

Since none of them had any real plans for the next while either, Foster, Lynol and Octer also agreed with it, so this group of five chose to head a bit deeper into the dungeon than initially intended. Before they could discuss the connotations of that fact, the party of dungeon-diver 'heroes' started walking through the large hall, passing by the lines. They were apparently treated with priority when it came to matters like this, which kind of bothered Foster, but at the end of the day, there wasn't anything he could do about it anyway. It was just how things went.

The large group went through the space. There were maybe two dozen people at a glance. At the back of the group were clear non-combatists, which seemed to be 'porters', as Foster had heard a few times before. They were carrying large bags on their backs that were clearly stuffed with different supplies and tools. In the center of the group were the 'regular' combatists. Mages, clerics, fighters, all wearing high-quality armor, but they all looked roughly the same. None of them really stuck out to him immediately. However, the three that were walking in the front were clearly different.

One of them was a huge woman, maybe eight, if not nine feet tall with naturally dark brown skin, white scars covering her body from top to bottom. She had thick horns on her head, and by her hips were two massive swords, which somehow looked rather small compared to her own sheer size. In front of her walked a man, tall, but next to her, he looked like Kyla looked right next to Octer. He wore bright, decorated armor, clearly being the center-piece of this group. The leader, the head of the party.

However, for some reason, Foster's eyes were most focused on the third one right beside them. A human, with light brown hair and thin-rimmed glasses. He looked rather inconspicuous, wearing something inbetween a robe and normal clothes, but in a weirdly different style compared to everyone else.

"That guy... the one wearing glasses? Who's he?

" Foster asked, slightly turning his head toward Rae, figuring that she would know.

"That guy? Ah, I'm pretty sure... he's their strategist, or something like that. He's supposedly a really strong mage as well, but those're just rumors, I guess.

" She explained. Foster quietly watched as the large group stepped over to the other side of the room, stepping onto a platform. A magic circle was carved into the ground, and once everyone stepped onto it, that carved pattern slowly started to light up.

And then, Foster saw something that he didn't expect to see ever again. His own broke, shattering into its small pieces, after all. That man, the strategist, pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small, hand-sized, black slab.

He held it, and suddenly, Foster could see a reflection of light in the strategist's eyes. He was in disbelief, so it took him until after they were gone to truly realize it.

The strategist was holding a smartphone just now.